What People Are Saying…

Frequently Asked Questions

I don’t have time to go to the live 90-minute sessions but I am still interested in this class. What’s possible? Unlike most of my courses, this course is not heavily dependent upon the group. The group is valuable, and people absolutely learn from one another, but you can get a huge amount from just doing the worksheets and the exercises. I will look at your submissions and support you via email as much as I can, and you will still be able to schedule get the 45 minute call with me. Just sign up for the course (either one) and send me an email letting me know you are doing this sans live-calls. (No, I do not offer a reduced payment for this option).

What happens in the live session? I will respond to your questions and to what I saw coming up in the worksheet. Each person will have a chance to share some of what they are finding. Based on the size of the group, you will have a chance to learn from and contribute to your cohort via active dialogue and conversation. As appropriate to the needs of the group, I will give a teaching around the subject. This is not a lecture-heavy course.

Will the sessions be recorded? Yes. They will be available to everyone who is registered in the class. For the sake of privacy, we request that you not share the recordings to people who are not in the class.

How long will each worksheet take and when are they due? One could do the worksheet for each class in 1-2 hours, but thus far students tend to go down proverbial rabbit holes with the questions and spend anywhere between 3-10 hours. Some students report they wish they had more time to give it. Give it the time you can, get what you are able out of it, and you can always return to go deeper when it is appropriate. Each worksheet is due 24 hours before the next session.

What happens if I don’t do the worksheet? You are an adult. You have priorities. You will not get kicked out of the class. However, you will get much less value, and I will have less ability to support you.

Are you offering 1-1 coaching work as part of this course? Yes. As a participant, you have the opportunity to schedule one 45-minute 1-1 session with me. I also aim to respond to your emails and questions within 24 hours.

If I have mixed ancestry from different cultures, is this a good class for me? Yes. So many of us do! To be transparent, I do have more experience in engaging with people carrying European histories and origin stories and I have a commitment to supporting those of European descent, especially those with long histories in the Americas, as part of our collective journey of decolonization. I have also worked with people whose ancestors herald from India, Indonesia, Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, Iran, Turkey, China, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru, and Native America, to name a few. The questions and worksheets enable engagement with and from multiple lineages. Where appropriate, I will point you to others who have resources and experiences that I do not have whom might be supportive of you in your journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly if you want to talk through this particular question.

I really just want an expert to tell me what to do. Is this a good course for me? No, it is not. I can give strong suggestions but this is about your life, your family, and you taking greater responsibility in a creative way. I am not an “expert” that can solve your problems. I am not a therapist, nor am I a trained “ancestral healer.” I am a witchy mystic, healer, and eco-theologian, and I have done extensive work with my own and other people’s families to support the healing of colonial legacies. I am also on my own learning journey: I will be learning from and alongside you while you are learning from me and the other participants in the course. And really, this is mostly about you doing your own work more than “learning from” me.

Will this course include music and poetry? Music and poetry are critical for engaging with ancestors. They are also a great love of mine. There will be some music and poetry shared by participants, and you are encouraged to lean into your creative side in doing this work as much as possible!

What if I don’t like my ancestors right now? Everyone alive today has many many ancestors! I suspect you like some of them more than others. All emotions are welcomed. Please understand that I come from a place of honor, respect, and love towards all the ancestors. Sometimes, the best way to love your ancestors is to do today what they could not do in their time.

Do you encourage reparations? This course is not going to tell you that you “should” do one particular action or another. I trust spiritual and creative processes that enable people to sit and move in uncomfortable spaces for long periods of time and find what actions are in most alignment for them and their ancestors. Sometimes the most powerful actions are not what we think they will be or “should” be prior to entering a creative alignment process. Therefore, I don’t have a script of what your specific actions should be in your own journey.

That said I actively engage in various forms of reparations and advise others in engaging in historical injustice, re-creating sacred relationships with land and oceans, and uprooting the seeds of violence. I am part of a remarkable global network of practitioners, from investors to activists, who are doing various dynamics of this work, including land return, reparations, creating sacred contracts with land, and supporting displaced and exiled people to have a relationship with their ancestral homelands.

Do you channel the ancestors? I do a lot of channeling work, but ancestral channeling per se is not my particular gift. I am cultivating a group of primarily female ancestral healers from different traditions that I can give you opportunities to engage with if you wish.

I’m not religious/don’t have a strong spiritual path. Can I take this course? Yes! And please feel free to ask me questions if the suggested exercises don’t make sense. Sequoia Samanvaya is a place where you can expand, explore and deepen your spirituality.

I don’t know who my ancestors are. Can this course still help me? Yes, but send me an email upon registering, so I can send those who are really uncertain about their own heritage some slightly different assignments. For those who are adopted, this course can still be beneficial. For those who have been adopted, orphaned, or for other reasons have really no clue who their ancestors are, I have seen DNA testing and joining some kind of ancestry portal to be very helpful, and complimentary to this work.

How can I access your sliding scale? Please just contact us directly!

Do you do work with individuals and families? Yes, this is a part of my advisory services. It goes significantly deeper than does this work. Please contact me directly to learn more.

I’m realizing there is a lot of history I don’t really know, or I only know it partially. How can I go deeper? Take our ReMembering for Life course! It is our most time-tested, beloved, long-standing course that has significantly altered many people’s relationship to place and a variety of historical injustices.

Can I take this class and the ReMembering for Life course at the same time? Yes, it should not be a problem; they are different courses emphasizing different things.

Have you done this before? I’ve been working on origin stories for over five years - both my own and others. The process I am using here is one that I have used successfully with multiple families before. I’ve been guiding people in online communities and courses that I’ve designed for nearly 3 years, and I’ve been doing spiritual healing work of various forms for 33 years. You can find out more about me on my personal website.

This is the second time I am offering this course in this format: the reviews from the first time have been overwhelmingly positive! Plus several tweaks have helped!

Is there a limit to how many students can sign up? Yes. I am limiting this to 9 students/cohort. This enables me to personally look at every response, get to know you and your family stories, and respond quickly and appropriately to any technological or other issues that may emerge.

Is this part of something bigger than a class? Yes! Sequoia Samanvaya is growing a community of people from multiple faith traditions engaged in the work of ReMembering, Anticipating, and ReEnchanting. In particular, I’m actively growing a diverse community of artists, healers, investors, activists, entrepreneurs, grand/mothers, grand/fathers and other cultural leaders who are working on telling new origin stories as part of healing and ending systemic racism, sexism, ecological destruction and other aspects of colonization.