#trans dead

if you honor ancestors or work with spirits and are trans, i strongly recommend getting in touch with the trans dead. this can and likely will involve feeling a lot of their pain and their intense desire to be known, heard, and remembered. this can be overwhelming but it is worth it, if that is a place you feel able to go. our dead want us to live and be well -- this feeling is even more pressing for me from the trans dead than from my blood ancestors. so many of them died suddenly, in great distress, or by suicide. they don't want that for us, they truly do not. as such they are powerful allies and can bring a lot of comfort and strength, especially during times of difficulty. all they ask is to be honored and remembered -- consider a permanent space for them in your home. talk to them, talk to others about them, know their names when you can. don't save this practice for the trans day of remembrance -- they can be so much more present in your life, and closer. honor them with offerings if that is part of your practice. honor them by treating yourself as well as you can. honor them by never forgetting them or letting their stories die. and honor them by working for justice and healing for them and for those of us still living.