In Search of Lost Stories: Seeking the Wisdom of the Ancestors

Inspired by this fragment in Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide to Getting Lost, “. . . history is made more of crossroads, branchings, and tangles than straight  lines,"  this day retreat will guide  participants on a field trip through the lost stories of their lineages.

When we don’t have data, when we don’t have written records, when we’re missing our stories, how can we connect to our pasts? In the absence  of material evidence, we’ll turn in this retreat to imagination and memory. 

Using  guided meditation, journaling prompts, sensory recall, dreams, the power of  places and landscapes, and fragmentary family clues, we’ll rely on the wisdom of  our bodies, imaginations, intuition, and memories. 

For inspiration, we’ll also look at the role of  ancestors in myth, as well as traditions of ancestor veneration in various cultures. Additionally, we’ll develop questions to ask of our living elders in our search for our lost stories. For this retreat, we will utilize practices  developed and/or inspired by Hilary McBride, Joanna Macy, Clarissa Pinkola  Estes, Resmaa Menakim, and Malidoma Some, as well as others.

We will share two warm and nourishing autumn meals together during our day - lunch and dinner.