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A few weeks ago we were in the Catskill Mountains at a gathering of shamanic peers we've known for over sixteen years. All of us graduated the Second East Coast Three-Year Program in Advanced Shamanism and Shamanic Healing sponsored by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. Back then, this program was facilitated by Michael Harner PhD. and Sandra Ingerman.
Our most recent gathering was a rich time with peers gathering from the US, Canada and Europe. Since these are "working reunions," we participate in the new shamanic skills and methods each of us has developed. This time, we had the opportunity to be guided by our helping spirits through a journey to an ancestor who needed healing. We took with us a small vessel with healing water. This water was from an earthen vessel placed on an altar. The water had been dedicated for the purpose of healing each ancestor‘s spirit. The spirit would be helped into the water in both ordinary and non-ordinary realities. The water from each individual vessel would then be added to the central vessel to complete the healing.
On my journey, I was surprised to be in the presence of a woman scrubbing cold stone floors in a convent. I won't recount the details of her sorrowful story here, but I do want to share how she was healed. Of course, we were instructed to first ask the ancestor if they wanted a healing. Our Spirit Teacher then helped us to discern what was appropriate. My ancestor at first did not think she was worthy of being healed until my Spirit Teacher was able to convince her otherwise through listening to her story. She assisted her to look beyond her pattern of self-blame to a more realistic interpretation of events of her childhood. When she was ready, my Spirit Teacher placed the healing water I carried with me into a baptismal fount near where my ancestor had been scrubbing the floors. Once she entered the water, my teacher lovingly guided this ancestor into the Light.
All of us came back from our journeys with the essences of our ancestors, including some who are still living, and gently placed them into the sacred vessel. Upon the pouring of the individual waters into the vessel, the spirits were released in a ceremony of honoring and forgiveness. No matter what our personal experience was, it was obvious that in supporting our ancestors, we too received a healing. All of us were clearer as we continued our precious time together.
Our dear friend and author, Tom Cowan, who is best known as an international teacher of Celtic shamanism, is also a part of our reunion group. In past times together, he shared the idea that there are three kinds of ancestors. Blood, Milk and Spirit Ancestors.
Our “blood” ancestors are obviously those who have given us our DNA codes from our matrilineal and patrilineal lines. From these we draw both our gifts and our challenges from physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Blood ancestors include our parents, grandparents and on back through our line. Whether we actively connect with these ancestors, or engage in tracing our lineage, we are still impacted by them and their decisions.
The second type of ancestors are our “milk” ancestors. They are the people who were woven in as though they were family. Perhaps they were neighbors of a grandfather who took in an orphaned blood ancestor, or assisted in a birth, or fed a hungry family of our blood ancestors. Whatever their role, they helped to make our lives possible. We can also include in this group those people who we were taught to call our aunt or uncle even though they weren't blood relatives. They are part of the fabric of our childhood memories and they were sometimes there for us when parents could not.
The third group is our “spirit” ancestors. This includes more distant people who from childhood on have impacted our lives as mentors, guiding us by their presence and their values. These can include historical or political figures. I think of Margaret Chase Smith as one such spirit ancestor as she was the first woman senator in the U.S.A. and hailed from my home town. In addition to human beings, our spirit ancestors can include, animal or bird spirits, the spirits of places or those of a landscape feature. For instance, my partner Evelyn thinks of the North Atlantic Ocean as one of her spirit ancestors. Her blood and milk ancestors plied their trades on her waters in Europe. The same waters carried her ancestors to North America and also sustained her relatives living on this continent.
Why is it important to become more aware of our ancestors? Firstly, they may hold keys to healing some of the wounds carried to us through generational patterns and some of our unbeneficial personality traits. Secondly, they can be a rich resource of energy and perspective during this time of “earth changes”. In the Journal of Shamanic Practice, Tom Cowan writes, “Shamanic people ask different questions than others. How do Raven and Stag view these Earth changes? How does Storm see them. How do Winter, Daylight, and Midnight see them? What does River think about them? What do our ancestors think of them? How will future generations view them?” (Vol. 1, Issue 2, September, 2008) It is clear that as we take the time to heal our ancestors, we actually heal ourselves and as we heal ourselves we are healing the Earth. Everyone and everything benefits from our efforts!
