I have been trying to finish a blog about a particular location in Vermont that we went to recently. It is a place that holds a certain kind of history that quickly conjures images and emotions long before you arrive and captivates you once you enter its grounds. As I was writing, I realized it was becoming quite long, and I have been trying to figure out how to fix it for about a week now. I am not sure what can be cut. It is a place with many layers and stories to tell. This location deserves respect and I don’t want to just give it a few paragraphs and move on. Quick blurbs and soundbites flood our media. As a result, much of the story is lost or shrugged away, reduced to broad stroke summaries and assumptions charged with fear. Often the story becomes distorted by missing details and observations taken as fact. Add in common buzz words and you can have something quite sensational. This allows lines to blur between what is true and what is spun through years of rumor and innuendo. It can reduce an experience or place to dust that just needs to be wiped away or where more insidious ‘things’ can be found lurking in the shadows. These thoughts sparked something in me and I found an interesting connection with it. It is something that I would like to investigate a little further and maybe sparking a ripple effect for us all, if you are willing to join me.
Locations hold stories just as we do. We can look at Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid, Göbekli Tepe, and the Parthenon with awe as our imagination takes us to another time and place. We daydream about them, often romanticizing what once was. These ancient places hold weight and power. They contain stories that will continue to echo through time even if some of their more obscure and little-known facts have been lost. Historical sites are physical connections to the stories of our collective past. They continue to speak and reverberate within our bones. They show us how we were able to grow and dream, reminding us that we can do the same. Lessons are also found within them as we hopefully learn from the mistakes of our ancestors. They are beacons that stretch through time and space, offering us the chance to touch our collective past, gather what we need from them, and move forward as individuals as well as a society.
As we look upon our collective map, there are also places that hold a darker history. It is a history that can strike fear, sorrow, and shame within us all. Many choose to travel to these hallowed locations in order to bear witness to the past. They vow to never forget what took place there and offer to create the change they crave in the world. By looking at the past with an open and honest perspective, there is hope to heal and rework those harmful patterns. With this intention, one can find a sense of light, healing, and respect for those who were lost within the decaying walls. However, there are other places of dark history that still dwell within the borderlands, fallen to the passage of time. These places can be found in the overgrown and forgotten landscapes that once held living nightmares. They too, are links to our collective history yet, we may shun, discard, and neglect them as we push these tragic places aside and into the realms of the uncomfortable and shocking horror. Thankfully, Nature’s way to heal the land is to eat the suffering and pain left behind. By recycling the energy with plants and animals, Nature reclaims the landscape once more, purifying it from the misdeeds of humans. While many would like to forget these memories, there are certain groups of people that choose to venture into these infamous places of crumbling decay, seeking the story woven together by choking thorn and vine. Perhaps one may have a macabre fascination or maybe even dared to breach its walls. However, the third group called to walk this overgrown path is someone like me. I feel called to venture into these long-forgotten places to do work. That is what brings me to the reason behind this post.
I wanted to write about a recent trip to a location in Vermont and it will be coming out soon. Before I do, I wanted to give it the space that it deserves. As a result, it will most likely be broken down into a few posts. While this location is said to be “haunted”, I want to share the history with you as well as some of my observations and experiences. Perhaps I can also offer a space to detangle the energy of fear that wraps it so tightly. Places such as this can invoke powerful feelings and haunting images for us. It is easy to paint a location through the lens of fear and even disgust. Once we succumb to our personal emotions or opinions, we fall into reaction mode. Therefore, we are not a witness to another human’s pain and suffering, but a spoke in the wheel perpetuating our own assumptions and beliefs. My intent for the piece is to bring a little light where fear and legend may reside in order to begin to see our collective past as something that is real, not something to be forgotten because it is inconvenient or uncomfortable. I feel that places with a darker, more painful history are just as sacred and require care and reverence as we tend to it. As a witch, I feel that I am called to certain places to listen and observe. Perhaps with offerings of sacred waters, herbs, and food, and I can also be there for support and healing to the spirits I encounter, if that is what they choose. This is some of the work that I am called to do. I am also grateful to be of service.
With my reflections over the week, I began to see how this kind of work is much like our own personal shadow work. At least it can be if we choose to walk this path. Much like the stories found in history, we too, can contain places that are overgrown and overlooked, shunned, and maybe even despised. Memories of our own difficult experiences can create attitudes and desires that beg us to be forgotten, buried, and left alone. The problem is, over time these echoing memories begin to act as a ghost longing to be heard, held, and understood. If we are not ready to bring them to light, we suppress our history and trauma. Much like places with a dark history, our scars and trauma can sometimes be pushed aside, but not really forgotten. Stories take on a life of their own, creating legends and myths that breed fear and shame. Just as a legend grows out of some roots of truth, some people are called to look upon them, offer a space to breathe once again, and clear a new path toward healing. I feel it is vital that we understand the roots and tell our stories as true as we can get them, whether they are our own or from our collective history, no matter how ugly we may think they are. I feel that we owe it to ourselves to shine the light into darkness as we move forward to a brighter and healthier future together.
So, in the coming weeks, we will do just that. We will open the gates to places that some may fear to tread and shine the light of unconditional love and compassion with gentleness, grace, and care. Our stories are vital for our personal growth as well as the growth of our communities. We may not have experienced some of the tragic horrors as our ancestors did, however, we have experienced our own traumatic pain and sorrow. With that, we can band together and bring a little light into those darker and neglected spaces. We do not need to be haunted by our past. We can seek healing in such a way that we can each help each other as we help ourselves.
May you be well today and moving forward on your own important path.
Blessings,
Renee Bedard, The Whispering Crow
The Whispering Crow 