Latest / Willow Healing Matters Podcast / Why Death Isn't the End | Celtic Keening, Grief Healing & Shamanic Wisdom with Martha Wright

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Why Death Isn't the End | Celtic Keening, Grief Healing & Shamanic Wisdom with Martha Wright · Willow Healing Matters Podcast

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Willow Healing Matters, the podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: We are so excited to have you joining us on this journey
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: where we explore different ways to empower your soul,
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: whether it's healing in your kitchen or all the way up in the corporate world.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Come with us as we look into different ways to heal your mind, body and soul.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: My virtual obsession,
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: my romantic thriller, is now available on Amazon and other online retailers.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: This book explores the intersection of loneliness, love,
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: and how chasing perfection through technology can lead to fantasy
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: and reality colliding.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: My virtual obsession out now.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: Hey everyone,
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: it's Catherine Crestani with another episode of Willow Healing Matters
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: and today I have an amazing guest for you, Martha Wright.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: So she is a perfect combination of maternal and badass and Martha has a heart
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_03: for helping people reclaim their agency and live with presence.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: As a medicine woman,
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: her work
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: weighs together cultic spirituality,
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: shamanic energy healing,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Psychology,
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Somatic Awareness, Executive Coaching, and Keening, which is Greek Tending.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: No matter how you show up with Martha,
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: she always does her best to show up as a vessel of divine energy,
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: grounded, engaged, present, and compassionate.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Blending sacred and practical,
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: realistic and esoteric,
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: her work nurtures your spiritual connections to yourself and spirit,
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: empowering you to live an intuitive, joyful life.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: You can trust that Martha is going to keep it totally real, compassionate and fun.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: So a big welcome to the show, Martha.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Catherine.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: Woo!
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: The crowd goes wild.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: We need the little sound effects.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: What is that, a crowd of adoring fans?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, that's it, exactly.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: But straight away,
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: I will to have that conversation about cultic spirituality
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: because I actually haven't had anyone talk about it on the show yet.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I know,
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: I was sharing just before we started recording,
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: my background is Irish in my blood,
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: which is a white witch lineage and all that fun stuff and wine pulled to runes.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: But what even pulled you to that cultic spirituality and the work that you do now?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I think long story short,
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: I had a life calling to being in service or being of service,
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I should say,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: to the community by way of being a healer, a shamanic healer specifically.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started all of my, I mean, my gateway drug to all of this was Reiki.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, it is for
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: everyone, right?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: It was in my 20s.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, who am I?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: What am I?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: And someone's like, Reiki.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh my God, amazing.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: Doing it.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I became a Reiki master teacher.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's like my abridged version.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's a lot of more details to that.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's very poetic, but nonetheless, we're moving on.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so then in my 30s, I had the calling to become a shaman.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: I was getting chronically sick.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: I was being faced with a very difficult surgery.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I asked spirit.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: I just, I mean, I wasn't even like, quote, too spiritual.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was very spiritual, very woo, right?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I wasn't grounded in anything.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, what is happening?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I heard I needed to become a shaman.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I got on Google and I said, what is a shaman?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: And because I heard it,
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: like I legit heard the words,
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: like someone was talking to me, but I was in the room alone.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was like, well, that's kind of crazy.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then, but my whole body lit up.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then that led to me going full-blown academic, researching everything I could possibly read.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I went and did a few apprenticeships with Egyptian mystery schools.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Then I realized I really needed a foundation and core shamanism,
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: which is what I then pursued for a few years after that and at the same time became
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: a breathwork teacher and found myself at yet another crossroads where I was like,
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: okay, something more is calling me.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: I feel this foundation.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm solid with spirit.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: I know I'm in practice as a healer already and a teacher at that point as well.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: So if it's something more Just something else.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I had the shamanic.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: I had that masculine container, that support structure.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I was missing that feminine.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: I was missing that flow, that intuitive, that the dark, the yin, right?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so I found myself at this crossroads and I thought I could go with
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: a living tradition that I have some connection to with the Mayans.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or I could go with my ancestry, right?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started reading the ancestral research of my father had done.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I, we talked about that before.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: My dad went full deep dive.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: He went beyond Ancestry.com.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: He went to like the libraries and all the documents and found
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: that we were predominantly,
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: well, we were Scottish by way of Ireland on the way to the US.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so I said, okay, Celtic, of course.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've always been into this shit, right?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: So like, why not?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: And that led to two apprenticeships,
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: which both guided,
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: one was very much core Celtic spirituality,
