Blooming Wand
Welcome to Blooming Wand! Your sanctuary for grounded spiritual growth and authentic connection. I'm Emily O'Neal, an evidential psychic medium, intuitive healer, and coach helping you rediscover your inherent spiritual wisdom.
Each of us is born with a powerful intuitive connection to the unseen realms of energy and spirit. Yet life's challenges and societal expectations can dim this inner light. Through evidential mediumship, tarot insights, intuitive guidance, and transformative coaching, I offer a practical, evidence-based approach to spirituality that helps you reconnect with your intuitive self and ancestral wisdom.
I currently reside on Cowlitz lands in what is also known as Vancouver, Washington. My practice honors both place and lineage as I support others in their spiritual journeys.
Join me for conversations about developing intuition, communicating with Spirit, ancestral healing, and accessible spiritual tools for everyday life.
Blooming Wand
Walking Between Worlds: Embracing Ancestral Magic at the Equinox
Standing at the autumn equinox—that perfect balance point between light and dark—we're invited to pause and honor the deep wisdom of those who walked before us. This threshold season has traditionally been recognized across cultures as a time when communication with ancestral realms becomes more accessible, offering unique opportunities for healing, guidance, and connection.
For many of us raised without ancestral practices, this work might feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. Yet the longing for rootedness and connection to something larger than ourselves speaks to a universal human need. Whether you know your family history in detail or have been completely cut off from your lineage, establishing a relationship with your healed and wise ancestors is your birthright.
The distinction of working specifically with "healed and wise" ancestors is crucial for creating emotional and spiritual safety. Not all who've passed carry energies beneficial for our growth, and setting boundaries with certain deceased family members isn't avoidance—it's spiritual wisdom. This approach recognizes that we, the living, carry the wounds inflicted during ancestors' lifetimes, not them. When we connect with those who've found peace beyond the veil, we create a safe container for our own healing process.
Through journal prompts, meditation practices, and a special ancestral tarot spread, this episode offers gentle pathways to begin or deepen your ancestral connection work. You'll discover how to identify inherited patterns ready for transformation, recognize the gifts flowing through your lineage, and establish meaningful communion with those who've gone before. Most importantly, you'll learn how this practice serves not just your personal healing but extends to healing our wounded world.
As we prepare for winter's introspective journey, remember that you don't walk alone. You are, as poet Linda Hogan beautifully puts it, "the result of the love of thousands." Your ancestors need you as much as you need them—through you, their healing presence can flow into this physical realm. By honoring their journey and tending your own light with love, you participate in a sacred exchange that transcends time and transforms generations past, present, and future.
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Welcome to Blooming Wand, your home for grounded spiritual content. I'm Emily O'Neill, evidential Psychic Medium, intuitive Healer and Coach, and if you've been with me for the last couple of episodes, you know that we've been diving into the top three topics that come up in my practice in one-on-one sessions or in my mentoring sessions. We have so far explored understanding what's essential. Then we moved to limiting beliefs and in October, on the full moon, which I believe is October 6th, we'll have the third and final installment of that series, which is all around boundaries and I'm really excited to share that episode with you. Boundaries, and I'm really excited to share that episode with you. But in the meantime, it's the autumn equinox and you know that I can't let a big shift in the wheel of the year go by without taking a pause and offering you some tools to support your self-care and spiritual practices. So this time on the autumn equinox, if you've been with me over the years, you know I always offer journal prompts, different spiritual practices and like tarot spreads, and honestly, this time isn't really all that different. But I'm adding a component that's become really important to my self-care and spiritual practices and that's also starting to become something that more and more of my clients are interested in. So on this autumn equinox, I thought I'd offer some guidance on how you might choose to engage this seasonal shift by working with your healed and wise ancestors.
Speaker 1:The more I work as a medium, the more and the more I connect clients with loved ones in spirit, including ancestors that they know of but have never met the more I feel called to speak to the importance of ancestral connection. It is true that at times ancestors come through. When you work with a medium, you can still validate a lot of that information, but sometimes the information that comes through gets validated over time. That's certainly been the case for me. I don't think that that's uncommon. I started my journey working with my ancestral line many years ago. My mediumship has certainly informed that, but I started with Nancy Hendrickson's Ancestral Tarot book, which I highly recommend, and a lot of what came up through my practice around choosing a lineage and working with it intuitively and with divination tools ended up. I ended up being able to validate it and a lot of it was very accurate and it helped me to understand the stories of the people that have come before me. I have also paired that with working with some genealogical tools, going through family photos and talking to people who remember the people who came before me, so my ancestors and there aren't very many people who are still living who can help me understand their stories. So the ones that I do have feel very important.
