Reclaiming Healing Your Ancestral Lineage with Abby Rose

[00:00:00] Jessica: We're going to be having a lot of delicious conversations this season. Some with guest speakers, but many with just you and I. I feel like most conversations have so many layers that we never get the time to really get into. So if you'd like to dive deeper into the conversations that we're having here on Reclaiming Our Spirit, I'd love for you to join the podcast Patreon.

[00:00:23] Jessica: Depending on your tier, you'll get a shout out, be able to watch the episodes on video, and even have the opportunity to tune in for weekly pick a card readings, And two additional spiritual musings or stories. This is your official invite. If you've enjoyed what you're listening to and you want to support the podcast, hop on over to Reclaiming Our Spirit Patreon and pick the tier that works for you.

[00:00:42] Jessica: Just check the show notes for more details or head over to www. jessicapaschke. com.

[00:00:47] Abby: Well, and the hereditary aspect, you know, of course, like I learned from my mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother and so on and so forth. I come from, you know, a practicing family. And the first.

[00:00:58] Abby: Photographic evidence that we've had, that I have seen goes all the way back to like 1881, which me and my numbers and my numerology and the way things make sense is amazing because my birthday is 8/18/81. It's just who we are.

[00:01:15] Jessica: Your journey to the divine is an intimate exploration of self where you are both the seeker and the source of enlightenment.

[00:01:23] Jessica: I, Jessica Paschke, invite you to break free from the ordinary, to reforge your spiritual path with courage, curiosity, and audacity. Unleash the power of your spiritual connection, stepping into a purpose driven life, free of have tos and shoulds. Join me on this profound exploration of rediscovery, where you'll not only redefine your own spiritual practice, but also inspire a collective awakening.

[00:01:48] Jessica: Welcome to Reclaiming Our Spirit.

[00:01:57] Jessica: Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to Reclaiming Our Spirit. We have someone who I just adore on the podcast today. Abby Jarrett from Bella Mambo is here, and we are going to talk all about spiritual practice and spiritual practices. She is an amazing hereditary practitioner who I am so grateful is in my life helping me, but also helping other people.

[00:02:21] Jessica: Everyone around her. Her mission is to help people find the divinity within, and she'll help anyone who needs her to create the life that they desire. So thank you, Abby, so much for being here. We're so grateful. Thank

[00:02:32] Abby: you for having me. Thank you for having me. It's always a joy talking to you.

[00:02:37] Jessica: Before we jump in to all of the fun things, I like to ask people, what is a moment of joy?

[00:02:46] Jessica: That you've had over the last

[00:02:47] Abby: seven days. I've had so many, like, even though I've been recovering from this little cold virus, whatever you want to call it, I've had so many like joyous moments and I feel like I'm one of those people who can see the purge. When you get like a cold or a sickness or an illness and that, because you're, you're literally resting, you're sitting down.

[00:03:09] Abby: And so you get to reflect and I feel so much joy where sometimes we get caught up in life and we don't get to see the, like the little wins and the little things. So I was thinking, because this year just marked year number two, where I've completely detached from like corporate America. And as you know, most people know that I just had a baby in July and the boy refuses to take a bottle like he will not, but the joy of being in a space where, you know, you see the divine timeline of being able to not have to worry about that, you know, he's smiling, he's laughing in that the time that I get to spend with my family, but another thing that I finally said out loud about, you know, Um, this beautiful retreat that I wanted to, you know, facilitate and host with my godmother and she finally agreed to it.

[00:03:57] Abby: So, those are my big joyous wins this week. I

[00:04:00] Jessica: love it. I had a baby that refused to take a bottle. I

[00:04:03] Abby: understand the struggle. Yeah. And you know what? As much as I want to complain about it, yeah, I'm like, oh my gosh, kid, like, sit down. You know, he is absolutely my last baby. You know, I'm getting older and, you know, he's number six, but just knowing that this is the last time.

[00:04:19] Abby: And so I do cherish it as much as I'm like, uh,

[00:04:21] Jessica: I love that though. I love that. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do? How would you describe hereditary practitioner?

[00:04:30] Abby: Well, and the hereditary aspect, you know, of course, like I learned from my mother who learned from her mother who learned from her mother and so on and so forth.

[00:04:36] Abby: I come from, you know, a practicing family. And the first. photographic evidence that we've had that I have seen goes all the way back to like 1881, which me and my numbers and my numerology and the way things make sense is amazing because my birthday is 1881. It's just who we are. It's just, you know, what we do.

[00:04:56] Abby: This is all really I've ever known. And the way even just within my lifetime that I've seen it like shift and change and, you know, develop has been, Beautiful. But that's, you know, the hereditary aspect of it. And it's not just the women. The men in our family are more, um, they're very powerful seers, but they don't really practice the craft side.

[00:05:16] Abby: They leave that to the women. You know, the women are in the kitchen. That is what a hereditary practitioner is. And, you know, I know there's been a lot of times that there's been great discussion, especially when I stepped into the social media space of it, there was great debate of people say, baby, which they use the term baby, which, well, in my practice or, you know, in my family tradition, a baby, which is not someone who's learning, it's literally the child of a witch and, and that, you know, in that practice in the hereditary space.

[00:05:45] Abby: Either you're born into a magical family or you're not, there is not something that you can, Oh, and you're going to have an apprentice and this is something that you can learn. That's just not the way it is. Either you were born this way or you're not. It's like us against them type thing. That's been interesting.

