Noongar woman Cassandra Abraham has been speaking to the spirits for as long as she can remember.
She has seen the relief on the faces of men – she says Australia has the highest rate of suicide in men – when she sits with them on the banks of the Swan River yarning with them.
It doesn’t matter if they are Indigenous or non-Indigenous, Cass says she can help everyone with her Healing Hands approach, a spiritual practice, where she says she connects individuals with ancestors, spirit guides and angels, facilitating a reconnection to loved ones in the Dreaming.
While it sounds like clairvoyance to Western ears, Cass says the practice is based in the Aboriginal belief that everything is connected to the natural world.
Cass was a registered counsellor for three years but found the constraints in that role too awkward to merge with her Healing Hands approach.
Aboriginal traditional healing has been practised for thousands of years and focuses on restoring balance to the spirit, which in turn can benefit the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being of a person.
“I have been practising and seeing, hearing and communicating with ancestors, spirit guides and angels from the dreamtime, which we call the spirit world,” Cass says.
“And I’ve seen them and known stuff since before I could remember, telling mum and dad, this one’s on the phone. I could see someone in the hallway, they’ve passed away with this, and it would all come to fruition. It was all true but having a westernised upbringing it was kind of deemed crazy.
“But I literally could not stop them coming through and I would see somebody walking and then there’d be a family member or an ancestor from years ago, I’m talking about 10, 15, 20 years ago, who was still connected to their lineage. But the interesting thing is I connect to your spirit and I can see the ages of where you were and detach from the traumas that you went through in life.
“I can literally describe every version of who you were at those times, what you looked like and what you were going through, like I know your story before you open your mouth.”
Cass says in the time she spent as a counsellor she found it to be a quick fix – not a long term fix. She continued to operate her own practice on the side offering the traditional Aboriginal way. People kept coming.
She felt she was getting a message from the ancestors telling her that registered counselling was not working and that they needed her.
Cass says her clients come from all cultures.
“I’ve got a client who is in London. She calls me over the phone and we do work, so I can still do it over the phone. It doesn’t have to be in person.
“But when it’s done on the riverside, I can actually visually show people how the surroundings of Mother Earth and nature connect with their story, they actually show the picture through all of the surroundings around us.
“It’s also not just the spiritual – as in the human side – I’m connected to. I can actually bring through pets. I’ve had clients come down and budgies come through and their cats; anything that they were connected to.
“And it works all the time. I can go down to the shops and have somebody, say a past loved one’s spirit coming through and just saying ‘hey you know can you go over to this store and say look I’ve got a loved one’. I’m not too sure if you’re open to hearing the message coming through and I always ask for permission before I say anything.”
The process is not quite the same as a Western clairvoyant.
“It’s different, just the way that I do it through connecting with the animals and the land, Mother Earth, and bringing those messages through. Even going down to the riverside, I invite our spirit snake, the Wagyl, to come in and do a cleansing. People can see the ripples of the Wagyl coming towards you to help cleanse your energy.
“That’s one of the practices I use, as well as the smoking practice and cleansing the energy.
“For Aboriginal people, spirituality is number one. We’re all connected through energy. That’s our essence. and anybody can be connected to you, but it’s whether or not it’s good or negative due to their own trauma and how they’re able to receive.”
During her time as a counsellor, becoming aware that Aboriginal men have the highest suicide rates in the world has prompted Cass to helping these men a priority.
“I’ve got brothers and uncles coming down to the river and having yarns with me. They’re talking about their personal stuff, their personal trauma, and that’s really rare because these are tough men. These are men who don’t talk, they don’t cry. I’ve been able to give them that space to be able to feel safe enough to talk about their stuff.
“I also ask them before they leave, how are they feeling? And most of the brothers say they’ll be back. And they do return maybe a month or two later when they just need another cleanse.”
One of the processes Cass uses are Healing Hands where she scans over the client with her hands to determine where trauma is sitting in the body and then shift it.
“And the way I do it is I don’t actually touch anybody. I can scan your body and tell you where your injuries are and the pain that you still feel, physical injuries, and talk about where and when and how that came about. And we hold on to energy that turns into physical injury. I’m able to transfer that energy out and put love back in,” she said.
To find out more: rose-reconnectingourspiritualessence.com/.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available.
Call Lifeline’s 24-hour telephone crisis line 13 11 14.
