Lizzie Thompson August 12, 2009
Posted by gerrystarnes in Healing.add a comment
I recently accepted an invitation to perform a house blessing in northeast Austin. A couple moved to the area from Connecticut fairly recently, and it is their custom to perform a blessing ceremony in their new homes. As we talked about what they were expecting, I asked if there was any place in the house that might also need some additional clearing before the blessing. And, yes indeed, there was.
Apparently, everyone who slept in the spare bedroom had nightmares. On occasion, they would awaken either unable to move or feel like something was sitting on their chest, making it difficult to breathe. There also is a bath area between the spare bedroom and the master bedroom that also seemed troubled. Since they had moved in, Chris had insisted that the door to the bath be closed so she could sleep.
I invited Toni and Charlie to join me. We arrived at the house in the early evening. The owners – Ian and Chris – are a wonderful couple that we were attracted to immediately as very “good people,” with rich experience and knowledge of Spirit. They had already written their blessing prayer, and had it beautifully framed.
We walked through the house to get a feel for the energy, which was wonderful. The structure and energy flow had already been set according to feng shui principles. Charlie was the first to pick up on the energy vortex in the spot that I felt was the “heart” of the house. However, the feeling of the energy in the spare bedroom was dramatically different; warm and stuffy, even with the air conditioner running. Something was definitely “up” in this room.
The house is only less than 10 years old, and prior to building the land had just been a cotton field. Although many people had rented it since, there was no clear history of some of the strife – either current or historical – that is evident in other areas of the city, although the original landowner did build his house on top of a hill that is visible from the front porch. And the house looks very much like a fortress. That was notable to us.
After rattling and drumming the energy of the rest of the house, the five of settled into the spare bedroom. Toni and I both got at the same time that the energy imbalance had nothing to do with the room or the land, as we had assumed. It was centered on something that had been brought into the room by the owners in their move. (This was corroborated later when Chris said that they had similar problems with a room in an apartment they rented temporarily while searching for a house. We had not known this before.)
Toni and Charlie felt a strong sadness that seemed to be centered in the closet they were closest to.
Within just a few minutes, the story began to sort itself out. The name of the woman was Lizzie (Elizabeth) Thompson or Thomason, who had lived in Connecticut – in the same town or neighborhood as Ian and Chris. She was seen as an elderly, thin woman with disheveled hair pulled up in a bun. She had died roughly 125 to 150 years ago. Apparently, she was not an only child, but felt very alone and isolated. The family situation was not good. All she had was her home and possessions. So she did not want to cross over.
The energy in the room felt like that of a big, dark cat. When angry or on alert, it would crouch back into the corner of the room. It reacted to our presence with that kind of attentiveness. This made particularly good sense when thinking about the experience of those who felt pressure on their chest .. as cats sometimes do crawl on a prone person’s chest.
Chris either lived in Lizzie’s Hartford house or nearby, and Lizzie attached herself to her for reasons that are not clear. Again, Chris mentioned later that this neighborhood dated from the late 1880s, which matched the 125-150 year timeframe.
When she moved from her house to Ian’s, she took *most* of her belongings with her. When they then moved to Austin and into the new home, that’s when things began to happen. Lizzie found herself very far away from her home and she was not happy. Something had been left behind, and she had been searching for it.
As we gathered information in the room, the temperature rose steadily and the air became increasingly dense. Soon we were all sweating. We began the ceremony to balance the energy and send Lizzie on, drumming and rattling as I called to Lizzie to join her family. (She was not particularly interested in joining her immediate family, but a grandmother appeared to be of assistance.)
The energy began to calm and the temperature of the room cooled. The air was clearer and not as heavy as we ended the ceremony. Chris felt that she could finally let Connecticut go, even though she had nothing whatsoever holding her there .. other than Lizzie.
We determined that there was an object – possibly a box – that Lizzie was missing and had been looking for. Chris thought she knew what and where it was and began looking for it in boxes from the closet. But the object – a box – was not there. As we watched, Chris looked like someone searching for a beloved object that could not be found, fighting back tears as the frustration mounted. It was clear that she was finally letting Lizzie’s frantic and fierce energy move through her. Eventually, she gave up. We decided instead that they could craft an appropriate object into which any remaining energies could be infused, then mailed back to Lizzie’s home to complete the circle for her healing.