[00:06:01] Jessica: That's really interesting. But it makes sense though, because the word hereditary. There are a lot of different practitioners out there, but hereditary specifically means lineage,

[00:06:11] Abby: correct? Lineage, also, yeah, not only you being born in this space, and this is why, and I'm sure we'll get down that rabbit hole of ancestors later, but people don't really understand that, you know, gifts, just like a teapot, or a book, or a favorite piece of jewelry, those can be passed on to next generations.

[00:06:31] Abby: So when, you know, one of your elders in your family or a matriarch or a patriarch in your, you know, lineage passes or transition, they can leave their gift that they had in this physical, they can pass that on to someone else. So not only are you born into this space and that magical DNA, you also get gifts, spiritual gifts from your elders.

[00:06:54] Jessica: I love that. Let's talk about ancestors. I think it's an interesting topic and I'd love to clarify that. Can you tell us just a little bit more about, about how that works and what that means to you? What that looks like? Because I know it plays a big part in your spiritual

[00:07:07] Abby: practice. It plays a big part on literally both sides.

[00:07:10] Abby: And this is why me personally, like I like to, you know, mentor and teach from a universal oneness space. Because especially when it comes to, ancestry and lineage. There's great debate in the spiritual community about who can practice what and work, work, work with what energies. But at the end of the day, like it really does matter.

[00:07:30] Abby: Yes, we all come from spirit, but you incarnated in this lifetime. So there might be something that you had to learn. There might be a struggle in a past lifetime that you couldn't, you know, see. a different side of. So, you know, maybe in the last lifetime you were, you know, the racist slave owner or something.

[00:07:46] Abby: So now spirit puts you back in this space. Now you're a, you know, a handsome black man, you know, but your ancestors, like it really matters because not only am I a hereditary practitioner, I'm also initiated into an ATR, which is African traditional religion. It was a lot with ancestry. In order for me to go into my a TR comfortably and confident was, you know, because again from my hereditary, they're very European and people like to say, you know, they, they make the joke, oh, Sicilians are the black people of, of Europe.

[00:08:19] Abby: It's still like, there's still very, there's a great deal of racism. in Italy and in Sicily. So when I was going into that space, me working with my ancestors so much, there were spaces within my ancestry that I had to heal to be like, all right now, times have changed everyone. Let's, let's all get together.

[00:08:36] Abby: And that's where people don't realize, you know, and this is where the mistake comes from, where people think you're worshiping your ancestors. You're not worshiping your ancestors because they don't turn into some magical know all beings when they die. They were the same fucking people when they left.

[00:08:50] Abby: And so when you venerate them, venerate is lifted, literally lifting them up. So it took a very long time in my European practice to working with those ancestors, for them to even be okay with me practicing an ATR. I remember the first Consultation I had with my now padrino, I said that I was kind of nervous about that because my spirits clearly told me from day one, why are you going to go work in another practice when you're, you know, you're starting all over in a new practice when you're already an elder in your own, but it was a piece of me that was very important to me that mattered.

[00:09:24] Abby: And I had to make those ancestors okay with these ancestors and everybody needs to work together because at the end of the day, you guys were once human, but spirit has a different calling for me where I need to be able to branch out because let's be clear, it's 2024, like, let's be honest, how many people have pure blood finds, so we need to understand and work with our ancestors to heal those spaces, what they didn't understand, Get them into, you know, these date and times to where things are acceptable and okay.

[00:09:54] Abby: And also a lot of times, a lot, a lot of my clients have been guided to their spiritual path because of their ancestors. You know, you might have been the one that's coming in to break those generational curses, or If you've always felt like this magic in your blood, which I hope everybody feels that in their spirit, come to find out, you know, you had ancestors that practice, you know, you're just like three generations in going to church and, you know, mainstream traditional, but you know, your ancestors before that, that you didn't had no idea this is what they did and they're trying to help and guide you.

[00:10:27] Abby: So it's important to really sit with your ancestors and spirit to figure out. Okay, well, what is it that you want from me? Because, you know, it's like a board meeting, you know, yes, you know, spirit, god, source, however that translates to anyone out there, that's going to, of course, be the, and I'm going to follow what spirit says, but your ancestors and your spirit guides, they all have a say, too, of You know, and this is what I think and this is what I, you know, you know, they have their opinions as well.

[00:10:50] Abby: So all of these things need to come together and you need to be in a good neutral space to be able to, you know, to listen to where you're being guided by spirit.

[00:10:58] Jessica: I love that. I see it sort of as a boardroom as well when I go in to talk to everybody. And I think the magnitude of what you're talking about is huge because think of all that healing that ripples back, but will also ripple forward.

[00:11:11] Jessica: Absolutely. I mean, I'm getting goosebumps across. Time across dimensions, across, I mean, it's, it's amazing. Absolutely. Like, obviously you knew some of your family background and your roots when you're doing this. For people who don't really know where they come from, or don't have strong ties to that, do you have any suggestions on how they can start to look into that?

[00:11:33] Jessica: To access that and kind of start to find where it is that they came from? Because like you said, most people don't have a single bloodline anymore. And I remember when I first started out, I almost froze in my tracks because I had Scottish ancestors, I had Norwegian ancestors. I had Polish ancestors who, depending on where the borders were, were sometimes Russian, sometimes German, right?

