52. Decolonizing the Mind: You Belong to Your Ancestors - Tamira Cousett

Embodying the blessing of being a child of diverse lineages, being rooted first in our ancestral stories and second in our cultural narratives, embracing our inherent worth as we step into the work we came here to do, and so much more...

IN THE INTRO:

Imaginal remembering
How primal human posture has greatly diminished my pain
Gathering the stories of your elders

IN THE INTERVIEW:

Tamira’s childhood experiences with the unseen, and how that was (not) held in her family
We are accountable to our ancestors
The process of remembering and learning to be in daily, direct communication with those who hold the container for our lives
Being a bridge between our children and the ancestors- incorporating small ritual into our lives and sharing our peoples’ stories
Our children are the ancestors returning as the new faces of the lineage
The evolution of Tamira’s ancestral healing journey as a black woman in the south with both African and European ancestors
Seeing today’s -isms as rituals of disconnection that feed shame and hatred and anger, which further fuel racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc.
Remembering that black and white are not ancestral categories and stepping back to view the larger historical narratives of our people
The story of the harmonizing of two of Tamira’s lineages, one of West African descent and one of European- what was shown to her during the ceremony and how the healing changed her life (we cry)
Victimhood, blame, forgiveness, and how our redemption is tied into one another’s
Claiming first the identity of being a child of your ancestors before being anchored in the (very real and valid) identities the world assigns you
Ancestral connection banishes imposter syndrome- you belong with and to your people always, they’re holding the container of your life so that you can bring your medicine forward (and when we feel this belonging this we are much less likely to perpetuate cultural and personal harms)
Holding space for childrens’ grief, and the generations of unmetabolized grief wreaking havoc on our culture