Ancestral Medicine is an organization founded by Daniel Foor. For more on our work in the world, see About the Organization and Core Values. Daniel’s book Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing (2017) also carries this name.

Ancestral Medicine was the name of Daniel’s personal practice in ritual and healing arts from 2005 until 2016 when he began to train others in ancestral healing practices. Around this time, his practice began to transition to focus on training other ritualists, online learning, international teaching, and nurturing the Ancestral Medicine Practitioner Network. This has called for gradual and ongoing organizational restructuring to allow for organic growth and change.

Ancestral Medicine is also a business incorporated in the U.S. state of North Carolina (traditional Tsalagi lands). For more on our staff as well as our mission see the About page of our site. Those who have trained with Daniel to guide this approach to ancestral healing work may at times refer to the ritual style or methodology as ‘Ancestral Medicine’ or the Ancestral Medicine practice of ancestral healing, although practitioners more commonly refer to the work as simply ancestral (lineage) healing.

Ancestral Medicine’s approach to ritual arts is rooted in the framework of animism and respect for both our human and other-than-human kin. We hold this orientation in the pragmatic and inclusive sense of core values rather than in a religious or ideological spirit. We also seek to anchor this ritual work in a sustained commitment to cultural healing.

We maintain a specialization in relationships with the ancestors (a.k.a. the human dead, the collective spirit of our species). Our approach to ancestor reverence and ritual rests on foundational teachings found in many different cultures.

Daniel is the founder and senior teacher with Ancestral Medicine and as such his approach to practice informs the teaching and direction of the organization. For more on Daniel’s training and influences see his bio.

Ritualists in our network naturally draw upon their distinct life experiences and training in other lineages of practice when serving as Ancestral Medicine teachers, course supporters, or practitioners of ancestral healing. We celebrate this richness and diversity of expression within the larger framework of our shared organizational values.

Ancestral Medicine offers online courses, an ancestral healing practitioner training (including the practitioner directory), and extensive free resources on animism and ancestor reverence. Pre-pandemic we offered in-person ancestral healing intensives led by Daniel and other teachers in the network; however all offerings are currently virtual until such times as it’s truly safe and sensible to gather indoors in groups.

Many resources can be accessed for free on the Media page which includes podcasts, blog posts, an archive of past talks, and interviews both with Daniel and guest teachers. There are additional interviews on the Ancestral Medicine Youtube page and the book is available in Chinese, Croatian, Dutch and Polish.

Online courses and other offerings are a major focus of our work. These often include live calls in different time zones, opportunity for small break-out groups, spaces for peer dialogue, transcriptions of video content, and extensive additional resources to support the learning. We are committed to teaching in clear, organized, and accessible ways that include a kind and supportive container for depth ritual engagement.

Our Ancestral Healing Practitioner Training is in its fifth cycle and the practitioner directory features those who have completed requirements for certification. This is the only professional training we currently offer, and we’re committed to resourcing mentees in ways that set them up for success when sharing their public offerings. 

Wherever you are truly drawn to engage is likely a fine place to start as the most effective entry point for learning and practice is the one that we’ll actually show up for. Our online courses are open to all. Individual sessions with a practitioner are always a good option, especially in the realm of ancestral healing. The only offering that has prerequisites is the practitioner training which is a much more involved level of commitment with respect to ritual arts. For a longer exploration on where to start, see Daniel’s blog post: Earth, Ancestors and Ritual: Where to Begin? 

Ancestral Medicine offerings take a largely core-values based approach to foundational, cross-cultural aspects of earth and ancestor reverence which means we tend not to teach specific songs, prayers, symbolism, prescribed offerings, cosmology, etc. Nearly all ritual elements included in our teachings can be adapted and, in the spirit of inclusivity and accessibility, students are encouraged to find their own way with personal style and with ancestral and cultural specifics. That said, we take concerns about cultural respect and appropriation seriously and commit to addressing questions that may arise in ways that center the concerns of people directly involved and impacted.

Cultural appropriation can refer to inter-related concerns around respect for established traditions and lineages of practice; the interplay of Indigeneity and colonialism; and accessibility and money as it relates to ritual. In fast-moving spaces such as social media, the nuances of these concerns are sometimes lost or a U.S.-centric framework is globalized to all places and peoples.

To speak first to the way that these concerns sometimes center around the dynamics between Indigenous peoples and settler colonialists, at Ancestral Medicine if we use the imprecise word Indigenous, we favor more specific usages in documents such as the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples rather than more generalized usages like “Indigenous wisdom” or “Indigenous spirituality” (unless perhaps when those refer to Indigenous peoples). In using the words in these ways we are not presuming to tell others how they need to move in the world.

