Ancestral Lineage Healing

What is Ancestral Lineage Healing?

In the smallest of nutshells: Ancestral Lineage Healing is a transformative ritual practice which connects us with our Ancestors in order to understand unresolved family patterns, inter-generational trauma, and cultural wounds. With this knowledge we can then choose to release these past hurts and put in their place centuries of lost wisdom and guidance.

This is a deeply transformational process that sets us, and our future generations, free to live a life not held back by the inherited burdens of our forbears.

What are the foundations Ancestral Lineage Healing?

Ancestral Lineage Healing is a modality that sits firmly within an Earth-honouring animist framework. In this view, all Beings are seen to exist in a larger relational field -or web- which extends from the most tiny particles, to the trees, birds and rivers, and to the most distant stars. All Beings are considered to have consciousness, agency and personhood, different and equal to our own; and all Beings are understood to be ensouled, with spirits that exist beyond the life of the physical body and the physical realm. This includes our Ancestors.

Almost all early, Earth based cultures, including those of Europe and what is now Great Britain, practiced some form of ritual to honour their Ancestors and ensure the ongoing wellness of their lineages. Many cultures still do. And for many people, the cultivation of vibrant, reciprocal relationship with the Ancestors provides the foundation for rich spiritual practice.

In modern Western society, just as we have lost connection with the Earth, the land, and our place within the greater web of life, we have lost connection with the ancestral wisdom and knowledge that is our birthright. We have lost connection to our deeper roots. Yet, the roots systems are still there, however neglected, and lasting a meaningful connection can be reestablished.

In short, no - Ancestral Lineage Healing is a non-dogmatic practice open accessible to people from all belief systems. However, the process does require a certain openness to the possibility of life beyond the tangible world, and beyond the reach of our physical senses. All cultures have their words for the realm of Unseen or Other world - in modern Western Jungian understanding this might be termed the collective unconscious or mundi imaginalis.- the space beyond the physical realm which has almost universal consistencies across cultures.
Trust in your intuition (or active imagination, in Jungian terms) is key.
Not in the traditional sense. As a ritual practice, it does share some commonalities, but also some clear distinctions. As the practitioner, I will be guiding the practice and holding space to create structure and ensure ritual safety, while you, as the client, journey in connection with your wise and well Ancestors.
No, but it can help. Like any skill, the experience of inner visioning comes naturally to some, and is less familiar or easeful for others. However, like any skill, the awakening and refinement of our innate inner sensorium can be cultivated with practice over time.
For those who are not practiced at working in the inner/unseen realms, it is of benefit for the initial session or two to focus on identifying your dominant ‘access sense’ (e.g. inner vission, inner hearing, or somatic sensing) and establishing connection with a supportive, trusted power (e.g. love, the divine, or a spirit ally).
In Jungian thought, there is an important distinction between the imagination the as a flight of fancy and the ‘active imagination’. The former is the daydreaming capacity of the mind, while the latter is a powerful therapeutic tool for bridging of the conscious and unconscious minds (and beyond).
We live in a culture that encourages the rational mind and tends to diminish the intuitive, so it can, understandably, take a little time to learn to trust your inner perception. Practice, of course, is key.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” Albert Einstein, 1924.
No, it’s not necessary. Many people have worked through this process with their adopted and chosen families. There are many types of Ancestors - those blood lineages are just one of them.
Ancestral Lineage Healing is for anyone who: feels the call to connect with their ancestral roots; senses that unhealthy ancestral patterns are impacting their life, or the life of a loved one; or wishes to deepen their spiritual practice in a nourishing and culturally affirming way, founded on your ancestral heritage.
These are some ideas - I’m sure the possibilities are infinite.
Ancestral Lineage Healing is a clearly structured ritual framework of 5 stages, and on average it takes 5 sessions to bring a lineage to healing.
As the practitioner, my role is to guide you, the client, through the stages while holding a safe and boundaried container for the process to unfold with the Ancestors
The stages of the process involve: establishing a grounded ritual centre; an assessment of the wellness ((or otherwise) of the four primary lineages; contacting an ancestral guide and deepening connection with the lineage elders; establishment of a healing container for the unwell dead; gaining an understanding of the blessings, burdens, and cultural wounds of a lineage; opportunity for grieving and forgiveness; witnessing the process of Ancestralisation as the unwell dead join the lineage elders; offering a blessing of the bones; embodying and sharing of Ancestral blessings.
On average, it takes around 5 sessions to work through one lineage. This can happen over weeks, months or in some cases, years. The healing process cannot be rushed, and it’s important to respect the timing as it unfolds.
In between sessions you are encouraged to cultivate a practice of maintaining the connection with your ancestral guides. This helps to support the healing of the lineage, and in turn, to begin to allow the wisdom of the Ancestors to support your life.
While I am a practitioner in training I won’t be asking for payment. In lieu, I ask that an exchange be made though offering a donation to the wilderness conservation charity at your discretion (see suggestions on the ‘Work with me page’).
Once fully qualified, the suggested rate for an ALH practitioner is $160/$130 (concession) per session, with significant discounts when sessions are purchased as a bundle.
Please follow the links below.
Books:
Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing, Daniel Foor
The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise, Martin Prechtel
Sand Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialised Trauma and the Pathway to Healing Our Hearts and Bodies, Resmaa Menakem
Take Back the Magic: Conversations with the Unseen World, Perdita Finn
Articles:
Saving the Indigenous Soul: An Interview with Martin Prechtel, The Sun Magazine
Podcasts:
Connecting to Our Roots: Ancestors, Continuation, and Transformation
Podcasts / Videos:

Francis Weller and Thomas Huebl: Grieving in Community: Ancestral Healing and Grieving in Community
Ancestral Healing: Daniel Foor, Science and Non-duality
The Benefits of Connecting with the Ancestors: African Shamanism with Dr. Maladoma Somé
Please ask!
You can write via the contact page, or make an appointment for a 15 minute Zoom call via the Work with me page.