Episode Fifty-Five: The Byte-Stephanie Alia

Stephanie has a gift-one that she's had to work hard to come to terms with. In this episode we talk ghosts, spirits and the special kind of Catholicism that New Mexicans sometimes have. We also talk tarot-Stephanie is a gorgeous creator of several tarot decks, each of which sells out almost immediately.

Transcript

When I was little,

I always felt protected.

And I would see ghosts in the old apartment we lived,

But I think it was the 1940s.

But it was weird,

They were walking and they didn't realize they were dead.

They were just still doing what they were doing.

And it's like,

That's really bizarre.

So one time late at night,

I was sleeping on the couch and I was like,

I'm scared.

And you know,

When I was crying to myself and I said,

I'm scared.

And all of a sudden I felt this gentle hand like pat me.

And I knew I was safe.

I'm so curious,

Did you grow up in a religious household?

I'm so intrigued by what your childhood looked like with religion and your family looked like with religion.

Well,

I'm a total geek.

I brought you visual aids.

So this is me and my grandmother.

And the Santo Nino,

She had in her house and I would make velvet robes for it.

Anytime anybody got sick,

We'd pray in front of it.

And then she would leave it at their house until they were better.

And then they would return it.

And I don't know if you can see back there,

But that's it.

So it's on my altar with the same like brown velvet cloak that I made when I was younger for my mother.

So I have like a history of healers,

Psychics on my father's side,

And then healers on my mother's side.

This was my great grandmother,

Maíta.

And she was a midwife and a healer in Galisteo,

A very powerful woman.

And I was lucky because she blessed me when I was a baby.

Yeah,

I mean,

Spirits,

Seeing spirits,

Like it's a very common thing with people in my mother's side of the family.

My father's side has a different type of healing.

My mother's side has a different type of psychic ability.

And they also can see stuff too.

It's just very different.

I think that what I've noticed from,

I don't think it's particular to New Mexico,

But I'll just use that because that's my example.

Like different New Mexican families have like different abilities,

In my opinion.

My mother's like the very healing and let me help you.

I want to take care of you kind of a thing.

And then my father's is like they can see stuff,

But you know,

Everything.

My mother's stuff is a lot of light work.

My father's other family can see.

It's kind of hard to say like positive spirits versus ones that are not so positive and in between.

When I was little,

I was already seeing stuff,

But I kept it to myself because I realized like that wasn't the norm.

And then as I got older,

Both sides of the family would talk and say,

I saw this and I saw this.

And it's like,

Oh,

I really wish we would have all talked about it.

And now it's OK too,

Right?

Yeah,

I think everyone was afraid.

There was a night before my cousin Loretta's birthday and I was doing ritual and I was so tired and I fell asleep and she visited me in a fiesta dress,

Which was really big in New Mexico culture.

And she loved fiestas.

And we had a really interesting conversation one time because when I was younger,

I was an atheist,

Which is really interesting.

I was atheist.

I was like,

I don't believe in you know.

And I did,

But I think it was my rebellion.

I was like,

I don't know what I'm like of this stuff is so much a part of my life.

I don't want it to be.

And I remember I was like,

You know,

Kind of jaded and I was younger and,

You know,

She's like,

You don't believe in God?

I was like,

No,

I don't.

She's like,

You don't believe in any of it?

And I was like,

No.

And she started crying.

She's like,

That makes me really sad.

And so in this like visitation slash dream,

She said,

I just wanted to tell you that God does exist.

And then she started glowing and she was like,

I just wanted to tell you that God exists.

And then the next story that I was telling you about,

It's like,

You remember that conversation?

I was like,

I almost completely forgot about it.

And she's like,

It exists.

I just wanted to tell you that it was beautiful and like,

Oh,

It just like hit me.

And so I had called my mom because it was so intense and my mom was like,

Okay.

And then she called Angela and it turns out Angela,

Or saw like something in the house that night.

And then they were like,

Guess what tomorrow,

Like the next day was,

It was her birthday.

In my family,

People see stuff like that and we've talked about it and it doesn't feel weird anymore.

So then I find it comforting.

And I used to be scared of it when I was little.

And now I'm like,

It's a whole other adventure.