Speaker 1:But everybody's connection to their ancestral lineage and how they want to go about that is going to be different. Obviously it varies by culture. We know these things. But your journey with this, if you choose to engage with it, will be unique to you and that's okay and that's really what's inspiring. This episode is some just to offer you some ways that you might go about doing that and to share with you some of the things that I've learned along the way. This is certainly not the only way, but it's just a way. So you're probably going to hear more about this down the road, but for now, consider this an invitation to just gently and intuitively incorporate some ancestral magic into your equinox and self-care spiritual practices and let's just dive in as day and night find perfect equilibrium.
Speaker 1:At the autumn equinox, we stand at one of nature's most profound threshold moments. This ancient turning point invites us to pause and honor the deep wisdom of those who have walked before us. According to Celtic and European folklore traditions, as well as others across the world, the seasons between autumn, equinox and Samhain, or Halloween, is when the veil between our world and the spirit world grows thin. Many, many traditions feel that this is the case, and, though this belief is rooted in ancient storytelling rather than scientific fact, this has profoundly influenced how many cultures approach this special time of year. You're going to see or hear a lot of people talking about how the veil is thin at this time. Now, I personally believe the veil between this world and the next is thin and accessible all of the time, but I appreciate how the connection to the unseen realms can feel particularly potent as days grow darker. That said, the folkloric understanding of autumn as a threshold season creates especially meaningful opportunities for connecting with our ancestral lineages.
Speaker 1:So one of the things I wanted to touch on is that across many traditions worldwide, autumn has been a time of harvest gratitude. Communities gathered to celebrate the final harvest acknowledge that their survival through winter and beyond depended on the wisdom, practical knowledge and hard work passed down through generations. This theme of grateful recognition for ancestral contributions appears in countless cultures worldwide. Another thing that's kind of important to note is that ancestral veneration is really important this time of year. So the autumn season traditionally marked the beginning of remembrance time, when families would light candles for departed loved ones and share stories that kept ancestral wisdom alive. Communities would invoke the protection and guidance of their forebears as they prepared for winter's challenges. This honoring of those who came before transcends any single cultural tradition. It's a practice that can kind of unite us.
Speaker 1:The other thing to contemplate is threshold rituals. Many peoples recognized this as a time when communication with the spirit world became more accessible. They would leave offerings and create sacred spaces for ancestral communion, understanding that the thinning veil between worlds offered special opportunities for connection. This recognition of autumn as a threshold time appears again across cultures globally Now, drawing from the wisdom found in ancestral healing practices. Here are some gentle ways that you might choose to connect with your lineage during this sacred time. Begin by establishing a simple ancestral altar or shrine. Include photographs of known ancestors, items representing your cultural heritage and symbols from the autumn harvest, such as apples, grains, nuts or colorful leaves. Light a candle to signal your intention to connect with those across the veil.
Speaker 1:Spend time in quiet reflection, acknowledging the gifts of your ancestors and the gifts that they gave you, not just your genetic inheritance, but the skills, the values, the resilience and the wisdom mother's line, your mother's father's line, your father's father's line or your father's mother's line, expressing appreciation for their sacrifices and celebrations that enabled your existence. So, not just the sacrifices, but the celebrations In stillness and meditation, invite your healed and wise ancestors to share their presence with you. This is one of my favorite things Trust. Whatever arises, perhaps a sense of warmth, a memory surfacing unexpectedly, or simply feeling like you're being held by something larger than yourself. This isn't about dramatic visions, but rather subtle, loving communication. Following ancient customs, consider making simple offerings of food, drink or flowers. This practice acknowledges the ongoing relationship between the living and your ancestors, creating a bridge of reciprocity and honor.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, my mind was drifting when I was talking about that, because one of the things that dawned on me is I don't know who all is listening. I know many of you, but some of you are new here. But it might seem obvious to some people, these ancestral practices, but from my personal experience, this was not something that I was raised with. It was not something that I was connected with and, frankly, didn't see the value of. I honestly didn't think it mattered. And then, of course, as I got older and as I developed my spiritual skills and abilities and my spiritual toolkit, so to speak, and began working as a medium, I realized this does matter and that I do want to have a practice around honoring those that came before.
Speaker 1:And I always quote Linda Hogan, who says we are the result of the love of thousands, or you are the result of the love of thousands, because when you really step back and think about how many people lived and died so that you could be here, it's a lot of people, and wherever they are now is wherever we're going to go when we pass, and they do have wisdom and knowledge that they can still bestow upon us even though they're not physically here. And it's through these practices that we connect with that. And they're often very simple practices, and I don't think that simple means easy that's another phrase that I say a lot. But if we're willing to slow down and pay attention and make the time, these practices can become very fulfilling and become very rewarding. And again, it's not often a practice that involves a lot of instant gratification, but at this point I'm not interested in instant gratification anymore. I'm interested in trust and connection and communion, and I'm fine if it evolves over time. In fact, I've had many rewarding experiences that have been slow paced and they have been the deepest, most authentic ones. But trust however your journey goes.