[00:11:55] Jessica: Very Eastern, very Eastern. Depending on the year. Depending on the year. Ukrainian. Just depends. And it almost kind of froze me in my tracks because I didn't know which was the quote unquote right way to move forward. I know how I started, but I'm curious if, like, what would be your suggestion on how to

[00:12:10] Abby: figure that out?

[00:12:11] Abby: I always suggest because, you know, people don't, whether it's one paternal or maternal side of the family that they don't really know or connect with, or if they're, you know, an orphan or they don't have much family or, you know, nobody really knows. Your ancestors depend on you to venerate them, so they want to communicate with you where they're not like your higher level energy is like, Oh, another one.

[00:12:31] Abby: Great. You know, your, your ancestors need you just as much as you need them. So. You set up, you know, your simple ancestor altar, or even if you don't get to that point, which I think everybody should, just my opinion, go to the space, you might not have a picture, you might not have a name, but you have a piece of paper and a pencil, or even just, you know, the, the feeling in your heart, you know, all of my ancestors, the ones that love me and want to see me do well and help, you know, uplift our bloodline.

[00:12:59] Abby: Come through and stop listening to everyone else, put the phone down, you know, stop listening to the outside voices, stop reading the books, because when you do that, subconsciously, you're going to have in your mind how someone else connects, or, you know, what this should feel like, if you're not sure, how do you, how do you know you're going, you're based off someone else.

[00:13:19] Abby: So really, that go within, and I know it's corny and cliche and overused is that sound. That's what you really have to do. You have to go within, literally within your blood, your DNA, your hereditary imprint to get them to, you know, open up and, and turn it off. Don't go in with these preconceived notions of, Oh, this is what it's supposed to look like, and, Oh, and I saw this beautiful being, you might see a peasant that's on the street, your first instinct of who these people are.

[00:13:45] Abby: Go with it because they want to communicate with you. They just want that open channel. And like I said, all you have to do is say, Hey, all the ancestors, all my elevated bloodlines, or even if they're not elevated just yet, all those who want to help. Elevate our bloodline and want to see me do better in life so I can help you come forward.

[00:14:02] Abby: And if you know you're new on your practice, if you're not great at meditation, Hey, you might be a dream person. Set those intentions before you go to sleep at night. If it's easier for you, if I'm not getting the message. I've been coming here. You know, we've been talking there. I've been bringing y'all coffee and shit every day.

[00:14:17] Abby: I ain't really hearing nothing. If it's easier for you to communicate in my dream, come talk to me in my dreams. Because a lot of times your ancestors, this is why people have, Oh, I had dreams of Aunt Bernice. Those are really visits. Those are coming through. So the people that you see in your dreams, and then once you start, Stating that you saying that out loud and you're setting that intention for them to come, you'll start to notice like, damn, I've seen this person in my dreams before.

[00:14:41] Abby: And it's the whole time. It was your family that was there for you. So you already have that bond and you get to know them, you build this family time in this bond, because as you venerate them, you do simple things like me personally. I make my ancestors a cup of coffee in the morning before I even make my own.

[00:14:57] Abby: I make sure their water is clean. I make sure their candle is lit. Hey y'all, how y'all doing today? You know, y'all see what the fuck's going on, right? Y'all got to help me with this. Like, okay, what do we got to do? Like, who, who can help me with this? Come on through. You really build that bond with them.

[00:15:12] Abby: This is why your ancestor altar, it should be in like the heart of the home because they want to be involved. They're, they're the heart of the family. So, you know, they see what's going on and talk to them. Oh, and then this Girl at work and then this is what happened and you know, give them the tea just like you would pick up the phone and call a friend.

[00:15:28] Abby: That's how you build that bond and connect with them. Oh, I

[00:15:31] Jessica: love that. I love all of that. Oh, there's so many things we could talk about today. Okay. We could go down the rabbit hole.

[00:15:37] Abby: I know.

[00:15:38] Jessica: You and I, that's the danger with us, isn't it? Curiosity takes over. Let's Go back a second. I want to talk about a little bit about closed practices and this idea of, you know, when people are starting out, how do they find a spiritual practice that isn't taken from someone else?

[00:15:55] Jessica: I loved when you said, put the book down. Telling people all the time, put the book down. Don't be putting someone else's jacket on that doesn't fit. How do people tune in and figure out a spiritual practice that really resonates with them that isn't infringing on closed practices, that isn't taking from another culture?

[00:16:10] Jessica: How do they begin to discover that? And I know part of that is that ancestor work, figuring out where you come from. What is another piece that they need to take into consideration?

[00:16:20] Abby: I feel like sometimes people, if you're so drawn to the closed practice, Find the elder, initiate into the practice, you know, it's, it's not that big of a deal.

[00:16:32] Abby: And the people, especially with ATRs, and I'm just speaking from my own personal perspective and what I have seen a lot of people, you know, non people of color feel like, Oh, that doesn't belong to me. You know, and I, and I use this example all the time. Like even science tells us, you know, the first human remains are found in Africa.

[00:16:50] Abby: Feel like if we dig deep enough, we're all going to have like some common ancestor somewhere or another. So. Um, if this energy, if this deity, Orisha, God, Goddess Loa, is calling to you, okay, do a little bit of research. Find an elder, a godmother, godfather, you know, spiritual leader in that path, get a reading, and they will let you know if this is a path that you're supposed to take, but the books again, and the internet have told you that no, spirit belongs to everyone, and these are spirits.

