February 2016

Greetings all!

Hope you're in good health and spirits, finding ways to enjoy the nurturing darkness of winter.

There are still some spaces this Feb 5-7th, Ancestral and Family Healing Intensive in AshevilleI'll aim to share the opening talk Friday morning on Periscope (and then that link on Facebook) for folks who like to listen in remotely. 

I'm excited to be collaborating with Taya Shere of Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute to offer: Hillula: An Ancestral Healing Journey in Jewish Traditions. Registration is open and we'll be guiding an intro talk in Berkeley the evening of Tuesday, April 19th.

Later this month I'll be back in Athens, GA (Feb 19-21st) for personal sessions, an ancestral reconnection day, and a new day offering Spiritual Protection and Navigating Funky Energies. It's true, it's not all love and light, lol.

Thanks all for your interest. Hope to hear from you or share in circle soon!

Warmly,

Daniel

(828) 767-9234
ancestralmedicine.org

Ancestral Medicine on Facebook
Ancestral Medicine on Meet-up
Ancestral and Family Healing Intensives 
Asheville, NC // Berkeley, CA // Athens, GA

Everyone has loving and wise ancestors, and by reaching out for their support we access tremendous vitality for personal and family healing. In addition to supporting repairs with living family, our ancestors encourage healthy self-esteem and help us to clarify our destiny, relationships, and work in the world. 

Participants will learn to relate safely and directly with family ancestors, both helpful guides and the dead who are still in need of assistance. Expect to engage lineage ancestors through prayer, song, visioning practices, offerings, forgiveness work, and group dialogue. This is the core ancestor training that I've guided throughout the United States since 2005. 

There are no prerequisites, however, experience with inner work/psychological healing and relating with spirit guides/teachers are both helpful. Folks new to ancestor work, adoptees, and those with a tough experience of family are welcome. Those with a healing arts practice will learn new skills to support your work.

Spaces are limited; preregistration and full attendance requested. Trainings are 10am-5pm each day. 2016 dates include:
Cost is $300 in the Southeast and $400 in CA. As always, talk with me if you need flexibility to attend. See ancestors page for details on my approach to this work.
Ancestral and Family Healing: A Day of Ritual Tending
Saturday, February 20th, 10am-5pm
Heart Path Studio
Athens, GA

This day immersion is for folks who have either attended an ancestors intensive, done an ancestor-focused individual session, or otherwise have experience with traditions of ancestor reverence. We'll spend the full day in ritual space moving forward the lineage repair work (at whatever stage in the process and lineage you're focused on). This is a great way to renew engagement with ancestral support. Time will include prayer, song, visioning, and group dialogue focused on healing with blood/family ancestors.

Spaces are limited, cost is $90 for the day (flexibility as needed). Facebook event page. Some spaces for personal sessions available Friday, Feb 19th in Athens.
Spiritual Protection and Navigating Funky Energies
Sunday, February 21st, 10am-5pm
Heart Path Studio
Athens, GA

The unseen overlaps and mirrors this visible world. Just as not everything here on Earth is love and light, there are real dangers in the realm of spirit. And because we don't live in a inherently fair universe or society, these troubles sometime arrive uninvited at the doorstep of honest and kind people.

Participants will learn skills to temper the energetic impact of more common forms of human hostility (e.g., fear, anger, and jealousy) and about the potential impact of more complex spiritual problems (e.g., funky spirits, harmful magic, actual curses). In supportive, heart-centered ritual we'll discuss how to distinguish these challenges from personal fear and anxiety and also explore the impact of underlying beliefs about safety, fairness, and the spirit world. Prior experience relating with guides and teachers in spirit is useful as we'll invite their perspective and engagement in the process of increasing personal discernment and actual safety. 

We'll gather at Heart Path Studio from 10am-5pm on Sun, Feb 21st. (Facebook event page). Cost is $90 for the day, flexibility as needed. Advance confirmation and registration helpful.
Ancestors Year Certification Intensive 
May 2016-April 2017
Berkeley, CA & Asheville, NC

In the past decade I've guided over a hundred trainings and many more sessions in ancestral and family healing, and I'm happy to be offering for the first time a close-knit, year-long training in ancestor reverence and ritual. This opportunity is for psychologically well, ritually-seasoned individuals who are already at peace (or close to it) with your own family ancestors and who feel called to work with the ancestors in some type of service capacity that includes other living humans.

The background of folks who may have reason to train at depth in ancestor work may include but is not limited to careers such as: psychotherapist, artist, medical professional, activist, hospice/death midwife, parent, historian/genealogist, priest, teacher, holistic healer, bioethicist/geneticist and community leader. The main idea is that you're drawn to ancestral engagement in ways that extend beyond your personal wellness. 

Spaces are limited to 13 participants, most of which are already spoken for. Training is May 2016-April 2017. For details see Ancestor Reverence and Ritual Year Certification.