Speaker 1:I just thought maybe I'd pause and share a little bit about mine Now. I've gone over some things that you can do to connect with your ancestral lines that are kind of simple, easy ways to start, maybe nice trailheads for you, so places to begin. But I also want to say that if you're adopted or you don't know anything about your lineages, you can still do this practice. Simply visualize and call into your heart all the people who came before you so you could be here, whether you knew them or not. And if you wish to honor the folks who've loved and supported you in your life that you know of, call them in to the practice as well, because love is a wonderful portal to ancestral connection and a lot of people, for a lot of reasons, don't know anything about their ancestors. And that doesn't mean that we cannot engage in this practice. Cannot engage in this practice. The other thing I want to say is, if there are ancestors or deceased persons with whom you do not wish to connect simply don't.
Speaker 1:Boundaries are essential when working with ancestral lineages, and many of us have family members and ancestors who caused harm or made choices that created lasting wounds, and this is precisely why I recommend working specifically with your healed and wise ancestors rather than reaching out to known ancestors indiscriminately, and a lot of my ancestral lineage work has been around people that I have never met, that are from long ago and don't know anything about. I have had some rewarding experiences with ancestors who were closer to me in my lineage, but also, because of the way they passed, nobody really knew them or knew about them, and I think that's why they came forward. In my practice was to bridge that, to build that relationship back up, and it's been a really miraculous journey of healing for me and even my certain people in my family. So I'm using this term healed and wise, which is coming from Daniel Foer's framework, and he wrote the book Ancestral Medicine and he does tons of courses and classes around this. I have taken some of those, so I just want to note and cite that Now, drawing from Daniel's framework in ancestral medicine, the distinction around who we work with or setting boundaries with in terms of maybe there's ancestors, we just don't feel comfortable working with is crucial for our spiritual and emotional safety. It's okay to set that boundary and, as Four explains and I have come across many people who believe this not all dead people are ancestors in the sense of being beneficial guides and allies.
Speaker 1:Some of the dead are what he says stuck, confused or even benevolent. Now, I personally don't believe this. It's where, when I was taking those classes and kind of learning more about this, I was like that doesn't resonate with me. So this is when I this. I was like that doesn't resonate with me. So this is when I tell you like if something doesn't resonate with you, it doesn't have to. You don't have to take everything that I say and run with it. In fact, question me. I question myself all the time. To be honest. I think that's a healthy thing to do, but I hold a different perspective than he does.
Speaker 1:I don't think that the dead are stuck, confused, benevolent or anything like that. I don't believe the dead carry unresolved trauma in the same way that we might imagine. I believe it's us, it's those that still have a physical body, the living, who carry the trauma they inflicted during their lifetime, making it emotionally and spiritually challenging for us to work with them in spirit form and when we attempt to connect with recent ancestors who caused harm, we bring our wounds and our triggers and unhealed pain into the spiritual space, which can complicate the practice. And I want to be clear I have people who have passed in recent history who I do not want to work with and don't have any intention of working with them, and that's just my boundary and working as a medium when I go to practice circles to keep my skills up, that's something that I like to do and be in community. These people don't come through because I've set that boundary, Like that's not really somebody I want to hear from or to be working with. So I just wanted to share that with you all that next month we're going to be talking about boundaries in like our day-to-day life, but we can set boundaries in our spiritual practice, including our ancestral spiritual practices.
Speaker 1:Healed and wise ancestors are ones who represent those who have moved beyond their earthly limitations and found peace in the spirit realm or are at peace in the spirit realm, and they're often ancestors who have been gone a long, long, long, long, long time. There might not even be any physical record that you could ever dig up about them. More importantly for our practice, these are the ancestral spirits we approach without the emotional charge or trauma responses that might arise when connecting with those who've harmed us or our family members, or even those who maybe we love but are recent, you know, have become recent ancestors, meaning maybe parents or grandparents who've gone into the spirit realm that we just don't know. If we want to include or incorporate them into our ancestral spiritual practice, you don't have to. You can, but you don't have to. Do you see where it's really about what feels right for you? But it's this idea of connecting with something that is healed and wise, that's your birthright and that's in your lineage. This approach allows us to receive ancestral wisdom and support while maintaining appropriate spiritual boundaries.
