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From the author of Spells for Change comes a gentle and informative guide to reconnecting mindfully with ancestral practices, healing generational trauma along the way.
Frankie Castanea—aka “Chaotic Witch Aunt”—draws on their own complex journey of ancestral reclamation to guide readers as they consider questions of cultural and spiritual identity, lineage, and belonging.
Emphasizing that any process of reconnection must navigate traumas such as colonization and assimilation, Castanea offers emotional guidance as well as practical advice on topics such as:
Frankie Castanea—aka “Chaotic Witch Aunt”—draws on their own complex journey of ancestral reclamation to guide readers as they consider questions of cultural and spiritual identity, lineage, and belonging.
Emphasizing that any process of reconnection must navigate traumas such as colonization and assimilation, Castanea offers emotional guidance as well as practical advice on topics such as:
- Discovering your individual ancestral practices
- Connecting with ancestral plant and animal allies
- Navigating oral tradition
- Identifying reliable sources of research
- Establishing mentors
Begin your journey to reconnecting and restoring your heritage and ancestral practice with this guide in 5 parts.
Part 1 | HISTORY AND HOMELAND: The history of you, as a practitioner and a person, is a sum of many parts including: your homeland, the folk you are connected to, the plants, environment, and animals you are connected to, and the history of the place your ancestors are from.
Part 2 | THE FOLK AND FINDING COMMUNITY: Who are the folk? They are the people of the ancestry and/or culture you are reconnecting to. They are the source of folklore, beliefs, superstitions, and diasporic culture. The folk are those who create community, pass down tradition, and help us understand more about the culture we are reconnecting to.
Part 3 | ANCESTORS, ANCESTRAL PRACTICES, AND PLANT ALLIES: Recognizing who our ancestors are—living, deceased, holy and not holy, helps us recognize those we are working to honor and connect with. Ancestors, contrary to popular belief, are not just ancestors of blood that have passed away, but ancestors of community, plant and animal ancestors, and adopted and fostered ancestors.
Part 4 | TRADITION: Analyzing our traditions to weed out problematic features and then using them as reconnectors to not only utilize what our ancestors did, but create something new as well.
Part 5 | RECONSTRUCTION: Reconstruction requires us to recognize core beliefs, rituals, and ways of being that have been passed down to us while also asking us to acknowledge that not everything can be duplicated.
The process of reconnection must navigate generational traumas such as colonization and assimilation and Frankie Castanea—aka “Chaotic Witch Aunt”—offers emotional guidance through it all, along with tools and practices to explore spiritual ancestry in an authentic and respectful way.
Buy:
PDF:
Part 2 | THE FOLK AND FINDING COMMUNITY: Who are the folk? They are the people of the ancestry and/or culture you are reconnecting to. They are the source of folklore, beliefs, superstitions, and diasporic culture. The folk are those who create community, pass down tradition, and help us understand more about the culture we are reconnecting to.
Part 3 | ANCESTORS, ANCESTRAL PRACTICES, AND PLANT ALLIES: Recognizing who our ancestors are—living, deceased, holy and not holy, helps us recognize those we are working to honor and connect with. Ancestors, contrary to popular belief, are not just ancestors of blood that have passed away, but ancestors of community, plant and animal ancestors, and adopted and fostered ancestors.
Part 4 | TRADITION: Analyzing our traditions to weed out problematic features and then using them as reconnectors to not only utilize what our ancestors did, but create something new as well.
Part 5 | RECONSTRUCTION: Reconstruction requires us to recognize core beliefs, rituals, and ways of being that have been passed down to us while also asking us to acknowledge that not everything can be duplicated.
The process of reconnection must navigate generational traumas such as colonization and assimilation and Frankie Castanea—aka “Chaotic Witch Aunt”—offers emotional guidance through it all, along with tools and practices to explore spiritual ancestry in an authentic and respectful way.
Buy:
PDF: