Why only look at my female ancestors, wouldn’t all my ancestors have an influence on me?
Yes, all your ancestors do have an influence on you. But I believe women are more influenced by our female ancestors for three main reasons:
1) On a biological level, the experiences and emotions of our female ancestors get passed down to us directly through our time growing in the womb.
2) On a societal level, the expectations of who we are meant to be and how we are meant to behave as women are often primarily taught to us by our mothers and other female family members.
3) On a personal level, our relationships with our mothers, particularly as children, often have a greater effect on who we think we are than any other relationship in our life.
Additionally, as our previous several generations existed under a primarily patriarchal society, the stories of many of our female ancestors remain hidden. By focusing on our female ancestors, it allows us another pathway to honor our feminine nature and let the stories of our female ancestors be told.
Why look outside, to my ancestors, instead of looking inside myself? Isn’t this just blaming others for what happens in my life? Actually, the opposite is true. This type of work is absolutely about looking inside yourself, and what’s inside you comes from your ancestors. We aren’t looking to blame your ancestors but rather to learn about them with compassion and understand their influences on you so that you can then choose what to embrace and what to release.
Why do you only work with women in midlife, wouldn’t this be able to help women of any age?
Yes, this work is helpful for women of any age. But I feel it is best suited for women in midlife because this is a natural time of contemplation and self-reflection for many women.
- They may realize they are halfway through life already and begin to question what they have achieved and what they still want to accomplish.
- They may be experiencing changes in family relationships and the roles they play within their family, which has made up a big part of how they see themselves.
- They may be contemplating whether their work is fulfilling and whether they can make a more meaningful contribution to the world doing something else. Or if it’s time to retire, what they should be doing instead of work.
- They may have a greater maturity and wisdom that enables them to see life from a different perspective than when they were younger.
- They may be thinking about how they want to be remembered by their children and grandchildren.
What if I don’t know anything about my ancestors?
In most cases, whatever information you do know will usually be enough. Interestingly, unknown information can often emerge quite quickly when you connect with your ancestors and make them aware that you are interested in knowing about them. If you are really at a loss for information, let me know and I can help get you started.
What if I was adopted? Can I still do this work?
Yes, absolutely! There are actually two ways you can do this work. If you only know your adopted family, we can focus on the history of that family and the aspects that were passed down to you through your upbringing and conditioning. If you also know about your birth family, we can also look at the history of that family and the aspects that were passed down to you biologically. And in either case, you will have spiritual connections with the ancestors, which we can explore. (If you don’t know your birth family, but would like to, I can help you with that too. Just reach out to me.)
What if I don’t believe I can connect spiritually with my ancestors?
This work combines the intellectual, tangible and practical nature of genealogy with the emotional, esoteric and spiritual nature of ancestral healing. In order to be successful with this work, you should at least be open to considering that a spiritual connection with your ancestors is possible. If you’ve ever seen a cardinal and considered it a sign of a loved one who passed, or if you’ve ever found comfort in the thought that a loved one who has passed is looking down on you, that is all the belief you need to get started.
If you have any other questions that would help you know if this is a fit for you, please
email me.