Ancestral Events with.... 

Theresa in Burkina Faso, West Africa~ February, 2009

Glimpses from My Time in West Africa

We landed late in the evening and yet it was hot. A dry heat hugged me when I stepped off of the plane and first touched her. I know now why Africa is called the "Motherland". I first truly felt her about 12 hours after we landed. She moved so slowly and deeply and anciently. I felt the vibration reach through me and touch a place within and deeper than my bones...a place I had not yet consciously visited in this lifetime. She felt more like the Great Great Ancient Primal Grandmother to me as I allowed myself to experience her. This was not the vibration of Mother Earth that I was used to feeling in the mountains of North Carolina or at the edge of the ocean or even in the western US. This was deeper than the deepest resonance I had known.

She worked diligently in my bones the entire time and birthed my energetic and physical systems from new depths. Frequencies I had not yet experienced burst forth from beneath my bones and moved into me. When I first touched the Baobab trees it happened again. These ancient wise ones were so welcoming as though we'd know one another for lifetimes....which, of course, we had. The energy of these sacred beings fed me in ways I had not known I was hungry for. How could I know to miss what I could not remember ever having? Yet, the familiar knowings and memories continue to well-up from within me~ from some deep dark, unknown realm~ and I am so sweetly comforted and wrapped in this energy.

I watched humbly as the women carried the large heavy bowls of water from the well- on their heads- so that I could take my bath from the bucket. I watched them carry large amounts of wood on their heads as well. The little girls practiced with small bowls of their own. I noticed that I could barely lift the bucket with my hand and carry it 20 feet as the 107 degree afternoon heat pressed down upon my body and called me to sleep. Even the shade was hot and sleep did not come easily.

It was as though I was swimming in the essence of the Earth. The dirt was always on me and even in me as my lungs breathed her in. The sun's intense heat melted away armor and resistance that had taken me lifetimes to build. I can't help but notice the freedom that this land brings to me. I surrender to the ancient guidance that I now hear so clearly.

The Elders and Shamans that I was blessed to work with and spend time with emanated ancient wisdom, power, joy, gentleness, compassion, and solidness. To attempt to share words about their impact on my life will not do justice. Magic, mystery and miracles are just a part of everyday life here.

I returned, in the physical, from Africa in February~ after spending 15 days there. I have "returned home" in ways I never knew were possible....home to myself, home to the Ancestors, home to my village, home to Planet Earth, home to my Medicine. I am so grateful for my life and for all of our lives. I am grateful for the remembering that I immersed myself in by going to Africa.

I am able to see more clearly what is really real & true for me and what is of the illusion. I am grateful for the times of Birth, Abundance, Death, & Rebirth that the Earth shows us with her cyclical seasons.  I pledge allegiance to the change...and welcome the birth of my divine blueprint on this planet now. I am awake and I am listening and I am taking action. I am grateful for the wisdom and Medicine of Malidoma Patrice Some' and his willingness to bring us to his home and create space for us to remember. 

~Theresa Sykes Brittany , MS