Another Milestone, Halloween & My Bday

Written By Damascena Tanis

Milestones days have been difficult to traverse.

I have 22 years of Halloween Memories. Years upon years of family pumpkin carving festivities.

Then my birthday on Day of The Dead. Interestingly symbolic this year.

When I pass through one of these hallmark thresholds, I feel a bit removed from humanity.

A field of memories is erected around me. My Peripheral Vision filled with ghosts. I’m existing in some time before this time.

Where Tanner is here/not here. Again the paradoxes are so strong. Pain, and love, intertwined.

Birthdays themselves have always been challenging. Being adopted is like that. Yes it’s the day we are born. But it’s also an anniversary of profound loss.

I tend to feel all of the swirling orphan pains in my body on my birthday. The separation, grief, longing, tinged with a tad of existential angst. It just kind of vibrates In the atmosphere around me. And then after a day or so retreats.

It’s funny how the body remembers.

Yesterday, Anchoring me to this world, were all of the calls, texts, and birthday wishes.

I didn’t want pain of passing through this milestone to cause me to close.

So I sat with all of the messages. Sat with all of the love being sent my way. Let it all the way in.

I swear this practice is saving me. It’s the only time, tested, and true, advice I have for people in challenging spots like this one.

Open as wide as you possibly can to the love you are receiving.

That’s the grace.

And grace is magic.

So I want to personally thank everyone who took time to wish me happy birthday. I sat with your messages and let them in.

I appreciate you.

* first photo: (my daughter) Eliza comes home from school yesterday, and busies herself with creating an altar. (My son) Alex chimes in “are you making an ofrenda”? And proceeds to help with the items she is choosing while simultaneously educating us on the ins and outs of an Ofrenda. (Day of the Dead Altar, which encourages our loved ones to visit with us)

I love the bond my children have with each other. And their devotion to keeping Tanner a central part of our lives.

#dayofthedead #grief #death #love #siblings

Damascena Tanis

Damascena is an Archetypal Astrologer, Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner, and The Facilitator of the Transformative Journey through the Mandala of Venus’ Wisdom, called “Sky Dancer”.

She is a passionate devotee of the ever unfolding mystery. As an expert observer, a trait she developed as an only child, she regards herself as both a student of life, and decoder of the cosmos.

Skilled at recognizing invisible patterns, and picking up on subtle shifts in the collective, she gets a thrill from uncovering and revealing the hidden threads that are woven together to create our paradigm.

Her passion for this existential detective work aligns well with her unique approach to one on one client work, as she helps others to discover the building blocks of their archetypal blueprint, and mythic overtones. She does not believe that astrology is static, and therefore works with clients to develop strategies and practices that allow them to transcend challenging aspects of their natal chart.

She lives on the Shores of Lake Erie with her husband, four kids, and Cat, Oscar (the grouch).

These days, when she isn’t interpreting a natal chart, or translating the stars for her astrology blog, you can find her engaging in one of her favorite pandemic pastimes, unraveling her inner “good girl”, cultivating the ability to thrive in the deep, dark, unknown, or playing her favorite game of identifying fun paradoxes called “two things are true at once”.

https://www.RedMoonRevival.org
Previous

In the Small Hours
Next

Taboos Inside Grief