[00:17:22] Abby: That is absolutely fucking incorrect. I love that. There are rites of passages when working with certain energies that you absolutely have to go through in order for them to even listen to you, to even safely be able to get their assistance and guidance. But if that's not your thing, if that's something that you, you know, if there's not a specific, you know, God, God, God, and we're going to talk about that in a minute or as her candles over there, just a flicker and start with against spirituality.

[00:17:53] Abby: Knowing thyself, and how do you know thyself? Again, going to your ancestors, finding out where you've been, what runs in, because we are literally in a reincarnation of all of our ancestors. So if you're not sure, if you don't have like a, what we're now we're talking about the craft when it comes to the practice, find out who you are at a soul level.

[00:18:14] Abby: What type of practitioner do you want to be? What is it that you feel like, you know, you can help? The collective with, and I don't mean, you know, Oh, I took a Reiki class over the weekend. Now I'm ready to open up my witchy, but I know how to throw a bunch of bullshit in a bottle, put some oil on it. Um, Oh, it's lavender.

[00:18:32] Abby: The internet said that's good with intuition, but it's hollow. So at your core essence and foundation, because what you're doing, essentially, especially when you're making spiritual products and tools and, you know, helping people energetically. You are using your life force energy. You are using your, you know, your own Ashe, your own Chi.

[00:18:51] Abby: In order to be able to do that, to lend pieces out, yours essentially has to be strong as fuck. What is your practice? What are you doing to make sure that your energy is strong enough to be helpful in the collective, in the community. Are you meditating? Are you taking care of your spiritual hygiene? And I see, and I say this all the time, it stops being something that you do like, Oh, I, you know, I'm a witch when I'm on social media.

[00:19:19] Abby: Okay. Now I'm getting, I'm going to put this down now. I'm going to do everything else. You stop doing that. It becomes a part of who you are. It's not something that just you do. So making sure that that's done. In the morning when you're having your coffee, and this is one example that I love to give my students, the way you stir your coffee matters.

[00:19:36] Abby: What intentions that you're speaking over your water when you're filling it up. You, every time that you do that, you grow. In your vibration and you're also what you're doing, you're literally changing your energetic imprint, your karmic signature. And so as your karmic signature changes, you're moving on different levels and they're now, hey, once you start doing that, there might be a deity or other outside energy.

[00:20:01] Abby: Damn, I like she, as she had her ancestor altar every day, they always getting little cakes and presents. And I want to, I want some of that for me too. And I'm, I'm going to come help you with this. If you do that same thing for me. But a lot of people don't have that dedication yet that they think that they have.

[00:20:16] Abby: And this is why we're going to go back to ancestor, um, veneration. That's very good practice. If you do want to work with outside energy, you should have no altar in your home. If you don't have some kind of something for your ancestors. After the Sabrina series came out, everybody wanted to work with Hecate.

[00:20:33] Abby: You know what I'm saying? And they think that she's just this loving, Oh, anybody can work with her. Okay, let me, let me see how that works out for you, because she's not what people really, you know, in the books and whatnot, there's so many different paths. For one, she's a triple faced goddess, and each one of those faces has different roads, different paths that you can, you know, that she can literally take you down.

[00:20:54] Abby: All of those paths aren't necessarily nice and good, and oh, that mother, she's gonna accept me. Okay. I've seen people's lives drastically fall. Oh, she's just taking me through the darkness. Yes. You don't leave your ass right there because you're not going about it the right way. She is very demanding. She is very diva and she is very high maintenance.

[00:21:12] Abby: So again, when you're working with your ancestors, they're your family. They were once humans, you know, you're venerating them. Oh, it's all right. We understand. Cause again, they're in the heart of the home. We see what's happening. She's very busy. It's all right that, you know, this water set here for three days.

[00:21:27] Abby: It's a fly in it, but it's okay. It's fine. When you start working with outside energies, they don't give a shit. They will knock everything over. And while you're sitting in chaos and confusion, like what's going on? And then you look over that altar and it's dusty. Don't have a candle. It like, Oh, okay.

[00:21:42] Abby: That's why that's the first thing I tell my students before, when they're moving in one, want to move into the craft before you can manipulate outside energy, you have to first master your own. So make sure that you are doing something on a daily, consistent basis to. Knowing yourself, understanding and having compassion for people and things around you before you start, you know, getting into the fun, cool stuff that everybody, but people want to skip that they do your own, you know, people's shadow work.

[00:22:14] Abby: Oh, you know, I had a really tough discussion with myself and I, I see where sometimes I'm a bitch. I did some shadow work. That's not shadow work. That is, that is not it. Let's get to the root of why you are a fucking hater. Okay, where did this start, Samantha? Really, really, really getting into that aspect and being honest with that because even in doing your shadow work, you're going to purge and you're going to find out something.

[00:22:37] Abby: Maybe that is where your power is, is in that darkness. It really goes back to, you know, yourself first, raising your own vibration, that's going to attract you as your light grows, that's going to attract other energies. And if those other energies are of outside practices, hey, maybe now it's time for you to move into a different space, especially for those people who don't know their family, when you initiate into a Ile or a spiritual house.

[00:23:05] Abby: This gives you that family that maybe you were once missing. So this is why your ancestors are guiding you down that space. You know, it doesn't have to be, Oh, well I saw this and you know, a hoodoo practice or a voodoo practice or, you know, an IFA based system. When you're, you know, sitting with yourself in meditation, Oh, you know, ancestor spirit, like I'm feeling this way in my heart.