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: because Celtic is kind of an umbrella term for,
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: I believe it's like five different nations, right?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: You have Irish, Scottish, Manx, or Isle of Man, Wales in Britain, or the Breton.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so those are going to be your five Celtic nations.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, there is also Gaulish, right?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: The Gaulish Celtic.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: And there's also Celtic roots that you find in.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Portugal and parts of Spain and Germany.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: So like there is a whole pan-Celtic history,
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: but it is largely really celebrated as being something more Welsh and Irish
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: because those are the places,
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: especially Ireland,
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: because those are the places where the Christian shifts did not fully take over.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now largely, I'm sorry, I'm going like deep into history now, but I'll get back to the question.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: I promise we'll circle back.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like the raven flies.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_03: There's a reason.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_03: We need to know this.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know,
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: historically,
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: the much
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: of Celtic culture,
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: especially in Ireland,
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: like any other,
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: in Scotland, Wales, man,
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: it's going to be the Druids and the Bards who kept the stories alive,
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: who kept the traditions, the ritual and the practices alive.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then when you have these Celtic monks,
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, Celtic,
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Christian monks coming up through the Celtic lands,
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: slowly Christianizing the people.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's not all bad, right?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: They did bring some really beautiful things about equality and peace.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Tenderness and Christian forgiveness and brotherhood.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: But then, of course, as things had changed, it then turned ugly.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: We don't need to get into the witch trials just yet.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: But nonetheless, they come into Ireland and they're like, hey, guys, we're cool.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: We'll write down your stories for you.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: We got you.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: We will do the work.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: You just tell it to us.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so a lot did get changed.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: The sovereignty goddesses go from being these really deeply sacred
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: and important Figures to a little witchy and scary,
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: a little promiscuous and whorish,
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: a little old and forgettable, you know, oh, she's a hag now, right?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so a lot was still retained, but there's a patriarchal, not trying to judge the men, right?
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: But there is this patriarchal lens that comes from the monk recitation or
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: the writing of the stories that But we work with those stories
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: because that's what we have.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we work with them.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: We read past those filters and we begin to unearth the memories that are in our bones.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what I got from my apprenticeships with going in
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: the ancestral connection was the right thing to do for me.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: But it helped me to unearth from my bones these truths,
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: these universal truths,
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: but these truths Ancestral and communal and natural animistic ritual practice truths
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: that were in me that I couldn't name.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I always felt like the calendar was a circle and I didn't know why as a kid.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: The wheel of the year.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: I always felt like winter didn't start on the winter solstice.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: I felt like that doesn't make sense.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: I just knew that wasn't right.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it doesn't.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: All Souls Day.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you think about like,
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: and then the solstice and the equinoxes are the height of each season.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: The day in Celtic culture begins at night because like all life,
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: we begin in the dark and we end in the dark.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: So why not begin the day,
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  SPEAKER_01: the celebration of what is coming at night in the dark when it is the time of rest
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: and complete, like we are not able to see far away and be distracted.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: All we have is ourselves and our connection to spirit.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that because it's a reminder that one,
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: all of that is true, but two, fucking rest, bruh.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like we are so hyperproductive.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: When did we stop?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Why aren't we?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not even, like I still, I'm just, so like beginning with rest, so important.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway,
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: these are like things that like were waking up inside of me and that's what led
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: to my medicine woman work.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I call myself a shamanic medicine woman because on one level, I want to honor the lineages.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: That helped me become who I am and who I've been on a soul level.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's structural, it's lineage, it's important, it's reverence.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm also this medicine woman because I have had past lives.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: As a keener, as a wise woman, as a healer.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: And that is so intuitive.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: That is not prescriptive.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: That is not dogmatic.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: That is 100% open faith, flow of spirit.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that is so feminine, right?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: So the two balance me out.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I have that as my full title.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: But that's how I got into Celtic spirituality.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really what drives me in my practice today.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: I love so many aspects of your shares.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't care we got a history list.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: We needed that.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: It's a good one.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_03: It's a good one.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_03: But it's also,
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: I also love that you said,
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_03: you know,
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: it's just the encompassment of what you do, right?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes it's really hard to describe to other people what we do and put a title on it.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then also when you let spirit work through you,
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: the magic that you do and you can't,
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it's funny because I had someone about a month ago say to me,
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: where did you learn all of this?