Speaker 1:The healed and wise ancestors can also serve as powerful allies in our own healing journey. I know that. I've definitely experienced that and I've seen it with clients. It is profound, it's good medicine. They may gently bring pain or unresolved wounds to the surface. That happened to me Not to harm us, but so that we might tend our pain in meaningful and supportive ways, so they can show us where we're holding things that maybe we don't have to hold or that don't belong to us anymore, and working with them creates a safe container for this healing process, as their love and wisdom helps us navigate whatever arises with greater compassion and understanding.
Speaker 1:So, lastly, I want to add that working with the healed and wise ones in your lineage is not only a way to receive healing for yourself, but it also heals this very wounded world that we live in. Our long gone healed and wise ones no longer have physical bodies or a vessel to enter into this physical world, which makes our work with them so important. They need us to help them heal, not only ourselves, but to offer what we can to community and others in terms of being of service, to helping bring healing into this world. And I was just talking to one of my clients because there's been a lot going on in the world. I feel like I'm saying that a lot, but it's because there always has been a lot going on in the world and there always will be a lot going on in the world. I feel like I'm saying that a lot, but it's because there always has been a lot going on in the world and there always will be a lot going on in the world. And sometimes, when we engage with that loving presence of our healed and wise ancestors, they show us our personal wounds so that we can tend them. And if we can tend to our own personal worlds, then we can extend that practice outward into tending to a wounded world.
Speaker 1:The example that I like to give is that we all have internal conflict, a part of ourself that wants one thing and a part of ourself that wants another, and they can kind of butt heads. If we can develop a practice, a spiritual and emotional practice around, saying like wow, there's a lot of I'm conflicted, I have a lot going on inside of me, and be present for that and without trying to fix it, but being present for both sets of needs, we can come to realize that one part wants one thing and one part wants another thing, but they're both wanting us to be happy and healthy. They're just going about it in different ways and we can work with that right. It's common ground, finding common ground. If we can do that practice with ourselves, then we can go into this messy material world knowing a little bit of how to find common ground with people that we don't agree with or where there's conflict. It requires a tremendous amount of space holding and listening and patience, also healthy boundary setting. But if we don't learn to hold space for our own internal conflict, we certainly can't do it in the wider world, and that's where everything becomes dualistic this or that mine, yours, things like that. So I really do feel like our self-care and spiritual practices are preparing us for the good worker of what it means to be alive in and of this world.
Speaker 1:I'd be curious to know what you think. You know, I always really love to hear from you, but one of the things that's important to me here at Blooming Wand is to put forth some of these ideas like. One of the things that's important to me here at Blooming Wand is to put forth some of these ideas like working with the ancestors and realizing it's not a frivolous thing. It's a practical, helpful, useful tool. And the more we learn about epigenetics which is intergenerational, inherited trauma and strengths and things like that in science and it was working to get more information about this the more we realize we inherit a lot more than what comes through in just our DNA and I think that's fascinating and I can't wait to learn more about it. Now I thought it might be helpful to outline some of the tenets of ancestral work and this is just how I approach it and what has worked for me, and I have no doubt that I will refine this over time because I've refined it already many times, which is great, because that's what practices are. We get to change them as needed.
Speaker 1:But here are some tenets of ancestral work based off of years of connecting clients with their loved ones, in spirit rather, and working within the ancestral healing framework, and these are just core principles that guide safe, effective and healing-centered ancestral practices. The first one is the tenet of conscious boundaries, which we've already kind of talked about. The ancestors themselves are not unhealed. It is we, the living, who carry the wounds, trauma and unresolved pain from what they have inflicted during their lifetime. When we try to connect with those who've harmed us, we bring our triggers and unhealed pain into the spiritual space, which can complicate our practice. So setting boundaries with certain deceased family members protects our healing practice and allows us to receive guidance without reactivating our trauma.
Speaker 1:This is spiritual wisdom, not avoidance or bypassing, especially when we remain committed to our personal healing work and, like I said, I have people in spirit I choose not to work with because that wouldn't be safe for me. People in spirit I choose not to work with because that wouldn't be safe for me. And I can tell you almost every one of my clients is like, oh, I don't want so-and-so around in this work and I'm always like they don't have to be participants in this, we don't have to bring them into this, and that's really common. It's really common and I did a little bit of research on that, just looking at cultural traditions around the world and their ancestral practices, and this is very common that you do not have to work with all ancestors if it doesn't feel right for you. I really didn't make that up. It's a common thing across cultures and many cultures, like what Daniel Force says, which is why I think he put this in this book will actually tell you that some of them are malevolent and some of them are not good and some of them are quote bad.
