Welcome to today's episode, which is short and sweet.
This is Meena Melissa Leigh.
And this is the She Who Is Seeking Podcast and today we're
going to talk about ancestry.
And honoring our lineage.
And.
Doing so in a way that really falls in line with this time of
And here we . Hello.
All of my beautiful seekers and friends.
It's so exciting.
We've had some rain.
We've had some wind spin.
Beautiful.
And then the warmth will creep in for a few hours during the day.
And then we're back to that delicious.
Autumn.
I feel in the air.
And I love it.
And.
I am just really feeling this time of the year, feeling it.
So.
So deep that.
The other things in life are just falling away.
And this is feeling like that time of year.
That.
I get my house ready.
To sort of turn inwards for the fall and the winter.
And by that, I mean, my physical house.
We're going to get a few things that need repairs done.
Just so that those things aren't calling my attention anymore.
And I'm doing the same thing with my body as far as.
Nutrition.
That's my dog.
And just honoring the feelings that are calling me about.
Getting more rest and more.
Coziness and I've made soup three times this week alone.
And just really feeling into all those things.
And I just wanted to invite you to do some of the same.
Work that I'm doing.
If it feels good for you and that you feel called to do it.
Always at this time of year.
So every summer, even when it's really hot, I already start to feel the.
Autumn coming.
Even though there's no breeze.
I can hear what that.
When sounds like that.
When that blows the leaves down the street.
And.
I always just feel really called to do a little bit of preparation,
both in my mind, my body.
My home.
And so I'm doing that.
And also I'm just really feeling.
As though this adventure of trying to uncover my ancestry.
Is just always kind of running in the background.
And so.
I have been trying to uncover a few of the missing links.
Of my.
Ancestry, those holes, those mysterious people.
Who did not leave a heavy mark to trace.
So I'm having a lot of thoughts about a lot of things, but
they do seem to be interwoven.
So I'm going to talk about them.
And talk about what I'm doing and I'm going to invite you to do the same.
And.
Some of what I was thinking about earlier today with some of my book club friends.
Is this idea of.
The room of origin.
Which.
Is from the Unlikely Peace at Cucamaquic, by Martine Prechtel.
I always feel like I say all of that wrong.
But the book is beautiful.
It's lovely.
It's long.
It's fantastic.
I do recommend it.
It does make you slow down.
And really become.
Conscious of.
Trying to multitask how we're always doing that.
And it makes you.
Hmm, this dog.
I am serious.
Okay.
She's smashing her face in a sheepskin.
That's what that sound is.
And I'm going to leave it in because.
That's kind of funny.
To me.
And that's her snorting she's trying to get comfortable.
That's all, you know, I think that's a sign.
Let's all get.
Comfortable.
Whether you're on the go or relaxing.
To sort of settle down into this idea.
She's still not settling down, but I'm going So.
Is this idea from the book.
Talks about how.
Everything has an origin.
So for instance, You made.
Tomato sauce.
But where did the tomatoes come from?
Where did the seeds come from?
And who grew them originally or things that go back even further.
If you have a.
A treasure box full of little treasures.
Where did each of those treasures come from?
And who made the box?
What kind of tree?
Is it who cut down the tree.
Whereas the tree from what did they cut down the tree with?
Sort of like the spiritual chain of command of every.
Object.
And It would be extremely difficult.
To just suddenly transition to.
Being able to speak to that.
However it did really make me think.
What are the things that I have that I know the stories of, at least as far back
as I can So for instance, My example today was I have this little wooden painted.
Letter opener.
That's on a cord and it was my.
Fathers mothers.
Great grandmothers.
And so I don't know the.
Origin of who carved it and of what would.
And who painted it?
However, it has been special to me always.
And it's so tiny and so beautiful.
And then there's other.
Things that I have and you know, none of them might have any worth to anyone else.
But another one I Is my mother had.
This lipstick in the sixties and it's in this little gold tube
that looks like a Roman column.
And it's actually max factor.
And it still smelled good when I was in high school, although it doesn't anymore.
And.
I just felt like I could imagine her putting on this.
Frosted lipstick with her long, middle parted, straight ironed looking hair
and her bell-bottoms and I just.
