ray ruano week #5

CW: death

This week has been so heavy and numbing. My aunt transitioned after a long and tough battle with cancer. I think about death and this transition and what this means for the family she left behind. Will this trauma be passed down? How can we begin to heal and how we can have these important conversations? 

“Unless the relationship between the living and the dead is in balance, chaos ensues,” he says. “The Dagara believe that, if such an imbalance exists, it is the duty of the living to heal their ancestors. If these ancestors are not healed, their sick energy will haunt the souls and psyches of those who are responsible for helping them.”

This line from the article, 'What a Shaman Sees--'  resonated with me. I do believe in "generational trauma" as a concept and an idea worth learning more about, but it's difficult to assess what this really means for the person and how one would go about doing it. I believe trauma can be passed down through generations and influences one's psyche and mental health. 

As discussed in the reading, while people with mental disorders are deemed crazy, in non-western cultures, they are viewed as an opportunity to become a healer. However, not everyone can be "saved" and most are medicated beyond consciousness and left to die. While others do not have the access, resources, support, and/or knowledge that this is much bigger than themselves and that there is an excess of energy within themselves. 


I find this depressing but it's real life. Healing is necessary but most do not know how to do it.