Grief as Sacred Practice
Saturday March 12th, 10am-5pm 
Watersong Peace Chamber
Saxapahaw, NC

Heart pain, longing, and loss are inevitable here on Earth, yet modern American folk often feel ill-equipped to navigate the full, transformative potency of grief. We'll discuss ways diverse cultures weave ritual, grieving, and heart-centered community and talk about grief as one beautiful ritual strategy for mending cracks in the larger vessel of our humanity. 

After establishing a basic groundwork for the importance of grieving well, we call upon appropriate elemental powers and ancestral guides to hold a kind and protective space for grieving. This sacred tending takes place in the vessel of supportive community with ritual precautions to honor the potency and energetic reality of emotional pain. 

Participants are held in ways that allow for fully contacting the heart of their experience, expressing from this place, and also moving through the full cycle into ritual cleansing and return. This ritual will be offered Sat, Mar 12th in Saxapahaw, NC (Facebook event page).
Suggested $90, flexibility as needed. Be in touch to register or with questions.
Honoring Spirits of Place and the Natural World
Athens // Asheville // S.F. Bay Area // Portland // Saxapahaw

There are many ways to respectfully engage spirits of place. Examples of rituals focused on 'spirits of place' that I've guided include: peace tree ceremonies to honor ancestors of place, day quests in the S.F. Bay Area, grief rituals to welcome back rains and salmon, Mt Diablo prayer walk, healing rituals at areas of ecological desecration, eight years of monthly outdoor gatherings to engage local animal and plant relations.

In the first half of 2016 I'll guide the following outdoor rituals emphasizing spirits of place. Each is naturally a little different as the medicines/spirits at each location vary:
  • Apr 2, Athens, GA. Honoring the Spirit of the Oconee River (Facebook event)
  • Apr 16, Asheville, NC. Honoring Spirits of Place at Beaucatcher Overlook Park. 
  • Apr 20, Alamo, CA. Honoring Spirits of Place on Mt Diablo (Facebook event)
  • May 7, Portland, OR. Animal, Plant, & Fungi: Conversations with Local Kin (Facebook event)
  • May 21-22, Saxapahaw, NC. River Medicine Weekend (Facebook event)
For detailed descriptions of each event see the Facebook event page or the overall calendar of events. Although intentions vary slightly, participants at any gathering can expect to learn empowering practices for engaging the larger web of other-than-human relations. 
Hillula: An Ancestral Healing Journey in Jewish Traditions
June - November 2016
Berkeley, CA

When rooted in the traditions of our personal lineages, ancestor reverence and ritual can also bring about cultural and family healing. Jewish tradition is ripe with practices of ancestor reverence. Hillula, a Hebrew word meaning praise-celebration suggests a festive pilgrimage, often at the anniversary of death, to honor the continued influence of great ancestral teachers.

This six-month immersion in Jewish ancestral healing and reverence will be a co-creation with Taya Shere of Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute. Participants will learn to relate safely and directly with family ancestors, both helpful guides and those still in need of assistance. We'll work with ancestor honoring practices based in the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic and mystic teachings, and Jewish lore across time and place. We welcome participants across the spectrum of Jewish experience, including those new to Jewish practice or identity, as well as folks new to ancestor work, adoptees and those with a tough experience of family. 

There are no prerequisites for this immersion although prior experience with inner work and relating with spirit guides is helpful. The six-month series begins and ends with a four-day intensive in the S.F. Bay Area and includes individual sessions and group teachings in the months between. For details or to apply, please visit: ancestralmedicine.org/hillula. Feel welcome to share with folks who may benefit or reference the Facebook event page.  
Lewis Conner
Ancestor Work Support Call
Tues, Feb 23rd, 5pm PST, 8pm EST

This open-to-all monthly call is for anyone seeking to relate well with their ancestors. All questions about engaging your ancestors & the dead are welcome.
 
No cost to call, and if the time's helpful, a modest donation is welcome (ancestralmedicine@gmail.com via Paypal). To join call (712) 432-1212 // Meeting ID: 558-294-141. Dates for 2016 include: 2/23, 3/29, 4/26, 5/24, 6/28. Try to call in on time and stay for the duration. Hope you can join us!
Personal Sessions

Individual sessions tend to be about ancestral and family healing, spiritual guidance and mentorship, or occasionally consultation for folks building a holistic healing practice. People sometimes reach out to try to make sense of a spiritual calling, so that's welcome, and I'm also a psychotherapist with a Ph.D. in psychology if you're struggling with the 1,001 things of life and just want to approach it all from a more holistic angle.

I offer a free 15-minute phone consult to decide if you'd like to set a session. Sessions can be by phone or Skype, in-person in Asheville, or in-person when I'm traveling to teach (e.g., CA, GA, NC, OR). For more info see: personal sessions.

Dr. Daniel Foor | (828) 767-9234 | ancestralmedicine@gmail.com | www.ancestralmedicine.org