Camara says learning about your ancestors can be joyful and surprising that getting to know the people who came before you can help you understand yourself.
Marielle Segarra, Host of Life Kit
On a philosophy called Sankofa, which comes from Akan culture in Ghana.
Sankofa is often depicted as a bird looking over its shoulder. And the bird, for many of us, symbolizes liberation and freedom. And so in order to fly forward into the future and be free, be liberated, there’s something in the past that’s important to take with you.
Camara Meri Rajabari, Psychotherapist
My Lakota ancestral teachings have a phrase called mitakuye oyasin, which means we are all related or all my relatives. And it just means that everything is connected – living and non-living, humans, plant life, animal life. Everybody is a part of this greater web, and nobody is greater or less than anybody else.
Chelsey Luger, Co-author The Seven Circles: Indigenous Teachings for Living Well
Maybe if people don’t have necessarily an altar at their bedside table or in their living room somewhere, they can think of a certain time of day that feels particularly sacred to them, such as when the sun is coming up in the morning or setting at night, and they can step outside and try to visualize and think about their ancestors, their descendants, and sort of expanding their intergenerational community and thinking about themselves as a part of that.
Chelsey Luger, Co-author The Seven Circles: Indigenous Teachings for Living Well
Many of our ancestors didn’t get a chance to tell their story.
They didn’t live in a time where their story was even important. They may have not even been seen in society as having a voice. And so this work is about inviting in their voice through you.
Camara Meri Rajabari, Psychotherapist