Always felt like it was this key to the past.
Connecting.
Me as a teenager to her as a teenager through this item.
That was so special to her and then became so special to me.
And I am a sentimental person and I do love things of beauty and I do love.
Hearing the stories of things.
And so this felt like a beautiful challenge.
To be able to start to slow down.
And imagine what.
What are the things.
That I bring into my life.
Where are they Who made them.
And essentially what gave its life.
For that to be made.
What tree from where.
Who cut it down, who carved the bowl?
And all of these things and.
You On the one hand.
It greatly.
Limits the consumption that you have.
Which is great.
And on the other hand, it really invites you in with this opportunity.
To deeply bond with and cherish these things.
Not.
From a materialistic.
Point of view.
But all.
All things have value.
And when we only insist on bringing things.
That have value into our lives.
I mean in a way, partly it's like voting with your dollars, right?
If people stop buying things in plastic, hopefully eventually they'll
stop making things in plastic.
If they stopped buying things that are from the dollar tree.
Hopefully.
There will stop being so many.
Crappy things produced for the dollar tree.
And on the other hand,
As somebody who can see and really connect with the energy of things.
And the connection of things and people.
And the connection of the energy of a space.
And what it feels like when it's too crowded or what it
feels like when it's polluted.
And clogged with items that are not loved or valued.
It's one of those things that also is going to help with that, because if
you have less things, And you love all the things that you have that shows.
If you have a lot of things that are beautiful and that you love.
That has a way different energy.
Then some things that are sterile and unloved.
You can live your life.
However you want to.
But when we are surrounded only with the things that are important and
we let the other things fall away.
Energetically.
Physically, emotionally, spiritually.
Then we're left with a tighter container.
And we are able to be more in charge of our feelings about those
things, which is really important.
My invitation.
Is that we all.
Go through.
And look for and find some of the things that we have that are.
Gifts from our ancestors.
That are meaningful because they are heirlooms of our family.
Things that reflect the history.
Of the people of our lineage.
Whether that's letters or.
A ring or a packet of seeds or in my case,
I have these handmade tools that my Papa
And.
When you honor your ancestors at this time of year.
Always some of that is At least, I imagine I always gather some of that.
Some of those things up.
For myself, but I generally only do it with items.
That are from those who have passed.
But my feeling this year is that.
I want to gather some special things from my family.
Who's still around as well.
I just really want to be enveloped in this feeling of my lineage.
Both looking into the past.
And standing firmly rooted in this present.
And looking forward into the future.
Not with any expectations.
Not with any list of demands.
But just as the path that's laid out before me.
One that I am so happy to be on.
And.
There's no better time.
To begin this practice, then now.
And.
Especially since the veil is so thin and we have access
to being able to see through.
These then parts.
Better at this time of year than any other.
So if we sit in meditation, With.
These tokens of.
What our family has left to us.
If we have any of these things.
What will come through?
What messages can you hear?
How can you deepen your relationship with your family?
How can you.
Augment or refine.
The way that you think about your current familial situation.
And how can you more carefully craft and hone?
What it is that you want to leave?
Behind as a legacy.
When you're gone.
So many of us.
Do have very important things to share.
And I would say there's such a small number of people.
Who have taken the time?
To record.
What those things are.
And not all of us.
Can slow down enough to really share those messages with people.
In real time in a way that is.
Meaningful.
So why not spend some of this time reflecting?
On what those messages are.
And connect with the messages that you have received from your family.
And the messages that you are receiving from spirit.
Whether you do this in your book of shadows or a journal or in a
letter to your future self or to.
Your descendants.
I just was really struck when researching my own lineage.
How many holes there were and how little is known about some
of the people in my family.
And it made me.
Really hunger for that knowledge.
Not in a grasping way, but just in a way that was so open to the
possibilities of what those things were.
And I know that sometimes.
Those things can be very.
Scary to be open up to because.
Not all of us are from.
Lineages that are full of stellar behavior.
If you know what I mean.
So sometimes.
We avoid looking deeply into the past because we're afraid of what we might see.
But when we don't.
Acknowledge that.
And we don't honor.
What it means to have that in our bones.
In our blood in our.
Epigenetics then I feel like that shows through.
