ONLINE COURSE
Practical Animism
Cultivating Belonging through Earth-honoring Practices
About the Course
Animism is the practice of loving and respecting our greater family—mountains and rivers, plants and animals, stones and stars, the living and the dead. Animism is about ethics and community, and it’s one way to talk about humans being our intrinsically relational selves.
Course Overview
As we deepen into human-driven change, a time of mass extinctions, and the spiraling impacts of human supremacy, it’s more critical than ever to rekindle our relationships with our extended kin. We endeavor to return to conscious connection because it’s good for us, because this supports our work for systemic change and cultural repair, and because it’s more honest. We’ve never been and will never be truly alone.
If you’re seeking a more profound and embodied relationship with the rest of life, consider this foundational Ancestral Medicine offering in support of reconnection and Earth-honoring ways of life. Participants will learn a lasting framework for animist ethics and ritual that is culturally mindful, psychologically grounded, and rooted in cross-cultural wisdom, teachings, and practices.
Practical Animism is one of three foundational courses at Ancestral Medicine. Access to all materials is life-long and registration also includes access to a peer connection space where you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions about course material.
Animism is the practice of loving and respecting our greater family; mountains and rivers, plants and animals, the living and the dead.
— Daniel Foor
In this course, you will
- Experience cross-cultural teachings on interdependence, ritual arts, myth and story, and honoring the personhood and sentience of all life.
- Explore layers of culture, history, colonialism, philosophy, and religion as they inform our personal experience of ourselves and the Earth.
- Receive support for recognizing the Earth-honoring animist values and practices within your own ancestral and cultural lineages.
- Learn how to apply these fundamental relational skills to both your human and other-than-human relationships.
- Engage this framework within an intentional online community, where you’ll enjoy support from experienced ritualists and affinity group spaces.
Teachings will be rooted in an ethic of love and inclusivity and will reference global traditions of sacred story, psychology, and practical magic. Each lesson will include live Q&A, multiple opportunities for guided practice, and a supportive learning environment.
Price
Accessibility is a core value at Ancestral Medicine. We offer several pricing tiers, and we leave it to you to select the most appropriate tier. The ranges in pricing aims to take into consideration global economic disparities, historical injustices, and personal circumstances. The system is designed for those with more to register in ways that support those with less.
Scholarship
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If none of these rates are accessible for you, we offer a limited number of scholarships. Click below to apply for approval. Applications will close on September 20. Replies may take time due to high volume, but all replies will be sent by September 23.
Early Registration (Take 35% off thru July 2 or till early-bird seats are sold)
Standard Rate
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Our standard rate allows us to sustain our work. This typically applies if you’re employed in the Global North, and you’re able to provide for your needs in a consistent way.
Supporter
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This rate helps us make our work accessible to those with modest means and applies if you have investments, a retirement plan, and/or access to economic abundance.
Other Pricing Options
Community
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This rate applies if you’re relatively less economically advantaged in the ways listed under “standard rate” or that cost is simply out of reach for you financially.
Economic Hardship
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This rate applies if other options are not within reach. Ideally for historically marginalized populations, and anyone who may experience economic hardship. *Spaces limited
Curriculum
Lessons emphasize psychological, cultural, and energetic safety and explore various aspects of Earth-honoring ethics and relationships. Each weekly theme emphasizes skills for developing meaningful relationships and connections with both human and other-than-human kin.
Live calls, held each week, are followed by small group breakouts with practitioners. The 12 live calls complement the material of the pre-recorded lessons, and each includes time for Q&A, live practice, and small-group sharing.