[00:23:27] Abby: And then they drop you a little recipe. You know, in your head, Oh, honey, take a bath with rosemary and mint, you know, you're going to start to feel better. And as you do that and you notice, Oh, damn, they told me to do that. And it felt really good. You write that down in your book. Now you're doing that in a space of, um, a foundation.

[00:23:46] Abby: You were meditating. You were listening to spirit. You're not taking something from someone else. You had your own solid meditation connection practice. They told you what to do. It worked for you. You wrote it. And now this becomes your own tradition. This is something that you do. This is something your nieces, nephews, you know, grandkids, whatever.

[00:24:07] Abby: Oh, when I was, wasn't feeling grandma, this is what grandma did. So we're going to do that too, but make sure. That it's coming from spirit. And like you said, not someone else's practice. If you see someone on, you know, social media, Oh, a cleansing bath. And then you go and take that same cleansing bath. That was not spirit led.

[00:24:25] Abby: I'm sorry. Spirit did not lead you to that girl or this person's post. For you to, to take their shit. Because what they did might've come from a closed practice. And that bath or whatever for them. It's not going to work the same for you. They were given that recipe. They may be, if they are in a closed practice, they were given specific explicit instructions on how to prepare it, when to do it, you know, there's things that we only see a little window of what people post on social media.

[00:24:56] Abby: So when you're going with it, and your spirits are given to you, I promise you, I know it seems like the easy, shortcut way to get on and listen to the crowd. But now you have so many avenues that you have to navigate when you don't have to do that. Just listen to your own team. Listen to your own spirits.

[00:25:13] Abby: They want to help you.

[00:25:14] Jessica: That's what they're here for. And, and I love that because if you do not know yourself, you're never going to be able to figure out the nuances of your ancestors or maybe those other spirits that come along. If you don't know what you're starting with, if you don't know, and, and I love that you were talking about this idea of a spiritual practice all the way from the moment that you start with that first cup of coffee.

[00:25:38] Jessica: Y'all, it's not the book of things. That raises your vibration and you just put these things on, like, it's so much deeper than that. The way to raise your vibration is that you're living it in everything that you do, not I took five minutes and I cleared out my chakras, you know what I mean?

[00:25:57] Abby: Absolutely.

[00:25:58] Abby: And I like to use this example too. You know how, like, especially with like Shein and all these little clothing boutiques, the outfit looks good as shit. You can buy that same outfit, bitch. The body don't come with the outfit. Make sure that your spirit, your soul is the body. Everything else is just the outfit.

[00:26:20] Abby: Cause it's a lot of outfits out here. There's a lot. There's a lot of outfits out here and people just, you know, faking it until they make it and that's fine. Hey, what other people do it? They alter is, you know, their business, but you have to make sure that you at your core, at your family, you're still the same person when you put that phone down, when you know, you turn that internet off or when you put that book away or when you're alone with yourself.

[00:26:42] Abby: Are you happy with the spiritual practitioner that you are? Are you good with the, you know, the, the spiritualist that you are? And I don't mean just even in practice, because again, this is another thing I tell my students, like, every practitioner has to be spiritual, but not every spiritualist. is a practitioner.

[00:27:00] Abby: Make sure your spirit at the end of the day is good because it all starts with spirit. It has to be that because when you are, again, trying to fake it till you make it, um, you know, just kind of throwing some stuff out when you're really trying to shake some shit up and you're really trying to change that.

[00:27:15] Abby: In essence is going to be again, who comes in to assist you in your journey. You need your spirit team and that's great. And there might be some people out there. Oh, I don't need nobody. You know, I can just light this candle and put my wish into this candle. But who are you talking to? If you're not meditating, if you're not connecting with spirit, like who, who do you think you're talking to, sis?

[00:27:39] Abby: Where's it

[00:27:39] Jessica: going? Where's it going? What's the point?

[00:27:42] Abby: That prayer didn't get no hard and sealing.

[00:27:46] Jessica: I love that. No, especially during challenging times. I remember I was going through extremely challenging times. It's been challenging for the last few years, but there was, there were moments and I remember walking into my office, headed over to my ancestor altar and all of a sudden my great grandfather appeared in my office with two things.

[00:28:03] Jessica: One, I knew exactly why it was that ancestor and why he was there. And every day for months. He would just hang out in my office because I needed that support. I needed that, whatever, even though I'd never met him in person, he and my grandmother, I needed those two people to be present. I was so grateful that I had connected with my ancestors before.

[00:28:25] Jessica: Everything had its tower meltdown because it was a huge piece of what got me through. Having that connection and being able to communicate with them and knowing that there was that support. And like you said, they were human, so they get it. They get it. I was so grateful.

[00:28:41] Abby: Yeah, they've walked, they've walked these paths, so we didn't have to, they made the mistakes, so we don't have to, and it doesn't matter, and I feel like that's one of the biggest mistakes that people make, is trying to only connect with the ancestors that they knew, the family that it is that they knew, you know, we have thousands and thousands of greats and greats and greats, aunts, uncles, cousins, you know, grandparents, greats.

[00:29:04] Abby: That have made mistakes. Could you imagine living, like, look at all the vampire movies. I ain't never seen a broke vampire yet. You know what I'm saying? I haven't either.

