Systemic family constellations are both conventional psychotherapy and ancient shamanic healing ceremonies. Bert Hellinger is the German psychotherapist who brought this energetic form of healing from the Zulu tribe in Africa after he served as a missionary there. In constellations, a person comes forward to share an issue in his life that needs healing and resolution. Everyone sits in a circle with the center of the circle being called the field, the sacred field or quantum field. The client then chooses other group members to represent their family members or issues and places them in the center wherever it feels best. When another person represents parents or family members connected in the quantum field, he is actually able to experience the emotions of that person. The spirit mind guides his movements in this experiential process until resolution occurs. Constellations heal at the heart of the issue and can provide life-changing and long-lasting results. 

The guiding principles of constellations have been revealed and become understood through many constellations; they are not theoretical constructs. Your parents are the portals through which you are gifted life and your connection to them is commensurate to how deeply you are immersed in life. Your abundance comes through your mother’s lineage and business in the world comes through your father’s lineage. Women’s relationships are influenced by their connection with their father and men by their connection with their mother. You are all connected to your family soul, tribal (community) soul, and then the soul of collective humanity. 

In shamanic work, constellations are a bridge between this world and the spirit world. Whatever happened in the epigenetic field of your family and of your ancestors deeply affects your lives today. Mass traumas like war, famine, slavery and the Holocaust still influence everyone today. Unhealed traumas keep repeating throughout the generations so they can be healed. The suffering souls of the forgotten and excluded ones are simply trying to be seen and included with love. Family secrets may not be consciously known but our souls feel them as a heavy burden nonetheless. In a family, everyone belongs, even the perpetrators who have come to show you what needs to be healed in your families. Until the source of your issues in your ancestry are resolved, you are blindly bound to entangle with and embody these issues in a myriad of ways throughout your life. Whatever is excluded will show up in future generations. You are living the future of your ancestors as you also create the future of your descendants. 

Ancestors are a source of spiritual support similar to angels, saints, totems, and other spirit guidance. When your ancestors are behind you, you are strong. “The past is never the past. It is always present and you better reckon with it in your life and in your daily experience,” sang Bruce Springsteen. 

 

Gail Gorelick, MA, OM, has been studying systemic family constellations since 2006. She can be reached at [email protected] or through CrossingRainbows.com for group or private constellations.