One
Lesson 1: Kinship, Intimacy, and Animist Lifeways
• Affirm a participant ethic of humility, heart, and self-responsibility
• Contextualize learning amidst injustice and ecological catastrophe
• Consider impacts of colonialism and ancestral wounding
• Invite new pathways of direct connection with other-than-human kin
• Enjoy resources from “new animists” in a wider cultural context
Topic of the live call in week one: Cultivating Gratitude
Two
Lesson 2: Eating, Killing, and Giving Thanks
• Explore ethical implications of food plants, and animals as people
• Bring kind attention to the intimate killing that sustains our lives
• Ask the powers for ways to weave authentic gratitude into eating
• Dialogue with the spirit of at least one personal food, plant or animal
• Enjoy resources on domestication and rituals of food and harvest
Topic of the live call in week two: Embracing Interdependence
Three
Lesson 3: Boundaries, Traditions, and the Dead
• Explore the importance of boundaries, consent, and limitation
• Learn ways to establish sacred space and encourage ritual safety
• Consider different types of ancestors, lineages, and living traditions
• Invite connection with wise and kind ancestral support from your lineages
• Enjoy resources on ancestor reverence and spirited eco-activism
Topic of the live call in week three: Honoring and Asserting Boundaries
Four
Lesson 4: Celebrating Diverse Bodies and Wisdoms
• Engage with older, more generous views of other-than-human kin
• Expand your vocabulary for sacred diversity and difference
• Foreground friendship as foundational to deeper modes of relating
• Seek to connect with a local wild plant, fungus, or animal relation
• Enjoy resources on the wisdom and complexity of our Earth kin
Topic of the live call in week four: Valuing Diversity and Difference
Five
Lesson 5: Sorrow, Extinction, and Honoring the Waters
• Explore water-related themes like grieving, cleansing, and healing
• Learn ritual skills for embracing potent sorrow, loss, and heartache
• Engage traditional teachings and lore on relating with the spirits of water
• Invite direct engagement with the specific waters near to your home
• Enjoy resources on grief rituals and ritual work with watery kin
Topic of the live call in week five: Grieving While in Connection
Six
Lesson 6: Living the Blessings and Burdens of Place
• Consider complex human histories of places in light of belonging
• Learn ways to think about and be invited into the qualities of places
• Explore outdoor solitude practices and relevant adaptations
• Apply etiquette and intuition to locate a ‘sit spot’ near to your home
• Enjoy resources on place-focused teachings and ritual traditions
Topic of the live call in week six: Living Your Specific Medicine
Seven
Lesson 7: Stone, Memory, and Earth as Deity
• Identify projection of personal pain and gender norms on the Earth
• Learn foundational practices of making offerings and tending an altar
• Invite help from the stones for remembering destiny and purpose
• Ritually greet, thank, and feed the divinity who is this Earth
• Enjoy resources on ways of relating with the Earth as an elder deity
Topic of the live call in week seven: Reparenting and Deep Healing
Eight
Lesson 8: Fire, Plasma, and Bridging the Worlds
• Explore diverse approaches to the elements in theory and practice
• Deepen with elemental fire as magma, flame, lightning, and stars
• Uproot problematic human/nature and nature/culture dichotomies
• Invite direct communion with helpful expressions of elemental fire
• Enjoy resources on elemental ritual and deities of fire and transformation
Topic of the live call in week eight: Embodying Cultural Authenticity
Nine
Lesson 9: Climate, Cosmos, and the Empty Center
• Extend animist perspectives to wind, weather, and celestial bodies
• Further interrupt extreme individualism and inner/outer binaries
• Reflect on Earth as an open system and our place in wider context
• Invite direct perspective from the elders powers on climate change
• Enjoy resources on wind, weather, astronomy, and great sci-fi
Topic of the live call in week nine: Becoming a Home for the Sacred
Ten
Lesson 10: Microorganisms, Agency, and Cultural Healing
• Consider the personhood and potent influence of microorganisms
• Explore agency, causation, and who tells the stories we’re made of
• Reflect on language and culture as sentient and more-than-human
• Greet and thank the trillions of others in, on, and around your body
• Enjoy resources on animist storytelling and microanimism
Topic of the live call in week ten: Accepting Greater Responsibility
Eleven
Lesson 11: Spirits, Deities, and Incarnation
