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Ocean and Dead People Tour Part Three

Julie Ballantyne Brown
4 min readSep 4, 2021

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It’s less macabre than it sounds.

Salem Harbor at low tide ~Author’s photo

I’m in Salem, Massachusetts for a few days for some rest and rejuvenation. My 23,000+ steps today doesn’t sound like rest, but I’m already feeling the good effects.

I came here to connect with the ocean and with some ancestor energy. Big water, most especially the ocean, calms me. I feel like a part of it. At the risk of sounding corny, it soothes my soul. I can’t explain it, I just know that it’s real. I will eventually need to live close by so that I have easy access.

As for the ancestors, or the ‘dead people’ part of the title, I had at least five generations of grandparents who lived here in Salem, as early as 1637. None were involved in the infamous Witch Trials of 1692, but they were certainly living in the midst of it while it happened. I did have another non-Salem, Massachusetts grandmother who was tried as a witch twice. Her story is here: https://julieballantynebrown-68872.medium.com/a-witch-in-the-family-bbaada7aa5b7

I felt a strong connection here the first time my family and I visited three years ago in July 2018. That was our first ‘Ocean and Dead People’ Tour. We had stopped in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to research several of my husband’s ancestors and find their graves, then drove to Salem for mine.

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Julie Ballantyne Brown
Julie Ballantyne Brown

Written by Julie Ballantyne Brown

Future London resident. Follow Julie on Twitter: @BrownBallantyne or on FB and Instagram: @JulieBallantyneBrown

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