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: I said, spirit, like, you know, and it was even funnier.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: This coaching company contacted me.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't know why,
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: but I clicked on this ad on Instagram and my guides were like, just fill it in.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel it was just one of those conversations I had to have to reflect back
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_03: to me what I really wanted in that moment.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: And the question they had for me is, where did you get your coaching certification?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I said, does life and God count?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: Because...
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and they didn't know what to say.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I, and then I had my client come in and I said, you know, like, I can't talk to you anymore.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then I, they were messaging to try and organize another time said, look, let's be honest.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: We're not meant for each other.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not meant to work with you.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: You care about qualifications.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: I care about life experience.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're not going to meet each other here.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, all the best.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: But no, thank you.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes even the whole shaman in your title,
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: a lot of people picture shaman as just,
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: you know, this little old man in the village kind of thing.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: But what shaman is, is it's actually connecting with traditions of the people and the land.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know,
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: a shaman in Australia from First Nation
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: or Aboriginal heritage will look very different in their practices to a shaman
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: from Navajo American Indian traditions or from Central America traditions.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: But they're all shamans because they're all connecting with the ancestry
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: and connecting with the land.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, shaman is less so, well, it's a title.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's a title and it's a service.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's being that bridge between,
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: like you said, the community and the unseen, non-ordinary realities.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: So something that I find is really important for me to remember and to share
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: with others is that We learn from our human teachers how to do the things as a human
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: to be in that role, in that act or service.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because we need our humans to help make sense of the esoterisms in human understandings.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: But then we have spirit who guides us and it's those rites of passages,
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: those invitations for deeper inquiry and challenges to heal,
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: to walk the shadow path,
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: to open up the grief and the rage and the fear and the resentment.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's spirit.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Spirit teaches us all the real, deep, good, juicy stuff.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then it is in practice when our community reflects to
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: You are shaman.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: That is when we call ourselves shaman.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, our teacher can tell us you are shaman now,
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: but really it's when the people we serve tell us you did a good job by me.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're the real deal.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's when we can self-claim I am this.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm honored to have been given that opportunity many times now to hear that reflected to me.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm truly honored and I don't take it lightly,
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: but I also recognize that there are tremendous amounts of Shamans
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: in living ancestral traditions, Mayan, Native American, right?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: Aboriginal, parts of Africa, like there are loads of them.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so I never want to be disrespectful.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm always confident and proud of this title,
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: but I'm also self-aware enough to say that there's likely something I don't know yet
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: and that's okay.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm still learning because we're all still learning.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: If we're not learning, we're dead.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: I say if we're not expanding, we're just one step closer to the grave, right?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: But I love that you brought up that point too because it's just very...
