Becoming an Ancestor Worthy of Praise with Veronica Agard
What does it mean to become an ancestor who is worthy of praise? To leave a legacy? How do we become the kind of ancestor our familial or collective future descendants want to call on? Today’s guest, Veronica Agard, founder of Ancestors in Training, shares her journey realizing what was missing in activist and mental health circles, and her motivation for creating circles where people could explore their lineage and connect with the power of their intuition.
“How can you ensure that joy is a part of your legacy? So it’s not just always the heavier side of it. How can we not just talk about what’s wrong, or what’s broken, or what needs to be transformed, but also talking about what is healed, what is already transformed? Not just talking about things that are destructive, but also things that can have generative possibility.”
Also in this episode:
The importance of mutual aid and community care
Navigating grief windows
Ancestral, spiritual and movement-based healing practices
The journey in becoming an aborisha in the Ifa tradition
boundaries with friends as a healer and building trust in relationships
ancestral reverence and intuitive development
“I don’t think it’s necessarily about being a “good ancestor” I think it’s about becoming an ancestor that’s worthy of praise. Because not all of our ancestors lived squeaky clean lives, but we still pray to them. Especially the ones who got through trying times. That means it wasn’t always joyful. Same thing with us. It is not always joyful, especially the times we are living in right now. It’s about: how did you find joy in spite of that? How did you tend to your legacy in spite of that? How did you move through the world with a little more sweetness in spite of that? ”
About Veronica Agard:
Veronica Agard (Ifáṣadùn Fásanmí) (she/her) is a writer, abọ̀rìṣà, community educator, and connector at the intersections of Black identity, wellness, representation, and culture. She curated the Who Heals the Healer series and the conference of the same name and facilitates the Ancestors in Training educational project.Her words have homes at For Harriet, Black Girl Magik, Life as Ceremony, Black + Well, Redefining Our, and Heritage Journal (among others). Through Ancestors in Training, she is a recipient of a Spring 2022 Reclamation Ventures Grant award for Healing Practices for Grief. Ṣadùn also serves as a member of the Speakers Series with End Rape on Campus, as well as member of the Board at IDHA NYC. With every opportunity, she names the power of storytelling and being believed in. Described as living in the future - Veronica is guided by the past and carries out her dreams in the present.
Ancestors in Training : https://ancestorsintraining.org/
Donate: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ancestorsintraining
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/verosgotthejuice/ & https://www.instagram.com/ancestorsintraining/
DEPTH Work - A Holistic Mental Health Podcast
This is a space for those who love to dive into the underbelly, to revel in the mystery, question assumptions about what is normal, play in both/and, and honour the wide range of human emotions.
As a complex trauma survivor, holistic counsellor and co-founder of a mental health institute, I learned that there is immense wisdom in our pain and what we call crazy is just what we are yet not willing to understand and explore. Let’s dive in!
