Visitors along My Cancer Journey

The Meeting in the Woods I felt the forest floor under my bare feet with each step I took on this mysterious journey. I thought I recognized the woman who was walking ahead of me and leading the way. I figured she was probably in her midthirties. Her energy felt familiar, yet I didn’t know who she was. This must be a dream, I thought, but the scenery and the woman accompanying me seemed real, so real that I could smell the fragrance of the tall trees standing along the path, feel the gentle breeze of the wind caressing my hair, and see the unusual but beautiful vibrant colors of nature showing off its glory. I sensed my surroundings communicating with me, giving me a feeling of being protected and safe. The woman walking ahead was dressed in a brown garment with large pockets on each side. Surely her appearance was not of this time. At the waist, a rope held her garment together. Hanging from the rope were bundles of what I suspected to be roots and herbs. “Keep on following me,” she said. “We still have a ways to go before we are at our destination.” “Where are we going?” I asked. “And where am I? Is this a dream or something? I am so confused, feeling that I’m lost here in this nostalgic-looking place where nothing is familiar to me. And I’m getting a little worried. I have this unsettling feeling that I’m up against something I can’t explain, something out of the ordinary.” “Don’t worry,” said the slightly familiar voice, “soon you will learn what this journey is about.” After what seemed like an hour of walking, we entered a small grove of cedar trees standing proudly in support of one another. In the center of the grove, a circle of stones hugged a fire in the middle. The fire pit, in turn, was surrounded by wooden benches to sit on. “Have a seat, my child,” said the mysterious woman in a gentle voice. “This place is a sacred gathering ground for us to meet in. I am the spirit part of your grandmother whom you have been named after. I know you’ve recognized something familiar in me, but you never knew me at a younger age when I walked on this earthly plane.” I just about fell from the bench. I realized I knew the energy of this woman, my grandmother who had died more than forty years earlier. I had felt her spirit’s essence around me in the past, and sometimes, out of the blue, I had received messages in times when I had needed support. How could this be? Why was this experience so confusing? On one hand, I felt I was walking in an ancient, unknown, mysterious forest, and on the other hand, there was something eerily familiar about the whole journey. “What’s going on, Oma?” “Why am I here?” “The reason for you being here has to do with giving our ancestors a voice. I visited you years ago on that cruise ship and revealed information of seven of your female ancestors. But at that time, you had more living to do and had to add the stories of your own journey before you could finish writing. Now it is time to continue. “The past seven generations of our female ancestors’ stories need to be heard, including your life story, which is still evolving, your sister’s, your mother’s, and mine. In turn, these stories will bring generational healing to your physical, mental, and emotional life, and to the lives of your daughter, your granddaughters, and their offspring for the next seven generations to come of our matriarchal line. Your ancestors’ experiences are still stored in the memory cells of your DNA, and it is time to release that which does not serve you. You will be given the names and the stories about the women in more detail in your dreamtime at some point in the future when we all gather together by the fire at the cedar grove.” Oma continued to talk to me, and all of a sudden, I was fading away into a deep abyss between two worlds. I woke up remembering Oma’s visit clearly. Then I was pulled back into the reality of my life’s latest ordeal. My sister and I had both been diagnosed with cancer!