Have you been hearing about people that do ancestral work but aren't sure what its all about?

 

Want to connect but not sure how, or which direction to take?

 

Do you find it difficult or confusing to sort through conflicting information? 

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If you answered yes, than this introductory class is for you. Join me over 7 meetings this fall as we meet weekly to learn, to share, tell stories and craft the beginnings of an ancestral veneration practice.

 

Class will be designed to meet people where they are at in their process of developing their practices and to get you started. This class is also designed to introduce us to and ground ways we can work together in community and learn from each other's stories around ancestral reverence and care. Our seventh class we will construct an ancestar altar together, make offerings and share a meal. 

 

In this class will engage with and draw on ideas from Spiritism (also known as Espiritismo) as I have learned them from practitioners of Umbanda in Brazil and the traditions found in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the US. We will encorporate understandings of relating to one's ancestors from the perspective of Afro-Brazilian Candomble and Nigerian Orisa practice, to help anchor us in ways that ancestral reverence and care, make us fully human and are an integral part of the life cycle. 

 

In addition to the stated frameworks, I will include ways to relate to Christianity, Catholicism and other Abrahamic religious practices our ancestors may have had, even as we ourselves, may not.

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This class is for people of all ancestries and a safe and appropriate container will be created to bridge our different experiences and histories

 

                We will do this in the spirit of the prayer "for all our relations" and directly pay respect to the spiritual heritage of indigenous people of the land we are on, by considering relationality with humans and other kin, as foundational to honoring our ancestors.

 

Together we will explore:

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*ancestry itself, family lineage and cultural heritage

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*kinds of ancestors, blood, community, spiritual or practice lineage and ancestors of a place

 

*cultural heritage foodways

 

*seasonal celebrations and understanding the seasons to ground our practice

 

*plants-as -ancestors and gardening

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*aesthetics and creating a home that honors ancestors

 

*spiritual hygiene and the use of the elements of water, smoke, prayer in ancestral veneration and care.

 

Class will culminate in with dipping our toes into altar-making and tending and setting ourselves up to deepen our relationship with ourselves and the ancestors in ways that resonate most with us and our individual ancestries.

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Please note: This class has the possibility to develop into a second phase so we can explore more details as participants needs develop. In particular, home and personal spiritual hygiene, the nuts and bolts of dealing with unwell ancestors, spirit elevations are areas that we may choose to continue working on together for a second session.