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Reflective because so often people get stuck on the title, right?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: And they just hang on to it.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: They hang on to the label.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I get it.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's the human ego trying to grasp straws and trying to figure out how to put things together.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: But if you started to label everything that you do, it's a very, very long list.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then sometimes you don't even know what you can do until you're in the moment.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: When I started Connecting more with plants and doing plant wisdom work,
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: all of a sudden plants are showing up in my sessions and they're like,
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: just stand back.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, okay.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: They're like, mugwort walks in and he's like, I've got it.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: Don't worry about it.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: Off I go.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, All right.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: And then I'm there with my client and then they were like in a meditation,
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_03: like kind of just put themselves in their sleep because they needed it.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: And she comes back and I said, so you have a lot of plants working on you right now?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: She's like, oh, I'm okay with that.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: I said, great.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: I said, does this flower mean anything to you?
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_03: Because I have no idea what this flower is.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: Like that, you know, I was like, oh, okay.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: And it's just this trust and putting yourself to the side.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, But I want to bring up, too, because it keeps coming in my head.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Can you explain what keening is to people who haven't heard that before?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so keening is this Irish, well, Scottish and Irish, I should say Scots-Irish.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: It is Irish.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Scottish and Irish,
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: and we see it in other parts of Celtic nations, but really it is this grief tending.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: It is a grief ritual that would have happened historically at the wake.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: So the wake would be three days because like all sacred threes,
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: it takes three days for the soul to fully leave the body and to go to the other side
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: in completion.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so in that three-day wake, you would have these women who Or men.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: So Ban Kinsha is a woman keener.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: A Far Kinsha or Far Kinsha.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: My Gaelic is atrocious.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: So just I'm doing the best I can.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: But then you have Mana Kinsha, which means the women keeners.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so you have one lead keener and two helpers.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so they come in threes.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: They're wearing all black and wearing the veil.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: A mourning cry,
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: singing laments, singing dirges, if it was appropriate, mourning with the community.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: And what they do is they mix songs,
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: like I said,
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: laments,
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: proper songs, with these also mournful, sobbing cries that are part of the song.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: So you could be like,
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: you know, the beautiful folk song about this young girl who dies and then...
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then a lot of times you'll hear in different provinces
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: like a cha-cha-cha-cha.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it sounds like crying.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: And they did that.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was very provocative and evocative.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: Pulling at their hair.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: It was performative.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: Throwing their bodies over the casket.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: Sean, oh, Sean, why'd you leave us, Sean?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: And so people are like, fuck, this is upsetting.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then they're just
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: fucking crying.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's very exciting and intense.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: And they did that because it was all about the grief tending.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: They were saying, hey, you all have to get back to life.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: We are here in this moment to celebrate and mourn this loss.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: So let us do it and let us do it fully.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so what happens is that then everyone truly grieves and gets all that grief
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: and rage and sadness and whatever it came up and out of the body.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it's this communal release so that way when the wake is done,
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: everyone feels cleansed and ready to move on.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: And that soul has been properly mourned.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so they are properly on the other side.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: They're not stuck because they have been called so loudly by the keeners and by
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: the community that the spirit guides angels or what have you.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Or in my case,
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: the way I see it working with this,
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: you know, the vive kind of helps usher them to the other side.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, vive is one aspect of the Morrigan.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Or the Morrigan is the other way.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: I call her the Morrigan because it really speaks to the greatness of her name, the Great Queen.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: But the Morrigan is this triple goddess of death.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so the Morrigan, you have Maka, who I see as kind of sacred rage.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: And she has her own beautiful story.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: And Vive.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Who I see as Sacred Grief.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: And she is largely associated with the Banshee or the Banshee.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you hear this mournful screaming cry,
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: a lot of families in Ireland and in Scotland would talk
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: about how they would hear this woman screeching,
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: wailing outside their home at night.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes they would even see a woman in a black cloak,
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: you know, pointing at the home, white hair.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Totally freaky.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Totally freaky.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then next thing you know, someone's died.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Or the next morning they wake up, someone's dead.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: And the idea is that the Banshee tells, they foretell, she foretells the death of a loved one.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Vive is seen as the washer at the ford.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so as soldiers would be crossing the bridge to go towards battle,
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: if they saw this old woman in the water washing bloodied clothes
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: that was telling them, you're about to die, so go and die well.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Give it your best.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so Vive is the king for me.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: She is who I don't channel...
