When I returned from my first trip to the Gambia in March, I did a Presentation to encourage my people to buy land together to build a commUNITY village; this was based upon a premonition I’d had in 2015, that in 5 years time (2020) my people would be fleeing England and America; I thought “they’re going to need somewhere to run to!”
The opportunity arose for me to facilitate The Self Love Retreat in the Gambia between December 2017 and March 2018. In between Retreats, I came across some beautiful land right by the sea, which fulfilled my vision of having a Retreat Home overlooking the sea, and a commUNITY Village. Here’s part of my talk:
Unfortunately, the day after my Presentation I was told that the land I had my heart set on can only be purchased on a 99 year lease! This is okay for the Retreat Home I plan to build, but for the Village, we need something we can pass down to future generations.
So I returned to the Gambia in May, and after a 3 day fast (no food just water), the perfect piece of land came to me 200 x 200 metres, just outside the government-owned TDA (Tourist Development Area), within walking distance of the sea and a newly built 6-bed Retreat Home which I was able to rent! This is a huge step towards my work to help us heal from the psychological effects of slavery and colonialism!
“You cannot heal in the same place that made you sick”
I wanted to create a safe space for us to heal, away from western ideologies. Read on to learn why…
During the process of “breaking them in”, our enslaved ancestors were subjected to intense physical and psychological trauma, and we, their descendants, have been carrying this trauma in our our genetic coding, passed down from one generation to the next. To fully comprehend the dysfunction within our community today, we need to get to the ROOT CAUSE of our issues, that is, we need to look at the CAUSE, not the effect, and the cause is buried deep in our subconscious minds.
In my Presentation, I explained that while the government has no problem with people drinking and smoking themselves to death (not to mention the amount of people addicted to white sugar, and the diseases it causes), they have BANNED medicinal plants that grow out of the ground, which are crucial to our healing.
I was in the Gambia when The Black Panther came out, and couldn’t wait to see it when I got back. The parts that got my interest the most, were when they gave T’Challa and Killmonger plant medicines and buried them in order for them to visit their ancestors. The burying was symbolic of them going deep into their subconscious.
And in the film ‘Get Out’, the ‘sunken place’ is his subconscious mind.
Last year, I had reached a point in my Self-healing journey were I didn’t know what else to do to heal myself. I asked my ancestors ‘What now?’
Not long after, I met a woman who facilitated my first experience with cannabis oil; after we fried some plantain in it, I slipped into a ‘trance’ state for around 8-10 hours, during which time I was receiving a spiritual download, which seemed to be affecting my past, present and future. From my personal studies, I discovered that time isn’t linear, it’s all happening at the same time.
On another occasion, I took ‘magic’ mushrooms, which took me on a deep inner journey through my ancestry. They showed me how the trauma my ancestors had suffered altered their DNA structure. The message I got from the ‘trip’ was ‘DNA REPAIR’.
When WE heal, we’re not only healing ourselves, we’re healing our ancestors, and future generations.
Our ancestral mothers are on hand to help us with this process; some of the methods are unconventional; most of these plant medicines have been made illegal, but I walk in the footsteps of my ancestors who have gone before me, who have paved the way for the work I’m called to do now. These are plants Mother Nature has provided for our healing. Are you truly ready to heal?
My own Self-healing journey has been like peeling away onion layers; every time I unpeeled one layer (e.g. religion) there was something else underneath I had to deal with. The Positive Affirmations worked for some things, but not others. For instance, they worked really well to help me build confidence and self esteem, which helped me to unblock as a writer and artist, but there were other blocks that I just couldn’t seem to shift. I asked my Higher Self to reveal what I needed, which is when I came to the realization that some of the blocks were buried so deep in my subconscious, I couldn’t get to them on a conscious level; I had to go into an altered state of consciousness to reach them.
Meditation helped to quiet my mind and control my negative thinking patterns, which also helped me heal from depression. I focused on thinking positively and keeping myself in a ‘positive state of bliss’. Yet none of these things seemed to get to the ROOT CAUSE of my issues.
If we don’t heal from the trauma of our past, it will keep coming back to haunt our present and future.
“As I heal myself, I heal others”
If you have suffered childhood trauma, abuse, ancestral trauma, and know that you have been psychologically affected, this is for you. My work is about helping us heal so that we can move on to form better relationships with our Self, our partner, to rebuild our family structures, and our commUNITY.
I wrote this poem the morning after watching the film ‘Sankofa’, and I dedicated it to all who are still suffering the psychological effects of the enslavement of our ancestors, handed down to us genetically through our DNA:
If you’d like to come to the Gambia with your partner, join me on The Self Love Retreat 8-15 February 2019!
You can also join me on The Self Love Retreat 8-15 November or 3-10 December or the Let’s Build a Village Retreat 20-29 November or 17-24 December.
I’m sending a container to the Gambia in mid September to furnish our new Retreat Home for the first Retreats taking place in November and December.
To help with set-up costs of the Retreat Home, plus offering subsidized places on the Retreats, Make your contribution here.
If you’d like to come on any of the Retreats, or would like to be considered for a subsidized place, send me a message:
In my Presentation, I also showed some photos of the dome-shaped round homes we’re thinking of building in the village, and Galactic Clyde (a builder and carpenter who studies sacred geometry) explained the spiritual benefits of living in such homes instead of square ones:
As the land is smaller on this second plot of land, there are now only 7 plots available for £6,000 each (25 x 25 metres). All who are interested in being part of this village project MUST attend one of the Let’s Build a Village Retreats in November or December. You’ll have the opportunity to see the land, meet potential neighbours, and plan how our village will be laid out.
If this village isn’t right for you, I hope it inspires you to set up your own village, or to work with other groups who are also building villages.
It takes a VILLAGE to raise a child, let’s do this for ourselves, our ancestors, and future generations!
You can also keep up-to-date with my activities via my Instagram and Facebook pages.
Watch this Youtube video on The Introduction of Psychedilics if it resonates with you, join me on my Ayahuasca Retreat in January 13-25! (For more information send me a message).
Yours faithfully,
Cezanne Taharqa aka Cezanne Poetess
Author|Artist|Poet|Retreats Organizer
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