The Ancestors Within: Discover and Connect With Your Ancient Origins

By Amy Gillespie Dougherty

Your ancestors have waited your whole life for this moment. . . 

. . . and the next! 

What if you had an opportunity to discover and connect with your ancient origins; what if that connection brought healing you never expected possible? 

Amy Gillespie Dougherty and her expert aut

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brave Healer Productions
• Release date: Oct 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781954047341

Amy Gillespie Dougherty

Amy is a results-driven innovator, speaker, and bestselling author with more than twenty years' experience creating impactful self-discovery, awareness, and life coaching programs. As a 38-year old woman who had never traveled abroad or even learned a foreign language, she beat the odds in Mozambique, Africa, where she started a nonprofit with $150 and the idea that all children deserve the right to keep themselves and their siblings alive. Over six years, she became a finalist for CNN Heroes and received accolades from embassies and aid organizations.Thriving as a trailblazer, Amy created Irigenics™ Ancestral Eye Reading as a survival skills program for teens and young adults in an effort to reduce self-destructive behaviors and suicide patterns. Amy believes in the power of the ancestral pulse within each of us, and our ability to reach the best of our best. She emphasizes this connection to our gifts and our origin in her new series, "The Ancestors Within." The first book (Reveal and Heal the Ancient Memories You Carry) places emphasis on the repeat patterns that show up in your life and how they have ancestral ties, which can be resolved. Her second book in the series will publish in October of 2021.

Book preview

Chapter 1

THE ANCESTRAL KEY

UNLOCKING THE DVD OF YOUR ANCESTORS

Amy Gillespie Dougherty

MY STORY

But don’t you see that woman in my eye!?

My client continued to point to her left eye, where she observed an image of a small face—a woman with her hair pulled back in a soft bun. The image was faint but undeniable in the dark pupil of her eye. The woman’s high collar encircled her chin, a late 1800’s ruffled collar in burgundy so dark that it almost seemed black. Her white pinafore dress reminded me of a Red Cross apron, such as I’d seen in the television series MASH.

Truth be known, I’d thought the image was a man with a big dark beard and his hair tied back. I couldn’t imagine what a Turkish man with such a big beard was doing in a Red Cross apron.

The client’s observation helped me see that it wasn’t the small face of a man but a woman’s image! The ruffle of her collar against her chin had only looked like a big burly beard. So, that’s why his face is so small—It’s not a man! It’s a woman!

My client seemed proud to know the history of this image and to share her memory: That picture hung in my grandparent’s home. I remember it from when I was a little girl. It was a tin photo with an oval wooden tortoiseshell-styled frame. She’s the woman I’m named after.

I responded the only way I could in the moment, Wow!

Little did she know, that moment changed my entire perspective of ancestral eye reading.

I questioned the heavens: Is this what I’m supposed to be doing, God? I’ve been ignoring these images for years. I don’t think the world’s ready for this nebula of ancestors in our eyes.

This woman and her great-grandmother changed everything. My ancestral eye readings will never be the same. How will I ever explain this to my mom, a woman who prefers science and proof over the sometimes seemingly woo-woo of my circa 2019 world?

I gently asked my client, Does that picture still exist? Would it be possible to do a comparison?

No. If you knew my family, you’d know it’s gone, along with a number of family treasures.

Shoot. Now what?

My mind wandered back to one of my first eye-reading teachers who’d spoken of how eyes could change color during a reading. I recalled how I’d silently mocked him for not having any photos of this phenomenon.

Now I realized—Ugh, I’ve done it again.

I was warned in 2012, while in Guatemala working with a Mayan Priestess, that I should be careful of ever criticizing others, even silently, as I would answer for my judgment.

Anything I criticize, silently or aloud, will come back to me ten-fold.

Now humbled, I chuckled at the memory. The Victorian woman in my client’s eye was the priestess’s prophesy coming to life: I now lacked photographic evidence to compare my client’s great grandmother to the image appearing in her eye.

