Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about names and how much they matter. We might not often think about the power they hold.
Many names have symbolic meaning. For instance, Debra is a variation of Deborah, a Hebrew word meaning “bee.” Oleson literally means “son of Ole.” If we resonate with the family energy, our last name can help us embody the strength and resilience of the lineage.
The name we were given at birth connects us to these energy fields.
Some families have a long lineage of sharing given names. The girls might be named after their maternal grandmother and the boys after their paternal grandfather. When a baby is named after an ancestor, it connects the child to that ancestor energetically. From an ancestral healing perspective, this is less than helpful when the older family member had difficult aspects to their personality or experienced great hardship in their life.
Here’s an example. Naming a child after a grandfather who made and lost a fortune during his lifetime and ended up dying alone of alcoholism brings a heavy energetic baggage which could possibly affect the child. They might inherit the grandfather’s dashed hopes and dreams and their shame at being a “failure.” It makes it more likely that a similar energetic pattern will unfold in the child’s life, causing them to face some of the same challenges.
Some people purposely take a new name when they reach adulthood. At a certain point on their spiritual journey, their given name (both first and last) may not suit them any longer. If the family name comes with a heavy energy or painful memories, they may want to make a new beginning.
Unless we’ve intentionally done healing work and ceremony around the taking of the new name, it’s difficult to divorce ourselves completely from the old energy. It may follow us around as part of our shadow.
In ancestral healing work, my helping spirits sometimes guide me to say the client’s given name along with their new name so the ancestors recognize their descendant. This also arises in doing very old ancestral healing work that ties back to the old country. In moving to a new land, many last names were simplified, changed, or made up completely. Saying the original name at the beginning of the healing session helps the divine compassionate ones locate the right energy to work with. It also signals to the ancestors to receive the healing that is being offered.
Our names have power.
This work is real, and it matters.
March 30, 2022