[00:29:14] Jessica: It doesn't mean I don't watch the movies.

[00:29:17] Abby: Not saying, you know, we watch the Tri Light marathon every time it comes on, not saying that, you know.

[00:29:23] Abby: Even in stuff like that, like, you have to take of it in that same way. Like, could you imagine taking all of that knowledge from back then? You know, even now in our own lifetime, Oh, if I knew then, would I, you know, would I know now? It's literally the same thing. Ask them, and this is why you want to lift them up, because People love to go, you know, and ask spirit for, you know, money, work, go to your ancestors.

[00:29:44] Abby: All right. I know, I know our whole life, you know, our whole bloodline, all y'all couldn't have been broke. Who has some information, who has some information on how to get some money or how to get over this financial hurdle. For those of you who have knowledge in this area, come forth and help me, help me, you know, I'm going to give you this, you know, cause it is, it's a, it's a give and take.

[00:30:06] Abby: And this is where we're going back to. Working with other energies and offerings and things like that because it's, you know, yeah, your ancestors are forgiven, but you know, sometimes they be looking at your little offer and like, Ooh, you want a lot? And this is, ooh, I got a glass, the same glass of water. I got yesterday's.

[00:30:21] Abby: Thank you. You know, the, the bigger the ass, the bigger the offer needs to be. And a lot of times it's not just getting things, it could be comfort. You could be going through something, you know, traumatic. Especially, and I love this, like, as women, those maternal ancestors because that oppression and whatnot that women of our past went through, but they still had those joys, even if they can't offer a solution to the problem, because shit, they didn't know at the time.

[00:30:47] Abby: They watching us like, hell yeah, girl. Tell him you ain't cooking shit, hell yeah, you know, they love that for us, but they know how to get through those hard times. So even if they just give you, you know, it's not things that you're receiving that comfort. Like you were just talking that presence of just being there, that feeling of damn, I'm not alone.

[00:31:07] Abby: I think that's fantastic. I love that.

[00:31:10] Jessica: I just, I cannot stress how powerful it is when you make that connection for yourself and how different it feels y'all when you make that connection for yourself, rather than reading it and trying to mimic it. It just all of a sudden moves from this thing that's sort of plastic to something that's real and true and there is nothing

[00:31:27] Abby: like it.

[00:31:28] Abby: Absolutely. And it's, it's, it's something that you can see, because like I said, your ancestors want to communicate with you, they want to help you, they want to give you signs, they want you to have that faith, because again, the higher your vibe goes, the higher they go, so there it's like a help me help you situation, like we, like I said before, and then once you start getting into that space and that aspect, now you start to trust, then the illusion of everything else starts to fall away, of, you know, Damn, I really can create this life that I want with the assistance of spirit.

[00:32:00] Abby: Let's get into it. So now we're ready to start, you know, stepping into the craft and we're kind of, you know, I hate to use the word dabbling, but that's what a lot of people, you know, do and dabble. And that's fine. You can, Hey, work with the lunar cycles because that's very safe. That's very safe working with, you know, the Astros and working with.

[00:32:17] Abby: Your ancestors and working with herbs, you start doing that. But like I said, nine times out of 10, if you have a solid practice and doing those things, you're going to have other energies to step in. You're going to have, um, other deities to step in that want to assist you and push you even further. But first you have to trust and believe that.

[00:32:36] Abby: you're capable of doing that. And like I said, there's a, there's, there's a part of the sacrifice space that, you know, with these different cycles that we go through in our, within our spiritual journey, that sacrifice portion where you're now really having to change who you thought you were, who you have been up until this point in your life.

[00:32:55] Abby: And sometimes people get set in their ways and they don't want to change. But when you go through that sacrifice, Space where you're now literally dropping things and then, you know, you're, you're leaving room for all of this other knowledge and, and sometimes not even all just knowledge, the emptiness on the other side of that unlearning and letting go of everything that you thought you knew, what you thought was real, what you thought was possible.

[00:33:21] Abby: It just opens you up to a whole different level of possibilities and that's where magic happens. That's where the magic starts to come into play.

[00:33:30] Jessica: I love it. I love it so much. It resonates so much on, on multiple levels. And I'm just sitting here as you talk and I'm listening and I'm like reflecting back going, yes, exactly.

[00:33:41] Jessica: Exactly. Yes. All of that. And you have such a beautiful way with words. You know, we talked a little bit, we don't have to dive into this in depth, but I remember when I first kind of checked in with my ancestors and there was a very accessible side of the boardroom and a little less accessible side of the boardroom.

[00:33:57] Jessica: And for me, um, there was a lot of healing that had to be done on specifically one of those lines. And it took a lot of looking at myself to see where that was passed down, diving into the shadow and really unconditional love because there was some horrific things that occurred. Yes. What do you suggest for people in terms of just, if you're just starting off and you enter into that boardroom and you're like, whoa, what

[00:34:26] Abby: do you suggest?

[00:34:28] Abby: I don't think there's a way that we cannot, we talk about depth. I know. We talk from a space from what I know. Like I said, the challenges that I had, especially, and I, and I've shared this, I think I talked about this before on another time, you and I had talked, but especially for me, the tension in the room.

[00:34:48] Abby: was a lot because you have to think like I, me personally, in my background, I have every group of people that are destined to hate each other. You know what I mean? I have the Europeans, I have Haitians, I have West African and Indigenous American. None of these people are really supposed to, you know, get along.

