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Rekindling Ancestral Memory Community Circle
Co-facilitated by Lauren Valle and Deb Soule
This Maine-based Ancestral Memory Circle is being offered in conjunction with an online Rekindling Ancestral Memory Circle hosted by the Organization of Nature Evolutionaries (ONE). The online circle is facilitated by Hilary Giovale and Elyshia Holliday and is now in its fifth year. Both Deb and Lauren have participated in ONE’s first year Ancestor circle and a continuing circle. Lauren is a member of the ONE Visioning Council and has apprenticed to Hilary and Elyshia as Rekindling Ancestral Memory Circle facilitator. Our two circles are woven together.
About the Circle
“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
—attributed to Lila Watson, Murri (Indigenous Australian) visual artist, activist and academic
This is an 7-month circle for European-descended settlers in North America. We will engage with our European ancestors toward rekindling ancestral memory, mutual healing, forgiveness, and reparations. This circle will be a respectful, curious, and nurturing space for community dialogue. Participants will ritually build and tend ancestor altars, discover more about our family stories, and translate these experiences into real-world action through a personal reparations plan.
This circle is held, with great love, in the the following beliefs:
That our work is to dismantle the culture of separation that holds us apart
That our individual healing is bound up in the healing of Earth, all people and all beings
That we are not separate from the land and the land’s stories
That turning toward difficult and painful histories is a path to joy and freedom
Each circle will be intuitively guided and will focus on topics such as:
Community-based ancestral storytelling (for examples of the kind of storytelling we do in this circle, you can read this and this)
Embracing earth-honoring, nonlinear, and intuitive ways of knowing
Settler colonialism and whiteness
Rekindling our ancestral memory
Building right relations
Making reparations
Activities we will engage in:
Finding and sharing our ancestral stories with each other
Respectfully connecting with the land where we live
Keeping an ancestor altar
Listening to guest speakers
Writing an ancestral apology or forgiveness prayer
Healing rituals
Creating a personal reparations plan
Each month, catalyzing resources and activities will be provided based upon our circle discussions. For a comprehensive list of resources, please visit Hilary's website.
Circle Dates and Times
We will gather in person at the Rockweed Center on the following Thursdays: Oct 24th, Nov 21st, Dec 19th, Jan 23rd, Feb 27th, March 27th and April 24th.
Our group will meet on these dates from 5:30-7:00 pm (guest speaker circle times may vary).