Ancestral work is to know our roots, our base, at a deeper level. From this place we can relate in a more whole and respectful way to ‘other’ – whether that is other people, other cultures or other lands.
This is important work for anyone living in a country with a history of colonial disruption, or in a country in which you don’t have deep roots. It offers the opportunity for personal healing, healing for our ancestors, and for the spirits of the land.
In this workshop we will be exploring our relationship to this land and working with our ancestors for healing and insight. Through doing this we can initiate our healing of relationship to place, and stand more clearly in who we are and where we are from.
With shamanic practices, we’ll be connecting and deepening the relationship with our ancestors for insight, growth, healing and protection.
This will be further enhanced and grounded in our bodies with somatic work, which enables us to work in the here and now with the patterns carried in our nervous system, wherever they have come from.
Outline:
- Ancestral Groundwork. Working with an Ancestral Guardian. The difference between healed and unhealed ancestors; and beginning a conscious relationship with an ancestor for protection and support.
- Ancestral Healing. Personal and collective healing work. We’ll be focusing on the healing of our relationship to place and to this land.
- Somatic techniques and practices. Body based practices for trauma and nervous system repair. This work bypasses the thinking mind which can keep us in confusion and lays new patterns in the instinctive part of the brain. It helps us be in the here and now, register safety and unravel stored stress, including inter-generational trauma.
- Accessing the gifts within our lineage. Land based and nature connection.
You do not need to know your ancestors to do this work. The beauty of shamanic and somatic work is that we bypass the mind and go deeper. In some ways it can even be easier without too much knowledge of your ancestors.
If you have information about the arrival of any of your ancestors in Australia or can access it, it would be helpful to bring along, but also optional.
Facilitators:
Gigi and Heidi are collaborating to offer this as an expression of the gifts of their shared lineage. Being each descended from one of two brothers who arrived in Australia in the late 1800’s, and who carried in their genes a strong connection with the natural world.
Heidi runs various circles and online courses in shamanic herbalism, herbal alchemy & plant spirit communication. She also runs an annual Ancestor circle series. Author of Wild Flower Walker: A Pilgrimage to Nature on the Bibbulmun Track, she is passionate about reawakening and deepening our innate connection with Nature. Her history is deeply embedded with plants, herbalism, homeopathy and midwifery.
Gigi trained as a botanist and environmental scientist and worked in conservation for 10 years during which time she developed a deep intimacy with the ecology of the Mornington Peninsula and surrounds. Since moving to the Northern Rivers 11 years ago she has studied and practiced body-based therapies and specialises in somatic tools and practices for trauma resolution and nervous system repair.
Friday 29th November 6-9pm;
and Saturday 30th November 9-5pm
This will be a small, intimate circle. Bookings essential.
Note: As we will be using shamanic drum journeys as part of our exploration, participants will need to have a good grounding in this or to enrol in and complete this short online module ($25) beforehand: Introduction to shamanic drum journeying: Meet your Power animal and guardian spirits.
Sliding Scale Exchange:
- $290 (income over $30 000per year)
- $220 (income $15-30 000per year)
- $150 (income under $15000per year)
Mullumbimby area. Address on registration.
To book in contact: wildflowerangel@gmail.com;
Why work with your ancestors?
We carry the experiences of our ancestors in our DNA.
Where they have been and what they have done has shaped us more than we know.
Science has shown that genetic changes associated with traumatic stress are seen for at least three and possibly five or more subsequent generations, so some of what we have to heal in ourselves comes from long before our conception or birth.
Similarly, the strengths and gifts of our ancestors are also handed down to us, and recognising the gifts of our lineage can make them more potent.
Whether you like it or not, your ancestors gave you life. They are the basis of your being. Their heritage flows through your blood and affects you on a daily basis whether consciously or unconsciously.
Science is now backing this up with the study of epigenetics. We carry both the ‘sins’ and gifts of our forefathers/foremothers within us, until they are healed.
