July 2016
Greetings!

Wishing everyone blessings of good health and spirits, fullness of summer.

I'm happy to guide four offerings in the Asheville area this month:
  • Earth and Ancestor Reverence in Psychotherapy (Fri, July 1 evening)
  • Ritual to Honor the French Broad River (Sat, July 9 morning)
  • Ancestral and Family Healing Intensive (Sat-Sun, July 16-17 weekend)
  • Ancestral Healing Monthly Circle (Wed, July 20 evening)
I'm also looking forward to the late summer ancestor offerings in Boulder, CO and other West Coast offerings (Berkeley, CA & Portland, OR) in the the fall.

The next online series will be: Ancestral Healing and Social Justice. Registration for current or completed courses allows for full access to that archive of talks (trainings page). 

Thanks all for your devotions with the earth, ancestors, etc and for your many forms of service.

Warmly,

Daniel

(828) 767-9234
ancestralmedicine.org
Ancestral Medicine on Facebook
Ancestral and Family Healing Intensives
Asheville, NC // Boulder, CO // Portland, OR
Athens, GA // Berkeley, CA // Rowe, MA

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 foundational ancestor training 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. I'm experimenting with different lengths for trainings in various locations based on local needs. For example, July in Asheville will be a weekend (Saturday & Sunday), and in Athens in October we'll do a day immersion followed by a day-long ancestral dedication ritual.
  • July 16-17 in Asheville, NC (Facebook page)
  • Sept 9-11 in Boulder, CO (Facebook page)
  • Sept 29-Oct 2 in Berkeley, CA (Facebook page) & see Hillula training below
  • Oct 7-9 in Portland, OR (Facebook page)
  • Oct 29 in Athens, GA: Ancestors Day Immersion
  • Oct 30 in Athens, GA: Ancestral Dedication Ritual (description here)
  • Mar 24-26, 2017 in Berkeley, CA
  • Sept 29-Oct 1, 2017 in Rowe, MA
Full details for each specific offering are available on my calendar of events. Please see the ancestors page of my site for details on my approach to the work.
Asheville, NC: July-October Events

July 1, Earth & Ancestor Reverence in Psychotherapy. Participants can expect to learn about existing bridges between psychotherapy and animistic ways, to see how earth-spirit views can be brought into working with those seeking healing, and to consider some of the ethical and professional questions that arise from this relationship. Presentation will include plenty of time for Q&A. Fri, July 1st, 7-9pm. Hosted by Asheville's Carl Jung and Depth Psychology Meet-up. (link for details)

July 9, Ritual to Honor the French Broad River. Earth-honoring traditions around the world encourage practitioners to get to know and respect the many spirits of a place. The French Broad River is one of earth's oldest rivers, carving out mountains for over 300 million years before human arrival. Asheville, the largest city on the river, is a natural focal point for ritual tending with the waters and with the elder powers who are this river. 

Gathering will include teaching on ways to respectfully approach the spirits of a place and time during ritual for direct listening with the river. We'll offer song, praise, tears, and appreciation for the spirits of the local waters and other older wisdoms of the land. Participants from all backgrounds are welcome, and we'll give particular praise to Oṣun, a Yoruba deity of healing and fresh water. Sat, July 9th, 9am-12noon, Asheville. Suggested donation $25 and no one turned away. Be in touch for location, what to bring, and simple ways to prepare. 

July 16-17, Ancestral and Family Healing Weekend Intensive.  Please see details above or the events calendar for info on this weekend intensive. Folks who have attended in the past are warmly welcome as are those new to ancestral healing. Sat-Sun, July 16-17, 10am-5pm, Private Residence in Alexander, NC (Facebook event). 

July 20, Ancestral Healing Monthly Circle. Once folks are introduced to the possibility of transforming intergenerational pain and activating blessings along their ancestral lineages, it's often beneficial to have a regular group ritual space to drop in together for that tending. 
Monthly gatherings emphasize learning to relate with blood/family ancestors and will include prayer, visioning practices, and heart-centered dialogue. To be able to drop in with group, you'll want to have either attended a training or done one individual session to have context for what we're up to. Wed, July 20, 6:30-8:30pm, Asheville. Suggested contribution $30-40. 
Ancestral Healing and Social Justice 
Online Course, 8/18- 9/15

Global practices of ancestor reverence and ritual encourage the living to relate directly with wise and loving ancestors; however, many in modern times are not raised with a framework for safely and beneficially honoring the dead. This breakdown of dialogue between the living and the ancestors is problematic for many reasons such as:
  • Lack of healthy cultural pride and felt ancestral support can enable self-hatred and isolation 
  • Our families and communities can suffer from unmetabolized grief and ghost problems
  • Clarifying our life purpose is harder with a blind spot around ancestral influence
In this three-session offering, we'll focus in on the role the ancestors play in the pursuit of social justice. We'll consider ways in which the unhealed dead already speak through so many of our current cultural conflicts and how we can more consciously invoke ancestral support for necessary change and healing.

Because social justice can refer to healing needed along so many different fault lines in the human experience, I have narrowed the focus of this brief online offering to three specific themes: religion (session one), race (session two), and gender and sexuality (session three). There will be plenty of time each session for discussion as well as suggestions for calling on ancestral help for personal and cultural healing.

No prior experience with ancestor reverence needed. All sessions will be recorded for playback at any time, and if you're not able to attend the live sessions you can still send in questions. Cost is $60 for the series. Please talk with me if you need a reduction to join; I feel strongly about this offering being accessible. Those with a long track-record of working for social justice are welcome by donation.

Info and registration link here. Be in touch with questions and feel welcome to share the invite with folks who may benefit.
Ancestral Healing in Jewish Traditions 
Online Course, 6/28 - 7/26 (Registration Link) 
Four-day Intensive, 9/29-10/2 (Facebook Page)

When rooted in the traditions of our blood lineages, practices of ancestor reverence can bring about family and cultural healing. Jewish tradition is ripe with practices for honoring the ancestors, and offerings in this series will draw on practices based in the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic and mystic teachings, and Jewish lore across time and place. We warmly welcome participants across the spectrum of Jewish experience, including those new to Jewish practice, those new to ancestor work, adoptees, and those with a tough experience of family.

The online course (June 14 - July 12) will provide an overview of ancestral healing in Jewish traditions and practices for relating in direct and healing ways with the ancestors (course details & registration). All sessions will be recorded for easy playback.

In the days before the Rosh Hashanah, we'll convene in Berkeley, CA for Hillula: An Ancestral Healing Intensive Rooted in Jewish Traditions. A Hebrew word meaning praise-celebration, hillula suggests a festive pilgrimage to honor the continued influence of our great ancestral teachers. This four-day immersion will include practices for relating safely and directly with helpful family and lineage ancestors as well as those still in need of assistance. We'll gather Thurs, Sept 29 - Sun, Oct 2, 10am-5pm each day (early 3pm finish Sunday for holiday prep). Cost is $500, some spaces available for reduced payment, spaces limited overall,pre-registration requested. Be in touch with questions or register: ancestralmedicine@gmail.com.

All offerings in this series will be co-led with Taya Shere of Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute (www.kohenet.com) and (www.holytaya.com).
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, and also have a background 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 sometimes in-person when I'm traveling to teach (e.g., CA, GA, NC, OR, CO). For more info see: personal sessions.
Dr. Daniel Foor | (828) 767-9234 | ancestralmedicine@gmail.com | www.ancestralmedicine.org