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!
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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!
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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.
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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.)
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You can find more information on the following holidays at:
Candlemas – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/candlemas/
Valentine’s Day – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/valentines-day/
Spring Equinox – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/the-spring-equinox/
Easter: personal (for background, see Spring Equinox) – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/easter-blues/
Walpurgisnacht/May Eve – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/walpurgisnacht/
Beltane – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/beltane/
Mothers’ Day – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/mothers-day/
Fathers’ Day – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2020/06/20/ritual-abuse-and-fathers-day/
Summer Solstice (corrected text) – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/well-this-is-embarrassing/
Lammas – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/category/lamas/
and https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/august-ritual-dates/
Feast of the Beast/Bride of Satan: Part 1 – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/the-feast-of-the-beast/
Feast of the Beast/Bride of Satan: Part 2 – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2017/03/20/feast-of-the-beast-part-ii/
Fall Equinox – https://ritualabuse.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/the-fall-equinox/
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/