With the energy of the room now balanced, it was time for a beautiful blessing ceremony. We rattled and drummed as Ian played his singing bowl in each room as Chris read the blessing prayer they had written. It was WONDERFUL!
[Originally posted June 26, 2008]
End of Life Healing August 12, 2009
Posted by gerrystarnes in Healing, Learnings.add a comment
Waiting for us, just as I closed the door of the truck with my drum and bag of rattles and tools, lay a beautiful, intact but empty bird’s nest. Around it were scattered many broken pieces of at least one eggshell. Most remarkably, the nest had been built around a pine cone that protruded from its side, but was blended integrally into its structure. Karen determined that it was a gift for the man we had come to visit. She took it gingerly inside with us….
I got a call last Friday from Hospice Austin Christopher House. A man – Ottowa native from Michigan – was in last stage cancer and was seeking a shaman. The wonderful social worker was doing her best to accommodate him, but didn’t know where to turn. By Wednesday afternoon, it had worked out that I was invited, though I am not Native American. I asked my colleague Karen to join me, and together we made our way there after sunset.
Hospice Austin is a part of the St. David’s system. The atmosphere is much more condusive to their work than a hospital, though it has a substantial technological support system. That it is part of a hospital system is unmistakeable, however the staff I met were clearly there to support and take care of their patients at this important transition time.
T’s sister met us at the door with a gift of tobacco. A concerned nurse joined us in the room, as he had been agitated earlier when we didn’t arrive when he had been told we would. And he was excited to see us. His excitement caused him some physical pain as he tried to move, but was unable. Seeing this, the nurse went to his side to provide more pain medicine, which took several minutes. She was being very careful.
We introduced ourselves to him and presented him the bird nest. I do not know how he was with this. He could not speak or move without pain. Yet his lack of agitation told us what we needed to know.
I told him my full name and that we were there at his and his family’s request to be with him for a while. Karen asked permission, then began to drum softly as I called the directions and opened protective space. I went to his side and asked permission to be with and pray with him for a while. I gently took his hand and touched his wrist on the “deepening” accupressure point.
Earlier in the day as I journeyed about what should be done, three things came up as very important. At the point of death, it is helpful to open the chakras (power centers in the energy field), and let them clear. In the energy healing process, this “backwashes” stuck energies and allows the chakras to spin smoothly. In the deathing process, it opens them to allow an easier disconnection of the spirit from the body as well.
A second issue is forgiveness. It is important to a smooth transition for the person to feel that everything is settled and complete, for them to know that they are free of the entanglements of unfinished business. This is an opportunity in the final moments to set everything in balance to the best of the ability of everyone. The moment of death is no time for holding old grudges, and a wonderful time for setting things to right.
And finally, the dying need to know that they have permission to die. They need to be assured that loved ones are taken care of.
T’s wife was described to me as “very fragile,” spending much of her time with him in tears. My sense of what was transpiring is that her pain and fear were holding onto him. Until she can find the strength to live without him, he will not be willing to pass on. In fact, he had been in this state for more than five days. She was not present with us that evening.
When the ritual was completed, Karen, the sister and I sat on the floor and talked. There were memories and stories, and laughter that she shared with T. We were certain that he joined with us, though he could not physically respond. He remained calm, breathing.
The sister walked with us down the hallway on the way out. We hugged goodby. She was in a good place.
The evening air was cool and refreshing.
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This was on my phone answering system this morning, from the Austin Hospice social worker:
“I wanted to sincerely thank you and Karen so much for what you did for T last night and for his sister. We noticed and the nurse even noted in the chart that he became very calm, his respirations were calm and he stayed that way through the night. It really did make a difference for him even just physically. He is very, very peaceful at this time, using less anxiety medication, which is wonderful. I know that for his sister it was incredibly special.
“So I just wanted to let you know how wonderful that was and how much it meant to him, to his family, and to all of our team here. Thank you SO much. We sure appreciate it.”
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T passed away a little before 5:00 am this morning, Friday May 2. His social worker said that after the ritual, he was very peaceful and his anxiety medication remained “way, way low.”
To T and his family, thank you for the honor to be with you.
[Originally posted May 2, 2008]
