What emerged was a presentation by Ursula's grandfather that her grandmother and mother had done the best they could. They had hard lives. They were banana and dairy farmers and life was difficult. We suggested that she needed to find more positive things to say about them. Probably, now that they were dead, they had moved forward and perhaps they resented being presented so consistently so negatively. Maybe she needed to tell positive stories about them. I told her about being taught only to speak positively of the dead because they could get mad at negative comments. We announced to her ancestors that the storage shed in which they were keeping their "stuff" was closing and they would have to come get it or it would be sold in auction. I suggested more humor and more respect for her ancestors. Ursula felt much better, lighter, and less dark. What had happened is that we had moved her relationship in the past into a relationship with her ancestors in the present, which could be a very positive move toward health.
We closed with "doctoring", which is energy medicine North American aboriginal style. Following was a discussion of the sweat lodge ceremony we would be doing the next day. That brought us to the end of the day and we left for another marvelous dinner at Pauline's house. Traffic was becoming intense because Sydney was having mardi gras. We pointed out that it couldn't be mardi gras because it wasn't Tuesday. It has to be samedi gras. The Australians weren't amused. This was the biggest gay parade of Sydney. How different from what we knew from New Orleans! Not very Catholic at all! Traditions change across the ocean. Who knew! Tomorrow we will do a sweat lodge ceremony for those who want to come.