Our ancestral roots inform us on a very basic level, so becoming conscious of this can help us shift, heal, activate and grow in a myriad of ways.
- Cultivating relationships with your ancestors can bring healing and personal power. They connect us back to the Source.
- Ancestral contact awakens and activates the sleeping wisdom carried in your blood and bones.
- Our ancestors (healed ancestors – more on this below) can be our greatest helpers and allies in life. They really care on a personal human level for you. You are their blood and they want the best for you. Awakening contact with them will often lead to feeling more supported in your life, or realising how much you’ve always been supported by them.
- Ancestors are also our greatest protectors when working in other realms. They are loving allies that can act as a safe go between.
- Like any tree, watering and feeding the roots (our ancestors) will help the tree (us) grow healthy and strong.
“I had recently become aware of a need to connect with my ancestors when this course came up and having already participated in a course with Heidi, I felt really safe to go on this journey with her. Through her gentle, informative guidance I feel like I have opened up a gateway that I have always wanted but felt blocked from. Sharing our stories within the intimate group was beautiful, and the journeys we took so safely and gently guided. Heidi is a wonderful facilitator with such an openness and wealth of knowledge. Thank you. Would love to continue this work beyond the four weeks!” Jody B. Ancestor Circle 2019
“You are amazing at holding the space for journeying. Thank you so so much. This journey was very clear and informative and a loved all the little extras also.” M.M. Ancestor circle 2019.
“Heidi, Thank you for leading me through this journey to discover my ancestral lines both forward and back! I loved how you created a space where I felt safe to share and explore, and I loved the easy going atmosphere with minimum bells and whistles that made me feel instantly in the company of friends.” Alicia C. 2019 Ancestor circle
“I experienced over this course a palpable difference in my attitude and experience of my roots, my family of origin. I connected with a positive, empowered feminine role model and guide, I connected more deeply with the strength of the oak and the granite, the landscape of my Swiss ancestry. My bones and viscera feel deeply nourished by this connection, my back bone got stronger. I love how Heidi embodies the depth of knowing for herself, how transformative and grounding her work is; and, how she has the lightness of a feather in her way of guiding, allowing for participants to have their unique journeys and ways to enter this transpersonal field. She encourages to drop any judgment or expectations and just be with whatever arises or doesn’t arise. Through this trusting way, each participant got their connection in their own personal way. It was a very rich field to be in, hearing each other’s sharing, the depth of the human soul, historical events, different landscapes and cultures from around the globe. Thank You Beautiful, so much gratitude for your potent, lighthearted and loving guidance.” Claudine Gertrude, Ancestor circle 2018.
How did I come to this work?
After years working with plant spirits and personal journey work, I was gently guided to ancestral work in my journeys. It gradually became clear to me that I needed to learn more about ancestors. Synchronistically, a friend told me about an ancestor course with Mary Shutan, which I enrolled in. This really opened me up to my own ancestral connections and the importance of ancestral guardians. Some of this will be shared within the first week of this course. The ancestral healing part has come from my own direct experience and journey with my ancestors when I cracked a tooth. This path continues to unfold….
Developing and nourishing a relationship with my ancestors has gradually changed my life. As a white person born in Australia, there is much within me that I have been cut off from. This work is uncovering and teaching me about myself. The more I learn about my roots, the more I learn about myself. The more I know who I am and where I come from, the more I know where I’m going. Things become clearer.
In Australia, almost everyone has undergone an uprooting from their cultural heritage in one way or another. This affects some people more than others. Some retain their culture that has been passed on and integrated into Australian life. But many have forgotten that they ever had roots somewhere else, and wander with less grounding or the foundations that many overseas cultures take for granted.
My calling is to reconnect people with nature, as then we can only improve the situation on our planet. However, I have come to realise, that part of connecting deeply with nature requires knowledge of our own deep roots. Hence this work. xx Heidi