Poetry Reading on Feb. 19, Update on My Vision, SIA Telephone Meeting

Ritual Abuse Survivors Read Their Poems of Suffering and Healing

This is the third in a series of free online poetry readings by survivors of ritual abuse and/or mind control. As a group, we are very creative people, but there are few opportunities for us to come together and celebrate the creativity that runs through our lives. We write, paint, sing, and dance for ourselves, but seldom can we have the joy of knowing that others have heard our voices.

We have been brutally silenced in childhood by our abusers and as adults by society. There was a long and effective campaign by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation to spread lies like “ritual abuse doesn’t exist,” “child sexual abuse is rare,” “children make up stories of abuse,” and “therapists put false memories into people’s heads for money.” We know our truth, and we speak it.

Sealimits (USA)

She is Sealimits, who freed herself from the darkness of ritual abuse and trafficking at the age of 17. Sealimits has spent the last 20 years in pursuit of personal healing and freedom. As a fragmented trauma survivor, she understands the importance of parts holding the hope in the midst of despairing nights. Sealimits is the name given to her and to her internal warriors in the earliest stages of their healing. She looks forward to sharing space with those who light the road of refuge for individuals like herself.

SHARRI (USA)

Sharri Burggraaf is a survivor of Satanic Ritual Abuse that included mind control. She is a wife, mother, and Nana. She is a writer, spoken word poet, and an artist who likes music, spending time with safe family, friends, and other survivors. She advocates for herself and other survivors using the anger and outrage at what was done to her and so many others as a catalyst to advocate for all who can’t speak for themselves. Her voice raises awareness of all types of abuse; specifically focusing on letting people know about mind control, ritual abuse, sex trafficking, child pornography, and the government and judicial system that promotes these types of slavery and about the evil agenda that is behind it all.

CLAIRE (Australia)

Claire has been publishing poetry since 1985, for a total of four collections. She finds poetry is a form of bearing witness and a means to break the silencing imposed by perpetrators of the sexual abuse of children who unjustly hold positions of power and respect as leading members of our communities and as heads of families. She is a cult survivor who gives voice to the unspeakable and seeks to comprehend the incomprehensible. She connects her experiences with their naturally accompanying feelings through the bridging power of metaphor and the associative, allusive and evocative power of poetic practice.

The event begins with introductions and the poetry readings, followed by a short break. At this point, we will ask for comments and questions. Then, if there is time, members of the audience may share one of their poems.

The event is open to all, not just ritual abuse survivors. As long as you want to stand beside us as we speak out, we welcome you with open arms.

To attend, get a ticket through Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/ritual-abuse-survivors-read-their-poems-of-suffering-and-healing-tickets-248429829307?keep_tld=1. Your name and email address will not be made public. To remain totally private, join ZOOM without your video and change your screen name.

We hope to see you all on

Saturday, February 19 at 4 – 5:30 PM Pacific Time n
5 – 6:30 PM Mountain Time
6 – 7:30 PM Central Time
7 – 8:30 PM East Coast Time
Sunday, February 20 at 9 – 10:30 AM Melbourne, Australia Time

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Update on my vision

This will be short because I am in charge of the mailing list for the poetry event, and it is not automated. I can’t blend two lists and have the software find duplicates. So time-consuming!

By the way, if any of you would like to be added to the mailing list and learn about cultural and educational events offered by RA/MC survivors, just let me know.

