Ancestral Embodiment
European Folk Wisdom for Somatic Reconnection + Repair
We are all descended from peoples who at one time had a dynamic, sensory, and interactive connection with the natural world; people who knew in their bones that the elemental world was alive and inseparable from who we are.
This connection was not lost by accident, or through a single event. Forgetting our interconnectedness with spirit and place was a deliberate process of severance that happened through many stages over time.
For those of us of European descent, reengaging with our ancestral wisdom through ritual and folk practices opens a portal for reconnection to our past that can also offer us guidance and support in the present.
Through storytelling, somatics, and land-based folk practices we will stoke the fires of reconnection and fuel our commitments to dignity, sovereignty, and liberation in the here and now.
“The wild god points to your side.
You are bleeding heavily.
You have been bleeding for a long time,
Possibly since you were born.
There is a bear in the wound.
‘Why did you leave me to die?’
Asks the wild god and you say:
‘I was busy surviving.
The shops were all closed;
I didn’t know how. I’m sorry.’
Listen to them:
The fox in your neck and
The snakes in your arms and
The wren and the sparrow and the deer…
The great un-nameable beasts
In your liver and your kidneys and your heart…
There is a symphony of howling.
A cacophony of dissent.”
— Tom Hirons, Sometimes a Wild God
Course structure
This course offers an intimate and self-guided container for learning and exploration through audio lectures, guided practices, and optional live Q+A.
Ancestral Embodiment is open to anyone with an interest in learning about European folk practices — with a recognition that material is taught through an anti-racist, anti-colonial, queer and trans affirming, and trauma-informed lens.
Each lesson includes a blend of storytelling, embodied practice, and teachings on topics related to European Folk Wisdom, earth-based cosmologies and somatics.
We will explore the possible intentions for and somatic states evoked through ancestral practices, offering an opportunity to embody the values and ways of life of our ancestors and feel into how they may apply to our lives today — including our relationships with and responsibilities to the lands where we live and call home.
While healing may happen, and some somatic tools are shared, this course is not a replacement for therapy or other types of live support with a qualified practitioner.
Important dates:
This course runs from July 7th-August 4th, 2025
New modules will be released on Mondays:
July 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and August 4th
+ Live Q+A on August 1st from 12-2pm ET
Course Outline
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July 7th: European Folk Wisdom through a Somatic Lens
Recovering ancestral wisdom means learning to live in our bodies in new ways. As we step back into the fold of story, song, and conversation with the natural world, we are also recovering lost sensory pathways that shape how we experience reality. In this first module we will explore some of the ways that a somatic lens can help us to deepen ancestral ways of re-inhabiting our bodies.
We will lay the groundwork for an embodied learning experience by exploring topics including: What is European Folk Wisdom? The Neuroscience of Ritual, and Tracing the 7 Perceptual Pathways.
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July 14th: Voice + Song
Songs are one of the most potent carriers of ancestral wisdom connected to land, culture, and traditional knowledge. Folk songs carry our peoples’ stories not only in words, but through their tone, tune, melody, and rhythm — as well as information about the values, beliefs, cultural symbols, and landscapes of our ancestors.
We will learn listening practices for exploring embodied ancestral wisdom through folk music and a somatic exploration for connecting voice, sound, and landscape.
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July 21st: Movement + Dance
Dance and movement offer a doorway into our ancestors’ cosmological, perceptual, and embodied relationships with land, the sacred, and the more-than-human world.
We’ll explore how mirror neurons and somatic patterning can help open pathways to remembering and reconnecting with ancestral ways of being in our bodies.
We will learn about common themes in European folk dancing traditions through somatic practice including; circular dancing, spontaneous movement, and embodying the elements.
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July 28th: Pagan Tree Teachings with Guest Danica Boyce
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August 1st 12-2pm ET: Live Q+A
Join Marika alongside course participants for questions and discussion inspired by the course.
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August 4th: Clairsentience + Trance
Both history and oral tradition show us that altered states of consciousness and sensing the numinous was part of daily life amongst our pre-Christian ancestors.
Trance and other altered states offer pathways for connection with spirits of land and place, and reflect a worldview in which all of life is imbued with spirit and sentience.
We will explore practices to expand our sensory capacities and open our perceptual pathways to other worlds that are all around us but hidden in plain sight.
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Audio lecutures + guided practices
Each lesson includes a fully transcribed 30-45 min audio lecture and 10-20 min guided embodiment practice. Practices help illuminate key concepts and bring the themes of Ancestral Embodiment to life.
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Reading List + Resource Library
You will have access to the course reading list alongside supplementary resources to help further your learning. Move through the material at your own pace and come back to the modules anytime.
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Downloads + Lifetime Access
All of the resources in Ancestral Embodiment can be downloaded and saved for repeat enjoyment.
Pricing
$150 usD
(Payment Plan available)
10% of proceeds from this course will be donated to The Sameer Project for food and medical aid in South Gaza.
Your Guide
Marika Heinrichs (She/her)
Marika is a somatic practitioner, writer, and educator. Her work focuses on the recovery of ancestral wisdom through body-based ways of knowing as a pathway for people of European descent to de-assimilate from whiteness and unwind from domination and supremacy. Marika’s people come from Ukraine, Germany, Britain and Ireland and she was born, raised, and lives on Dish with One Spoon treaty territory in so-called Guelph, Canada.
You can learn more about her here.
+ guest teacher Danica Boyce (She/they)
Danica Boyce is a medievalist and folklore researcher with a masters in Medieval Studies and a bachelor of education with a focus on Indigenous pedagogy. She takes a de-colonial approach to the revival of traditional cultures. For the past seven years she has produced the Fair Folk Podcast, a research-based show sharing accessible information about Paganism, folklore, and folk song. She has traveled to research and take workshops in folk singing in places like Iceland, Finland, Georgia, and Lithuania.
She is also a practicing Pagan with a scholarly yet experimental approach to historical materials, and an open mind to multiple ways of seeing the world.
You can learn more about her here.