Are You The ‘Healer Of The Family Tree’?

Hannah Velten
6 min readSep 27, 2022

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I’ve just read a book which has produced tears of recognition in me. Malidoma died last year and I’ve been skirting around him for a while, but never read this main work. His name means: ‘he who makes friends with the stranger / enemy’ — a name he was given to always remind him of his life purpose.

My tears came as he spoke of his youngest sister who learnt that certain spirit allies had befriended her the moment she was born and had been following her, appearing in her dreams and ‘in-person’. She was fearful as no-one else in her family, including her husband’s family, could see them and she had a strong desire to flee when they appeared. But she eventually learnt that:

“Those who are knowledgeable will see in almost every family at least one person who functions as the receptacle of energies from the Other World, one family member who has the sensitivity to be aware of, and respond to, the deeper spiritual and sometimes physical needs of the family across generations. Sometimes these people are recognised as caretakers of the family. They are called on for every need any family member has, and, in some cases, blamed for problems that the family encounters. The life of these people is not easy. Often they see things that are very disturbing, including visions of departed loved ones. In the worst scenarios, they are deeply disturbed and worried about serious wrongs throughout the culture. They feel danger all around them.

In the indigenous world, these people are the shamans, the shrine keepers, and the healers of the family tree. They are being hailed by family members and friends in this world, and by departed ancestors from the Other World who need healing.”

Of course, in the West, we don’t embrace this idea. That’s why I never had a possibility model or a community to support me when I became aware of the ancestors calling me. And I believe the grief pandemic we have now — severely enflamed with The Queen’s death, after COVID, etc — is the time for Chris and myself to fully step out as ‘mentor’ and ‘elder’ to support those who are the ‘healers of the family tree’ (Malidoma uses these terms).

Because I was on my own, many of my mentors and elders were in Spirit (authors, included!). The first, and probably the one who is still with us, was a grandmother figure. Having read this book, I now believe this was the elder who was looking after Chris as he went in and out of consciousness: we knew her as ‘Mama Joan’. When I retraced Chris’ last steps, she recognised him as the white boy she’d dreamt would arrive and that she was to take care of him. She initiated the healing. She set in motion my ‘re-connection’ with Chris as she knew he was dying and, because the Spirit realm is timeless and space’less’, I would consciously pick up on the connection whenever I was ready (turned out to be 12 years after he died — maybe this was when she actually became an ancestor herself?).

Mama Joan wasn’t part of our physical family, but our soul family. Our RAISE soul family (RAISE is our online grief healing community). This is why Chris died in Mali, Africa. Malidoma (notice the ‘Mali’) is from the neighbouring country of Burkino Faso, West Africa — this is the healing wisdom that Chris would have been walking through. He died there for a reason. And he was placed into the water as a way of healing the negative energies — this was a deliberate act, not only a dumping of his body. He needed cleansing. Our sibling connection needed cleansing. Our ancestors needed cleansing.

Chris was aligned with his destiny life and in his death, and with me, he’s fulfilling his life purpose.

With this in mind, I’ve also received clarity around the ‘RAISE’ name:

“… indigenous people see the divine as arising from below. Indeed, the ancestors, who dwell under the earth and form a vast pool of energy, allow us to walk upon them. Thus the divine is right under our feet and directly connected to us through the earth. This perception calls for a significantly different attitude [to the West who see divinity as coming from above] that encourages spontaneity and trust of one’s instincts, because it sees redemption and healing as rising like heat from the divine below. Ritual therefore follows an ascending principle, presuming that healing rises from under the earth and overtakes us.”

There’s no mistaking those who’ve been attracted into RAISE, so far. Are you the ‘healer of the family tree’? Is your life purpose to support the connection with the ancestors and their healing? To be part of the RAISE team of healers and re-connectors?

If you’re newly into RAISE, or are reading these words outside of RAISE, you might be thinking, well, what’s in it for me — this life of a ‘caretaker’? I can vouch for the fact that when you begin the work of re-connection and surrendering to your gifts and purpose then as the healing occurs in the Other World it is reflected in your own life. This work is crucial for everyone’s well-being and this ripples out to your families and your communities.

“You know that the ancestors are healed when things begin to change dramatically for the better around you. The healed ancestors will bring health, prosperity, and a sense of intimate connection that is unparalleled.”

And, finally for this post, how do we connect and work with the ancestors? Through ritual using the elementals: fire, water, stone, earth, nature. Also, plenty of singing, dancing, drumming, participating, community, collaboration, storytelling, generosity, hugs, sharing of gifts (healing/abilities) and delivery of our true purpose. Haven’t we been speaking about and doing these things already in RAISE?!

And the one thing that brings all people together = LOSS and the fear of LOSS.

All in all, when I look back at the ‘Big Vision’ I received on 12.11.21 (very significant), I can see very clearly this is the direction we’ve been headed in all along.

I’m sharing all this because there’s work to do, and it’s LOVE-driven. I know many of you are already part of the RAISE team to deliver this purpose because you’ve done your own ancestral healing and are feeling the benefits of doing so. Your gifts are ‘online’ and ready to be used.

So, who else is feeling excited / activated by this blog? Who has resisted our call for so long, but now knows what they have to do? First step would be to join RAISE at no cost: https://www.raisewithchrisandhan.digital We have our first livestream of the new healing cycle tonight (Tuesday, 27 September 2022, at 7pm) — just saying.

And we have a new offering which we’re excited to share. The back story: recently my internet / phone line went dead and I had a ‘17-Day Re-Connection Experience’ which lead directly to the clarity I now have. So, we’ll be taking you through the same experience: this will be your opportunity to re-connect with yourself, your ancestors, the elements and your guides to receive what you need to know. It’ll be healing for both realms and perhaps you’ll learn you’re part of the RAISE soul team delivering these connection rituals world-wide (obviously in time, not right now)?!

More info to follow when the launch date comes into view! 😆

xXx

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Hannah Velten

Spirit / Rescue Medium. Releasing stuck spirits, with my brother-in-spirit, Christian, at theraiselighthouse.org