ep. #31
This conversation and episode is truly one of Mallika's favorite of all time. Lara Veleda Vesta is an author and illistrator, exploring dís-ability, rites of passage, ancestral mythology, folklore and the sacred creative. She lives with Myalgic Encephalomeylitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a disease caused by viruses and inflammation with an infectious trigger. Prior to her illness, Lara was a university professor teaching classes in English and writing and a PhD student in Philosophy and Religion.
Lara's deep work and knowledge of integrating difficult initiatory experiences, expanded by her use of ritual, research and linguistics, help her blend a beautiful weaving of return to old ways, old knowing and the deep peace that is available to us all.
Explored in this episode:
- Why narrative is so important to healing
- Stages of initiation and rite of passage
- Finding the joy available in healing
- Reorienting our job/to-dos to come from spirit and ancestors
- Sacred life is available to any one of us
- Collective rite of passage this past year
- Redefining our values and letting things go
- How do we know when we are on a "return"
- Ritualizing every aspect of the passage
- Grief is part of the return and integration of the passage
- Silence is integral for sacred work
- The potency of being together in a ceremonial frame
- Illness and disability were hallmarks of initiation in historic stories
- The opportunity and communication that comes through as symptoms of illness
- How to stay out of resistance to pain and other difficult symptoms
- The power and potential of the millions of people who are ill or living with disability
- What is your super power?
Quotes from Lara:
"We need each other's stories so we can know what's survivable."
"What I have found useful is ritualizing every aspect of the process."
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