Circle of Ancestors

Ancestral Legacy & Personal Healing Workshop

"In many indigenous cultures, the ancestors have an intimate and absolutely vital connection to the world of the living. They are always available to guide, teach, and to nurture. They embody guidelines for what is most valuable about life" —Malidoma Some

Saturday, November 14, 2009 and January 16, 2010

Instructors: Maura Singer Williams and Atava Garcia Swiecicki

In many traditions, this is the time of year to remember and honor our ancestors. As the days grow shorter and the nights
grow longer, it is a time for introspection and dreaming seeds for the future.

On the first day of this two-part workshop, we will mindfully contemplate our ancestral legacies. Through ritual, altar
building, meditation, and sharing stories we will explore the connection between our ancestors and our personal healing
journeys. We will introduce the practice of dreamwork as a way to tap into our own and collective healing wisdom. This
first class will culminate as each workshop participant identifies her or his own ancestral legacy project.

We will reconvene for the second part of the workshop on January 16th. On this day we deepen our exploration of our
ancestral legacies and personal healing by working with our dreams. Participants will have an opportunity to share their
ancestral legacy projects that they began in November.

Cost: $90- $144 per day (attendance in first class required to participate in the second class.)

To Register: Send a $50 deposit made out to “Circle of Ancestors” to 3798 Grand Ave, Oakland 94610. Or request a Paypal invoice by email. Balance due on the first day of the workshop. 

For more information:
polishancestralhealing@gmail.com, 510.652.5213 or www.polishancestralhealing.org

Polish Ancestral Healing Project

In June of 2004, Maura  Singer and I (Atava) made a collective journey to Poland. As two women of Polish descent, one Jewish and the other raised Catholic, our journey centered on exploring our common Polish heritage and looking deeply at the shadow side of Polish history. We drew upon our indigenous Jewish and Slavic traditions to connect with the spirit of the Polish land, Matka Ziemia.  These ancestral traditions became the backbone for the earth-based rituals and ceremonies that supported us to face and heal our collective ancestral wounds.


In June of 2007, we premiered our film, Healing Mother Earth in Poland, as part of Circle of Ancestor's presentation series.  Our film documents our journey to Poland and the 4 aspects of ritual that  comprise our work:

•Cleansing (Mikveh)
•Healing (Doemem or Stones Ritual)
•Reactivation of Sacred Sites
•Dreamwork (accessing ancestral guidance)

As part of Circle of Ancestors, the Polish Ancestral Healing Project will facilitate workshops in Poland and in the US for people of Polish ancestry focused on ancestral healing.  We plan to begin the workshops in 2009.

Here are the links to our film on youtube.  It's in three segments, so make sure you watch them all:

Healing Mother Earth in Poland, Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPvCvfzzO_c

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heYXOln1jdo

Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukJNBQGH9WU

Slavic Healing & Baba Yaga

In honor of Barbara Spetz Dean, September 29th 1942- October 25, 2003

 

In 2003, I wrote my Master's Thesis entitled, "Journey to Recovering My Polish Indigenous Mind."  I was/am on a quest to recover the ancient healing traditions of my Slavic ancestors.  A big part of my writing was on Baba Yaga, the ancient witch/hag/ goddess from Eastern & Central Europe. She is most known as a fairy-tale character.  Usually she is portrayed as a mean witch who chases children and tries to eat them.  However, I suspected there must be more to her.  As an indigenous scientist, I was trained to look into fairy tales and myths to uncover the indigenous remnants of my Slavic pre-Christian culture.  I was drawn to Baba Yaga because I first saw her image as flying in a mortar & pestle.  Intuitively, I thought, she must be an herbalist. 

Here is an excerpt from my thesis:

The stories that kept drawing me in, time after time, were the stories about Baba Yaga. The ancient tales of Baba Yaga (Jezi Baba in the Polish language) are common throughout the Slavic world.[1] Baba Yaga is a fierce old crone who lives in the deepest, darkest part of the woods. She has long greasy hair and a big pointed nose. In older times she was described as a good witch, later she was personified more often as cruel and menacing.   

Baba Yaga is clearly a spirit of ancient power and wisdom. She is an herbalist, a healer, and she has the power to both give and destroy life. She is the crone, the aspect of the goddess that presides over the realm of death and rebirth. Maria Gimbutas, feminist archeologist and scholar describes Baba Yaga as the “Killer-Regeneratrix” and the “Goddess of Death and Regeneration”.[1] The ancient Slavs revered Baba Yaga, who was central to their spiritual universe. However, with the onslaught of Christianity, Baba Yaga had been “degraded to a witch.”[2] Gimbutas writes: “(Baba Yaga) is but a loathsome caricature thanks to the enormous energies spent by the missionaries and inquisitors to fight this powerful Goddess ”.[3]

(You can download my thesis from my website: ancestralapothecary.com, on the publications page.)
 

 

Back in 2003, when writing about Baba Yaga, she transformed for me from a fairy-tale character into a very real Spirit. Not only was I drawn to her, but so was my Polish-American friend Barbara Dean.  Barbara traveled with me to Poland in the Fall of 2002. Together we excavated the Polish indigenous mind. Unknown to either of us, during our travels, Barbara was already ill with advanced cancer. She was finally diagnosed with cancer in August of 2003; she died soon thereafter on October 25, 2003. I believe that Baba Yaga came to both of us to help usher Barbara Dean during her death into the Spirit World.

At the Circle of Ancestor’s presentation on October 5^th, Baba Yaga again made an appearance. She brought to this presentation, by “the Baba Yaga Express” a Polish-American woman whom I had met earlier THAT DAY at a psiber dream conference. This woman, Beverly, happened to send me an email that commented on a dream I had posted. I noticed her last name and asked if she was Polish. I told her that, coincidentally, I was preparing to do a presentation on Polish/Slavic healing ways and in Baba Yaga in particular.

Beverly responded in amazement… she was 100% Polish and her whole life had been dreaming of witches…(http://www.durso.org/beverly /Autobiography-Paper.html)... But never until that moment did she make the connection of her dreams to Baba Yaga.

Miraculously, Beverly made it to my presentation. It was a powerful moment for both of us. My intention for this presentation was to help activate the Slavic Indigenous Mind, and her appearance was a sign that my prayer had been answered.

Since Beverly and I met at a Psiberdream conference (http://asdreams.org ),  suspect that Baba Yaga’s powers may also extend into the realm of dreams. Her domains are already healing, death, rebirth, sacred (hallucinogenic) plants….. so it makes sense that dreams would be there as well. I will continue my Baba Yaga Dream Research Project and let you all know what I discover. If your ancestors are from Eastern & Central Europe and you have dreams or stories relating to Baba Yaga, please let me know: atava@circleofancestors.org.

Blessings,

Atava