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Dreaming with the Ancestors

One way I have been applying my training in Indigenous Mind is to lead dream groups that focus on dreaming with the ancestors. Dream work was a central part of the Indigenous Mind experience and we were blessed to be guided by some incredible distinguished traditional elders, including Dr. Apela Colorado, Mr. Hale Makua and Auntie Mahealani Poe Poe. In much of the western world, dreams are viewed mostly from a the perspective of the individual’s psyche. In IM dream work, we also viewed dreams as a major means of communicating with the ancestors. Many of us had dreams of ancestors and were able to recover lost bits of family history through our dreams. I personally had many dreams about the Polish land and Polish people as I began to explore my Polish roots. You can read more about my ancestral dreams in a paper I wrote called “Dream Journey to Poland.”

Vasalisa the Brave, from Slavic fairy tales of the Goddess/Witch Baba Yaga

Starting on March 18th, I will lead a 8 week dream group that focuses on Dreaming with the Ancestors. In this facilitated dream group, we will focus on how our dreams can help us connect to the ancestral and spiritual realms. In each class, we will build an altar and create a sacred space for our dreamwork. The focus of our dreamwork will be first be on our genealogical ancestors and we will set our intentions to remember their stories, rituals, and healing traditions. We will also practice making dream connections with our animal and plant allies, magical beings (like fairies) and our own spirit guides. We will work with family stories, fairy tales and folk art to help activate our ancestral dreams and memory. Flower essences and plant spirit medicine will be incorporated to help enrich our dreaming process.

I have facilitated similar dreamgroups for the past few years and amazing things are occurring in them. It seems as if the ancestors are ready and eager to show up for us to do this work!

For more information, go to the Events and Classes page on my website, AncestralApothecary.com.

For those of you who don’t live in the California Bay Area…….. teleclasses coming soon! Drop me an email if you are interested.

Blessings,
Atava

NBC Series: “Who Do You Think You Are?”

The other day in my inbox from ancestry.com came an announcement about the upcoming NBC series Who Do You Think You Are?.

Who Do You Think You Are? is a new series which takes a up close and personal look at the genealogy and family history of some of Hollywood’s hottest celebrities, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon, Spike Lee, Matthew Broderick and Brooke Shields.

As someone who has been working with my own ancestors pretty intensively for the past 15 years, it is nice to see that Hollywood is finally catching up. Perhaps all of us who received a Master’s degree in ancestral remembrance and recovery in the Indigenous Mind Program at Naropa University will finally be in demand for the unique work that we do.

I did my graduate research on my Polish ancestral roots, which culminated in an ancestral journey back to Poland in 2002. You can read more in my thesis. “Journey to my Polish Indigenous Mind” that you can download for free on my website.

Other IM graduates include Audri Scott Williams, who traced her African roots back across the Middle Passage and to West Africa; Sulonda Smith, who traced her ancestors to South Africa and had a chance to study with Zulu healer Credo Mutwa; Marcela Sabin, who reconnected with her indigenous Basque and Spanish roots; Kit Cooley who made an ancestral journey to Italy; Teresa MacColl, whose ancestors come from the clan Colla of Ireland and the highlands of Scotland; Linda Joslin, who retraced the steps of her ancestors in England; Bernd Geels who rediscovered the Celtic Goddess Brigit; and Venus Herbito who helped restore the healing traditions of her indigenous Phillipino ancestors.

All of these people have amazing stories to tell and have much to share. I hope that Hollywood and the world will soon discover some of what we all have to offer.

Ancestral Images: Hamtramck, Michigan

My father, child of Polish immigrants was born in Hamtramck, Michigan. My grandparents ran a bar there in the 1940′s. I am in the middle of writing an story about my family and I began to wonder if images of that bar still existed. I found many, so I’ll have to check with my aunt to see if she remembers the exact name of the bar. Meanwhile, I found this video of archival footage of Hamtramck on youtube:

It’s strange and wonderful to see these images and to imagine my grandparents as a part of this world.