Speaker 1:I do not personally believe that. Like I said, I believe we carry that trauma in our body and if we do our personal work, we can tend to it through the lens of the self. I've done enough readings. I don't feel like the people in the spirit world are suffering at all. We can't prove that. It's just a belief that I have based off of my experience, and I know that when clients have people in spirit and they're not meant to come through for them because it wouldn't be good for the client, they don't. They don't come through because spirit is intelligent, and I think that that's just something that I wanted to share.
Speaker 1:The other thing is the tenant of emotional safety. So this is the second tenant. We work with the healed and wise ancestors, those we can approach without emotional charge or trauma responses, and this isn't about the ancestors needing healing. It's about creating emotional and spiritual safety as we do the sacred work. The third is the tenant of loving lineage. We connect specifically with the most loving aspects of our lineage, those ancestors who have moved beyond their earthly limitations and found peace in the spirit realm. These ancestors can offer pure support without triggering our unresolved wounds, can offer pure support without triggering our unresolved wounds.
Speaker 1:The fourth tenet is the tenet of supported healing. Healed and wise ancestors create a safe container for our healing process and they may gently bring our pain to the surface, not to harm, but so we can tend to our wounds in meaningful and supportive ways, guided by their love and wisdom. It's intended to bring about support around our pain, because we all are going to have pain and sorrow and suffering. And when we do begin to feel supported by those in the unseen realm or the wisdom and the love and the strength of our ancestral lineage, we feel safe. And sometimes, when we feel safe, we feel like we can express our pain or our sorrow. And I think it's important that we have spaces to process that stuff, to have that physiological release through crying, through anger, through talking, through writing, to bring it up and bring it out almost like a purge. I know that that's not the most attractive way of thinking about it, but I know that when this happened to me it did feel like a purge. I know that that's not the most attractive way of thinking about it, but I know that when this happened to me it did feel like a purge and I felt lighter and I was like, wow, I'm not carrying something that I don't need to carry anymore. And it was really profound and it opened me up to some new things, one of those being joy and happiness and authentic connection.
Speaker 1:The fifth tenet is the tenet of reciprocal purpose. Our ancestors need us as much as we need them. They no longer have physical bodies or vessels to enter the physical world, making our collaboration essential. We become their hands, their voices and the healing presence in this realm. Isn't that awesome that their healing can pass through us and into this world? The Tenet of World Healing that's the sixth tenet. Working with healed and wise ancestors serves not only our personal healing but also helps heal this wounded world. Through us, our ancestors can offer their gifts to our communities, ourselves and others, extending their healing beyond our individual lives.
Speaker 1:The seventh and final tenet is the tenet of transformative legacy. We work to transform inherited patterns of trauma and survival strategies that no longer serve, form inherited patterns of trauma and survival strategies that no longer serve, while preserving cycles of love and wisdom. We choose healing not just for ourselves, but all who came before and all who will come after. So, in a way at least for me, working with my lineage has become sacred work and I have had to tend to some things in my lineage that needed healing, and in doing so it's brought understanding to me and informed how I want to move through this world and how I want to behave and how certain things I don't want to participate in anymore because I can see the harm that they're doing and where I do want to participate because I can see that there's good work to be done in said area. Big stuff, right. So these tenants recognize that our ancestors have found peace beyond the veil, while we still carry the work of healing what was wounded in the living world. Through conscious partnership with our healed and wise lineage, we become agents of healing for ourselves, our communities and for future generations.
Speaker 1:Ancestral tending and healing. So this is a big one that I felt really I need to bring to this conversation. Sometimes our lineages carry wounds along with wisdom. So take time to consider patterns of trauma, unhealed grief or survival strategies that no longer serve you. This season offers a gentle opportunity to tend these ancestral wounds with love and compassion. And when you do begin to dive into ancestral healing work, you will begin to notice trends in the living that come from the ones that came before, and it could be people pleasing, it could be being controlling, it could be having like the desire to write, it could be anything. So you get the wounds and you get the wisdom. So when we're feeling into patterns that might be trauma, we want to sit quietly and recall a family pattern that you'd like to transform.
Speaker 1:I can think of, like a couple in my family that I've been working with and here's some examples Perhaps anxiety, addiction, difficulty with boundaries, patterns around money, love or self-worth, and, rather than focusing on blame or judgment, approach this with the understanding that these patterns often begin as survival strategies or responses to difficult circumstances. I'll give you an example and then we'll go into like how you can work with these trends that you're seeing. I had people alive during the depression, so one of the things that I've seen is things around food scarcity and being worried that there won't be enough food or water or money or resources, and so it's like full pantries or not wanting to throw things out past the expiration date because maybe you're going to need it. It's that scarcity, like I'm going to go hungry kind of a feeling. So that's one of the things that I've observed in my lineage and I've seen it in the people that are living today. I've seen it in myself, and so I've done some tending work around that, which just involves being present number one and asking, hmm, why is that? That's interesting and what part of me, that part of me that's sensing into the scarcity, what does it need and what's it trying to protect me from? And what would that look like if it were to do something different or try another way of protecting me, instead of making me feel like I have to bulk up on canned goods or something?