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: I don't channel the vast majority of spirit.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's not my practice.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: But she, I will channel.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because when I hold a keen,
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: whether it's a one-on-one,
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: whether it's in person or virtual,
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: or if it's a group,
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: when I hold a keen, she is working through me because it's all about her.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: She knows how beautiful death, how important death, How necessary death is.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: And we celebrate death with her through the keen, through this grief release.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because what it does is it reminds us that life is precious and sacred and beautiful
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: and abundant.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: And when we do the diligent work of unearthing all this intensity out of our body,
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: we open up space to feel our inner wildness again.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you're a man, a woman, queer, it doesn't matter.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: We all have this inner wildness.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: That needs to be a part of who we are.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: It is the untamable.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean we're going to go into the grocery store and like take a bat
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: and break all the bottles.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's not wildness.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's just reckless.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Wildness is nonconformity when it is your soul's purpose.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: It is recognizing the ways in which society tells us or our family or dogma
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: or whatever tells us we're supposed to be this way.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: And we say, no, that just isn't right for my soul's expression.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: I will be wild and do what is best for me.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Within the confines of being a decent human, right?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: We're not going to go around and raping, pillaging, murdering.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: But we are going to do the thing.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe we aren't going to become the accountant that our family wants us to be.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to become the singer, right?
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: So these are little acts of wildness.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: And when we embrace the wildness within ourselves,
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: We allow ourselves to truly feel free to just feel our emotions because
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: that is also wild.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so keening, the way I practice it, is very shamanic.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: There are formal keeners still.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's a reviving practice that Mary McLaughlin has been.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: She's diligently researched, written books.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: She's phenomenal.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: I admire her and I hope to meet her one day.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: And she trains proper formal keening singers.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: I've learned it through a more shamanic practice.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Geraldine Sullivan taught my teacher, Sarah Richardson, who has a new married name.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: I apologize.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know it.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then she taught me and it's much more shamanic.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it really is about going into the womb space or into the sacral,
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: the pelvis,
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: breathing, moving,
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: connecting with the goddess,
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: connecting with that energy,
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: feeling and releasing, liberating the body, returning the wildness into the heart.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: And being free of those deep emotions that otherwise were keeping us stagnant or stuck.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how keening works through me.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_03: That's such beautiful practice.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_03: And needed.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_03: Because I...
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: I hate funerals, not because they're a funeral.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: I hate them because it's never celebrating.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's just remembering and it's,
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: you know, kind of the grieving, but it's not allowing you to fully grieve.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like you have to go through these rituals and you have to show up and do certain things.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually have death on my spirit council.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds so weird, the spirit of death.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I was just driving to work when I
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: used to drive to go to work.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_03: Death shows up in my car, right?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: This is going to sound so weird.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm driving, having this conversation with death, and I said, I'm not afraid of dying.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_03: He's like, no, you're not.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, but I understand the necessary, like exactly you said, why
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: we need death.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, yeah.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, and if you don't have death, there is no life because you need that balance.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people I feel because they think that once we die, that's it.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that that's the end of the soul.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, doing what I do, I'm like, no, it's just the beginning.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like there's so much that they keep doing on the other side.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much that keeps happening.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's unpacking all the religious beliefs or the false things as well.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And even I had a client last week.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: And weirdly, I had to get death.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: Anubis as well.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: And Hades.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we went on a journey.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because...
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: We had to actually take that soul to a deeper level of death so
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: that it could shake off the things constraining it.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: But it was just the weirdest experience where I was like, wow,
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm literally surrounded by these figures of death because,
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: you know, when we tap into it.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, it was like you don't feel that around them.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: They're just there helping that transitional.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: They're just helping let go of something.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: And death doesn't have to be the end of it.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: I feel it's only the beginning.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_03: What's your next incarnation going to be?
