Latest / Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul / **BONUS** What Does It Mean When the Veil Is Thin? The Deeper Meaning of Samhain and Ancestral Healing

Transcript

**BONUS** What Does It Mean When the Veil Is Thin? The Deeper Meaning of Samhain and Ancestral Healing · Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to today's episode of the Healing Her Story Podcast.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: As always, so honored and delighted to be here with you today.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Today, as this episode is airing, is an especially potent and important day.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it felt important for me to come and speak to the energy and the opportunities that we have during this time.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can think of this as a bonus cycle check-in episode.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: However, instead of starting with a minute of silence, we're just gonna jump right on in today.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: However, if you feel like you need a moment before exploring and attuning to this energy, feel free to press pause and to press play again when you're ready.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: As I've said, this week, specifically this weekend, we are attuning to the energy of Sawin in again, this special bonus episode.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: As a Scorpio rising, I find this time incredibly potent.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of my favorite energies to work with.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're here on a healing journey, chances are this moment holds deep meaning for you too.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Or perhaps if it doesn't already, it might be able once you understand the meaning behind these days.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: As we move into the darker months here in the northern hemisphere, the second half of fall, and soon winter, yes, winter is coming.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: We're invited into a powerful opportunity for reflection and specifically for this weekend connection.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: When I sit with the energy of Sawan, the first phrase that always comes to me is the veil is thin.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've heard that before, but what does it really mean?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: It means that the veil between the physical world and the spiritual realm softens, allowing us easier access to the unseen through meditation, ritual, prayer, or any spiritual practice you hold dear.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: As I'm sharing this portion, I'm having a memory of, or rather, maybe a scene from Hocus Pocus beginning to come through.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And if I remember correctly, they need to do the spell on all Hallows Eve.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And there are things that happen, like the zombie, maybe not the zombie, but he looks a lot like a zombie, the man who had passed, who was buried into the ground.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: He comes to life, right?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so these more mystical things can happen during this time.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And even the witches on Hocus Pocus knew that All Hallows Eve was the most potent day to cast their spell.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's a reason Halloween and Sawin and Dio de los Muertos all fall around the same time of year.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a coincidence.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Our ancestors knew and honored what we've often forgotten in these modern times.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: For many, the season looks like dressing up, going to parties, or eating way too much sugar.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And there's nothing wrong with that.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe not exactly what I like to do anymore.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's what you want to do, that's okay.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: What I would invite you to open your mind up to is that beyond the costumes and the candy lies something sacred.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: An invitation to bring more awareness to what this time truly offers.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because when the veil is thin, we can also connect more easily with our ancestors.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that reminds me of the movie Coco.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Fun Disney movie, if you've never seen it, highly recommend watching that.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: It might be an interesting movie to watch this weekend.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'll probably add that to my Sawin weekend list.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: In the movie, the ancestors are waiting at the gates, hoping to be remembered.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Without their photo on the altar, they can't come across into the physical world.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's sort of the essence of Dial de los Muertos.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And whether or not you come from that lineage specifically, I believe that we all have the opportunity to honor those who have come before us.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Science now shows we carry up to three generations of ancestors in our bodies.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And there's even new research suggesting that we carry as many as eight, up to eight generations of our ancestors in our bodies.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Feel into that.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Every hardship, every triumph, every bit of resilience they live through, it lives in you.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Things more convenient for them as they are for us today.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Many of us are reaping the benefits of their sacrifices and their dreams, especially those of us who live in marginalized bodies, women, black and brown folks, and anyone who identifies as queer or non-binary.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone whose ancestors ancestors had to fight for survival.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And in a way, we all did, right?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Some more than others, though.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Which I think is important to name, to acknowledge.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And let's also not forget, we also inherit our ancestors' gifts, their strength, their fortitude, their creativity, their love.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: All of that gets passed down to.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: So this weekend is a time to honor that.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe through a prayer, a candle, a photo on your altar, or a quiet conversation with your loved ones or friends at home.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're a witchy woman like me, I haven't talked much about that on this show.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'll talk a little bit more about that at some point.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: But that might look like a ritual or perhaps gathering in circle.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: For me, I received so much unseen support from my ancestors, especially my grandmothers.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: When I was a young girl.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think I was maybe gosh, maybe two and then maybe five.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been yeah, it's it's it's definitely something that I miss.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: And over time, I feel like I've been able to build a relationship with them in the spirit world.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I often do this through prayer, through meditation, through movement sometimes.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's just sitting in front of my altar.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: I also like to bring offerings to my altar.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Not every week, but most weeks I will offer fruit, fresh fruit, or wine, or maybe if I've made um a meal, like a really special meal, I'll put it on the altar as well.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I really feel like the love and the guidance they offer me is beyond words.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's not something I can fully articulate with words.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that I can really feel and sense in my body.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And even as I feel into it, I start to have a little bit of emotion come up, tears welling up behind my eyes.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because it is so deep and so profound, and it means so much to me.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And as of as I've been on my healing journey, and I think really, if you're just a human in these modern times trying to live, it's so important that we have what I like to call what my teacher calls resources.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: So think about the resources we have to live: food and water, shelter.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Those are resources.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we need those things.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And there are these other resources that we can gather from tools, from people, from modalities that can really nourish us and feed us and give us the fuel that we need to keep going.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because let's be real, this is not an easy life.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's easier for some more than others.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And overall, we are in some challenging times right now, globally.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And we need resources, especially if if you're someone in your family, in your lineage, breaking cycles, doing things differently, creating a new path, forging a new path.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna need resources for that journey.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: You just are.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: That is gonna be an incredibly challenging journey without the right kind of fuel, without the right kind of support.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think of running a marathon too.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I've ran a half marathon, two half marathons, and I quickly learned and was taught by my coaches that you need fuel for that journey.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's the little goose, if you run, you know what I'm talking about, or you know, I've heard of runners, pizza and like waffles or like soda, but like they they're fueling their bodies to continue on with that journey.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we need that too.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so our ancestors and our connections to our answers can be one of those resources.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you, without support and resourcing, healing becomes incredibly difficult, if not impossible.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: So if you find that you are struggling or that you are being challenged, I'd be curious to know or to see what gathering more resources, um, how that might support you.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: And if you need a little extra support with that this week, I've left a bonus somatic meditation for you in the show notes.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is a free meditation over on Insight Timer, which is a free meditation app, the number one meditation app I might add.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this practice is a guided practice to help you connect, you'll first notice, with the support of uh the physical space that you're in, and then the very earthly support from our planet.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then the last layer is this unseen layer of support.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll leave that for you in the show notes for you to explore over the weekend.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're listening on Spotify or if you listen over on Insight Timer 2 and you've created an account, feel free to leave me a comment and share your experience with me.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear how this practice, how these themes landed for you today.