Speaker 1:So what you can do to feel into this, like, put this to practice is sit quietly and recall a family pattern you'd like to transform Perhaps anxiety, addiction you know the ones that we've mentioned and visualize yourself surrounded by the loving presence of your healed and wise ancestors, those who have found peace and wisdom beyond the veil. You probably don't know these people, by the way. A lot of times you just have to feel and sense. I can connect to this loving presence. That's my birthright and that my healed and wise ancestors, and you speak to them through writing, but I often just sort of in my mind's eye, say things and you can say something like I see this fill-in-the-blank pattern in my lineage. I understand it served a purpose and I honor the strength it took to survive. Now I choose healing, not just for myself, but for all of us in the line, dead and alive, including those who came before and those who will come after. I choose healing.
Speaker 1:Imagine a golden light flowing through your ancestral line, both forward and backward through time. We know time isn't linear, right? I think Stephen Hawking helped us understand that, which, by the way, his I never did understand any of this work. I should look at the summaries online, but I digress. So we're thinking about time, which I think of as a circle, and if you think about those who will come, who came before and those who come after and you and how you hold all of that, it kind of makes you connect with that idea that time's not a line and you can feel like you connect with that golden light that's flowing through the line and into you and through you and it's carrying love and healing and transformation. And just see what happens, as you're kind of in that golden light energy, that connecting with that visualization, maybe you want to do it now, maybe something's already come to mind and you're like yep, I know what I want to work with and just feeling that connection of love through the line and maybe the wound you wish to heal, you might suddenly feel called to forgive, to cry, to grieve or to simply witness with love, like I understand how we came to be this way and that understanding can be transformative. Sometimes we just need to witness the pain, and the pain can transform. That's all it is. So trust whatever arises and be sure to pay attention to the subtle shifts in atmosphere around you as well as within your body. And by thanking your ancestors for their strength and stating your intention to break cycles of harm while preserving cycles of love and wisdom, I think that that's really important and they support that intention.
Speaker 1:So you know I wasn't going to not have journal prompts and just know you can save these. You don't have to do them all at once because there's a lot here. But here's some seasonal reflection questions. What ancestral gifts am I most grateful for this season? So look for clues in your natural talents, the values that feel unshakable within you, the ways you instinctively care for others, the skills that come easily to you or the strengths that emerge during difficult times. Sometimes ancestral gifts show up as things people often compliment you on, or qualities that feel like just quote, kind of who you are.
Speaker 1:Now, how am I? Here's another prompt oh, I'm going to have a little cough Hold on. Oh, I'm going to have a little cough Hold on. Now. You know I record these live. I don't do a ton of editing on them? I don't know, because I want it to be more conversational and feel like we're in a room together.
Speaker 1:So here's your second prompt how might my ancestors want to support me through the coming months? Sit quietly and ask this question directly, then notice what arises. It might be a feeling of strength, a memory of resilience, a sense of being held that's one that I get a lot or practical guidance about moving forward. Trust your first impressions, and here's some questions that I just like to work with in my practice, and these are not like one and done things. You return to them often.
Speaker 1:So here's some questions around wisdom and guidance. If I could ask my wise ancestors one question, what would it be? That's a fun one. What guidance feels like it's trying to reach through my lineage? Oh man, like I could journal on this one for myself forever. And let me tell you that guidance has come through persistently and consistently in subtle ways, and it was so simple that in my personal life, I just ignored it for the longest time. And then it dawned on me, like Emily, you know, like one of the messages I've received from them is you're going to have to do things your own way, like you're going to see other people doing things. Maybe it's popular or whatever, but your way is your way and it's probably going to be a bit of a lonely path, but that's okay. You'll connect with the right people at the right time in the right ways and keep doing it your way and all will be well. And I thought I've even had people say that to me. So when I wait, people will compliment you on certain things and you maybe don't see it in yourself. It could be some of your ancestral strengths coming through. So that's one of the ones that has reached through me.
