You & the Ancestors FAQs
Here’s some info on the Ancestors and why you might want to meet them in our online healing + art circle: Creating with the Ancestors
Q: WHO ARE THE ANCESTORS?
Ancestors are people who have lived and died and now exist as spiritual beings. Well Ancestors are those who have processed their life experiences and are available to be in mutually supportive relationships with those of us among the living who choose to connect with them. Ancestors may be related to you by blood or connected to you by affinity (vocation, interests, social identity, core qualities, etc.).
Q: ARE THE ANCESTORS ALL REALLY OLD?
No, Death arrives at any age. Babies, children, teens, grown ups, and elders — anyone who no longer has a body — can be honored as an Ancestor. For instance, you may have a cousin who died as a child, who could now be your Ancestor. Even a short-lived Ancestor has some wisdom to share.
Q: WHY WOULD I WANT TO MEET AN ANCESTOR?
Because they’ve lived and died before us, the Ancestors have a great deal of accumulated wisdom and guidance to offer. There is nothing new under the sun, and the Ancestors have lived through similar or even the exact same situations that you might be facing now. How did they get through it? What can you learn from their triumphs and shortcomings? What strengths do they have that you also have? The Ancestors can be tremendous guides, advisors, and mentors in what you are trying to heal and create right now. And we all need all the help we can get in these turbulent times.
Q: DO I HAVE TO HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE TO JOIN ‘CREATING WITH THE ANCESTORS’?
No, you just have to be open and curious and willing to meet an Ancestor in guided meditation. That means trusting whatever visual images, words and sounds, body sensations, emotions, and messages you might experience with your intuition.
Q: I FEEL LIKE AN ALIEN IN MY FAMILY. DO I REALLY HAVE ANY BLOOD ANCESTORS WHO GET ME?
I’ve felt like that and found greater belonging and rightness in who I am by connecting with my well Ancestors. No doubt there is someone in your bloodlines or family lines who is similar to you or empathic enough to get you. It may go back many many generations, but there is tangible support for you.
If you are sensitive, quirky, creative, spiritually attuned, or somehow made to feel ‘different’ or ‘other’ in your family, it’s worth going way back beyond known relatives to find your true kin in your bloodlines. Just wanting to connect with Ancestors means that you are the One they were waiting for. They want to be known and help you carry forward the goodness of the line.
Q: I PREFER CHOSEN FAMILY. CAN I CONNECT WITH ANCESTORS WHO AREN’T RELATED TO ME BY BLOOD?
Of course! Our second gathering is all about cultural or historical Ancestors. These are famous or not famous people who inspire us because of their mad skills, core values, idiosyncratic way of life, influence in their world, or pioneering actions.
Random examples: Frida Kahlo, Nelson Mandela, Catherine the Great, Ram Dass, Harvey Milk, bell hooks, Cesar Chavez, Jane Goodall, Jacques Cousteau, Sacagawea, Ruth Asawa, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alan Turing, Carl Jung, Marie Curie, Hildegarde of Bingen, Joan of Arc, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, et al,
In guided meditation we’ll ask to meet the right Ancestor to help us with our issue. It could be someone remembered in historical record or it could be someone just like us, an Ancestor who lived a humble life. Either way, these perfectly imperfect beings may know more than we do.
Q: WHAT KIND OF ISSUES CAN THE ANCESTORS HELP WITH?
Whatcha got? This path of being human means we need help along the way. You could be dealing with:
a crossroads decision
illness
grief and loss
relationship dilemmas
parenting, adulting, caregiving of elders
shifting personal identity
stress and anxiety
confusion about life purpose
birthing some project
abundance issues
work life direction
wherever you want some guidance
Q: WHEN IS THIS THING HAPPENING?
Please join us! Creating with the Ancestors: a healing + art circle
Guided meditations to meet a bloodline family Ancestor and a cultural Ancestor, then making a collage to honor that wisdom shared.
Sat 10/18, 10/25, & 11/1
10-11:30am PST // 1-2:30pm EST on Zoom