One way to make connections with our ancestors is to ask to meet with our blood, milk, and spirit ancestors. In our meetings, we can ask them for a gift to help us in this critical time. We can do this one group at a time in meditation, journaling, dreaming, journeying or while walking in nature. Artists may choose to connect through sculpting, painting or otherwise making images of these ancestors to bring their concrete presence into daily life. Even though I am not an artist, I created a wooden figure representing a Spirit Guide that was with me in childhood. The figure I made is meaningful to me as this spirit nurtured me when I was a girl and taught me in my dreams. As I grew up, I forgot about her until she appeared in a journey. She came to remind me that she was still with me and offered her continued support! I created the wooden figure to honor her and also to remind me to call upon her.
Another way to strengthen our connection to our ancestors is to embrace the wisdom of the indigenous cultures from around the world. These peoples, who are our distant cousins, still hold the family memory that each animal, fish, tree, mountain and river are our relatives. All the many aspects of the natural world are our brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, grandpas and grandmas. Among tribal people, these relatives are honored in song, story and ceremony which helps to keep the relationship connections vibrant and real.
In our healing sessions, drumming circles and personal circles we are hearing more stories of people noticing the appearance of a crow, raven, turkey, fox, bear, hawk, owl or another "relative" on their daily life. These people then take the time to think about the meaning a relative's appearance may have on their life story. People in our culture are beginning to listen again to the ancestral wisdom carried by these fellow travelers. By reflecting upon the unexpected, and moving personal encounters we have with them, we are reweaving our ancestral ties.
Another one of our friends is noticing our collective shift toward listening to the wisdom of our ancestors . Barbara Tadlock , PhD. writes, “Recent public attention to the social and environmental crisis in our world has encouraged a shift that combines the animistic intuitions of shamanic practitioners with new scientific insights about the fundamental oneness of our universe. Within this emerging world view, matter, mind, and spirit are considered inseparable aspects of a single reality. We exist in constant flux, with consciousness serving as the foundation of our being.” (The journal of shamanic Practice Vol. 1, Issue 2, September, 2008).
Our consciousness is nurtured daily by our connection with our ancestors. Be they blood, milk or spirit, or those living family members in the natural world, they all are our allies. Each in their own ways, they seek to sustain and guide us. They are willing to offer creative solutions to both our personal and global issues. With some many beings standing with us, we are very rich, indeed!
- Allie Knowlton
In this month's article, Allie refers several times to quotes from The Journal For Shamanic Practice--a magazine published by the Society for Shamanic Practitioners. For those who may be interested, subscriptions to the journal are $24 a year and may be ordered from: The Society for Shamanic Practitioners, 2300 Eighth Street, Olivenhain, California 92024. Make your check payable to "The Society for Shamanic Practitioners." - Editors.
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C. Allie Knowlton, MSW, LCSW, DCSW is a psychotherapist, shamanic teacher and healer in practice with her partner Evelyn C. Rysdyk. Included in the book Traveling Between the Worlds, Allie and Evelyn are among the world’s most influential writers and teachers of shamanism.
Allie brings a lifetime of connection to Spirit to her work with individuals and groups. Originally trained as a minister, she presents eco-spiritually focused training programs--which include advanced shamanism and shamanic healing -- across the USA and Canada. In addition, as a founding member of True North, a unique, integrated medical center in Falmouth, Maine --she collaborates with physicians, nurses, a psychiatrist, a naturopath and several other complementary healthcare practitioners to provide a new model of health care that includes Spirit.
www.spiritpassages.org
www.spiritliving.org
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