And if any of you could help me set up a SIMPLE but useful mailing list, you would make my day — no, my week — no, my month — maybe even my year!

~~~~~~~~~~

Well, it looks like I over-reacted about my vision. But that is not surprising, and I didn’t *totally* over-react.

The doctor said it was macular degeneration that messed up the newsprint, not a separate condition. I asked how come it wasn’t confined to my central vision, and he said that all the rods and cones degenerate, but it is more concentrated in the center of the retina. I am not 100% convinced, but I will go with that explanation for now. I trust he knows what he is doing.

(I want to tell you something about this doctor. I tell all the doctors I see that I was a technical writer before I was a social worker, and I offer to write up answers to common questions for their patients. He is the first one who has ever taken me up on it! He was enthusiastic, too, not grudging. He knew it would save him time to have questions answered and save Googling time for patients to have a list of resources.)

There was a tiny bit of leakage in that eye and so I got another injection to stop it from going any further. I am no longer afraid of having a flashback; I feel I have conquered them. During the actual injection, I am aware of the ways they abused my eyes to make sure I was quiet and obedient but the memory doesnt frighten me.

In a sense, all that freaking out was unnecessary. That energy could have been poured into something useful, like asking people to do Webinars or washing the kitchen floor. On the other hand, I don’t think I would have freaked out if it weren’t necessary. I bet it was pent-up anguish from childhood, the fear and defiance that led me to practice being blind when nobody was looking. I didn’t consciously know at the time that I had been threatened with being blinded, but I did consciously know that I wanted to be able to put on lipstick without making a mess. Flawlessly.

The fact remains that if things continue as they are going, I will, sooner or later, have immense difficulty reading, and it would be better if I started preparing now for that dreaded day. It doesn’t matter what causes diminishing vision. What matters is how wisely I handle each stage of the coming loss.

After all, if I don’t start learning the skills I will need in the future, I will be under-reacting. That is a bad idea. Think of this – if my early ancestors had unreacted, they could have been eaten by a saber-toothed tiger or cave bear, and you wouldn’t be reading this blog because I wouldn’t be here to write it!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Survivors of Incest Anonymous Phone Meeting

Every Wednesday morning by telephone
Noon Eastern Time
11 AM Central Time
10 AM Mountain Time
9 AM Pacific Time
This Twelve-Step telephone meeting is for people with “DID and Internal Fragmentation.” Ritual abuse survivors are welcome.

Many RA survivors have been in Twelve-Step programs other than Survivors of Incest Anonymous – Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Over-Eaters Anonymous, Adult Children of Alcoholics/ Dysfunctional Families Anonymous, Co-Dependents Anonymous, or Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous.

Some of us who became aware of our pasts thirty or more years ago were in Survivors of Incest Anonymous meetings for ritual abuse survivors before the backlash forced so many back into silence. Those meetings were a source of strength and sanity and are sorely missed.

So it makes me very happy to know that there is an SIA “DID and Internal Fragmentation” meeting open to RA/MC survivors. Information on phone meetings, along with the phone number, is at https://siacominghomephoneline.org/

It would be wonderful to have at least one more meeting, preferably on the weekend, for those who work or need to plan around children. In cases like this, more is truly more!

Anybody who has been in SIA for three months or longer can start a meeting. Alternately, anybody in ACOA for three months or longer could start a DID and RA/MC survivor-friendly meeting. Does anybody reading this qualify? Would you like to start one?

If this happens, let me know, and I will help spread the word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upcoming Holidays

February
2/2 Candlemas/Imbolc/Satanic Revels
2/14 Valentine’s Day
2/12 (?) Lincoln’s Birthday
2/16 Full Moon
2/21 (?) Presidents’ Day/Washington’s birthday
2/25 Walpurgis Day

March
3/1 Shrove Tuesday/ Mardi Gras
3/1 St David’s Day (patron saint of Wales)
3/2 Ash Wednesday/beginning of Lent
3/1 St. Eichstadt’s Day
3/17 St. Patrick’s Day (patron saint of Ireland)
3/18 Full Moon
3/21 Spring Equinox

April
4/1 April Fool’s Day
4/8 Day of the Masters
4/10 Palm Sunday
4/14 Maundy Thursday (commemoration of the Last Supper)
4/15 Good Friday
4/16 Holy Saturday
4/16 Full Moon
4/17 Easter Sunday

Dates Important to Nazi and Neo-Nazi groups

3/17-18 Purim (Deliverance of the Jewish people from Haman in Persia)
3/4/15-4/23 Passover/Pesach (Celebration of the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.)

(NOTE: Not all groups meet on Jewish holidays. Some groups also mark Candlemas, Beltane, Lammas, Halloween, the solstices, and the equinoxes.)

~~~~~~~~~~

You can find more information on the following holidays at:

Eventbrite invitation to ra/mc poetry reading

October 3, 2021October 3, 2021 by Jean, posted in activism, poetry, ritual abuse, social action, speaking out

Here is the Eventbrite invitation

eventbrite.com.au/e/ritual-abuse-survivors-read-their-poems-of-suffering-and-healing-tickets-179703978437

This link leads to the webpage where you register, where you get your ticket, where you can contact us (at the very bottom of the page.)

