Contemporary & sacred Arts, Traditional and Ancestral Crafts and Shrine Making
Animist based Rituals in collaboration with landscapes, seasons, human and other than human peoples, on both both sides of the veil
Ancestral Lineage Repair practitioner ( certification with Dr Daniel Foor / Ancestral Medicine).
Artist in Residence at Mountain View Cemetery, co-creator of the annual All Souls at MVC Vancouver B.C. Canada
Spirit mediated connections within imaginal realms for pragmatic relational transformations
I am a professional visual artist, animist shrine maker and ritualist with a diverse and eclectic arts practice working within the mediums of community-engaged rites and celebrations, site-specific installations, performance and ritual crafts.
I create spaces for magic to happen and I do that in collaboration and in relationship with many beings. I create with and for human peoples, plant peoples, rock and mineral beings, animal peoples, landscapes, seasons, the dead, the spirits of place, the elements….
Some might use the language of “working with spirits” or “spiritual healing” or “shamanic healing” for these explorations and collaborations. I consider my arts practice to comprise working with the Imaginal realm, the spirits and other compassionate energies. It is my intention that all these collaborations unfold for the benefit of all sentient beings, for personal and cultural transformation.
Honouring our Dead
For almost 3 decades I have been exploring the artist’s role in rites of passage, specifically death, funerals, and mourning, through Community engaged, site-specific installations and events, including creating shrines to honour the dead, and as Artist in Resident at Mountain View Cemetery, BC Canada, (with Paula Jardine). We have been creating ‘A Night for All Souls’ an annual tradition since 2004.
In 2020 I created Loving Memory Shrines, a hands-on community engagement project for the public to download a free shrine making project to honour our beloved dead during difficult times. This project is available to any and all who might need this resource.
As a certified Ancestral Lineage Repair practitioner (Ancestral Medicine ) I offer a practical and safe system of ancestral and cultural healing for both groups and individuals.
Creative Background
My background includes fine arts (a BA Hons. degree in embroidery, always handy ;), ancient, traditional and conceptual craft techniques and the philosophy of creativity, culture and making. Additionally I have studied plant spirit medicine, herbalism and Ancestral Lineage healing, as well as European Pagan, Vedic, Buddhist, Norse animist Seiòr/ oracular mediumship and Nepalese shamanic ritual technologies.
I’m trained in providing support with Ancestral Lineage Repair, Psychopomp, Soul retrieval, Curse unravelling, Compassionate Deposession and Oracular mediumship, in addition to the myriad of arts based / hands on making techniques.
This knowledge and wisdom is integrated into my practice both with my ancestors and facilitating others in Ancestral Lineage Healing / Spirit mediated transformations – it is the Medicine and folk magic of the Ancestors, a pragmatic and expansive way of integrating the healing and creative processes, both personally and culturally.
I am dedicated to embodying the creative alchemy of “my hands are their hands, their hands are my hands”, with my ancestors of blood and vocation – to inspire others to explore the role of sacred creativity, in rites of passage, ancestral reverence rituals, lineage healing and cultural repair. This focus is intended for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Kith and Kin
Acknowledging these lands
I am a migrant settler on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking peoples (now known as Richmond (Vancouver), B.C. Canada). I give acknowledgement and gratitude to the ancient spirits of place, the Coast Salish peoples and the ancestors of all who have been tending these lands for thousands of years.
My Kin folks
I grew up in a medieval cottage in the ancestral lands of my people in rural Britain (near Malvern, Herefordshire), embedded in ancient traditions, folklore and history, before moving to Vancouver’s ‘Chinatown’ and the notorious DTES ( Downtown Eastside). I now live in a floating converted net shed in a ‘old’ Finnish fishing Village, across the road from mega mansions built overtop of prime delta soil farmland.
My (maternal) ancestors are of the Dobunni Celtic tribe, the Iberian peninsular and North Africa, and other parts of Fennoscandinavia. My (paternal) ancestors migrated from the Caucasus mountains ( Russia/ Georgia) to Hungary and Italy, and parts of Germanic Nordic lands. I also have DNA from north and south India, so the family mythology of Romani blood might be true, and the lifelong pull of nomadic living in my bones may also be ancestral in nature.
And while the bones of all my people are held by the lands called Europe, I unapologetically walk between the cultures of Britain /Europe and Canada’s West Coast, the ‘old world and new world’, both at home and ‘from away’ in both,
Ancestral Lineage Healing
As a working artist, I have found that learning the traditional arts, ancient crafts, ritual and medicine making techniques of my ancestors, not only artistically and personally rewarding but also connects me directly and viscerally with both the plants, animal, water, stone elemental peoples and the human/ancestral lineages down through time …my hands are their hands, their hands are mine. They live through and with me.
Through embodied practices in sacred arts & craft traditions, Ancestral Lineage Repair work, direct spirit connection and mediumship can come many insights, deeper connections to place/ self and non human family. It brings depth understandings and healing’s into the larger cultural and political context – it is the work of art/spirit for personal, cultural, environmental and social change.
I look forward to connecting more with you, please be in touch here for:
Ancestral Lineage Repair sessions, Spirit mediated collaborations ( Psychopomp, energy/ space clearing, souls retrieval, curse unraveling and compassionate deposession, spirit offerings ) Creative and ritual Consultations, experiential art/craft based workshops or Site specific collaborations with landscapes, communities and seasons.
Marina SzijARTo 