It was the summer of 1961 and there were armed guards visible on the street of Paris.
It was the summer of 1961 and in one night East German soldiers laid down more than 30 miles of barbed wire through the city of Berlin closing off the passage between the East and West, creating what became known as the Berlin Wall.
It was the summer of 1961 and a 12 year old girl living in the small town of Newcastle, Wyoming decided she wanted to travel to Europe for 8 weeks, visiting 5 countries, attending a series of Bible conventions.
She announced her intention to all who would listen.
Her parents listened and nodded, all the while doubting. They had four children and lived quite humbly on the money the father made as a carpenter and there certainly wasn't any extra for a European adventure and besides, no one in the family had a passport.  They knew their daughter was determined, independent and stubborn, not easily dissuaded, but the part they forgot was her magic. 

There is much to this story.  I remember it well.  That young girl was me and that journey more than 50 years ago changed my life in ways I'm still understanding and it created a foundation for the work I do now as an elder in the community. 
It really had nothing to do with Bible conventions or even the Bible or Christianity.  It had everything to do with the fact that I was born a traveler who became a teacher and a storyteller.
I was so convinced I was going, I wrote to my Grandmother Irene Olson to tell her the exciting news.  
Several weeks went by and I received a card in the mail that said Bon Voyage.  I remember running to the kitchen to show the card to my mother, saying, "see, she believes I'm going!"  Something dropped out of the folds of the card and when I picked it up I saw that it was a check made out to me for $350.  This was the amount, almost to the penny, that I needed to buy the plane ticket.
It wasn't until years later when my grandma was dying that I learned she had sold a piece of the family ranch in Redding, California so I could make that journey.
There was no turning back now and as I imagine it happened, my parents decided late one night in quiet conversation to cash in my mother's war bonds so they could give me the rest of the money needed for food, train travel and lodging.
The magic is always there.  I'm the one who forgets at times, thinking in my stubborn, independent way that I must do everything myself.
It is the memory of that journey made by a 12 year old girl that encouraged and inspired me to create a Go Fund Me Campaign for my Journey To The Missing Grandmothers.
What I learn and experience on this journey will come back with me and will be woven into the spiritual community I serve in ways I cannot know or understand.
Ingrid, the Rune Woman
Changing Lives With Ancient Wisdom
Awaken Your Hunger

“I don’t think there exists a people on Earth that have not been cut off from their core cultural values and indigenous spiritual traditions through war, oppression, and colonization.”  Kari Tauring-Nordic Roots author, educator and performer.
One could rightly say then that humans are a species that lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  And universally it’s the women who suffer the brunt of violence, degradation, humiliation and devastation.
Genetic information from our ancestors determines physical characteristics and at the same time this genetic information carries the energy of unhealed wounds, unfinished business and grief.


The majority of people who come to me for spiritual counseling and direction, as well as classes and workshops, are of Northern European descent.  Many of them carry some mixed lineage but the predominate line is European.  Over and over again what I see and feel is the presence of inherited ancestral grief, a grief that can be called Old Grief, old because it happened so long ago it has been all but forgotten and New Grief, because it is held in our genetic energy patterns and is born again and again.

People of Northern European descent have forgotten that their own ancestors were indigenous people who suffered violence, cultural destruction, and spiritual devastation in the name of religion and civilization.  The face of indigenous isn't always a face of color.

This topic of Inherited Ancestral Grief is tightly woven together with the purpose of my journey to Northern Sweden and my interest in the Missing Grandmothers.  I will be exploring it further in upcoming blogs.
I’m happy to answer questions via email.

Please take this opportunity to support my Go Fund Me Campaign, not only with donations but also by sharing the campaign with your friends and family on FaceBook or in any other way you wish.  Thank you.


Ingrid, the Rune Woman
Changing Lives With Ancient Wisdom
Awaken Your Hunger