The Veil

She could see half of the cat and the rest disappeared.  As the mist engulfed the entire furry feline, Stef rose from the bed and followed.  She was visibly angelic ~ her essence filled with peace, beauty and calm.  Theresa had witnessed her sister pass through the spiritual veil ~ being lead by her faithful kitty friend.  Stef’s human suffering with cancer was over and her new journey had begun.

Being formerly agnostic ~ not knowing how or what to believe ~ Theresa was forever changed.  She had seen truth.

During a recent dharma chat with a friend (while sipping on wine and painting), the question had surfaced “what is the veil”?  As my soul often chooses to teach, guide, and speak truth ~ a story flashed into my heart.  The story of Stef’s last moments on earth surfaced.  But before the events of that sacred story passed from my lips ~ we heard a knock. Knock. Knocking. ​

​I asked Stef if it was her.  Knocks in validation and then the table lamp, which cast light upon our blank canvases, began to flicker.  Smiles crossed our faces as we knew a soul sister was in our presence.  Stef was pleased that part of her journey would now help others awaken to the awe of spiritual connection.  As the Cherokee elder’s teach, the spiritual beyond is as close as the edge of a maple leaf.   

Soften the gaze of your eyes ~ it is there.  Right in front of you.  Sparkles.  Whispers from loved ones that have passed through the veil ~ waiting for you to see, connect and embrace the mystery of the Great Unknown.

As we painted on our canvases, mine splashed with blues (the energetic color of speaking and hearing truth) my friend and I continued to talk about the beauty of Stef’s life.  When the cancer had returned, she knew this time was her time.  It was only a few short months before that her skin glowed in the sun at a festival of women.  She now chose to embrace her transition peacefully and she invited me into her home to help prepare her soul.  I had drummed, chanted, and called in her spiritual team to assist.  Spirit animals lined up.  Of course!  She worked with animals daily in her life.  Grooming, loving, and caring for them.  She not only cared for animals, but as I drummed...the spirit of her son was with us ~ her sister, her brother ~ her mom.  No matter what connection or conflict had lingered as it does with families ~ the true spiritual essence of all their love filed her tiny bedroom to help.

You see, she was learning all the way up into her last breaths on how to stay true to her unique soul’s code.  Her belief in her connection to the Great Mystery of Divine Love was irrefutable ~ but it didn’t take a Christian conservative way many relate to.  Yet, she struggled profoundly with guilt and questions of how she could appease her family while staying true to her knowing.  She was learning to heal right up to passing through the veil.

So when the man she had loved, her life partner, asked me to officiate her funeral ~  her celebration of life ceremony ~ I knew it was Spirit calling on me to help honor her truth.  Her life.  When Stef was still alive, I had shared with her that I would speak for her.  That I would honor her soul.
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As I shared that part of the story with my friend painting away in my tiny healing home, she quietly said “there is so much about you I don’t know”.

Isn’t that the truth with each of us?  There is so much unspoken.  So much unkown.

I have spoken to large groups throughout my life but this time was different.  It was a path I hadn’t walked before and I took this honor with a humbled grace.  In silent preparation, I soaked in healing waters the night before and it was there Stef appeared and spoke through music.  She helped me choose the final song for her celebration “The Lime Tree by Trevor Hall” along with the others we had agreed upon before she passed.  She had also shared a song with her son years before that she had wanted played at her funeral “one day”...the song was called “Can’t Find My Way Home by Blind Faith.”

At the end of Stef’s ceremony, when her friends and family lined up to take from the bowl of lavender (returning to their lives where they would sprinkle this peaceful herb out in nature in sweet remembrance)...Stef’s mom came up to me.  Tears in her eyes and a warm hug embracing me as she whispered “It was as if Stef was speaking through you.  You sounded just like my Stef.”

Stef had “Found Her Way Home” and now she continues to share just beyond the veil...

....and as my friend and I finished our painting, I felt compelled to wrap my work of art in a thin veil.  I could feel Stef smiling.  And so it is.  Aho!