Forward it to as many people as you want. All are welcome: survivors, therapists, and other allies.

Registering adds you to our mailing list.

Hope to see all of you there!

An online poetry reading by and for ritual abuse/mind control survivors.

Please join us on Saturday 23 October, 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm (Pacific Daylight Time) for an online poetry reading by ritual abuse/mind control survivors.

There will be 45 minutes of scheduled poetry readings, with the final 45 minutes allocated for an open mic poetry session (readers to nominate themselves on the day – 3 to 5 minutes per person) and for any questions and conversation.

Ritual abuse and mind control, by their very nature, can trigger strong emotions. The poetry will not be censored and we are not asking the poets to give trigger warnings. We will give a general trigger warning and suggestions for self-care at the start of the program.

This invite is open to survivors, therapists, support people and allies.

Presented by:
Jean Riseman, River and Leni of GrassRoots Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Survivors Collective
Chaired by Leni of Grassroots Collective

Please review the time zone in your local area. Time zones include:
Saturday October 23, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time
Saturday October 23, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm Mountain Daylight Time
Saturday October 23, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Central Daylight Time
Saturday October 23, 7:00 am – 8:30 pm East Coast Daylight Time
Sunday October 24, 10:00 am -11:30 am Melbourne AEST

AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE
Grassroots RA/MC Collective
Organiser of Ritual Abuse Survivors Read Their Poems of Suffering and Healing

[Follow] [Contact]

How to sign up:

To sign up, click the button labeled “Register” at the right of the announcement.

On the next page, click “Register.” No typing is required (or possible) on this page.

On the next page, fill out everything and, once again ,click “Register.”

The following text appears on the final page

Thanks for your order!

ticket #1234567890

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Eventbrite invitation to ra/mc poetry reading

Here is the Eventbrite invitation

eventbrite.com.au/e/ritual-abuse-survivors-read-their-poems-of-suffering-and-healing-tickets-179703978437

This link leads to the webpage where you register, where you get your ticket, where you can contact us (at the very bottom of the page.)

Forward it to as many people as you want. All are welcome: survivors, therapists, and other allies.

Registering adds you to our mailing list.

Hope to see all of you there!

An online poetry reading by and for ritual abuse/mind control survivors.

Please join us on Saturday 23 October, 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm (Pacific Daylight Time) for an online poetry reading by ritual abuse/mind control survivors.

This invite is open to survivors, therapists, support people and allies.

Presented by:
Jean Riseman, River and Leni of GrassRoots Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Survivors Collective
Chaired by Leni of Grassroots Collective

AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE
Grassroots RA/MC Collective
Organiser of Ritual Abuse Survivors Read Their Poems of Suffering and Healing

[Follow] [Contact]

How to sign up:

To sign up, click the button labeled “Register” at the right of the announcement.

On the next page, click “Register.” No typing is required (or possible) on this page.

On the next page, fill out everything and, once again ,click “Register.”

The following text appears on the final page

Thanks for your order!

ticket #1234567890

YOU’RE GOING TO
Ritual Abuse Survivors Read Their Poems of Suffering and Healing
1 Ticket sent to
me@ssomething.com
DATE
Sat, 23 Oct 2021 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM PDT
ONLINE EVENT
You will receive the link to the event content in your order confirmation email, and in a reminder email before the event starts.

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Two More Reasons to Rejoice

October 2, 2021 by Jean, posted in activism, poetry, ritual abuse, social action

Another month has passed, another major Satanic holiday has passed. There is a breather until the next really, really major holiday. Many people find the end of October through the end of December a particularly hard, dreary time. We’ve made it through before, and we will make it through again.

Another RA/MC Survivor Poetry Reading

About three weeks from now, there’s going to be a joyous event. Another online poetry reading! I hope those of you who missed the first one will come to this one. Here’s the bare outline —

This reading will be a little different. It will be shorter, but it will have the same structure. Greetings, a preview of what’s coming, the poetry reading itself, a short break, and then questions and comments. What’s really different is that people can read one of their own poems during the questions and comments period.