Sometimes that shows through as people who really have a
hard time accepting themselves.
On every level.
And sometimes it shows through just in this very like bouncy,
airy, ungrounded energy.
It's almost as if they're just like treading the surface and too afraid to go
deep because they don't want their feet to root into whatever that history was.
But my invitation.
Is to just sit and think.
What are things that you could do that would feel really nourishing
that would lead to insight.
What are things that you could do?
That could help you come to terms with some of those blink
spots or some of those scary.
Dark areas in your life.
And how can you honor your ancestry and your family line as it is now.
A lot of us have very complicated relationships with our family, our current
family, people that are still alive.
And there's varying degrees of.
Whether or not, that's a good idea to deal with.
That's totally up to you.
But I just think that not looking N is never helpful.
It is much more enlightening.
To look into those places, even if you don't end up doing anything about it.
If you just end up leaving that story in the past with a very conscious.
Decision to do so.
Then.
You know, you've closed that you've tied up.
Those loose ends.
But it's my feeling that when we don't and we just leave all of those.
Loose ends, bobbing in this tumultuous ocean.
All of those frayed ends just become these tangled knots.
And they are.
Wet.
And if you've ever seen what happens to wool yarn?
When it gets tangled and then gets wet.
It just turns into a very.
Dense felted fabric.
It is no longer these.
Free strings that are.
Able to be dealt with.
And it's very difficult to detangle them when you've allowed them to get so mad.
So that's what I'm going to be doing.
And we are like a week out ish from Samhain the time couldn't be better.
And whether or not you celebrate.
or DIA de Los Muertos.
Or, you know, actually lots of cultures.
Celebrate and honor their ancestors at this time of year.
I think that there is this collective knowledge and always has been
about this thinning of the veil, whether you have that kind of
word or languaging for it or not.
It's something that you can just sense when you're quiet in this space.
So I'd love to hear what you are planning to do at this time of year.
And I would love to come back and talk again.
About ancestry and.
What that means to you and what it means to me.
But I just decided to.
Record this very short little episode and leave.
Some extra time for you to just sit and think.
About.
What it is that you can do, and I'd love it.
If you.
Spend the next 15 or 20 minutes, at least just sort of thinking about
that and coming up with a plan.
It's that you actually
And I love you so much.
And this.
Was a dinky little episode, but I'm going to get back to.
Doing some exciting things that we'll talk about
And.
The music is by siren and the sea and it is called snake river.
And you can find me over on Instagram.
At she who is seeking.
I would really appreciate it.
If you shared any of the episodes with a friend.
Or if you just wanted to leave me a message over on Instagram.
And I'm going to tell you the phone number again, so you can leave me
a message of voicemail the phone number is area code six, five seven.
3 3, 5.
4 6, 4, 0.
And I don't know.
We'll just see how this episode came out.
I didn't have any notes written down or anything, and I knew
it was kind of rambling, but.
That's sort of the energy of this time of year, right?
It's unpredictable.
It is wild.
It is.
Hard to reign in.
So I'm sending you so much love, and I really hope to hear about
something that you decided to do.
All right.
Well, have a Blessed Samhain happy Halloween.
A sacred DIA de Los Muertos, whatever you celebrate.
I hope that you're able to do it in a way that feels nourishing and exciting to you.
All right.
Love you so much bye
I decided to read a little bit about the origins house, which I think I called.
Room of origins.
Which kind of sounds like The Room Of requirement from Harry Potter.
But it's called the origins house.
And so this is from one of the final chapters.
Of the book I was talking about.
So he writes.
The origin house is a grand place to have tea.
To invite a friend or a relative one at To begin and there remember spoken
aloud the story of the tea itself.
The origins of the cups.
It is drunken.
The origins of the spoons that stir.
Origins of the tea kettle.
The tea pot.
And especially the waters origins.
Which should not be from a spigot unless you're prepared
to explain the plumbing pipes.
They're alloyed the city water system.
Where the runoff originates and so forth.
You must reiterate the origin story of everything.
Including the space itself.
And every aspect of what you serve to your guests.
Then as they drink their tea.
They're drinking in the story of all combined.
Into a simple T.
And the warmth.
Of its story.
Can reside.
Within.