• Expand animist and ecological frames to include the gods and the unseen
• Reflect on what we’re doing here and why on Earth we keep coming back
• Learn practical etiquette for relating with deities, spirits, and elder forces
• Consider ways the land and the others already shape and guide our lives
• Enjoy resources on spirit possession and the curious state of incarnation
Topic of the live call in week eleven: When Two Worlds Become One
Twelve
Lesson 12: Animist Ethics and the Life of Objects
• Extend animist sensibilities to objects, things, and those forgotten
• Ground coursework in animist ethics, science, law, and education
• Assess for congruence of personal values with identity and choices
• Invite integration of teachings with personal practice and path
• Enjoy resources on animist trends and policies in diverse disciplines
Topic of the live call in week twelve: Deepening Commitment to Self and Others
Lesson 1: Kinship, Intimacy, and Animist Lifeways
• Affirm a participant ethic of humility, heart, and self-responsibility
• Contextualize learning amidst injustice and ecological catastrophe
• Consider impacts of colonialism and ancestral wounding
• Invite new pathways of direct connection with other-than-human kin
• Enjoy resources from “new animists” in a wider cultural context
Topic of the live call in week one: Cultivating Gratitude
Lesson 2: Eating, Killing, and Giving Thanks
• Explore ethical implications of food plants and animals as people
• Bring kind attention to the intimate killing that sustains our lives
• Ask the powers for ways to weave authentic gratitude into eating
• Dialogue with the spirit of at least one personal food plant or animal
• Enjoy resources on domestication and rituals of food and harvest
Topic of the live call in week two: Embracing Interdependence
Lesson 3: Boundaries, Traditions, and the Dead
• Explore the importance of boundaries, consent, and limitation
• Learn ways to establish sacred space and encourage ritual safety
• Consider different types of ancestors, lineages, and living traditions
• Invite connection with wise and kind ancestral support from your lineages
• Enjoy resources on ancestor reverence and spirited eco-activism
Topic of the live call in week three: Honoring and Asserting Boundaries
Lesson 4: Celebrating Diverse Bodies and Wisdoms
• Engage with older, more generous views of other-than-human kin
• Expand your vocabulary for sacred diversity and difference
• Foreground friendship as foundational to deeper modes of relating
• Seek to connect with a local wild plant, fungus, or animal relation
• Enjoy resources on the wisdom and complexity of our Earth kin
Topic of the live call in week four: Valuing Diversity and Difference
Lesson 5: Sorrow, Extinction, and Honoring the Waters
• Explore water-related themes like grieving, cleansing, and healing
• Learn ritual skills for embracing potent sorrow, loss, and heartache
• Engage traditional teachings and lore on relating with the spirits of water
• Invite direct engagement with the specific waters near to your home
• Enjoy resources on grief rituals and ritual work with watery kin
Topic of the live call in week five: Grieving While in Connection
Lesson 6: Living the Blessings and Burdens of Place
• Consider complex human histories of places in light of belonging
• Learn ways to think about and be invited into the qualities of places
• Explore outdoor solitude practices and relevant adaptations
• Apply etiquette and intuition to locate a ‘sit spot’ near to your home
• Enjoy resources on place-focused teachings and ritual traditions
Topic of the live call in week six: Living Your Specific Medicine
Lesson 7: Stone, Memory, and Earth as Deity
• Identify projection of personal pain and gender norms on the Earth
• Learn foundational practices of making offerings and tending an altar
• Invite help from the stones for remembering destiny and purpose
• Ritually greet, thank, and feed the divinity who is this Earth
• Enjoy resources on ways of relating with the Earth as an elder deity
Topic of the live call in week seven: Reparenting and Deep Healing
Lesson 8: Fire, Plasma, and Bridging the Worlds
• Explore diverse approaches to the elements in theory and practice
• Deepen with elemental fire as magma, flame, lightning, and stars
• Uproot problematic human/nature and nature/culture dichotomies
• Invite direct communion with helpful expressions of elemental fire
• Enjoy resources on elemental ritual and deities of fire and transformation
Topic of the live call in week eight: Embodying Cultural Authenticity
Lesson 9: Climate, Cosmos, and the Empty Center
• Extend animist perspectives to wind, weather, and celestial bodies
• Further interrupt extreme individualism and inner/outer binaries
