Ancestral Messages by Brittany Castro

Back in the summer I originally signed up for African folktales. Then it got canceled, so I went online to see what other storytelling classes were being offered. I really wanted to take a story telling class because I enjoy them so much and I love the environment of the class room setting and how inviting everyone is in the class. It ended up being between personal stories and sacred stories. So I went to my mentor Marilyn Torres and she told me to go with sacred stories and that I would love it!

I was quite excited as it was my first class with Liz Warren and I had been wanting to take one of her classes so this was my opportunity! Although for this particular class I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, nor what this class was really going to entail. I get to class and as you all know we introduce ourselves and then we go over the syllabus. After going over the syllabus one part of it seemed daunting to me. The personal sacred story. I had no idea what I would tell or what I even considered sacred to me, I just kept thinking “I don’t have a sacred story, what could I possibly tell?” that kept going through my mind all throughout class. After everyone going over their definition of sacred and hearing Ms.Warren telling her sacred stories it dawned on me!

Have you ever had the urge to tell a story or tell someone something so bad that you just felt it throughout your body? Like it was just trying to get out? As soon as I figured it out in the last few minutes of class I knew I was in the right spot since this story wants to be told! It is a story about a dream that I never really thought much of until I started to take this class. If I hadn't taken this class I wouldn't have realized that what I considered to be a somewhat silly dream is actually something more. It carries a deeper message of what my ancestor was really trying to tell me.

The image at the top can be found here. It is the Sol Taino Muse by Puerto Rican artist Tanya Torres.

Comments

[Emiy Parker]

Brittany, I think this piece is beautiful. I am still stumped on what my personal sacred story will be. I am very interested to hear yours in class.

[Elizabeth Wunsch]

Brittany, what a beautiful post. You have so many stories within you waiting to be told. I look forward to hearing them!

[TheMiss321]

I am excited to hear your story. I can imagine your personality coming through as you bring to life your ancestors message.

[Myranette Robinson]

I'm glad that you are in this class with us. It is exciting to hear and watch you as you find what is sacred to you.