Your Ancestral Wisdom Path
You are embarking on a journey to explore the concept of wisdom lineage within your family and community. This includes spiritual and philosophical traditions, ethnic customs, and even trauma response.
It's crucial to acknowledge the various forms of family, such as biological, adoptive, and chosen family, which can provide a sense of connection and support. Although discussing death and the dead may be challenging for some, it can also be an opportunity for growth and self-discovery.
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Wisdom lineage is a multi-faceted jewel including spiritual and philosophical traditions, ethnic traditions like foods, holidays, heritage and living languages, connection to the land and even trauma response as Resmaa Menakem described it in My Grandmother's Hands. The Beloved Dead are as complicated as the Living. There are gifts and traumas held in our families and in our bodies.
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World spiritual traditions have different language to describe this lineage of support: Ancestors, the Communion of Saints, Forefathers and Foremothers, the Beloved Dead. Talking about death and the dead might be an edge for you if you grew up in or live in a death-phobic culture. This might be an invitation for you today.
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This offering of Ancestral Wisdom Connection is meant as an antidote for cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is simply stealing sacred spiritual technology from other cultural groups without authorization to teach or perform those rituals in public. Dr. Apela Colorado's work on Indigenous Mind has been foundational in my own process. There is wisdom in all our ancestry that can be recovered. And we can seek teachings from qualified spiritual teachers of other lineages and practice authentically without appropriation.
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Researching my own family lineage through genealogy and study of myths, religious traditions, fairy tales, sacred and folk music, herbalism and heritage language are helping me make my own connections to my Beloved Ancestors. In particular, I am able to celebrate my Carpatho-Rusyn ancestors, reading their language, observing Earth honoring practices, participating in pilgrimage, honoring the Beloved Dead at Provody and singing their songs.
Support in your Ancestral Wisdom Path
With the Ancestral Wisdom Path, you'll receive support and accountability for your research goals, including genealogy, genogram, heritage language learning, and folklore study.
We'll also collaborate to develop your spiritual practices and facilitate connections to living teachers in those spiritual lineages. If you need specific support around trauma, we can refer you to therapists as well.
What will this mean for my life?
Knowing about our roots can help with belonging.
You will develop your own practice of remembering the Beloved Dead.
You may choose to learn or refresh a heritage language or talent (cooking, music, writing, photography, travel).
You may seek to heal family patterns with the support of a therapist.
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