I began to go back through the thousands of photos I took over the eight years I’d been reading eyes. While I noticed many instances—what looked like a child, woman, man, or even a pet—no other client ever mentioned seeing images. So I held my tongue, especially when working with the Department of Corrections, social workers, and the Boys and Girls Club. After all, I was trying to bring this work to a more academic audience.

My rational left brain stayed in charge of the work, busy analyzing the photos of irises to compare my findings to the Clifton Strengthsfinder® 2.0 Skills Assessment, building validation for my findings.

I even conducted a small blind study (no pun intended) with the Boys and Girls Club, comparing 50 children’s eye photos to their skills assessments and their personal profiles. Validation mounted. More than 90% of eyes with the Rings of Achievement had Achievement as one of their top five job skills on the Strengthsfinder tool. The numbers were similar for the Rings of Focus and the Rings of Harmony/Compassion.

I didn’t need the assessment to tell me this. In reading after reading, clients bobbed their heads, Yes, yes, yes! Or the friend or partner who came with them to the consultation excitedly nodded, Oooh yes! in response to statements such as:

You have a constant to-do list in your head, playing over and over: I have to, I need to, I’m supposed to, I should.

You were born with a sense that your life has a specific mission or purpose: There’s something I’m supposed to be doing in this life if I could just figure out what it is.

You repeatedly find yourself defending your unsolicited efforts to assist others: Well, I was just trying to help!

The personality information revealed by the basic structures and rings in the eyes were clear, but what of the images? How would I ever be able to explain this?

Though I’d not teased out the details, once I started discussing the images with clients, my sense that I was onto something was reinforced and validated by their testimony:

That’s my Mama! All her brothers and sisters looked just like that when they were little.

That’s my great-grandfather. Just last night, I went past where he was killed. He’s the ancestor I always felt closest to.

Wow, that’s my great-grandmother’s cadet photo. She was on the Philadelphia Project.

As I realized the images were real, it became clear that we all have anywhere from 20-200 images in our eyes. Those with softer fibers and lighter eye structures would have equally soft and fine images in their eyes. Those with solid dark-brown, velvety eyes had images that seemed to float on the surface. Reflective images appeared in the pupil or in the whites of the sclera.

I began to understand the reflections and share my insights with clients, explaining that these reflections are like rainbows—created with water, light, and a curved surface.

Why do the reflections show up as ancestors, who clients may or may not recognize? In my experience, those who appear seem to be the ancestors who had gifts, talents, and traumas that resonate in our own lives, especially at the time of the reading.

I started pointing out the images and their locations related to inherent gifts, such as athletics, translation, or writing. The images also showed up in areas of unresolved traumas, such as those caused by sibling rivalry or not being listened to.

Do you remember 8-track tapes? VCR’s? 33 records? Cassettes? Each had their own player. Put a cassette into a VCR, and you’re never going to hear the music. What can one do with a DVD without its player? Read the label.

That’s what we have in our eyes. We have the label. How to access and activate the player? That became the question.

I had hundreds of reinforcing statements for my research related to physical structures:

How did you know I was locked in as a child?

How can you know these things about me? You’ve never met me, and you don’t know anyone who knows me!

You spent five minutes looking at my eyes, and now you’re telling me things my good friends don’t even know! How is this possible?!

At that time, the images I could see in the eyes remained like the label of a DVD. While I could read the symbols on the front, I hadn’t yet fully figured out the decoding necessary to play the entire movie, though I could play the trailers.

At times I found that if I slowed to a more contemplative pace, I could watch the trailer; pulled into the sounds, actions, and even voices of an image or group of images (like a snippet from a movie).