When I was little,

I always felt protected and I would see ghosts in the old apartment we lived,

But I think it was the 1940s,

But it was weird.

They were walking and they didn't realize they were dead.

They were just still doing what they were doing.

And it's like,

That's really bizarre.

So one time late at night,

I was sleeping on the couch and I was like,

I'm scared.

And I was crying to myself and I said,

I'm scared.

And all of a sudden I felt this gentler feeling and I was like,

Okay,

I'm being looked after.

So this is the positive and problematic thing.

When your energy is very positive,

You will draw in really positive spirits.

And when I was little,

I went through a really traumatic period.

And so my energetic expression was fear and everything that had happened from that.

So unfortunately,

I was scared.

And I was like,

Okay,

I'm being looked after.

And everything that had happened from that.

So unfortunately,

That energetic signature was pulling in things that liked fear and the more unpleasant feelings.

And so when it was positive,

It'd be like angelic,

Beautiful beings,

But in fear,

It was these kind of shadow-like,

Oppressive,

Almost parasitic,

Waking up if I was scared and seeing shadows above the bed.

And at a very early age,

I had to learn to empower myself and set up boundaries.

So if things like that came in,

I was like,

You are not allowed in my energetic space and making it very clear,

Like you are not welcome here.

I do not want things from you.

Yeah,

My family,

I think I got a lineage of just being open to all of it.

It also,

What I also am thinking is,

You have your dad's side of the family and then you have their mom's side of the family and they came together to create you who's maybe potentially next level.

And I had a bit of both,

But I do think it was hard in the beginning because that's a lot,

One little kid.

And I didn't have spiritual teachers,

So I had to get my own equilibrium by myself.

And that's a lot of why I do this too.

I'm like,

I don't want any of the little mini stuffs out there just struggling and being like,

What is this,

I'm scared.

It's like,

Don't be scared,

You're safe.

And there's other people who are experienced too and will help you develop the tools.

But you have to go into it with love and without fear because you do not want to go into anything with fear.

It just attracts too many energies that are just not good.

If I can help other people through my hard lessons,

I'm all for it.

Thank you for joining me for episode 55 of Bite-Sized Blessings,

Where I got to interview a very good friend,

Stephanie Alia.

I'm so grateful to her for sharing her wit,

Her wisdom,

And all things seen and unseen in this world.

She has two seriously groovy tarot decks you should check out.

Her Gothmancy deck,

As well as her Alcheringa deck.

You can find either of them online or at her Instagram page,

It's hiimproductions.

And that's spelled E-T-Z-C-H-A-I-M,

Followed by productions.

Her Instagram account is pretty wonderful and wise.

It's filled with art,

Amazing tarot decks from other creators,

And inspirational urgings that'll make you want to rush out your front door and create a better world for us all to live in.

I need to thank the creators of the music used for this episode,

Chilled Music,

Music L.

Files,

Raphael Crux,

And Sasha End.

For complete attribution,

Please see the Bite-Sized Blessings website at bite-sizedblessings.

Com.

On the website,

You'll find links to other episodes,

Art,

Change makers,

And people who are trying to make this world a groovier place.

And as usual,

I have one request.

Be like Stephanie.

What are you afraid of?

What haunts you in the dark recesses of your mind?

Go to sleep,

And in your dreams,

Confront that fear.

It's really a friend trying to make you better,

Trying to create your best self.

Engage that fear.

Make friends with it.

And then you'll be one step closer to becoming who you're meant to be.

And some people might be like,

Oh,

That's really weird that they're doing that,

But at the end of the day,

They'll see why.

They'll know why.

They'll be like,

Damn,

At the end of our lives,

Our relationships and connections with one another are the most valuable.

That's the goal.

And our human experience and our emotions.

That's so funny because lately I've made a practice of,

You know,

When I say goodbye to people like to Elizabeth,

I'm like,

I love you.

Or to various other people,

I'm like,

I love you.

I love you.

And I can tell some of them are like,

Uh,

Am I supposed to say I love you?

Uh,

Wait,

What?

And it's not meant to make people feel uncomfortable.

It's I want people to know how precious they are in my life.

And I think it's important to let people know how precious they are.

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