Speaker 1:I'll never forget I was in high school and this was the first time it dawned on me. Maybe I moved through the world in a different way. I had my AP English professor teacher, who I love dearly. I keep his obituary on the wall. He just really got me to read some good books and to like contemplate life and all the things we read a lot of Emerson, ralph Waldo Emerson. Anyway, I remember writing things and being a prolific writer and just pouring my ideas onto the page and loving it and getting through the books and just like enjoying it. And I remember he would read what I would write and he just said, over his glasses, looking at remember, he would read what I would write. And he just said, over his glasses, looking at me, he's like you know, emily, you really march to the beat of your own drummer, you do your own thing, and I thought I'd never seen myself in that way before, and at the time I don't know that I did. But as I've gotten older, more and more people have said that to me and I'm like oh, maybe I do march to the beat of my own drummer and maybe that's part of my ancestral inheritance, maybe they had to do that too, and that gives me a sense of validation and strength and we all need that right. Who doesn't want that? So cultural connection, kind of.
Speaker 1:Moving on now to some other questions, what traditions or practices from my heritage call to me? This is another interesting one, because my sister and I have been called to things that were really Scandinavian and we're like we don't have any ancestors from that area of the world, like what the heck, what's that about? Well, it turns out we do. We have a lot of Swedish and Danish heritage and that just tickles me, like certain making of certain breads and certain things, and we were like, oh my gosh, maybe that was our ancestors calling to us through the veil, like drawing us into certain things that my ancestor did have knowledge of. So that was one of the things that has tickled me the most is I had also had a piano teacher who was Swedish and would share Swedish songs, swedish food, swedish traditions and also Swedish like decorative patterns I'm thinking of the Dala horses and I was like, oh, I love this stuff, I'm so into it. But then thinking, well, but you're not Swedish, that's not for you. And then come to find out I loved it and was so into it, probably because my people come from Sweden on my mother's mother's side. So that's that's.
Speaker 1:I just think that's cool how that can work. How can I explore my cultural roots with curiosity and respect, right? So this you know, tread lightly and meaning. We don't want to appropriate or do things like that, but I do think if you're moving through this intuitively and you're finding yourself drawn to certain things, it's okay to explore those things. If it's new to you, just be respectful about it. We don't those of us that are colonizers especially. I can speak to this mainly from the American perspective. When my people came here, they did not carry forward any of their traditions, so I'm essentially been cut off from some of my ancestral traditional practices and I do feel the loss of that, and through ancestral healing work like what we're talking about today, I've been able to reconnect the loss of that and through ancestral healing work like what we're talking about today, I've been able to reconnect with some of that stuff and it has made me feel fulfilled and that's why I think that this is kind of important work.
Speaker 1:The other question is what aspect of my ancestral culture would serve in my life today and a couple of moving forward questions. How do I want to be remembered by future generations? Because, guess what, you're going to become an ancestor someday, and I think that's pretty freaking cool. I always tease people that when I'm an ancestor, what I'm going to do, I'll come through to them, but I actually do it so that they'll know it's me. So I'll tell them this is how I'm going to come through and then when you feel and sense that you'll know it's Emily.
Speaker 1:What gifts do I carry that came through my lineage and want to be shared? I think a lot of the work that I do here has a lot to do with my ancestral lineage and that they put wind in my sails. So I'll share more. I'm an introvert, you know. It doesn't come natural to me to have a podcast or a YouTube channel. I'm more of a writer and I like writing things and sending them out into the world. But I do think that some of what I've learned is meant to be shared and that I am encouraged by my healed and wise ones to do so.
Speaker 1:How can I live in a way that honors both my ancestors and my authentic self? I really do feel like if you're honoring your authentic self, you're already honoring your ancestors. They're not exclusive to you know, like they're not separate things. This season offers an opportunity for gentle ancestral healing work. As we honor our forebearers, we can also acknowledge that love sometimes comes with burdens. With compassion, we can also acknowledge that love sometimes comes with burdens. With compassion, we can work to transform inherited patterns of suffering while maintaining connection to our ancestral strength and wisdom.
Speaker 1:So here's the tarot spread that I have for you. Sadly, I have no visual. If you're getting my newsletter, you'll get the visual of this, and if you don't get my newsletter, that's my primary form of communication. Visit bloomingwancom to sign up. All of my resources are there all the freebies, which include the worksheets that I've created for that three-part series I mentioned at the beginning about essential beliefs what's essential, limiting beliefs and coming up in October boundaries beliefs what's essential, limiting beliefs and coming up in October boundaries. There will be a transcript with all the goodies of this episode in the blog the blog.
Speaker 1:I always do that. If I do an episode, I try to put it on the blog because I don't know about you, but I need to hear and read things. That just works good for me and I like to refer to things later and sometimes if I've already listened to something, I don't want to have to re-listen to it again or try to find it. So being able to scroll through a blog or something makes that easier for me. I don't I don't create this stuff to just necessarily be one and done for you all. I know that you'll probably want to have to return or will have to return to it, because there's often a lot of content in one episode and plus they can be there for you when you're ready for them, and that's the other thing.