The best way to describe this experience is that it’s like a lucid dream, except I’m awake. Just as in a vivid dream, I can hear, smell, feel, and experience everything. Sometimes I get names or locations, and one time I got the trailer of a secret society that’s been long since forgotten:

Embroiderers? You want me to tell her she comes from an ancient line of embroiderers? Well, that’s rich…

I shook my head in annoyance at the imagery and information that had appeared in my mind. Then something compelled me to ease back into the soft-meditation a moment longer.

In a flash, as in a lucid dream, I saw hands embroidering king’s rings into tapestries and crowns. Images pressed forward—maps being laid into ornate tapestries, with one particular colored thread leading the way to the treasure.

I was shown some of these tapestries were still in existence. Some of their treasures had not yet been revealed. My fingers flew across the keypad of my Mac, trying to capture and adequately describe the imagery for my client so she could further seek the missing pieces of information being conveyed by her ancestors.

All of that came from one image, out of perhaps 90 in her eyes. I realized I’d never have enough time to read the eyes of any individual entirely, let alone each individual client. But perhaps I could teach people to read the label of their own DVD.

What if I could just get clients as far as playing the movie’s trailer? That experience would provide tantalizing details about the ALL of their existence—their personal genesis and the existence of their ancestors. They could use their own eye photos as an access point.

Wouldn’t you like to see the trailer of your movie? Let’s give that a try.

The Tool

One thing about ancestral eye reading is it all begins with taking a photo of the eyes. This is because the pupils change size, narrowing in low light and dilating in bright light; thus, the appearance of markings, reflections, and images in the eyes will also change. You want to truly capture the images, obtain a freeze-frame of those ancestors, along with the other markings in your eyes. To do this requires a carefully captured photograph taken with carefully managed light.

I created a video, How to Take an Awesome Eye Photo, that explains the side-lighting necessary to capture these images. You will find it on the Irigenics® YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/Irigenics?sub_confirmation=1

(Also on that channel, you will find a playlist of videos from other creators, such as, How to Take a Macro Eye Photo.)

I emphasize side-lighting for your eye photo so you can utilize the reflective qualities of the moisture in your eyes. Bringing the light in from the side, using a small penlight or mag light, is the best way to do that. (Never shine light directly into the eye or pupil, as it could damage your eyes.) Be sure to watch the video for details about the right lighting, camera distance, and other details that will help you capture the best possible image for use as a meditation tool as you work to access information about your ancestors.

I’ve also created a gallery of eye images/photos so that you can get familiar with how eye images reveal themselves. Some people have images so clear that there’s no mistaking them; others have fine, light, or reflective images that can be more challenging to identify and describe. Observing images in the gallery will help you develop your ability to discern images in your own eyes.

Eye photo gallery link: https://irigenics.com/gallery/

Ancestral Dreamwork

You know how sometimes you wake from a dream thinking, WOW! I just had the most amazing dream! Then, just that quick, it’s gone? Don’t do that. You can learn to glean and retain detailed information from your dreams, which will enable you to dream journal with your ancestors.

Keep a pencil and notebook next to your bed for when you go to sleep at night. If possible, keep a soft light, such as a salt lamp, within arm’s reach. The light should be bright enough for you to write but not so bright as to jar you fully awake.

Just before going to sleep, take a look at your eye photos. Note an image and focus on it. Then, in your notebook, write these questions (or others that occur to you). Ask slowly, with a gentle spirit of contemplation:

Who are you?

What message, gift, or information do you have for me?

What area of my life reminds you most of your own?

What else is important for me to know?

Then, make a direct request, followed with an expression of gratitude:

Please bring answers to my dream time and wake me to remember what you’ve shown me. Please be gentle and bring me only what’s in my highest good to receive at this time.

Thank you. Thank you for the life you’ve lived, the hardships you’ve endured. For the training, skills, and development you’ve brought to my life. I’m so grateful and happy to enhance and bring forth a greater aspect of our ancestry.

When you wake up, don’t move. Don’t move. Lay still and just breathe for a moment. Then, ask yourself: Was I dreaming? What was I dreaming?

