The Contemporary Mystic

(Artwork by Delaney Marie Designs ) Alchemizing Ancestor Lineage: You Are Still You I’m getting closer to my thirties now, and it’s been a wild journey. Emerging from my turbulent adolescence into the process of becoming who I truly am—my own sovereign individual—has been a diamond-in-the-rough passage. When I look in the mirror, I see a strong, fierce, vibrant woman, and I am so incredibly proud of her. However, when certain Parts of myself become activated and I need to un-blend them from my Self, I sometimes see my maternal caregiver staring back at me—or, more recently, my eldest sibling. This can be unnerving, as for many years my goal was to never be anything like them. I spent much of my early twenties, especially around alcohol, trying to avoid any resemblance to “them.” Seeing traces of them in my physical appearance was jarring. My saving grace was that I had my father’s eyes and scars on my body that were not from some of my abusers. I spoke about this with a friend and show...