ONLINE COURSE
Beyond Blood Ancestors
Land, Kinship and Awakening
with Dr. Daniel Foor
A live, six-part series: Oct 31, Nov 7, 14, 21, 28, and Dec 5 at 3:00pm EDT
The ancestors hold our collective wisdom and unresolved challenges. To be in relationship with them is to fully embrace belonging, incarnation and a life of purpose.
Designed as a companion offering for anyone who has engaged with our Ancestral Lineage Healing course, Daniel’s book, our network of skilled practitioners, or other practices of ancestor reverence – this course offers an intentional space to explore how we take the practice deeper by including those beyond our direct family lineages.
Ancestors include not only our own biological kin, but also chosen family, dear friends and teachers who have passed, spiritual mentors, and the dead who dwell in the land. These relationships can strongly impact our purpose and path. Connecting with these other kinds of ancestors is a skill that’s learnable, nourishing, and relevant to everyday life.
Participants will learn safe practices for stepping into their specific destiny and role amidst ancestors of culture, land, and spiritual lineage. No prior experience is required to join. However, those who have already engaged in healing practices with their blood ancestors may find the practices in this course easier to approach.
Investment
Registration for this course is now closed.
For this offering, we are also offering a pick-your-payment option. Please use this alternative payment option if the standard payment levels listed above are beyond your current financial means.
Curriculum
What's Included
What's Included:
- Six live lessons, each approximately 90 minutes in duration
- Two guided, experiential practices accompanying each lesson
- Six additional integration and support calls led by an experienced practitioner
- Access to a dedicated community forum for those engaged in similar learning
- Responsive and helpful support, if needed, from Ancestral Medicine staff
- Lifetime access to course resources
Lesson One
Lesson One: Individuals, Lineages, and the Collective Dead
- Review different types of ancestors and the role of the Ancestral Lineage Healing process
- Reflect on the relationship between diverse types of ancestors and personal destiny
- Learn practical differences between personal, lineage, and collective ancestral contact
- Engage in guided practices to explore different modes or levels of ancestral contact
Lesson Two
Lesson Two: Chosen Family, Friends and Other Beloved Dead
- Discuss the dynamics of relating with deceased friends and other personal connections
- Explore the topic of ritual safety and healthy boundaries with loved ones among the dead
- Learn to recognize bonds that form during life when we’re in alignment with our destiny
- Practice both celebrating connections and releasing ties that no longer serve
Lesson Three
Lesson Three: Ancestors of Spiritual Lineage and Tradition
- Consider spiritual teachings and lineages through the specific lens of ancestry
- Learn to engage in safe and regulated ways with ancestors of chosen lineage
- Reflect on tensions and alignments between ancestors of blood and spiritual lineage
- Practice greeting ancestors of lineage and gently inviting harmonization with blood kin
Lesson Four
Lesson Four: Belonging and Ancestors of Land
- Learn about the influence that earlier ancestors have on present-day place
- Reflect on the dynamics between your ancestors and those in the Earth near you
- Explore ways to harmonize dynamics with ancestors of blood, lineage, and land
- Engage in ritual to convey respect from you and your people to local ancestors
Lesson Five
Lesson Five: Ancestors and our Other-than-Human Kin
- Consider the relationship of ancestor-focused ritual to Earth-honoring ethics and practice
- Partner with the ancestors to creatively interrupt the false human versus nature split
- Explore how identity and culture expand our understanding of being human
- Practice gently calling on your other-than-human ancestral affinities and teachers
Lesson Six
Lesson Six: Mysticism, Awakening and the Dead
- Discuss ancestor reverence in the context of non-duality and spiritual presence
- Learn a practice for establishing an ancestral council to support personal awakening
- Practice dissolving unhelpful divisions between different categories of ancestors
- Appeal in ritual to the ancestors of awakening to support your path of realization
About the Instructor
Daniel Foor, PhD
Dr. Foor is a licensed psychotherapist, doctor of psychology, 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 currently lives with his wife and two daughters near Granada, Spain in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Frequently Asked Questions
Live teaching calls with Daniel will be held on the following dates (all times are US Eastern):
- Lesson One – Monday, Oct 31, 3:00pm
- Lesson Two – Monday, Nov 7, 3:00pm
- Lesson Three – Monday, Nov 14, 3:00pm
- Lesson Four – Monday, Nov 21, 3:00pm
- Lesson Five – Monday, Nov 28, 3:00pm
- Lesson Six – Monday, Dec 5, 3:00pm
Integration and Support sessions hosted by Shannon Willis will be held on the following dates (all times are US Eastern):
- Wednesday, Nov 2, 6:00pm*
- Wednesday, Nov 9, 12:30pm*
- Wednesday, Nov 16, 6:00pm
- Wednesday, Nov 23, 12:30pm
- Wednesday, Nov 30, 6:00pm
- Wednesday, Dec 7, 12:30pm
*Please note the rotation of call times was changed, and the times noted above are accurate as of September 8.
Yes, all live teaching calls with Daniel will be recorded and made available to registered participants in the course space. Participants will also have ongoing access to the recorded lessons and course materials.
This course directly addresses often vulnerable topics related to ongoing violence and harm in the world. The material may stir complicated emotions for some participants, and support outside the vessel of the lessons may be important as the course is not a replacement for individual or personalized support.
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.
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.
If you have general questions about our organization, offerings, or values, you may enjoy our Frequently Asked Questions page. If there’s something else, we’d be happy to help! Reach out to info@ancestralmedicine.org and someone from our team will be in touch, usually within 1-2 business days.
