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Fragments or Ancestors...

In the last few days our 10th month old puppy has been recognizing dogs on television. Every time she sees a dog on the screen she becomes alert and makes these whimpering sounds. When the dog disappears from the scene she becomes agitated and starts looking for the dog around the house. Soon she’s looking under the television, through the glass door of the bureau, thinking that perhaps the dog is hiding there. Nobody believed me at first when I told them that our dog actually watched TV until they finally saw Bella attempt to engage a TV pooch to play with her.

One thing that I’ve noticed in the last 40 years of my life is that people don’t blindly believe in the stories of others. Proof is often needed. If you tell people that in order to reach wholeness people have to work through countless fragments, the statement makes sense to them; but if you tell them that past lives exist, it’s harder to believe. One suggests proof or confirmation whereas the other relies on faith. One way or the other, in certain traditions the idea of past lives can be proven (so to speak) through the exploration of fragments.

Before Bella even started looking at the dogs on TV I knew she was seeking for a companion. When we adopted Bella her previous owners explained that she was constantly waiting at the door as if she was waiting for someone. They assumed that Bella wasn’t happy with them and was already looking for our family. We were told Bella was incredibly playful and social with other animals; and even though she was close to the Chihuahua and the family cat they never seemed to be enough. Bella adjusted wonderfully to our home. She loves it when there’s lots of people around; but still she seems to need another dog, a companion. When the thought occurred to me I started dreaming about another Beagle and the word “sisterhood” repeatedly came up. Finally, GP, ET and I started looking for another Beagle to adopt but each time we found one, it didn’t seem to work. As if we were looking for one particular dog.

When I met my husband (of 22 years) I felt quickly drawn to him as if we had known each other for centuries. It was easy to share everything with him and he seemed to understand me beyond anyone else. Soon, we were friends and eventually we dated and married. Through our relationship we often noticed underlying stories to repetitive reactions and emotions. So one day, we decided to explore the stories and bring awareness to “the characters.” We found that by working the stories, we resolved the issues and got rid of the detrimental reactions. After doing this process a few times and learning about the Medicine Wheel we discovered characters were synonymous to fragments.

For example, my husband loved horses and we often went horse back riding earlier on in our friendship. ET always got the strong, elegant horse while I always got the slow, stout, older horse. Still despite my horse’s predictable nature every time we went riding my animal would always somehow get vigorous and out of control; and ET had to save the day by galloping by my side and bringing my horse to a halt. It became so much of a repetition that after some time I got paranoid and refused to go riding. When we finally looked into the story we met two interesting characters: A man who loves horses and can be quite heroic, and a woman who came to fear horses because of an accident. We looked at the story from so many different angles that year and we synchronically came across movies about horses where these characters actually took form. We actually learn some important lessons with the help of these characters and by recognizing them in our daily living we were able to make changes in attitude and behaviours, which helped us grow.

It was never important to recognize these characters as past lives and yet, we knew that there was a strong possibility that we were looking into distant memories and/or incarnations. What was more important to us was the potential to learn, heal and grow through these stories. Still after exploring a few stories we couldn’t get away from the obvious phenomenal details, which either triggered the fragments to appear or repeatedly brought them up until we actually integrated them. Eventually we couldn’t get away from the perspective that perhaps these fragments were ancestral; hence past incarnations. Obviously this brought up a full list of new ponderings.

On the Medicine Wheel the Moons suggest two different types of fragments: inner children and ancestors. Basically the Wheel brings up the notion that we mature through time (in one life time or through many life times). If we can heal and teach our inner children to grow up and be healthy, well and whole; they will eventually become god-like or goddess like. Past lives offer stories that are similar to inner children stories; but speak of adults and their unresolved. These ancestral fragments basically show that we have an eternal potential of growth and that wellness and wholeness is possible with time. The idea of inner-children and inner-parents (ancestors) speaks of the potential of self-sufficiency and survival; but it also introduces the scientific notion that we hold within our genetics the potential of a family, a community, a nation and all of humanity. When working through these stories we learn the wisdom of the sacred circle, which basically or simply states: “Our inner community stands with the inner community of all others to build yet another dimension of common goals, needs etc… CREATION!”

“How do we recognize fragments?” asked KAT.

We recognize fragments by paying attention to repetitive actions, behaviours, reactions and emotions which are triggered always by the same kind of story. Once we’ve observed or taken note of the story which triggers the reactions we can see the characters emerge. We can also identify the characters that best suit us. Once we’ve claimed a character we can begin to explore his or her life. The idea is to become a friend and to understand the character enough to forgive, sympathise and learn, heal along with it. These fragments are meant to be integrated; which means they no longer lead or control our lives: Our consciousness does!

Some elders suggest that “it’s the memories of the ancestors” left behind through the bones of the dead which brings us these stories and these teachings and healing. I guess reincarnation can be looked at from different angles… Personally and perhaps even ironically, I tend to look for proof. I believe in fragments and their stories because they’ve lived through my life, my personal story. They’ve brought teachings, healing and growth.

Comments

MaryRose said…
This post really speaks to me Lisa, I love to work with my inner community or fragments. I've seen and felt my moons grow and mature, had dreams with them, seen changes in my actions and emotional responses.

There is one fragment that I have been working with for years... she would come up in a relationship, and I would find myself being jealous, possessive etc... since that is not my usual way, I began taking notice and saw other behaviors in myself that revealed her character.

Over time, I had dreams of her maturing and accepting that she had to change, as I would not act upon these impulses and desires..
Then not too long ago, I had a dream where she committed to working with the rest of my inner community. I was happy about that.

I love your story of your dog as well. It reminded me of a dream I had years ago about my cat wanting a companion. I never acted on this dream and now she is sad and lonely. I wonder if it is not too late to get her a friend, and am hoping to be guided to find the Right one for her, and me. I hope that I didn't miss the out on the opportunity, so am looking around to see what I can find, to follow through on this dream.
Fishrarr said…
I believe that we all carry parts and fragments of those that have been here before us. We may not realize it but we all have many actions and thoughts on the way things need to be done, even if we do not realize it. The ancestors are available to help us if we are open to that. One of my teachers said more than once "Ancestors help us because if we succeed then they have succeeded." We are always working to better and heal who we are, the hard part is getting out of the way so that can happen. Tom.
MaryRose said…
I love this...

"Ancestors help us because if we succeed then they have succeeded."
Kate said…
Thanks for the info, it's helpful.
Anonymous said…
I'm just starting (these last two years) to explore fragments. I never realized how much our actions are guided by the parts of our inner community. It is strange to fathom 250 different "personalities" inside of me.

It makes me look at the human body very differently.

I like the story of Bella. We experienced something with our dog. We got our second dog because we felt our first dog was needing companionship. It's been a journey but very rewarding.

Dallal
Lisa F. Tardiff said…
Dallal,

I would love to hear your story about your dogs...
Please share with us.

Thank you.
LISA
RavenWolf said…
Thank you Lisa, this helps me to understand fragments so much more. This is a time in my life where I need and am ready to start looking at my inner community. I feel it is necessary for growth at this time. I love your blogs.
Anonymous said…
Lisa
I'll blog it on the site.

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