Smoky Mountain Sorcery

Category: Trauma

  • The Mórrígan as Mother and More: My Appearance on Personal Pans

    I had the honor of appearing this week on the Personal Pans podcast with Vanessa Walilko. We had so much fun, I feel like I’ve gained a new friend. Here’s how she described the episode: What happens when your mother is not a mother?  Where do you find a maternal figure?  When you find yourself…

  • Do Abusive Ancestors Grow On The Other Side?

    More thoughts spurred by Tyler Henry’s new Netflix series, Life After Death. In one episode, Tyler gives a message where a departed mother apologizes for how she treated her child in life. “I see it now,” Tyler quotes her as saying to him. “I couldn’t before but I do now.” (May not be exact, I’m…

  • Tyler Henry’s Adoption Trauma

    Last night I binged the whole season of Life After Death With Tyler Henry. Concurrent with the various readings Henry gives to strangers, the season details the emotional drama surrounding his Mom’s newly-discovered adoption. Obviously, I had a lot of feelings, and there was a lot that I related to as the season progressed. Theresa…

  • Spring in Appalachia: Starting a Farm With Trauma

    It’s an absolutely beautiful day here in western North Carolina. We’re having a run of unseasonably warm weather which has me itching to get the garden going. I have dreams. Big dreams. Lush flowerbeds, a full-on witch’s garden with all my favorite poison plants, and of course enough veggies to feed a small army (or…

  • Britney Spears: Trauma Is Messy Cut Her Some Slack

    For 13 years, Britney Spears wasn’t allowed to stand up for herself. She was not allowed to speak publicly without a filter. Her every move was controlled, to the point of being forced to take medication and even have an IUD implanted against her will. The fact that it was her own family who put…

  • Mourning Dexter

    I am not ok today, and the reasons why are really throwing me for a loop. It just doesn’t make sense except as a trauma response. Apologies if this article is messy and disjointed, but I’m trying to sort this out. I’m grieving y’all. Spoiler alert: I’m going to discuss the end of Dexter: New…

  • Sorry, Amy Coney Barrett: Adoption is NOT The Answer To Abortion

    As an adoptee, I’ve known from a young age that I could have been aborted. When I was gestating in 1970, North Carolina was one of the few states that already allowed abortion in limited circumstances (danger to mother’s health, rape, incest or likely damaged fetus.) As my birth sister explained it, my mother was…

  • Dexter Tackles Adoption Trauma

    Last night’s episode of Dexter: New Blood was super emotional for me. Without giving too much away, my favorite serial killer’s son has tracked him down in his new life in upstate New York. Since Dex faked his death when Harrison was 5, their reunion has been a bit bumpy. Last night, they went to…

  • Trigger Season – Hometown Edition

    I’ve been absent for a bit because in July I finally realized my dream of purchasing a home and land back in the NC mountains where I grew up. And just about the time we started to get settled, trigger season arrived. For me, there are a slew of trauma anniversaries between the end of…

  • After Abuse: Do We Have To Forgive To Heal?

    Tina Turner has an incredible life story. From abject poverty in Nutbush, TN to world superstardom and rock Icon status. But no matter what she does or how much she accomplishes, she cannot get away from the shadow of Ike. See? I didn’t even have to say his whole name and you know exactly who…

  • Goddess Macha and Justice For Daunte Wright

    Last night my oldest son was watching a live stream from Brooklyn Center, Minnesota in our living room. Friends and neighbors had gathered in shock and anger over the death of Daunte Wright, who was shot by police during a traffic stop just a few miles from where Derek Chauvin is on trial for the…

  • The Goddess Áine and Sexual Trauma

    CW: Sexual Assault Áine (pronounced awn-ya) is a powerful Sovereignty Goddess centered in Co. Limerick, Ireland. She’s celebrated at the summer solstice, when farmers would (and sometimes still do) light torches from the sacred fire atop her hill – Knockainey – and patrol the borders of their fields with her fire. She’s a Goddess of…

  • Can People With Family Trauma Do Ancestor Work?

    So apparently there are some occult-types who think Ancestor veneration is required for all of us. But for those of us with trauma, family is often a tricky subject. If you don’t know what it’s like to be disowned or rejected by family, you really don’t have a clue how painful the idea of setting…

  • When You Feel Unheard and Unwanted

    I’ve had a recurring dream since before the situation became a (misleading) political ad: I’m home alone and someone is breaking in meaning to kill me. I call 911, and the line rings and rings… sometimes I get an answer and am told help is on the way but half an hour goes by, I’m…

  • Going “No Contact” With Hurtful Loved Ones

    It can be one of the hardest decisions you’ll ever make, and even harder to follow through with. But for those of us who fight trauma, cutting contact with hurtful family members can be necessary for our healing journey. Notice I said “hurtful,” family and not “toxic” or “abusive.” That’s because I believe in setting…