Daniel is not an Indigenous person and is not presuming to teach or represent any Indigenous system. Although he has spent dedicated time over the past twenty years in ceremonial space with some Indigenous teachers, especially with Native North American ways (primarily Lakota and Native American Church) and the late Buryat Mongol teacher Sarangerel Odigan, he is not a representative of those traditions and he does not seek to legitimize love of the Earth or human capacities for ritual by associating with Indigenous peoples.

Concerns about cultural appropriation are not limited to dynamics between Indigenous and other-than-Indigenous peoples; however, in North America well-meaning people sometimes falsely assume that all ritual/ceremony that is ancestor or earth-honoring must in some way be derived from the roughly 5% of the world’s population that is Indigenous or that all ritualists of settler colonialist ancestries in North America must be harmfully appropriating from Native North American or other-than-European cultures. This can lead to the conclusion that all ritual activity, including forms not sourced from Native North American peoples, must follow Native North American protocols. For example, there is a widely held prohibition among many but not all of the Indigenous nations of North America around not mixing money and the sacred, not charging money for ceremony. If Ancestral Medicine were teaching Native North American traditions or guiding those ceremonies, it would be appropriate to honor these protocols; however, like most customs or sacred laws, they do not apply beyond the lineages, communities, and individuals that honor them.

We do charge for online classes, individual sessions, in-person events, and professional training, any of which may include elements of ritual (see below for more on money and accessibility). We typically pay ritualists who guide events for us and we dedicate money to promote these offerings so that people who may benefit can find us. And we are happy to work with any Native/First Nations/Indigenous folks who are interested in our offerings to ensure maximum accessibility. For more on cultural appropriation in a North American context specifically between Native/First Nations peoples and settlers, here is one resource.

Based on Daniel’s training and relationships with lineage and living elders, the specific approach to ritual he is most qualified to represent in a basic way is West African Ifá/Òrìṣà tradition; however, he is very much a priest-in-training and Yorùbá people are not Indigenous based on the more narrow legal/political definition of that term. Daniel was involved on and off with Yorùbá traditions in the Diaspora via self-study and other-than-Yorùbá teachers and communities (1996-2013) before aligning with a directly Yorùbá orientation to practice through four pilgrimages to Nigeria (2013-2017) and hosting his Yorùbá teachers in the United States. Although he is a student of Yorùbá language and culture and an initiate of Ifá, Ọbàtálá, Ọ̀ṣun, Egúngún, and Òṣùgbó in the lineage of Olúwo Fálolú Adésànyà Awoyadé of Òdè Rẹ́mọ, no Ancestral Medicine offerings have any intent or presumption to teach to Yorùbá culture. Daniel may at times reference basic principles found in the tradition (or others) and may even pray in Yorùbá from time to time as is customary for any awo Ifá, bàbá l’órìṣà or ọ̀jẹ̀-in-training; this is just the way he happens to pray based on his ritual training. Daniel maintains an active relationship with his teachers in Nigeria, directs substantial financial support to them for their service, welcomes their guidance on matters of Yorùbá ritual, and respects them as a source of personal sustenance and inspiration.

With respect to the more general dynamics, cultural respect calls for clear attribution of sources; accurate representation of one’s degree of training; ongoing connection with lineage when at all possible; clear lineage permissions to teach any given body of material; consideration of impact with respect to historical/ongoing power dynamics; and ongoing tangible reciprocity with living elders and communities. Daniel’s influences are also detailed in his bio, the book, and various other places. These are important topics, and the team at Ancestral Medicine welcomes specific questions with respect to any given practice or teaching that is a part of our offerings in the world.

Accessibility is one of our core values and we care deeply about our offerings being available to those who wish to join. We also strongly value the time, labor, and expertise of our staff, teachers, mentors, supporters, and any outside consultants. We seek to balance the imperative of financial inclusivity with fair compensation for the labor and needs of all involved in making our work possible.

With respect to online courses we have payment plans and extensive scholarship options. When spaces are limited, for example in the practitioner training, we may elect to limit scholarship spaces to certain groups (e.g., BIPOC, LGBTQ folks, those who speak other-than-English languages) as a gesture of historical correction; however, the application for online courses states, “Scholarship inquiries from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) applicants, those from more economically disadvantaged countries or populations, LGBTQ folks, and those serving historically marginalized populations are especially welcome. And we’re aware that exploitative capitalism and economic hardship can impact people of all backgrounds, especially but not only during the current global pandemic. If you want to join us and costs are a barrier to access, please just apply.”

Ancestral Medicine also manages a low-income referral process for people seeking sessions with an ancestral healing practitioner. The practitioners are required as part of their training to offer at least ten low-income sessions, and some opt to continue to do so as part of their service in the world. We are strongly invested in the ancestral healing practitioners and also maintain a professional development fund to support their success.

We care deeply about cost not being a barrier to participation and we welcome suggestions if you believe there are ways we could further embody this commitment.