Man and the ecosystem are inextricably linked. The same is true of the lineage. The condition of the branch represents the condition of the family line. You cannot cut yourself off from the tree, but you can separate the original conditions from the current ones and take a new direction of growth. Will you believe in the power of your lineage to determine your growth?

What is a family tree?

Living beings, of which humans are a representative, are not only the human species. Lamarck's many years of research prove that within the fabric of living beings, we can also include the pre-forms of plants and animals, which evolutionarily possess the ability to create their own family trees. Lamarck distinguished a certain characteristic, the so-called 'will to live', which is the self's origin capacity for destruction as well as immediate adaptation and regeneration. The plant is able to produce by itself the compounds it needs, forming unique compilations with other plant species, proving the intelligence of its species and thus the aspect of life. Weaker species, influenced by unsuitable soil or atmospheric conditions, grow more slowly or die. Here, free will is paramount too. Many scientists, with Darwin at the forefront, point out that these primitive life forms have bodies and the necessary characteristics to create life by way of their relationships with fluids and compounds involved in reactions. Is there any certain analogy with the human species apparent here?

Humans possess the capacity for self-regulation and self-destruction. The intelligence of the human body implies finding mechanisms that, even in the case of illness, are warning signs of a disturbance of homeostasis. As essential human beings, we form, as part of family trees, the history of our families, which is responsible for the overall shape and condition of the entire clan. Experts in family constellations call this type of 'omniscient field' phenomenon, in which one simply feels our connection with ancestors as being an integral part of the whole system. This even makes it possible to read posthumous family secrets from intuition and instinct in the background of our own beliefs and patterns, which are likely to be reproduced along the lines of the family field. If we add to this theory the aspect of the inheritance of generational traumas, where, through the blood, a person is able to pass on the information stored in it to the memory of the next individual, then we get a picture of the scale and how important the family condition is.

Family in the theory of the 5 elements

In Chinese medicine, the element of water represents the lineage. The water is a reflection of what flows through a person. If the water is dirty and turbid, it means that there have been those who have influenced its pollution. The water can then take the wrong direction, creating dangerous blockages that alter its course. If the water is clear and flows in a brisk stream, its condition is strong and unwavering.

Similarly, water flows through the human body and is one of the overriding components of organisms. Water is life. Without it, we could not survive. Water feeds and supplies our cells, giving them the right environment to live in.

The condition of the ancestral clan is, by analogy, the basis for the creation of good life and, therefore, for the production of fruit from our tree. If the tree does not have the right water quality, it dies.

But what if the condition of the ancestral clan is not good because it has been weakened by wars, grief, aggression, and other attitudes of its members as a result of harsh experiences? Is it possible to change the course of the water and fix the condition of our tree?

Family constellations

C.G. Jung described that every emotion is transferred again and again in the lineage until it is realized by the member. The same is true of repressed experiences and secrets, as well as silenced family members. It is not really possible to eliminate anyone from the collective memory. It is like uprooting a tree from the ground, planting a new one, and expecting it to grow healthy while it is growing in the same harsh conditions and the same soil, and the remnants of the roots are still blocking access to the full development of growth. Any 'mess' has to be cleaned up after itself; physics proves that space does not like a vacuum.

Honoring ancestors who have died or had difficult experiences is the first step to healing the clan. It can be the simple lighting of a candle. It is equally important to find a recurring pattern in the clan, where, for example, someone makes the same decision, e.g., to move or betray for the fifth time. It is worth turning to where it started because, as the title of Mark Wolynn's famous book says, "It didn't start with you." Finding these relationships and dependencies can help us separate what we are unconsciously replicating and why. It may be, for example, a strong generational urge behind the repeated experience of emigration and the longed-for return to the homeland to be finally fulfilled and encapsulated in the family.

However, it does not mean that we should fulfill the 'wishes' of our ancestors at the expense of our happiness. This is why it is useful to use tools such as systemic psychology or family constellations to find a reference to oneself in these unfinished stories and to be able to ask inside: do I want to repeat this story? Or end it differently? Or just honor it and go down a completely different path? One thing is for sure: these stories can follow you until you take a closer look at what triggered such emotions in the lineage. And where there is emotion (the element of water), the water continues to flow until someone heals it.

We carry certain inner images of our ancestors within us. We are branches of the same tree. It is worth finding the strength within ourselves to take a closer look at the analogies between our lives and those of our ancestors in order to follow our own path and not the one designed by repressed grief. Like an ecosystem, man is capable of reviving or deforming as a result of given external conditions. The condition of life in both cases therefore depends on multi-generational traditions. Have the courage to build a healthy branch without renouncing the tree but celebrating all its parts, whatever they may be. You cannot cut yourself off from the tree, but you can respect its history and create the best conditions that will be the individual path design for the new.