Support T's Journey to Ancestral & Sacred Sites

Howdy, I'm T in Central Oregon, a.k.a. Tiffany Lee Brown . My goal is to explore historic, sacred, spiritual, and ancestral sites in Ireland and the UK.

Burning Tarot podcast listeners know I love nature, Mother Earth, ancestral healing, spiritual journeys and ancient traditions. I believe we are all connected to the land.

Dún Aonghasa (Dun Aengus), Galway / Aran Islands, with construction dating back 5,000 years. Photo courtesy of Heritage Ireland

My passion for cemeteries, ancient sites, megaliths, forts, tombs, stone circles, archaeological artifacts, and prehistoric ruins dates back to early childhood. So does my strong connection to the land, the trees, and rock formations, along with a tendency toward mysticism.

And my desire to connect with my ancestors & older relatives.

Discovering my great-great aunts' graves in upstate New York during my twenties (a weird woo-woo tale!). Photo by Jess

Like many Americans, my forbears come from many places and ethnicities, including European ancestry and the Melungeon and Aniwunwiya peoples in what is now the southern US. Most prominent culturally and in my bloodline are Irish and British heritage.*

On this journey, I'll share my adventures & historical learnings of Éire, Wales, Cornwall, England, and Scotland with my readers and podcast listeners alike.*

Radial stone cairn in East Galway, Ireland. Photo by the Laoist Cyclist blogger.

Bringing free Tarot readings and audio nature walks to folks through my podcast, Burning Tarot, fills me with joy and a sense of intrigue. Together we explore nature, Tarot, astrology, and our little role in the great big universe.

Contributing to my community through small-town and rural journalism is an honor. Supporting helping lead Solstice events at Sisters Community Labyrinth is, too.

Sometimes my work reaches a wider audience through poetry, song, personal essay, performance, and literature... another source of exhilaration, joy, and mystery.

At work on The Nugget newspaper in my home office in the forest.

Bringing attention to issues including the environment and local forests; the effects of technology on our culture, particularly kids and youth; health and mental health; creativity and the arts; and sometimes politics—all this brings me a sense of purpose.

Thanks to everyone who helps fill me with this joy and meaning by enjoying my work and giving me feedback!

If all goes well, I hope that my son will also be able to join me for part of the trip.

Big thanks to my wonderful supporters & friends!

At Warm Springs during the pandemic, celebrating spring equinox and my birthday with friends.

thanks again,

t

* I wasn't raised with stories or traditions of the British side. So I guess I'm reaching back in time to "identify with the Oppressor." Not just the colonized Irish and Cherokee lineages I grew up hearing stories about.

PS: Whoa! I've managed to start some genealogy research. A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to find my great-grandfather's origins in Northumberland in the farthest northeast of England, complete with portions of Hadrian's Wall. My great-grandfather was a coal miner (my grandpa worked at a coal mine in Alabama, USA... when he was six years old).

As an American, going back even that far felt like a great victory. I couldn't wait to find his village.

Within days, my research exploded. One line of my family, it turns out, can be traced back, and back, and back, making a late-19th-century ancestor seem young.

This lineage is full of characters & places, including a pirate, a slaver, an anti-slavery activist, a heroine bringing supplies and a message for General Washington to the front lines of the American Revolutionary War... a baron (!) ... the Huguenots (!!) ... all the way back to 9th century France. (!!!)

When trying to pry myself away from the constant horrors of news coverage, I've been focusing on English history podcasts. Typical American that I am, I know embarrassingly little about history around the world.

This research is thrilling, and it's also kind of freaking me out. I'm a coal miner. A notorious pirate adulterer also accused of cannibalism. Irish indentured servant potato famine escapee.

Yet apparently I'm also Lords & Ladies. A slaver family. Norman conquest landholder.

Belgian. (Belgian? Yes, apparently: Belgian. This is new.)

Colonizer. Colonized. Confused.

American.