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_03: What are we rolling the dice for now?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: What shit did I not solve or heal in this life
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: that I'm bringing with me?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: What kind of lessons
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: are left?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: I sometimes like to,
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: I just like to joke slash think about like when we die,
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: are we like, fuck, I still have this thing with me.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: I was so close,
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: but I just didn't do it,
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: because I mean,
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: for those listening who are like, what are you talking about, Martha?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: Essentially, when we incarnate, we incarnate
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: with questions, with inquiries, with questions.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: With baggage as well from past lives.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: So we may incarnate with karma as people would call a karma or baggage.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: So unresolved tensions, traumas, pains, problems, and relationships from past lives.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: So we come in with that baggage and we come in with the desire to learn things.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: Things, experience things, and challenge and grow in various ways.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we are setting ourselves up, we have like a full docket of shit to do in this life.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: And we have our baggage.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well,
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: now I know why the human experience can feel so convoluted and complicated
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: because we have a lot of extra stuff that we've packed in and we live in a world
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: that does not remind us.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have our elders anymore.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have our rites of passage anymore.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: We don't live with the seasons as much anymore.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: It is resurging because it is time for us to remember,
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: to not only remember the earth as one,
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: as we are one with the earth, but with each other.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so like You know, it's resurging, beautiful, necessary, great.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: But in truth, like, yeah,
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: we have all of this going on and we're supposed to remember ease and flow and trust
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: with spirit and love and enjoyment and sensuality and sexuality,
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: things that are, you know, these, these Beautiful, sensual experiences.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like think about the most delicious food, right?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: The way a beautiful flower stops you in your tracks and smells so good.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: How touched the hug of a loved one or even the touch of a very intimate partner.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like those things, you don't get outside of earth.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's baller and that's here too.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, yeah, we have a full docket.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_03: Someone,
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: I was listening to an interview once and he described Earth as
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_03: the emotional university of the universe.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I went, I just started crying because I'm like, it's so true.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I sent it to my spiritual mentor and she's like, I started crying because it's so true.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: I've never felt so seen.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but we chose it.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_03: We chose to sign up for it.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_03: And even, you know...
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's why I always say I just run into the lessons because I don't want
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: to do them again in my next incarnation.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's so real.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's so real.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: Today, just this morning,
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: I was sitting down and I was facing something for a couple of weeks and I was like,
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: all right, it's time.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: The time is here.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: I can feel it.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's finally built up.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: Today is the day.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I grabbed my drum.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: I love my medicine drum.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: She's amazing.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I sat down and I just,
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: I had the drum like this and I just did one, two, three and just burst into a keem.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like it doesn't take anything anymore because I'm just like, you know what?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to do it.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not going to fight it.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like totally wailing and then had an awesome experience with my ancestors.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: It was great.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: It was great.
• 28:03
  Perfect.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: And then we move on and then we go get groceries and pick up the kid from school
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: and You know, make dinner.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: Keep living.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_03: Keep living.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, oh, I need to do the washing.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, let's go back to this mundane little task that we have to do today
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_03: after this profound experience.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's it.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_03: That is so it.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: I healed my chicken this morning.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: This sounds so weird.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: So I walked in and we had two chickens.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_03: We had more, but a few of them passed.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_03: But I walked in and one of them ran out because I was letting
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: them out of the coop.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then the other one,
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: she's normally really vibrant and cheeky and she was just there buried on
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: the ground.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, something's not right here.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: And her right leg, I tried to stand her up and she wouldn't stand up.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so I went and organized and sorted out the other birds and I came back
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm like, you know what, I'm going to do some healing on you.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I did and I sat there and I did theatre healing and all the other things that I do.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then she seemed different and I was like,
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: okay, I'm just going to let it integrate and walk off.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I just left her in the coop and shut it all up and then Then I was walking
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: to just put some water in a sandstone bowl we have for the animals.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then my ears started ringing and I like go back.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh, okay.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I turn around and there she is.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: She's standing up like nothing happened.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like,
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: oh my goodness,
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: because I've done healing work like that,
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: but I haven't seen it that quick, especially on animals.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: And she was just like, nothing had happened.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Her feathers were back to normal.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Her leg was fine.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Amazing.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: I just did that.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_03: But then it's like, okay,
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: now I'm going to go make my child's breakfast and I'm going to go do this
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_03: and I'm going to go do this.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, okay, I just did this miracle.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like I had a miracle happen and then I just have to keep going.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I love how animals don't have all the hangups that we do.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like, it moves like that.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: I remember, so we had a dog that I called our matriarch.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: She was amazing.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: She passed a couple of years ago, but there would be, you know, she had a rough start in life.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: She did.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: And, and I was, I remember when I was trying Reiki and she was kind of a puppy.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then again,
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: it happened a few years later when she's been older,
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: where I was like, can I try and practice on you?
