Becoming Good Ancestors: Daniel Foor on Healing, Lineage, and the Work of Repair

Welcome to The Evolutionary Revolutionary: Opti-Mystic Ways That Work—where ancient wisdom meets radical action, and contemplative practice dances with community transformation. I'm Michael Morrell, and here I'm in conversation with Dr. Daniel Foor, author of Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing and founder of Ancestral Medicine, a global community of practitioners doing ancestral lineage healing work. What if your ancestors aren't mere memories, but living presences who can still offer—and receive—healing? If you grew up a Protestant (and further fundie) Christian like me, that question might trigger alarm bells. Isn't this necromancy? Isn't this everything our preachers warned us against? Yet something in us longs for this connection—lighting candles for departed loved ones, sensing a grandmother's prayers still holding us, feeling the weight of history moving through our bodies. We're living in times when the past feels unbearably present. We're reckoning with histories of violence and colonization. We're watching our elders die, sometimes alone. We're inheriting a planet in crisis and wondering: what kind of ancestors will we be? Daniel's work suggests we don't have to navigate these waters alone. There might be wisdom, healing, and even repair available through renewed relationship with those who came before us—and with those who will come after. Questions This Episode Addresses: * How do we relate to ancestors without 'worshiping' them? * Can ancestor work coexist with monotheistic faith? * How do we face violence and colonization in our lineages? * What does it mean to embrace (not flee from) our ancestral debts? * How does personal spiritual work connect to systemic change? * What's our specific role in the 'holy catastrophe' of our times? * How do we prepare to be good ancestors ourselves? Tune in and let us know what you think! For complete show notes, go here. Exclusive Offers for Listeners: 🎁 Special Collaboration Page Visit our dedicated landing page with all resources, offers, and free materials named below: https://ancestralmedicine.org/ancestral-medicine-across-traditions-daniel-foor-michael-morrell-interview 🌟 30% Off Ancestral Lineage Healing Course (Through January 13th) This is THE foundational course—the OG online ancestor course that thousands of people have taken and loved. Ancestral Lineage Healing is what Ancestral Medicine is most known for: a beloved, trusted journey into conscious relationship with your blood lineages. Learn more and enroll here. 💫 15% Off Any First-Time Purchase (Through March) Explore their full calendar of offerings—they add new courses almost monthly! Whether you're drawn to ancestral work, ritual practice, or earth-honoring spirituality, there's something for everyone. Use these codes at checkout: optimystic15 (for single payments) optimystic15-pmts (for payment plans) Select and check out here. 📖 Free Chapters from Ancestral Medicine Download free chapters from Daniel's book to get a taste of the core teachings and decide if this work resonates with you. Available here. 🔰 New to This Work? Start Here: Foundations of Ritual is a lovely entry point for newcomers, especially apt for folks looking for an off-ramp/on-ramp between old religion and new spirituality. It provides grounding in ritual safety and practice that can support whatever spiritual path you're walking. Explore Foundations of Ritual here. Connect with The Evolutionary Revolutionary: This podcast explores contemplative practice, relational transformation, and community organizing at the intersection of esoteric depth, mesoteric healing, and exoteric action. We're building a community of mystics and misfits, preachers and prophets, artists and activists—all seeking opti-mystic ways that actually work. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and join our newsletter community for weekly explorations of ancient wisdom meeting radical action, right here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices