We Gotta Talk About Bruno- Your Gifts, Visions & Truth

We Gotta Talk.. about Bruno

If you've not yet watched Encanto - whether you've kids around in your life or not I recommend a date with your inner child to dive into this one.

“In mythos and fairy tales, deities and other great spirits test the hearts of humans by showing up in various forms that disguise their divinity. They show up in robes, rags, silver sashes, or with muddy feet. They show up with skin dark as old wood, or in scales made of rose petal, as a frail child, as a lime-yellow old woman, as a man who cannot speak, or as an animal who can. The great powers are testing to see if humans have yet learned to recognize the greatness of soul in all its varying forms.”― Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Carl Jung, Clarissa Pinkola Estes and many other great minds teach that in all fairytales, and in dreams all the characters are actually parts of our own psyche.

So let's get into it, Bruno is the black sheep of the family... due to his inability to hold back what he sees when it's not convenient... (i am sure you can not relate)

Bruno is actually a quiet, shy, and kind man who loves and is loyal to his family but easily becomes nervous or suffers from anxiety... 

As he isolates himself and is insecure and avoidant, and believes others’ accusations that his gift only brings problems, he removes himself from the community to avoid doing further damage and goes into exile.

Though he is hiding in the walls of the house for a decade whilst the family, led by the grandmother Alma continue to build their 'Miraculous' and magical 'Family Madrigal' family and keep up a show that all is well and perfect- like a family ‘brand’ that needs maintaining no matter the cost to the individuals’ sense of self and truth.

There is no evil intention in this- Abuela feels responsible to keep her family thriving and keep the townspeople's faith strong. To keep her feeling safe, as she has her own buried traumas of losing her beloved and raising 3 children on her own who were given gifts and she received a ‘miracle’ that kept her strong and so there can be no cracks in the image of perfection she needs to portray to keep up this perfect performance.

Unfortunately for her idealistic presentation, underneath the surface all the children and grandchildren are struggling under this unspoken pressure in various ways. The underlying fear and what is hiding in the shadows (Bruno and his prophecies representing this) begin to create un ease, and is coming up for healing in ways that she does not want to face.

Under the surface
I feel berserk as a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus
Under the surface
Was Hercules ever like "Yo, I don't wanna fight Cerberus"?
Under the surface
I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service

They don't talk about Bruno, because they don't want to talk about what Bruno SEES. What he knows. What is hidden from view to the conscious mind.

Scratch the surface of their perfect illusion and they don't want to look at old trauma, unspoken fears, unmet needs and vulnerabilities.

Yet, if they could allow themselves to release the perfect images and the roles they 'SHOULD' play in life, they could paradoxically become all they really are- and are meant to be, in a moment to moment expression of their authentic self.

The 'strong one' who has to carry everything could break down and cry, could relax and take a break.

The perfect pink rose growing ‘pretty one’ could get a little wild, grow some cacti and mix it up with a technicolour explosion of every range of emotion from anger to defiance to sadness to joy and even get a little messy...

So much hides behind my smile

What could I do if I just grew what I was feelin' in the moment?
(Do you know where you're going? Whoa)
What could I do if I just knew it didn't need to be perfect?
It just needed to be? And they'd let me be?

...And our dear narrator, Mirabel who 'does not have a gift', could actually be seen for the light she is.

In her insistence on knowing the truth, on her seeking out Bruno, she is actually the nexus point of transformation for the whole family as they move from fear to love, as they see the REAL miracle which is their love for each other, and themselves, as the miracles they ARE inherently, not what they DO or the gifts they have been given. Through exposing what is lurking beneath the surface and letting everything that was an illusion crumble to the ground a miracle of transformation is allowed to happen.

Alma the Abuela is able to see where the emotional wellbeing of her family was compromised by her idealism, and more space is made for everyone's authentic selves, then their family home can be rebuilt on a solid foundation - Not one that is based upon their magical gifts but on the bond between them and the truth of each of them. 

(Sidenote For all you Brunos, its also worth noting that often Bruno's visions are often hazy- there can be multiple different outcomes and there's often not a clear sense of time around them. The gift of prophecy is not always a convenient art form, or an exact science and you won’t always be understood.)

So what will you take from this today? Can you identify the different parts of your psyche? The domineering authoritarian who insists on a flawless performance? The trying so hard that you lose yourself people pleaser? The got to always be strong and carry everyone else incase I look weak? The enabling bystander allowing toxic and unhealthy relationships to continue unabated without getting messy and doing the work that needs to be done to get to inner wholeness and authenticity? And what about your inner Bruno- your inner seer...Are you afraid of what you know you know? Are you scared to get a little too close to the flame? Afraid your gifts might cost you if you rock the boat and be all you are here to be? Afraid of what you might see about yourself if you look within?

Wherever this lands for you, I intend it is in some way healing for your psyche, and if you're interested in a holistic, loving and gentle way to deepen into your psychic gifts and work with all aspects of your self and trust your intuition I have a 10 day deep dive immersion you are going to love - You can check it out here: I Am Guided