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: And as a pup, like as younger puppy, and I was just learning, she was like, no.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like,
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like I just assumed all nature wanted us to like love on them and give them Reiki
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: and like pray to them and breathe with them.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: And they're like, girl, we don't need you.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: You need us.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, so then like years later, she's older.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: Her hips are bad.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm in my shamanic practice already.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: And she's totally asleep.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay, can I just offer her?
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_02: And they were like, no.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, and I'm usually amazing with ethics.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like if someone says no, it's a no.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like 100%.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: But you know when like we don't have good boundaries with our loved ones?
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: And we're like, but surely it's okay.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: So she is passed out.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, well, just a little bit.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: And they were like complete eye roll.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, okay, Martha, go for it.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: See what happens.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, okay.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: So I like tentatively kind of just like just kind of put my hands and just feel the energy flow.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I swear she is, I'm serious, passed out.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: Three seconds later, she shoots up, she looks at me like, ew, what are you doing?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: Rude.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: And then she like leaves the room.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like she gave me a full on rude, you didn't ask my permission and you didn't listen.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just like, oh, I'm so sorry.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, Mel.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_02: And she was like,
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: and then after she died,
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, we had her urn and I was like having big emotions about it one day.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: And And I was like, you know what?
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: I can do this.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: I can connect with spirit.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have the fucking time.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: I can do this.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I just stepped in and I was like, hey, I'm just trying to connect.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: And like, kind of like, you know, telephone wire got connected.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: And all of a sudden I heard, what?
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh, Elsie?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: Which is her name.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: And she was like, yeah, what?
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I...
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: And this is how you know we're not making this shit up because
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: if I was making it up, she'd have been like,
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: Mother, I love you.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: You tended me so lovely in my life and I will forever remember you.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know what I mean?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: She would have given me like heart emojis.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: But no, she was like, I'm busy.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I gave you 13 years.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_02: Can you just let me be alone?
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: She goes, it's cool.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's cool.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_02: She goes, I'm going to be there when dad and brother die.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: Don't worry about it.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: You're fine.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: And then she disappeared.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, well, I wasn't going to ask that, but all right.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: So we haven't spoken, Seth,
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: but then there's so many other amazing opportunities there where I have trees
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: and animals that do want to talk to me.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: And it's all great.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's grand, but you know.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: My cat, she's hilarious.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: So she's, I think she's nearly 20 years old, right?
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: But she was inside and
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_03: she pooed randomly in the middle of the living room.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, what is that about?
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_03: Why did you just poo in the middle of the living room?
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_03: And she goes, there was a portal open there.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_03: Pooing on the portal is the quickest way to close it.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, what?
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_03: !
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_03: Not possibly make that up in my head.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm thinking she's going to say like,
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_03: oh, you know, like it was just, you know, I couldn't make it or whatever.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_03: But it's like, no, I had to poo there to close the portal.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yeah.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: And she'll do things where she'll just come and weigh on the bed all of a sudden out
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: of nowhere.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: And my husband's like, oh, what is that?