[00:35:08] Abby: So at the end of the day, like it was a lot of, again, kind of, Hey, everyone loves me, so do you see, and not everyone did, like, let's be clear, because even in my living family, there's a lot of, there's still, even to this day, a lot of tension on my European side of the family who aren't accepting, but, you know, hey, you'll be on this altar too, we'll work that out, you'll need me too, but, and this is part of the reason why I did, Initiate into an ATR because it was never, it was never any, Oh no, you don't belong here.

[00:35:45] Abby: You got that white blood in you like, Oh no, you can't sit here. It was never that it was so open. And then on the hereditary side of my practice, there were people in my family who didn't want to accept me as an elder because my blood wasn't pure. You know what I mean? But ha ha, look at that. Look at, look at God and look at spirit because I'm now more powerful than all y'all, you know?

[00:36:04] Abby: So, hey, look at that. But to ease that tension, sometimes it's not going to, and that's just what it is. I'll, I'll use the example of my grandmother. When my grandmother passed, I remember just being hateful because she was so hateful to me when I was, you know, growing up. And I remember writing a post saying, I wish you the peace and death That you never found in life, you hateful bitch, you know, I remember writing that and I meant that shit because my grandmother, she loved dark energy, you know, and I never understood in my space and my spiritual practice that I was at then I couldn't understand like why would someone want to do that?

[00:36:48] Abby: Why would somebody want to be this? And I didn't understand. And then. You know, we tell, you know, spirit our feelings and they're like, Oh, okay. Yeah, that's cute. There was a turn of events and she kept trying to reach out and I like, I didn't have a picture of her on my altar. Like none of that. I never said, even said her name and then things happen.

[00:37:08] Abby: And like, she kept trying to come through and I'm like, no, no, thank you. But at the end of the day, again, we'll kind of skip forward. Things happen. And then I got to this place of understanding. Why she did or why she practiced the way that she did, the energies that she worked with, um, just her personality on the outside, it looked hateful, but at the end of the day, you know, it came from a place of love now, as far as the racism that I always felt, that's just, I cannot blame her for how she was raised, how she was brought up.

[00:37:44] Abby: Like, so I harbored my own anger because of something that belonged to her to deal with, and, and grow out of. That was none of my damn business. You know, I was taking that, so I was literally lowering my vibration to, to match something that really wasn't, it was like an illusion. It wasn't even really there.

[00:38:02] Abby: I hope that makes sense. But after, you know, some healing, very long conversations and tea at the Ancestor Altar, we came to an understanding, and there were things that I ended up meeting her for, because there were things, um, that I was dealing with that she dealt with, and that put her in that space to practice the way that she did.

[00:38:23] Abby: And I needed the same thing, and nobody could Nobody could tell me how to do that and get out of that space, but her. And then even like on my, you know, my father's side, I remember, you know, my, my grandma Rose, who I'm named for. She was the most Christian woman I have ever to this day met in my life. I've never seen my grandmother in a pair of pants.

[00:38:42] Abby: Okay. And every time we, you know, she had, it was very opportunity just to piss my mom off. She going to take me to church every time she got me. So we have all of these, This energy, you know, we've got the witchy folks on this side and then the Muslims and the, the, the, the Christians on, on this side. And it's like, how do we all like coexist?

[00:39:03] Abby: And they, thankfully my mother and my grandmother started to try to build that bond before both of them had transitioned, um, or even come to an understanding to where they could coexist respectfully. But even now, like, and I share this a lot, like I feel like it's a beautiful thing now, both of them sit on the ancestor altar together.

[00:39:22] Abby: Knowing that damn both of us was kind of wrong, you know, , you know, so, you know, they're, they're in spirit together now and see things from a very different perspective to where they could see the, the, the air in their human ways and how both of them created this person, you know, had a, a hand in creating this person where all I wanna do is like, help people and oh, it's all love.

[00:39:45] Abby: Like, y'all don't have to agree, but at the end of the day, this is just what it is, you know? That's what it should be, them helping you, how they felt about any certain group of people or, or whatnot. Hey, you're not always going to heal that space. Like, okay, uncle Roger, we can't be a racist anymore. Like, you know, no great, great.

[00:40:05] Abby: I'm worried. We're not allowed to marry our first cousins anymore. You know what I mean? So you're not always going to heal that space, but in the soul, the trauma, the, the hardships. That's what we can overcome. You're not trying to change them as people who they were and, and sometimes not. You know, I joke, but I'm not, you know, there's truth and a joke.

[00:40:25] Abby: I tell people and people just, oh, I just wanna talk to my elevated ancestors, the ones that love me and care for me. Yeah, they can love and care for you, but not be elevated at the same time. Because when you're going through dark stuff and you're being, you know, spiritually, mentally, or emotionally attacked, you need Aunt Barbara that will cut a bitch and with no questions asked.

[00:40:43] Abby: You need her. Amen. So the word you know, don't. Don't put her off like you, you need all of them, but that comes with that wholeness, you know, and, and this is where they're, you're, you know, when you have these conflicts and these tensions, this is what teaches you wholeness. This is what teach you, teaches you compassion.

[00:40:59] Abby: This is what teaches you empathy and also helps you be unbiased where you can look at things from a very different perspective. Huge. Yeah. You can, you can see that you can take your personal feelings and, you know, now you're just literally a neutral. Party where you can see things from this point of view and see things from now you have like this eagle bird's eye view where you're making better decisions, better choices.

