In preparation for today's class, Cathy and I did a mini constellation where Cathy represented and facilitated my constellation. We wanted to explain and explore what my family is carrying and trace it back to ancestral fields and into the ancestral realm. Because I'm born into my family, it's a blind spot for me to really know what we are carrying. However, I can see the expression of this burdon in my families behaviour.
When we facilitate for a client, we experience Systemic emotions. Systemic emotions generally feel bigger than the individual person can hold. I think of this as zooming out a bit, starting with the client and their intention, and then zooming to get a feeling for what they are carrying of their family system(not ancestral). This is the level of these Systemic Emotions. We can use naming here, and in my constellation, Cathy named “zoning out”. This is the beginning of the widening of the circle.
Stefan Hausner, a well known constellator, said that if a solution doesn't present itself in the constellation that you're working on, widen the circle by bringing in Naming at the level of the family system. By bringing in a Naming, it will give you entry into the ancestral fields. Since these energies are carried by the family system, it is a sign these are hidden and shadow aspects of the client’s ancestors field. This is the reason why your client and their family are carrying the burden. Because it is hidden, shunned, and forgotten, there wasn't time for your ancestors to process it. There was shame. They were trying to protect the descendants from these experiences and from the knowledge of these experiences. We then carry the energy of it, the emotion of it, and we become entangled.
As you represent that Naming and whatever comes up for you in the ancestral field - treat these as literal and factual experiences of the ancestors. You'll find that as you experience the images, the qualities of the ancestral field, and as it interfaces with the immediate family system, there will be an opening. You will get a sense that there is an ancestor or group of ancestors that are the origin of this energy.
It takes a huge amount of trust. Sometimes at this point, I ask my client: “do you know anything about this?” and I share the images and the experience that I've had. Sometimes they might have a tidbit of information, which give you a hint, and you can then continue representing the ancestors that are linked to this energy. When you trust what comes up for you, the system will begin to move. Just be with the movement and feel it in you body. Ask your client to remain with the experience in their body as well and to feel it.
Because it may be deeply unknown, it is a shadow aspect of the ancestral field. The ancestors here are not spoken about, the events here are not reported on, and the emotions here have not been processed. One really just needs to be with these energies as they come up, be with the impressions and report on the impressions as they come up. Only then can we start with sentences.
Remember when we did healing sentences? A healing sentence is only healing when it is said at the right moment. If an ancestor and the ancestral field is experiencing overwhelm, it's no use bringing in a healing sentence. We need to be with this overwhelm and to just name what the experiences are of the ancestors.
If you are going to use sentences, they can be things like sentences like:” I feel overwhelmed”, “I feel lost” or “I feel betrayed”. You may not know what the events are that have led to those feelings, those emotions and those thoughts. But what's important is to stay with the energy of it and the movement, and to keep your client connected to the movement. So you can say sentences, and you can bring in supportive ancestor, before the system was overwhelmed and before the trauma.
It is also helpful to be aware of any sentences that are behind belief patterns and belief systems that your client's family have internalized. Going back to my constellation, the sentence was, “I do not deserve to live”, which has been perpetuated and carried and internalized by the descendants. You could widen the circle even further to collective traumas like Pogroms, Land Removals or Slavery. These are all namings that you can bring in on the edges of the family and the ancestral system.
In conclusion, it's good to remember, especially when working in such ancestral fields with information that may not be known, that your client is the expert of their family system. You may get the impressions and information, but over the course of the days and the weeks it is your client that will have dreams, will have information come to them. For example, their mother will tell them something, a document will come their way with family stories, and the actual events will surface.
All this information may be a little different to what you are picking up in the field. But again, what's really important about this is the energy, the emotion, and the belief systems. The events that resulted in or that brought these experiences about are important, and they do need to be named, but they do not have to be accurate. The Field know and our role is to trust.