It is the eve of a new year, as 2011 comes upon us. I always spend some time contemplating the past year in an attempt to guess what the next year holds, and this year is no exception. However, this time stands out from the others in that I have an overwhelming sense of hope for the New Year, and I think that a new day is dawning- brighter than the days before it. Even though we are in the gripes of winter right now, nonetheless one can smell spring in the air, as the scent of REAL change is in the wind. I began to sense it last year, and now, as I look into the New Year, I can see it manifesting itself in many ways, not only in my life but in the lives of others.
It started last year when I attended Neil Brick’s conference on Ritual Abuse and Mind Control. Having fought nightmarish memories all of my life, Neil offered me an opportunity to come together with other survivors, and that has changed everything for me. Realizing that there are others, many others, who share in my experiences, began to assure me that I was not alone, and that began the change in my outlook. You see, before I realized that there are others out there who share the same craziness that I experienced as a child, I was content in believing that I had to be mistaken about the memories that I remembered. However, unable to escape the effects of what happened to me, dismissing myself only served to feed an overwhelming sense of isolation and loneliness I felt from my fellow man. Adding to the mistrust I already felt with regards to myself and the world around me, I never realized how unhealthy it was until last August, when I had the opportunity to meet others like me who could “talk my language” so to speak. Discovering that I was not alone was eye opening to me, and has profoundly changed me as a person. Information for this year’s conference can be found at Neil’s website, http://ritualabuse.us .
At the conference, I was also given the opportunity to join a coalition of survivors and survivor advocates who have formed to reach out to others, such as myself, in order to reassure them that they are not alone. The United States Truth and Reconciliation Coalition was formed by Kathleen Sullivan in order to bring public awareness to problems of ritual abuse, torture, human trafficking, and other government sponsored forms of mind control and torture in hopes to further public awareness so that these practices can be stopped. Concerned with being braver, stronger, and kinder, the focus is not one of retribution but rather of reconciliation, as the group is reaching out to those who have been hurt by such practices in a way that brings survivors together, uniting us through our experiences as never before. The life of a ritual abuse survivor is difficult, not to mention those of us who endured Satanic Ritual Abuse and government sponsored torture, but the US TRC is giving everyone a chance to reach out and come together in a way that has started to empower those of us who have chosen to get involved. Offering the same to other survivors out there, it is the network of healing that has given me such a sense of hope for the upcoming New Year.
The energy of the coalition members is amazing, and I discovered how true this was when fellow members Mary Maxwell, Ph. D and author of “Prosecution for Treason: What We the People can do About High Crimes and Misdemeanors” and Trish Fotheringham, one of the most amazing experts on dissociation and fellow victim herself, came to visit for a few days a few months after the conference. Mary’s attempt to unite us by visiting many members of the coalition at one time, it gave me a chance to see how diverse and remarkable the founding members of this coalition really are. Trish, one of the contributor’s to “Ritual Abuse in the 21st Century”,(one of the most poignant books on the market about Ritual abuse), is remarkable in her detailing the effects of dissociation and the problems thereof, and her video’s and blog can be found at http://morethananidea.wordpress.com/ . Further contributing to my feelings of hope, Mary and Trish showed me how dedicated and capable we are as a group of individuals, and gave me a sense that together we can accomplish anything!
Looking forward into 2011, I am excited to say that what I experienced in 2010 is hopefully going to extend to others this upcoming year. Organized to bring public awareness to the practices of ritual abuse, satanic ritual abuse, and government sponsored torture and mind control, we are reaching out to fellow survivors at the first of the year in order to hear your stories. Realizing that there is strength in numbers, the US TRC is going to break the silence that has allowed these practices to go on for far too long. In order to do that, we are reaching out to fellow survivors, asking those of you who are survivors to tell your stories of abuse and to stand strong with us in proclaiming what happened, bring public awareness and scrutiny to issues largely behind the problem of human trafficking. Sharing our experiences, we are going to find solidarity with each other, and help prevent that which happened to us from happening to others in the future. It is this; above all else, that offers me a sense of hope for the next year.
So here is to a bright New Year. May 2011 be one of peaceful reconciliation, bringing us together in a way that bonds us through our innate humanity. Before we even begin the new year there is hope for new days, as I assure you, the United States Truth and Reconciliation Coalition is working to further benefit mankind by bringing survivors together showing that things can and will be different in the future. With such remarkable people working together, we are definitely stepping into a new day!