Meet Caitlin
Hello there! I’m Caitlin, a ritualist, psychopomp, Ancestral Healing Practitioner and long-time somatic meditator. I help the living and the dead transform the karmic patterns of personal and collective trauma through animist, earth honoring rituals. I am a descendant of early Western European settler-colonists to Turtle Island, and my ancestors of blood and bone hail from Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Norway. Reconnecting to the earth-honoring aspects of these lineages through Daniel Foor’s method of Ancestral Healing has been an essential part of my own healing and decolonizing process.
ABOUT ME
Who I am
I was raised between oak and cedar in a communal Buddhist household in the traditional unceded territories of the Coast Salish People, also known as Vancouver, Canada. I am now a migratory bird who lives close to the seasons, listening carefully for the mountain and river spirits who wish to accompany me through the next cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
I have a BA in Communications from Simon Fraser University and an MA in Environmental Education and Communication from Royal Roads University. I'm also a lifelong student of Vajrayana Buddhism and my spiritual ancestors come by way of Tibet through the lineages of the Shangpa and Takpo Kagyu and the Nyingma. I have spent considerable time in group and solitary somatic meditation retreats deepening my connection to these ancient traditions. The emergent Dharma of life itself is my greatest guru.
Familiar with the groundless ground of the undertow, I live with the basic trust that even in the midst of the darkest shadow lands it’s possible to return to the unconditioned wisdom, warmth and responsiveness of the heart, from which the wellspring of skillful action emerges. I give deep thanks to my primary teachers and mentors: Kalu Rimpoche, Jeremy Lowery, Neil McKinlay, Norman Elizondo, Jessika Siorai, Laurel Miller, Gaia Mika, Hilary Leighton, Daniel Foor, and Shannon Willis for instilling this in me.
WHAT I DO
My approach
There is an enlightened essence of wakefulness which flows through all beings. Call it basic goodness or Buddha Nature, even in times of constriction and chaos, it’s possible to connect with this self-arising flow of insight and love.
This core belief in our essential goodness is central to my work as Ancestral Healer and Psychopomp. With the support of my own ancestral and spirit guides, I use compassionate inquiry, somatic knowing, highly attuned intuition and potent prayer to meet the needs of my clients and their people. The principles of relational integrity, reciprocity and the awakening heart are the coordinates which guide everything I do.
