Recently I had the honor of being interviewed by Voices of the Earth, a project of the recently formed Earth Medicine Alliance. The interview covers lots of different material, and the 20-30 minutes that focus on ancestor work capture pretty well why I choose to focus so much of my time and energy on ancestral [...]
Five Ways to Honor Your Ancestors
June 9, 2011 By
This essay outlines five ways in which anyone can safely and effectively strengthen their relationships with the spirits of their loving and supportive ancestors. For more information on ancestor-focused trainings, talks, and personal sessions, please see: www.ancestralmedicine.org/ancestors. We all have ancestors, both of blood and of spirit, and each of our lives rests firmly [...]
Who Are the Ancestors and Why Do They Matter?
May 18, 2011 By
One of the recurrent challenges of supporting others in the foundations of ancestor work is that most of us who were raised in the United States or other Western, industrialized nations totally lack a framework for relating with dead. I was not raised with an awareness of my blood ancestors or anything more than a [...]
Earth Medicine 2009: A Year in the Guadalupe Watershed
May 17, 2011 By
In early January 2009, a dozen or so practitioners of diverse earth-spirit paths initiated a year of earth healing ceremonies focused in the Guadalupe Watershed. At the far southern end of San Francisco Bay, the 170-square-mile drainage of the Guadalupe River includes the site of the most productive mercury mine in United States history, a [...]
My Journey with Buryat shaman Sarangerel (1963-2006)
May 16, 2011 By
Sarangerel and I met in the spring of 1999 in Athens, Ohio over a cold beer. She was in town to lead a weekend intensive hosted by my first teachers in earth spirituality, Bekki and Crow of the Church of Earth Healing. Of mixed Mongolian and European ancestry, Sarangerel was in the United States after [...]
Despacho Ceremony at Black Diamond Mines
May 14, 2011 By
On March 27th, 2011, some 20 people gathered at the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, in the Somersville townsite, for an earth-honoring ritual offered by the Earth Medicine Alliance. Executive director Daniel Foor shared about the Alliance, the intent for the day’s ritual, and the history of the Black Diamond Mines area. At the time [...]