• Reflect on Earth as an open system and our place in wider context
• Invite direct perspective from the elders powers on climate change
• Enjoy resources on wind, weather, astronomy, and great sci-fi
Topic of the live call in week nine: Becoming a Home for the Sacred
Lesson 10: Microorganisms, Agency, and Cultural Healing
• Consider the personhood and potent influence of microorganisms
• Explore agency, causation, and who tells the stories we’re made of
• Reflect on language and culture as sentient and more-than-human
• Greet and thank the trillions of others in, on, and around your body
• Enjoy resources on animist storytelling and microanimism
Topic of the live call in week ten: Accepting Greater Responsibility
Lesson 11: Spirits, Deities, and Incarnation
• Expand animist and ecological frames to include the gods and the unseen
• Reflect on what we’re doing here and why on Earth we keep coming back
• Learn practical etiquette for relating with deities, spirits, and elder forces
• Consider ways the land and the others already shape and guide our lives
• Enjoy resources on spirit possession and the curious state of incarnation
Topic of the live call in week eleven: When Two Worlds Become One
Lesson 12: Animist Ethics and the Life of Objects
• Extend animist sensibilities to objects, things, and those forgotten
• Ground coursework in animist ethics, science, law, and education
• Assess for congruence of personal values with identity and choices
• Invite integration of teachings with personal practice and path
• Enjoy resources on animist trends and policies in diverse disciplines
Topic of the live call in week twelve: Deepening Commitment to Self and Others
Waitlist
What’s Included
- Over 18 hours of pre-recorded, high-quality teachings, each with a different guided practice.
- Access to an additional 12 live calls with one-two of four course instructors (see below). Calls include 60 minutes of live teaching with instructors followed by 30 minutes in small group breakouts with supporters to deepen course material with personalized interaction. Calls are all recorded for easy playback.
- Lifetime access to all recordings and course materials, including a generous collection of material, guided reflections, and experiential practices, focused on bringing the course material into your daily life.
- Unlimited access to our private Community Forum, where you can interact with Ancestral Medicine staff, course supporters, and fellow learners.
- Small-group breakout sessions during the teaching calls, facilitated by experienced ritualists. This includes optional breakouts for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks.
Annie Blackstone
Annie Blackstone is and has been many things in this life, what she is most is a bridge person connecting people, spirit, nature, ancestors, and community. A hypnotherapist for 30 years now, she teaches and practices Hypnotherapy, Shamanic practices, Ancestral healing, EFT, Brainspotting, Biofield tuning, and Reiki at HCH Institute in Lafayette California. Annie’s people of blood and bone come from England, Portugal and the Cherokee nation. She now lives above the redwoods in Canyon California in the territory of the Huichin, Ohlone, and Confederated tribes of Lisjan, peoples.
Adrián Villaseñor Galarza
Adrián Villaseñor Galarza, PhD, is an international facilitator, ritualist, academic collaborator, author, and contemplative practitioner whose work weaves together the psycho-spiritual study of the Earth-human relation, animist principles, and contemplative wisdom. His ancestors are primarily from the Iberian Peninsula (Spanish & Portuguese) and pre-hispanic México (Nahua, Purépecha, and Nahua-Otomí), and his work is often considered a Latin American referent when it comes to Nature Reconnection, Ecopsychologies, and Earth-based Spirituality. Adrián’s service is rooted in his direct experiences with wisdom lineages he’s honored since his teens.
Shannon Willis
Shannon is a dedicated ritualist working at the intersection of dream midwifery, psychopomp, ancestral and oracular practices. She holds a Masters in Leadership and Professional Counseling and has more than four decades of experience leading individuals, groups, and organizations through consultation and ritual. She is an initiate of Ọbàtálá and Ọ̀ṣun in the lineage of Olúwo Fálolú Adésànyà Awoyadé, a devoted student of Jhankri shamanism through the 27th generational lineage of Bhola Nath Banstola, and Ancestral Medicine’s Ritual Director. She is a descendant of settler-colonists from the British Isles, Belgium, France, freed peoples of West Africa, and indigenous Cherokee and Kaskaskia/Illini nations.
