Ancestral Healing
The Pagan Portals series from Moon Books offers an introduction to featured topics and in this anthology eleven authors share their thoughts on the title subject, Ancestral Healing.
It is accepted within shamanism and more recently by science that the lives of our ancestors affect us; traumatic events they experienced even altering our DNA and being carried forward into many future generations. Equally in shamanism the importance of the phrase ‘we are all related’ is reflected in the science of genetics and evolution – what was the original ancestral life form we, like all other life, evolved from?
So unsurprisingly the subject of ancestral healing can be less basic and contain a greater variety of practices than we may initially think, although one thing is obvious – this is powerful work and everyone involved in any form of shamanic practice will find themselves needing to carry out some form of ancestral healing.
The strength of this book is in the broad variety of essays as either starting points for further research or possibly to see if any one in particular reflects with you personally at that time as a call to action. The essays include topics such as: healing the ancestral soul; reconnecting with our ancient past; dealing with trauma; dealing with ancestral shame (when the actions of our ancestors don’t feel worthy of honouring); animism and our animal ancestors and – I was happy to see having met the fabulous Jess Smith – the campaign to save the Tinker’s Heart (a place of ancestral importance to Scottish Travellers).
An inspirational and much needed inclusion in the Pagan Portals series, Ancestral Healing is recommended to readers new to the topic or anyone who wants to expand their breadth of ideas on the topic; enjoyable and illuminating reading.
Book Details: Trevor Greenfield (editor). Pagan Portals – Ancestral Healing. Moon Books (31 July 2020). ISBN: 978-1789043358
Review Details: Pagan Portals – Ancestral Healing was reviewed by June Kent, editor of Indie Shaman magazine and this review was published in Issue 44.
