About Me
For the Souls led by Ancestral Wisdom
My name is Mollie, a devoted descendant of the wise grandmothers from Alba (Scotland), dedicated to serve the cultural, social and emotional wellbeing of peoples from the Celtic diaspora of Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand), through use of cultural therapies which reconnect to Celtic ancestral wisdom and traditions. My story is one of deeply understanding the grief and trauma associated with cultural dismemberment from the Celtic Isles, and how this continues to affect the lineages of my kin. My practice combines person-centred counselling and Celtic (Gaelic) cultural practices, walking alongside my clients in a collaborative process which celebrates interconnection with self, community and nature. It is with great reverence, that I serve the diversity of these peoples and their ancestors, to heal and integrate the severance from old Earth ways, for the benefit of my clients and any generations which may come thereafter.
Failte oirbh a chairdean (Welcome to you, my kin)!
My Story
I am a descendant of wise Scottish grandmothers (the Bean Fease-Wise Woman), having been born with the wisdom of my lineage still connected to the ancient Earth Grandmother (An Callieach), flowing through my blood. My life for a long time, experienced the pain of not belonging because it was disconnected from my cultural identity. It’s the kind of pain and longing which sings an ancient soul song but feeling hopeless not having the tools to respond. Until one day, in 2018 as I embarked on my mental health journey, I began to re-member the dismembered memories of my bloodline which held these ancient tools, and it made me realise how my being was still impacted by generations of cultural disconnection, and the continual suppression of cultural interconnection. After years of honouring ancestral practice and making pilgrimages to my ancestor’s lands, it is with deep humility and respect, that I invite others into this space of embracing ancestral reconnection and to be of service as I journey alongside them.
'We may not see it but beneath the surface of the soil, much like trees in a forest, we are all interconnected at our roots to each other.'
Values
Our communities are much like a forest, above the soil each tree with their different forms, markings and colours, stands uniquely individual. However, if we are to journey beneath the soil, we find that each tree is interconnected at their roots. As my ancestors once did, I learn from what Earth models about healthy, sustainable and diverse communities. I believe that a person’s wellness reflects community and environmental wellbeing, and as such ancestral reconnection has far reaching impacts on our global communities, making them more accepting of diversity, being socially sustainable and with capacity for intergenerational nurturing to be woven within them.
The Process
Ancestral work is raw, steady and reaches the deepest depths of the soul as we reconnect to the core roots of ourselves. In doing so, we understand that our roots are an extension of those found in family and community, stretching as far back as the most ancient primordial roots that bury themselves deep into the Earth.
Cultural rebirthing of Celtic wisdom sits within the ‘womb of death’ like the ancient burial grounds of our ancestors before us. This process acknowledges the deep need to sit and listen in darkness with the land so we can come home to conscious embodiment of interconnection with self, community and nature. This also reveals how migration, colonisation and patriarchal oppression have led to lack of emotional regulation, ungrounded presence that supresses inner awareness, and individualism which abandons reliance on community and familial relationships.
I invite people to sit with me through person-centred, collaborative conversations which integrate cultural storytelling, language, ceremony and ritual that aim to reconnect my clients to ancient wisdom which has been severed. Each person is viewed holistically through this cultural healing, with reconnection to community and embodying Earth’s presence critical to addressing mental, emotional and spiritual distress. This empowers my clients to ground identity in cultural belonging that celebrates Celtic traditions whilst processing pains passed down intergenerationally due to uprooting from traditional lands, seas and skies. I believe that everyone has all the internal wisdom and memory they need, passed down from ancestors, to move with life’s sacred energies.
Who is this for?
I work primarily with people of the Celtic diaspora in Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand), understanding the unique cultural and historical nuances which shape cultural dismemberment for these communities which differ from others of the diaspora. However, as Celtic peoples historically have traversed and settled in many parts of the world, I welcome all those with European ancestry (including those with mixed heritage) to sit with me. People will often find me at times of great transition in their lives such as births, partnerships, separations and deaths (all the little ‘rebirths’ we experience throughout our lives) because it is during these liminal phases that the presence of spirit and ancestors is most needed to guide the soul.
I especially find those neurodivergent folk, and peoples with chronic illness and disability love the sensory, grounding and regulatory practices which encompass ancestral connection with the Earth. Additionally ancestral work provides those who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community a place to reconnect with ancient cultural traditions that embraced queerness in recognition that many queer peoples experience abandonment or oppression within their own families. I open this space for all those who seek to understand the importance of being a good and wise ancestor, in a way which sits fully with intergenerational and collective emotional, psychological and spiritual distress.