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's always a bigger reason.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's always a bigger reason.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like it just, especially animals and especially cats.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: Cats are very intuitive and they do a lot of things that we don't know about.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it was just so funny.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_03: I just had to poo on the portal.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_03: Fuck, okay.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for that.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's a shame the portal couldn't have taken the poo with it.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_03: That would have been great.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_03: That would have been great.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: But the other funniest thing she said was,
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: because we asked her one time, like,
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: why don't you just use the spare kitty litter we have in case she gets stuck inside?
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because normally she likes to be outside.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: And she goes, that is beneath me.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, my God.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, well, learn to use the toilet then.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, my gosh.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know she would too.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: She'd be like flushing.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, like I'll meet the parents.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_02: I feel we would talk all day, Martha.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like your listeners are probably like, what is happening right now?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: Did you have any other questions about Celtic stuff that you wanted to cover
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: before we have to wrap up?
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'm just kidding.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_03: You guys need to wrap up.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: We'll just go down crazy rabbit holes.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_03: But I asked the guests that come on,
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_03: Martha, if you could heal or change something in the world, what would it be?
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: So many things.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: Thank Because we as humans have such impact on the web of living,
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: I would want to heal the way in which we feel separate from each other and from
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: the land and from the nature.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: I would want to unlearn what we've been taught
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: and how what we've been taught Has manifest into behaviors and choices and beliefs,
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: embodied beliefs about separation from spirit,
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: from the earth,
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: from the land, from the nature, from each other, from the animals, all of it, air.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that just that in itself,
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: if we can remember that we're not separate and we are very dependent
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: and we are not superior, we are just smart.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think that would make a massive,
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: massive difference in how we are living and how we are consuming.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful, beautiful.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if people want to come and work with you, Martha,
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: or even learn more about what you do,
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: or Habakini, where's the best place that they can come find you?
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: So you're so welcome to send me a message on Instagram.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: My handle's at Martha Medicine Woman.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: But my website is actually great because I have loads of info on there
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: and you can do a contact me thing and just connect with me there.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: Whether you just want to join my email list or if you want to reach out with
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: a specific question.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: My website is Martha Medicine Woman.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: So marthamw.com.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, look, I am not too cool for anything or anyone.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: I am very much,
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: like you said earlier,
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: if you're feeling drawn to work with me,
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: just reach out and let's see what comes of it.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm never going to pressure someone to work with me if it doesn't feel totally aligned.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I'm happy to help as I can.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll make sure all those details are in the show notes so people can come
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: and connect with you, Martha.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if you did enjoy this episode,
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: please feel free to do the normal things of like, share and subscribe, but also...
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you're curious about Keening or maybe there is a deep grief in your soul
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: that needs to be released,
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: this might be that sign that you're looking for to connect with Martha or just have
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: a conversation.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: And Martha,
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: thank you so much for going into Celtic history,
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: into Keening,
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: but also
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_03: for sharing so beautifully about your dog that really didn't need you.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_03: That I apparently loved way more than she loved me.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I love it.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you again, Martha, for your time, your energy, and for being in this space with me.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Catherine.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a delight.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, beautiful souls.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is Catherine Crestani here, and I wanted to have a chat with you about a really amazing...
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: Cacao that I drink to help me get in ceremony,
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: to help me ground, but also just because it tastes freaking good.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're curious and want to know about drinking something other than coffee
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: or your standard tea, why not check out Creation Cacao?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: I love this with a bit of honey and cinnamon sprinkled in and Just letting it brew
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: and having that whole intention as you create this cup.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're curious and want to know more,
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: check out the link in the show notes and in the bio and enjoy.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Willow Healing Matters, the podcast.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_00: We have so much love and gratitude that you are taking the time out of your day
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: to empower you on your healing journey.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: The views shared by the person being interviewed might not necessarily reflect that
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: of the host and should be used at your own discernment.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: Trust what resonates with you and follow your heart and soul guidance.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any underlying medical conditions or mental health issues,
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: please consult with your healthcare provider and This can be found in
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: the show notes.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: Remember to activate, align, heal, empower and find love in everything that you do.