Messages from Beyond the Veil

Liz Ramos, with spiritual assistance from Tristan Carpenter, discusses how to recognize signs and honor our loved ones beyond the veil

Greetings witches! This week, you may notice that I have changed my opening from including one of my wonderful kitties to listing a human instead. On the day this is posted (Wednesday, June 10th, 2026), it will be the 4th death day anniversary of my younger cousin, Tristan. Tristan was a very special person, who was a smart, funny, loving, selfless, and compassionate young man. He sadly left us in 2022 at age 14 from a very aggressive form of Leukemia. Tristan and I are 13 years apart, and despite this age gap, we had a lot of common interests, including music from Imagine Dragons or just being goofy and quoting memes at each other throughout conversations. As a way to honor his memory and carry the love, light, and laughter forward, this week is a sharing of ways that Tristan has communicated he is still here with my family and I.

Music is one of the best ways Spirit can communicate with us. As I mentioned above, Tristan and I used to bond over Imagine Dragons and listen to them together when I was visiting. After he passed, he has used various forms of technology to connect with me and let me know he is still hanging out. When he first passed, I was an absolute mess. I felt so guilty that I had moved away and was not always able to go home and hang out, and I felt that I had let him down and didn’t show him how much I loved him. On a drive I took prior to his funeral, my car’s radio turned on on its own, blaring Believer. It was his way to assure me he knew I loved him so much. As I type about this incident, Believer has once again been manipulated to play on my YouTube algorithm. Thank you Buddy! Message received. Other songs he has sent me include Bones, Thunder, Radioactive, Demons, and Whatever It Takes.

Food and special family gatherings are a huge part of our family, and Tristan loved Christmastime. My aunt/his grandmother is an avid baker, pickler, canner, and candy/candied nuts creator. She hosts Christmas Eve and Santa visits for her household and all 7 of her siblings and their extensive families every year, and tradition is starting on Black Friday to start the dough making/baking of the thousands of cookies we all share during the festivities. Tristan loved to bake, and he was naturally my helper every year to make the chocolate jumble men and women cookies. He has made the smell of the cookies appear in my home during the holidays to share that he is making them in his plane of existence with our grandmother, who he never got to meet but was also an avid baker when she was on this side of the veil with us.

Cardinals are a symbol of loved ones visiting, and he has often made sure that one crosses our path when we are talking about him or need a little pick me up. My husband and I lost one of our kitties to leukemia this week, and while wondering if he had made it safely to the rainbow bridge yet, a cardinal flew up to my car, landed to watch me for a moment, and then flitted off.

Speaking of kitties – it is the belief of my husband and I that Tristan guided us to being stewards of Leukemia positive kitties. Our journey with our kitties began December of 2022 – six months after we lost Tristan. Tristan knew that I was saving for our home, and that I wanted to get a cat when we achieved this dream. We were able to achieve this dream early December that year, and despite different opportunities and cats that came across my news feed, when I had gotten my husband to agree to adopt a cat with me, when I saw my Bluey on a rescue website, I had this feeling of fate and destiny I can only explain as connected by something bigger than us. The moment I learned of his Leukemia, I understood. Tristan was giving me a chance to put my now displaced love and grief for him to another being who could use it on this plane.

Lastly but certainly not insignificant, Tristan has visited in meditation and dreams. His most profound visit was during a Yule Solstice event during a meditation for guidance in 2023. Tristan decided that it was time to personally address the grief and guilt I had about living away after college and for not always coming home or seeing him every single time I came home. He made sure to tell me he was proud of me for the choices I made and that no matter what, he loves and supports me, and that it made sense I wanted to distance a little from the kids – I was not a 17 year old babysitter who lived 3 miles away anymore, stopping by because his mama was making pansit and lumpia for dinner (my favorite Filipino food she makes from her homeland). I was a woman in my late 20s who was married and working to build my own life  – how could he fault me for that? He assured me he knew he was loved, and to carry him forward with peace.

As I grapple my grief, I wish you and your loved ones so much peace, love, and healing as you navigate your own losses and grief. May you recognize and find comfort in the signs your loved ones across the veil share with you. Blessings, from Tristan and I to you.

Elizabeth Ramos is a magic practitioner who specializes in nature focused, healing, protective, and ancestral magics. She is a Reiki Master-Teacher and lives with her husband and their several Feline Leukemia Positive kitties in Upstate New York.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.