11 Comments

Good post and we all need our Baba Yaga's. Do I think trauma is passed down in our DNA? NO! If that were the case don't know how we would survive at all. Trauma is handed down to others by direct actions which perpetuate the cycle of trauma endlessly. For a great movie series which illustrates how we perpetuate trauma in the modern world or choose to overcome it see "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo."

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It is a good question, if we're carrying all that trauma, how do any of us function?

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If you are interested in learning more about epigenetics, check out Bruce Lipton's work. I just wrote about Baba Yaga for my November newsletter since her feast day is next month, so it was interesting to see this pop up in my mail.

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author

Oh, very cool. I didn't know Baba Yaga had a feast day. That's awesome. Thanks for reading and commenting!

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I just bought a Baba Yaga book by a woman I met at a recent writing conference! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709718/the-witch-and-the-tsar-by-olesya-salnikova-gilmore/

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Cool! I'll have to check it out. Clearly, Baba Yaga is having a moment!

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There are some studies around the grandchildren of holocaust survivors that seem to show that generational trauma is indeed a physical reality. I suspect it’s true - and doesn’t really change anything. There are so many factors affecting gene expression we will never know them all.

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You're right that it probably doesn't change anything, it just feels so heavy to me sometimes, but that might be my own stuff I'm dealing with.

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I believe sperm are the big site for epigenetics, because they get replaced every 48 hours or sooner, creating the window for chromosomal alterations due to 'current events' that doesn't exist in female eggs.

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Nov 3, 2022Liked by Robyn Ryle

Fortunately or unfortunately, I always go for the magical thinking view. I do think we're affected by our parents/ grandparents trauma. I was thinking how I was influenced by the depression although I was born much later but it certainly had major impact on my parents and then on me.

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Magical thinking is always the fortunate view! Yes, the Depression is a great example of generational trauma that persists.

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