Ancestral Healing
My Approach
There are infinite ways to undertake ancestral healing. I chose to train with Ancestral Medicine after I experienced my own ancestral healing journey with an incredible practitioner who utilized their structured method. I felt held within this ritually-safe, culturally mindful container, and because of that, I was more willing and able to trust the ancestors that came into the container to support me.
This particular method, created by Dr. Daniel Foor, is based on four premises:
Consciousness continues after death.
Not all the dead are equally well.
The living and the dead can communicate.
The living and the dead can strongly affect one another.
(Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing, p. 22)
In this method, we focus on the four immediate ancestral lineages: your mother’s mother (and all of the grandmothers before), your mother’s father (and all of the grandfathers before), your father’s mother (and all of the grandmothers before), and your father’s father (and all of the grandfathers before). I gently guide you as you establish boundaries with ancestors who are not yet well, and then connect with wise and compassionate elders who support the healing of the lineage. This lineage healing can drastically improve the state of the un-well ancestors, who can then fully take their seats as elders and tend to their living children from a loving and healed state. Once a line has been healed, the blessings can flow through more strongly through the lineage, through you, and your family. Personal, family, and cultural healing is possible with the support of our ancestors.
Ancestral healing is available to everyone who chooses to engage with ancestors. While this method initially focuses on blood lineages, you don’t need to know anything about your ancestors or biological family in order to do this work. Lineages of nurturance, such as a stepparent’s lines or an adoptive parent’s lines, may be woven in after your four primary blood lineages are healed.
Benefits of this work may include:
sharper intuition and discernment
stronger boundaries with the living and the dead
addressing intergenerational trauma and dysfunctional family patterns
feeling more connected to your identities and cultural heritage
a grounded sense of belonging
experiencing more secure attachments
recognition and embodiment of gifts, both personal and ancestral
a wider capacity to be with uncertainty, grief, and loss
feeling resourced, loved and supported by your people as you face life’s challenges
more clarity and blessings for stepping into your own power and destiny
Disclaimer: Please note that this work is NOT therapy. While I am a mental health professional by training, I am not practicing as a therapist when I hold sessions for ancestral lineage healing. This work is not meant to replace therapy. Engaging with ancestors can bring up a lot of unprocessed emotions and trauma; clients are strongly encouraged to have a support system in place (therapist, mentor, etc) before starting ancestral healing.