Land & Ancestral Healing Ritual

Please review the following information before deciding to commit to ritual, because it is indeed a commitment. This is not a spectator gathering, we will all be engaging and opening ourselves to guidance and clearing from Spirit. And while there are usually funny, joyful, and light moments in ritual (because Spirit has a great sense of humor) there can also be moments of intensity and emotional release. This too, is where the medicine of coming together in ritual lies. 

OFFERINGS

Please bring offerings for both the Ancestor Altar (which will be set up somewhere near the barn / main hub of the retreat) that are specifically for your own ancestors. Also if you are married, it can be helpful to bring offerings for your spouse’s ancestors as well, even if your spouse is not in attendance. Offerings can include favorite food, drink, snacks, art, flowers, and trinkets that your ancestors enjoyed. If you aren’t sure what your ancestors liked to eat, you can bring popular foods from their place of origin. If you still aren’t sure, follow your heart! Trinkets, etc can be reclaimed at the end of the day or retreat, food items will be buried.

Next, please bring offerings that you will carry with you out to the ceremony site. These can include tobacco, (as organic and carefully tended as possible) sea water, abalone, berries (fresh or dried) acorns, cedar, salmon jerky, seaweed, (dried or fresh) venison jerky.

PROTOCOL

In order to hold a safe ritual space for everyone, we will be adhering to certain protocol that helps our ritual “team” keep the space free of disruptive energies, as well as honoring the teachings of the original People and their ancient relationship with the land and spirits here. Please come to ritual with your body free of alcohol, drugs, and plant medicines. If you ingest certain plant medicines like Cannabis for specific medical usage, please get in touch with Amanda prior to the day of ceremony to discuss. It is especially important that you do not ingest alchohol for the entire day of ritual, before and after. This is for your own safety as well. Ideally you would refrain from alcohol and drugs for several days before and after ceremony, as engaging in this type of ritual leaves you quite “open” for a time. 

Also, if you are a woman who will be menstruating on the day of ritual, please let Amanda know ahead of time so we can honor and protect you in the space. 

If you work with beings/spirits from the Other Side, we request that you do not invoke any beings within the ritual space. There will be specific spirits called in by Amanda and the ritual team that will protect and guide- by committing to this ceremony you are also expressing trust in the facilitators to allow the energies in that will be working for the highest good of all. 

Finally, we ask that if you commit to joining ritual, that you stay for the duration. We don’t anticipate it going beyond 2 hours, but as Spirit will be guiding everything you just never know. Once the space is set, we need everyone to stay until completion. 

Ritual will begin at 4:30, and once we set the space it will essentially “closed” to any latecomers. Again this is not just for respect but also the safety of everyone participating.

LOGISTICS

It will be necessary to walk a distance (maybe around a half mile) from the barn to ceremony site. It is a flat easy walk, with a little bit of gravel and brush right near ritual site. If you are unable to do this, please contact Amanda or Melissa ahead of time so that arrangements can be made to assist you. It will also be necessary to wade through ankle-deep water to reach ceremony site so please plan accordingly. Please also prepare for chilly fall weather, and bring a cushion to sit on and water to drink. Sunset is around 6:50 that day so it may be helpful to pack a flashlight. Whatever you need to make yourself comfortable for the 1-2 hours that we will be gathering.

If you have drums, rattles, or other small instruments that you want to bring, please do! There will be a point where we will be harmonizing together to build energy, and your voices and instruments will be welcomed and very helpful. 

One last note- it is very common in Spirit work that once we commit to ritual, healing, etc, we will experience resistance coming up. Often there is initial excitement, then as the date gets closer resistance can pop up or start to build. As we intend to do deep and powerful work that can shift both our inner and outer worlds, there are energies that can attempt to stop that from happening. Be aware that the only “power” these energies hold is trickery/illusion. So if you do experience this resistance, it can be helpful to allow yourself some time to pause and breathe, and ask yourself where the feelings are coming from. Is it true intuition (does not originate in fear) or is it something else?  If you are unable to move through resistance on your own, you can contact Amanda for assistance.

Please feel free to reach out to Amanda via email (loveworthy111@gmail.com) with any questions or concerns. The prayers and intentions have been set to call in the people from our community and beyond who are ready and willing to engage in group work in this way. It’s an exciting time for our community and we look forward to being in ritual with you all!