Daniel Foor
Daniel is a doctor of psychology, experienced ritualist, and the author of Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing. He is an initiate in the Òrìṣà tradition of Yoruba-speaking West Africa and has learned from teachers of Mahayana Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and the older ways of his English and German ancestors. Daniel is passionate about training aspiring leaders and change makers in the intersections of cultural healing, animist ethics, and applied ritual arts. He lives with his wife and two daughters near Granada, Spain in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Frequently Asked Questions
All live teaching calls will be recorded and will be made available in your course dashboard to watch and listen to at your leisure, with access in perpetuity. These calls aim to complement (not repeat) the core content of the course from the pre-recorded lessons, and they include time for different guided practices, questions, etc. The additional 30-minute supporter-led small breakout groups that occur at the end of these weekly 60-minute teaching calls by Annie, Adrián, Shannon, and Daniell are not recorded.
This is a 12-week course. Each pre-recorded lesson requires approximately 90 minutes per week and live weekly teaching calls are an additional 60-90 minutes. The emphasis of this course is ritual skill building to support your daily life and practice well beyond these 12 weeks, so don’t let the feeling of “falling behind” keep you from joining the calls or enjoying the community, course material, and additional resources. There aren’t goals to hit within this course, and there’s no test; the process simply needs space and time to unfold.
You’ll have access to course materials indefinitely, and all live calls will be recorded and placed into your course dashboard in the days following each call. So every moment of every teaching can be returned to later.
It depends. If you took the course from 2018 until mid-2021, nearly all aspects of the course will be new as the pre-recorded lessons were all recreated in a fresh and different way in mid-2021. If you took the course starting in November of 2021 or later (including Being the Earth and Loving the Earth in 2023), then this course will only differ in that the live calls with Annie, Adrián, Shannon, and Daniel and course supporters are, well, always live.
Yes! We are inviting past course participants (of any previous version of the course) to rejoin at $180. If you took an older version of the course (pre November 2021), this will include 18 hours of new recordings as well as 12 live calls with Annie, Adrián, Shannon, and Daniel (60min each) and course supporters (30min each). If you took the course anytime after November 2021, enrolling again will grant you access to the 12 live calls as the course recordings remain the same. If you have not received an email with a past-participant invitation, email info@ancestralmedicine.org to request the direct link to this rate.
This course directly addresses vulnerable topics related to ongoing violence and harm in the world. The material may stir complicated emotions for some participants. Support outside of the lessons may be helpful as the course is not a replacement for personal therapy or spiritual care.
Enrollment includes access to our Community Forum – an online discussion group of students past and present, including supportive members from Ancestral Medicine’s Practitioner Network and Ancestral Medicine staff. Sharing experiences, reflecting on practices, and making connections in this private online community can provide one form of support.
Please also consider reaching out to someone in the Ancestral Medicine Practitioner Network for one-on-one support and guidance. Most are available for private individualized sessions, and many are willing to provide low-cost sessions to support financial accessibility needs.
To the very best of our ability, yes. All Ancestral Medicine offerings seek to embody an anti-racist, feminist, LGBTQ-celebrating, decolonizing and Earth-honoring ethic. They are also class-aware and internationally conscious. We offer a heartfelt, non-dogmatic approach that seeks to honor each participant’s unique life experiences and ancestral storylines. Resources included with each lesson favor ancestrally and geographically diverse voices, and the online Community Forum includes BIPOC and LGBTQ-only discussion spaces.
All of our lesson videos have closed captioning, as well as a full transcript and additional downloadable audio-only versions. If you have needs not met here, please feel free to reach out to us with suggestions at info@ancestralmedicine.org.
Should you wish to withdraw from an online course or shift your registration to a future iteration for any reason, please contact us at info@ancestralmedicine.org to request a full refund within the refund window of that specific course:
- 12-week courses: Up to 2 weeks after the course start date.
- 8-week courses: Up to 7 days after the course start date.
- 4-to-6-session courses: Before the second lesson begins.
See our Terms & Conditions.
We’d be happy to help with additional questions. Reach out to info@ancestralmedicine.org and someone from our team will be in touch, usually within one or two business days.
Have a question that’s not answered here?