As the images come into your mind, seek more detail. As you identify people, gently try to recall what they were wearing. Was someone speaking? What was happening? Lay still trying to pull into your thinking mind as much detail and information as you possibly can before you reach for your pencil and journal—and certainly before you turn on the lamp.

This process will help you bring this information from your subconscious mind into your conscious mind. It might seem at some point that you are getting so much information that you won’t be able to remember it all to write it down. You may want to voice-record your memories and insights using your cell phone or a small tape recorder if this happens.

Once you’ve recorded everything (whether in writing or via voice), you can choose to work with the same image and individual the following night or move to another.

Automatic Writing

Automatic writing (also known as spirit writing or even channeling) is a process that can help you garner divine information. You may have already had an automatic writing experience during your dream work.

To elicit an automatic writing experience, follow a similar process to dream journaling, except that now you will be fully awake. Find a comfortable place with soft light. Get comfortable. Take a few moments with your eye photos, noting a particular image that catches your attention. Then describe that image:

Write the location and description of the image (such as a man at 11:30 in my right eye).

If possible, draw the image; this can be a simple drawing (eye images aren’t super complex).

Describe any details you can discern about clothing. In particular, clothing often reveals clues to an ancestor’s era. For example, do you see a dress, a suit, or suspenders? Hats can be especially revealing. Perhaps you see an Army helmet, a civil war officer’s hat, a nurse’s cap, or a women’s hat from the early 1900s?

Note anything you can observe about the person’s physical self. Is the person thin or robust? Tall or short? Do you see braided hair, long hair, or perhaps a crew-cut? Shiny hair, by the way, usually indicates a child.

Which side of the face are you seeing?

Is there another image that seems to be covering or interacting with this image such as a man holding a child or a child standing in front of a parent?

Then set an intention and make a direct request:

I want to get to know you. I want to understand how your life is impacting mine. Please be gentle and bring me only what is in my highest good to receive at this time.

Now, take a few long, deep breaths. Settle into your chair or sofa. Hold the pencil loosely and relax a moment. Ask one question at a time, as you remain poised to write the answer:

Who are you?

Write what you receive. You may see images; if so, describe them. Or you may hear a voice that sounds like your own or another’s. You may receive a name, or you may receive a story, perhaps a story about who this ancestor was during their lifetime.

Whatever’s coming into your mind, don’t edit it. Just write with the pencil held loosely. Take down the information just as if you were writing the words of a song as quickly as it’s being sung—without time to think. If you let your analytical brain get involved, you may lose the connection. If you do lose it, that’s okay; just start over.

Between questions, allow a few moments and draw some deep breaths. Ensure you remain in a gentle space and take the messages, one by one, as you pose the remaining questions:

What message, gift, or information do you have for me?

What area of my life reminds you the most of your own?

What else is important for me to know?

Then, just as you do after a dream-work session, offer a prayer of gratitude:

Thank you for your time, for the life you’ve lived, for the hardships you’ve endured. Thank you for sharing your experience with me. I bless you for all you have been and all you have brought to my life. Thank you."

If you would like a free PDF Ancestral Eye Reading Journal:

https://irigenics.com/FreeJournal/

If you’d like to take the quiz to determine your ancestral intuitive gifts: https://irigenics.com/eyequiz/

To apply to become a professional Irigenics® Ancestral Eye Reader:

https://irigenics.com/application-to-train-in-ancestral-eye-reading/

Chapter 2

Tools for

Ancestral Connection

Using Sacred Objects for More Clarity

Lisa A. Newton, M.Ed.

How do you honor your ancestors?

In this chapter, I will help you recognize sacred objects, and how to build modern ancestor altars for known family members and those you chose to adopt.