Speaker 1:So here's your autumn equinox ancestral tarot spread, and if you don't want to use tarot, just use them as journal prompts. But here's card one the threshold. What energy surrounds you at this equinox moment? Place this card at the center. Card two ancestral gift. What wisdom or strength does a healed and wise ancestor offer you now? So place this above the center.
Speaker 1:Card three ancestral healing. What ancestral pattern or wound is ready to be transformed through love? Place to the left Card four your role. How can you honor your lineage while living authentically in the present? Place this to the right of the center. Card Card five Integration. How can you carry this ancestral wisdom forward into the dark moments ahead? And place this below the center. Take time with each card, allowing intuitive impressions to arise. Trust whatever comes, feelings, images, memories or just a simple knowing. Your ancestors communicate through your intuition. So again, you can find this spread at bloomingwandcom. Go to explore, click the blog and it'll be right there for you to refer to when you're ready to do. Pull your cards if that's something that you do.
Speaker 1:So, finally, moving forward with ancestral support as we prepare for winter's introspective journey, we do not do so alone, but accompanied by generations of strength, love and wisdom. Regardless of your cultural background, this autumn equinox reminds us that we are all part of an eternal web of connection that transcends time and space. That transcends time and space. I'll quickly add that taking care of you is tending to your ancestors because they live within you, they are you, you are them. Knowing that, I offer this tender invitation to lean into the three-month journey we've been on, where we've been exploring the top three things that come up in client sessions, which was discovering what's essential, understanding limiting beliefs and understanding boundaries the boundaries one is going to come out in October.
Speaker 1:If you've missed the previous episodes, again they're on the blog. You can obviously watch them on the YouTube or via the podcast, the Blooming Wand podcast. So all of that stuff is there for you and it's free. There's a lot of content. There's even a worksheet, and I made those worksheets actually for myself and I was like dang, I love a worksheet and they really do help you to put some of these ideas into practice and it's all in support of you tending to you, knowing that that is also tending to your ancestors. So you have so many tools that you can dive into these topics that I just mentioned.
Speaker 1:Those three main themes that tend to come up in client sessions tie in wonderfully with ancestral work. Engaging these specific newsletters and worksheets could be your way of honoring yourself and your ancestors. Maybe that's the path that you want to take is by understanding yourself more, and that's your ancestral work, great. Don't forget that October's theme is going to be all about boundaries. It's really my favorite thing because we've talked about boundaries in this episode, how we need to have spiritual boundaries with people who've passed. Maybe we don't want to work with them. Okay, great, set that boundary, but in reality, who really understands boundaries and how to set them? I didn't until like three years ago. So it's, I feel, like doing learning about boundaries, what they are, how to set them, how to work with them.
Speaker 1:Through doing that, I have done a lot to honor and heal many in my lineage, including myself, big time myself, and overall, just may this season bring you deep connection with your ancestral wisdom and the peace that comes from knowing that you are held by love that transcends time and the physical form. Take time this week to step outside at sunset, feel the shifting energy of the season and whisper a quiet thank you to those who made your life possible. I leave you with this prayer. I wrote this prayer for my ancestors. I share it with you so that you can include it and incorporate it into your equinox practice, and I call this a prayer for the healed and wise ancestors.
Speaker 1:Quiet depths of time. Healed and wise, your souls are free from mortal bonds that still hold me. You've walked the earth and moved beyond the bittersweet test of life in physical form. Now and forever at peace. I feel your gentle guidance as I move through the seasons of my evolving life. Your love and wisdom kindles a hope within that has become my inner light. This light is my guide and my connection to you. Your strength and love enrich this earthly realm, filling my soul with light. I reach through the ages to clasp your hand. The bonfire of your love and wisdom illuminates my way, and I know that I am you and you are me. Today I honor your journey, your legacy. Within my heart each beat an answer to the echo of your existence. My reply is tender. My reply is this I will tend my light with love and hope until my time comes to join with you once again. And so it is All right, friends.
Speaker 1:That's the end of this episode. I will see you in October with the episode on boundaries. I also have a special announcement the Blooming Wand Elemental Wisdom Oracle Deck is going to be coming into the world in October for purchase. I'll probably also do an unveiling so you guys can see what it looks like before it hits the market, which is essentially the Blooming Wand website. It's not like the market is us and it's a small batch, eco-friendly, limited edition Oracle deck. So just keep that in mind. I can't wait to share it with you, but in the meantime, get those journals out, take good care of yourself and I'll see you soon.