ISBN: 978-1-7391669-0-8
Reviewed by Ian Mowll.
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Many GreenSpirit groups celebrate the Celtic festival Samhain, where we honour our connection with our ancestors. Sometimes, there is unresolved trauma associated with the memory of an ancestor which would benefit from healing. This book is a comprehensive guide to understand such pain and to help heal unresolved emotions or spiritual wounding.
This book covers four areas. Firstly, there is the story of one of Nicola’s ancestors – a woman called Catherine who fled the Great Famine in Ireland and sadly died in a workhouse in London. This harrowing story helped me to understand the plight and hardships of many people since the Industrial Revolution. The second area is the wider socio/economic/political forces that shaped people’s lives. Particularly around the time of the Great Famine but this is also extended to land rights and the Enclosure Acts in England which had – and continues to have – such a profound impact on our society. The third area is the author’s personal journey, told with great honesty, and how she has found healing through her connection with her ancestors. And finally how spirituality can help in the healing process. Shamanic journeying, soul retrieval and soul exchange are some of the recommended healing pathways.
What I like so much about this book is the breadth of areas covered. In our society of specialisation, many books focus on one of these four areas. In this book, the author skilfully ties these areas together to give me a wide and comprehensive view of ancestral healing. This variety also engaged my interest. More than this spirituality, at least in part, is about seeing the big picture and joining the dots; seeing how we are embedded in the great mystery of our Earthly journey. And, I have read, that healing is helped when we can form a true and coherent story of our own journey. This can only be done when the four areas listed above are all addressed.
For GreenSpirit readers, connection to the land is highlighted as an important part of the healing process as well as connecting with the seasons through the year with the eight Celtic festivals.
Finally, the author is well read and has done a great deal of research. My reading list has expanded somewhat through the various book recommendations.
This book is a deep and engaging exploration of ancestral healing and is warmly recommended.