My Story

We buried my father today in Arlington National Cemetery, a sacred place. I know we will go there on Memorial Day, a traditional day to mourn soldiers, and again to lay wreaths at Christmas time. We waited a year in a grieving limbo, the standard wait time to bury a soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. During that time, I wondered if my father’s soul was waiting for the closure of his funeral. While I sat with him on his death bed, I encouraged him to seek the white light of God and return to the collective divine. I asked him to look for angels or his departed loved ones coming to guide him and please go with them. I was worried he would be confused and not understand that his physical body no longer existed. He suffered a traumatic brain injury. My father deteriorated over decades from the brain injury and cancer. Even with all the time to prepare for his death, it still came as a shock to our family.

When the COVID-19 isolation period hit, my father’s mental and physical health required him to be in fully supervised nursing care away from my mother and the regular family gatherings, grandchildren events, Sunday dinners, church services, and drives in the countryside. Due to his mental and physical decline, he could not utilize Facetime or Zoom to communicate remotely. As his good days were few-and-far-between, my mother would stand at his bedroom window and talk with him through the glass. For five years, she visited him daily in his assisted living, and now he struggled to support himself on a walker to hear her. When he was moved into hospice, where the rules allowed us to see him physically, my mother and I arrived together and found my father fifty-five pounds lighter. He had no fat nor muscle tone to his face, neck, arms, and legs, but his torso was engorged with blood from the cancer tumors rupturing. He was a skeleton of flesh and bones trying to lift a spoon of oatmeal. He was so weak that I fed him a few bites and lifted his water straw to his mouth to drink as my mother talked to the nurse in the hallway. He looked at me and asked, Where have you been?

His life journey ended two nights later with me playing his favorite music at a ridiculously high volume at his bedside because I could only get one hearing aide to work. That mixture of Johnny Cash, church hymns, and Blue Grass music spilled out of his room and down the corridor of the hospice. This music would also be the start of my father’s ancestor altar. The next piece for the altar is his folded funeral flag placed in a display box with the eulogy I wrote him and the pictures the grandchildren picked out to place behind the flag. The plethora of pictures range from him holding the grandkids for the first time at their respective births to standing proudly with him at their special life events. The pictures that bring the deepest connection are the ones the grandkids asked for a duplicate of to have one in the memorial box and one with them. Those pictures all showed them with their grandfather embraced in a hug. One grandchild is sleeping peacefully on Grandpa’s belly while snuggled on an oversized sofa. Another grandchild’s picture is a moment caught laughing, smiling embrace. Another shows a three-year-old grandchild holding his hand as they emerge from a wooded path. Another one, age two, snuggling into my father’s shoulder while holding his small blanket. It was a moment when he was overwhelmed and sought comfort and safety in his grandfather’s protection. Finally, my daughter chose the picture of my father reading to her.

My daughter is adopted, and she came into my father’s life at a moment that improved his quality of life. My father suffered a slow decline from the traumatic brain injury all my life, but he started to lose his quality of life about the same time his grandchildren were born. When I brought Dinara home from Kazakhstan, he was in a depression and was at the point where he could no longer work or hunt. At times he had trouble processing reality. It was a dramatic decline, and I was worried he would not bounce back. He was in his early sixties at that time. He and Dinara bonded instantly, and his love for her grew into him getting better so that he could put her on and off the school bus until she was in fifth grade. They ate breakfast together each morning and read the newspaper. He made her lunches with special black olives. He helped her with her homework and gave her secret treats. He was an outstanding grandfather to all his grandchildren. Therefore, our family felt compelled to build an ancestor memorial altar for him. We are all still seeking him and learning from his life examples.

In the tool section, I will go over the process of creating a modern ancestor altar for family, like I’m doing for my father. I will also advocate for creating an ancestor altar for people you hold sacred and honor that are not blood relatives. For example, my daughter’s ancestor is her grandfather, my dad. Bloodline has little to do with it.

The Tool

In my story, I identified sacred objects that will be part of my father’s modern ancestor altar: music, his military folded funeral flag, pictures selected by family members, and a copy of a eulogy. All these objects will be placed