There will be an Eventbrite announcement with sign-up information which I will post here as soon as I receive it. The reading will be over ZOOM, so if you need to install ZOOM, do it now and play around with it to get used to its features. It’s pretty easy – zillions of people use it and you will be able to, too.

Start and end times are:

Saturday, October 23 at 4-5:30 PM Pacific Time.
Saturday, October 23 at 5-6:30 PM Mountain Time.
Saturday, October 23 at 6-7:30 PM Central Time.
Saturday, October 23 at 7-8:30 PM East Coast Time.
Sunday October 24 at 10-11:30 AM Melbourne Time.

Over-all, this one was easier to organize than the last one. There were some parts that seemed more difficult, but not too many. We had most things in place, and that meant a lot less work for all. (When I say “we” I mean River, Leni, and me, the co-hosts last time.)

If you want to be on the mailing list, let me know in the comment section and I’ll make sure you are included.

~~~~~~~~~

A New GrassRoots RA/MC Survivor Community Organization

Creative people are good at creating things but not always good at polishing them or promoting themselves. I know that’s so for me; I tend to drop the ball toward the end of a project in dread of what is coming next. I’m also not very good at technical things. It’s much easier for me to write something than to get it up on the Net. I imagine that a lot of other people have this right brain/left brain problem.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a personal assistant all to myself? Or an assistant I could share with six or ten artists? Or an agent? We could all huddle together and do what they we do best in peace and quiet.

Problem – artists are not known for having extra money, not even enough to pay a sixth or a tenth of an assistant’s salary.

So, how about an organization that could do all this and run on volunteer power? There could be free DIY cheat sheets on a number of topics. A list of volunteers could be compiled. People happy to copy edit, proof read, design layouts, computer trouble shoot – all those good things that others are lousy at. In other words, sort of a cross between a good fairy and Task Rabbit.

This organization could also help artists with publicity – announcing their events, groups, or books in a newsletter and on social media sites and allowing them to use its name to broaden “brand recognition.”

What we can’t do for ourselves, by ourselves, we could do, together, for ourselves and for others.

Guess what? The co-hosts of the poetry series, Leni, River, and I, have created just such an organization. We are calling it “The GrassRoots RA/MC Survivor Collective.” Right now we are working on a website. When it gets a little further along, I’ll send you the link.

The first event to find a home at the GrassRoots Collective will be the poetry reading on October 23.

And, even as you are reading this, the second event is taking form in somebody’s mind.

(A little voice in the back of my head said, “Fuck Halloween. I have better things to do.” Hope others feel the same!)

Upcoming Holidays

October

10/11 (?) Columbus Day

10/13 Backward Halloween

10/20 Full Moon

10/31 Halloween/start of Celtic New Year/start of the dark half of the year

November

11/1 All Saints’ Day

11/2 All Souls’ Day

11/4 Satanic Revels

11/11 (?) Veterans’ Day

11/18-19 Partial Lunar Eclipse

11/19 Full Moon

11/25 Thanksgiving Day (United States)

11/28 First Sunday of Advent

11/30 St Andrew’s Day

December

Sundays of advent: 11/28, 12/5, 12/12, 12/19

12/4 Total Solar Eclipse

12/18 Full Moon

12/21 Winter solstice/Yule/St. Thomas’ Day

12/24 Christmas Eve

12/25 Christmas Day

12/31 New Year’s Eve

Dates Important to Nazi and Neo-Nazi groups
10/4 Hitler’s alternate half-birthday (Note: Hitler was born on Easter, so Nazis celebrate his actual half-birthday, 10/20, and his alternate half-birthdate six months after Easter, which falls on 4/4 this year.)

10/16 Death of Rosenburg

10/19 Death of Goering

10/20 Hitler’s half-birthday

11/9 Kristallnacht

11/29 -12/16 Chanukah/Hanukkah (Jewish Festival of Lights)

(NOTE: Not all groups meet on Jewish holidays. Some groups also mark Candlemas, Beltane, Lammas, Halloween, the solstices, and the equinoxes.)

~~~~~~~~~

You can find more information on the following holidays at:

Halloween (personal) – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2016/10/11/halloween/

Halloween (background) – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/samhainhalloween/

Thanksgiving – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/thanksgiving/

Yule/Winter Solstice – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/yulewinter-solstice/