[00:41:24] Abby: And you know, you, you know how to, you know, think outside of the box where, where you're just, you know, clenched into one group of people, like, no, that just limits you.

[00:41:34] Jessica: It does. You leave something behind when you do that. It should be all of our human experiences. Absolutely. All of them. And if you start saying, I'm just going to do this with these people, that's not healthy.

[00:41:46] Jessica: It's going to bite you in the ass.

[00:41:48] Abby: Absolutely. And that's kind of what I was saying, too, because, and it's so funny because, um, when we were talking about, you know, people in the clothes practices, my sister, who is, She's, you know, Sicilian, but then she's got her ancestry on her father's side, which is indigenous, um, like what they call it Mexican Indian down there, like with the Aztecs and all that, you know, that's her father's lineage.

[00:42:08] Abby: And I remember when I started practicing the ATR, she just was fascinated. She's fascinated by it. You know what I mean? And this was my sister who I have told folks about, like, she's just like, nah, she ain't with the shit because she disconnected from The spiritual side of our family when she was literally picked up and thrown downstairs, you know what I mean?

[00:42:26] Abby: She was like, I'm done. She didn't see the good side of spirit that I always, the fun part that I got to see running behind mom, you know, she didn't see that part. She was literally terrorized by spirits for some reason, but now it took an ATR. A reading with my padrino for her to kind of understand when she figured out, like, well, not figured out, but when she was told who her head spirit is, the path of that, you know, Orisha and why things are happening, that is the only thing that has made her from an indigenous standpoint, from, you know, our European practice, our hereditary blood, she was not interested.

[00:43:02] Abby: It took an ATR for her to be like. Damn, that makes sense. That makes so, and she really understood because she was able to empathize and understand her head Orisha, her guardian angel. She understood, Oh, she went through this and this. That makes sense why she's mine. You know, and she had no idea about any of it.

[00:43:23] Abby: And now that has opened her up. To really dig more into her background and her past, but that's what it is. And that's why I tell people all the time, don't let the color of your skin detour you because it's not as long as you're going in with an open heart and compassion. A lot of people, as long as you're going through the right channels and doing it the proper way, you're not going to be turned away.

[00:43:42] Abby: In my experience, from what I've seen, I have only seen this really in like Haitian culture. voodoo or voodoo practices. If you don't have Haitian ancestry, you cannot practice, but even then that's in certain, you know, that's in certain houses, that's not for everyone. So don't let the color of your skin, you know, not let you go down the road.

[00:44:02] Abby: The spirit's pushing you down because that's not the case.

[00:44:05] Jessica: I love it. I always love chatting with you. Okay. If there was like one message that you'd want to share right now about the power of your ancestors and your spiritual practice, what

[00:44:16] Abby: would it be? I think the most important thing for me is, me and my practice, I'm going to speak from my standpoint, figure out the person and practitioner that you want to be.

[00:44:28] Abby: Like, as you envision yourself, like, what is the point? What is the purpose? You know, people always want to find, oh, I don't know what my purpose is. What is the purpose of your life? What do you feel like you're here and destined to do? You know, everybody isn't meant to work for their, you know, a practice for the public, but you're still a member of the collective.

[00:44:49] Abby: What do you want your energetic, imprint to be that's going to leave a mark on the people that come in contact with you, whether that be of service, assistance, or even just association. And then once you realize or you have romanticized who this being is, now, what steps do I need to take to get to that point?

[00:45:16] Abby: There's some stuff I'm going to have to leave behind, but there's also some stuff that I have to gain. But make a practical plan. But first, it's really being honest about who you are right now and that gap between who you are right now and who it is that you want to be. What do we need to do to bridge this gap?

[00:45:32] Abby: That's the most important thing. Everything else just kind of falls into place. Oh, I love it.

[00:45:38] Jessica: So that's the question. What do you need to do, y'all, for this episode, right? The question for the episode, what do you need to do to bridge the gap? I love it. Thank you so much. You're

[00:45:46] Abby: welcome. You're welcome.

[00:45:47] Abby: You're welcome. Thank you for having me. It's

[00:45:50] Jessica: been a joy as always. Um, where can everyone find you at?

[00:45:54] Abby: You can find me at, well on Instagram. It's Bella, BELL, ACORE Mambo, M-A-M-B-O on Instagram. Um, my website, ww dot bella mambo.com. I also have a brick and mortar house of Mambo, six 12 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, Virginia.

[00:46:12] Abby: Um, I also have a Patreon, Bella Mambo. Yeah, we do all kinds of fun things there, but I'm not hard to find, you know, I'm, I always say, you know, and I stopped saying it for a while, but I'm the favorite's favorite, you know, I'm the, I'm the auntie down the street that everybody kind of knows. So I'm not hard to find.

[00:46:27] Abby: I

[00:46:27] Jessica: love, I love it when I, you pop up on my social media feed. I'm like, Oh, today's going to be a good day. Today's going to be a good day. Thank you so much, Abby, for being here. I'm so grateful for you. Thank you. Thank you all. And we will talk to you on the next episode of reclaiming our spirit. Thank you for listening to reclaiming our spirit to find out how I can help you reclaim your spirit.

[00:46:52] Jessica: Reach out to me at www. jessicapaschke. com. Leave me a message and I just may share how you reclaimed your spirit in the next episode.