BALIK~DIWA
Ancestral Healing Apprenticeship with Spirit
(Held within the Soul Alchemy Lineage)
Balik~Diwa (returning to spirit / essence) is a three-month virtual ancestral healing apprenticeship for those who feel called to deepen their relationship with ancestors, spirit allies, and their own embodied knowing.
Formerly offered as Soul Alchemy: Journeying to Meet the Healer Within, this work has evolved into Balik~Diwa to more clearly reflect the initiatory, relational, and lineage-based nature of the journey. This is not a process of becoming someone new, but of returning to diwa, the spirit and essence carried through body, ancestry, and lived experience.
Balik~Diwa is held within the Soul Alchemy lineage which is a body-centred, ancestral, and relational way of healing that honours remembrance over mastery, relationship over extraction, and responsibility over performance.
This apprenticeship is intended for those with prior experience in healing, helping, ritual, or community care practices who are ready to engage ancestral work with care, consent, and discernment.
LANGUAGE NOTE
*In Hiligaynon and other Visayan languages spoken in Panay (Jen’s Maternal Lineage) the word diwa is also understood to mean spirit, inner essence, or life force.
The word balik (to return) is commonly understood across Filipino languages, though in Hiligaynon it is often expressed as pagbalik (returning) or pagpauli / pauli (to come home).
A more fully Hiligaynon phrasing of the same idea could be:
Pagbalik sang Diwa — the act of returning to spirit
Pauli sa Diwa — coming home to spirit
For this apprenticeship, Balik~Diwa is used as a shared, poetic title that remains legible across Tagalog and Visayan contexts, while honouring the ancestral understanding of diwa as spirit and essence.
Who This Apprenticeship Is For
Healers, helpers, artists, caregivers, and space-holders
Those called to ancestral healing for personal, familial, or community reasons
Individuals ready to relate with spirit and lineage in grounded and ethical ways
Those seeking clarity, sustainability, and deeper listening on their healing path
This is not a certification or credentialing program.
*It is a lineage-rooted remembering.
Holding the Lineage
Balik~Diwa is primarily guided by Jen Maramba, with invited guest wisdom keepers and facilitators offering focused teachings that complement the Soul Alchemy lineage. All teachings are held within a coherent ancestral, embodied, and ethical container.
This apprenticeship honours sovereignty, consent, cultural boundaries, and the understanding that ancestral healing unfolds over time and in relationship.
Through Balik~Diwa, participants will be invited to:
Re-member and clarify their sacred path and purpose in this lifetime
Develop relational care with ancestors and spirit allies aligned with wellness, integrity, and liberation
Learn to listen to the body as a site of ancestral memory and guidance
Explore sacred contracts, callings, and limits connected to their healing path
Practice being a sacred witness ~ to truth, grief, and discomfort, without bypass or urgency
Cultivate ethical boundaries in ancestral and spiritual work
Build a supportive community of healers and helpers
Hold space for personal and collective grief as we witness ongoing colonial violence, ecological crisis, and systemic harm
Develop personal rituals and foundations that support sustainable healing and wellness care
Connect with Guides, Ancestors and Sacred Tools to support their pathway of Lineage Healing
Participate in collective and personal ceremonies that honour commitment ~ to self, ancestors, and life
Apprenticeship Flow
Month One ~ Balik | Returning to Ancestral Relationship
This month is about coming back into relationship with your ancestors and your body in a way that feels safe, grounded, and real.
We’ll spiral back to:
Ancestral journeying and simple ceremony to begin connecting with known and unknown ancestors, gently and with care
Listening through the body and divination to explore the gifts, patterns, and stories you carry, and to practice deep, respectful listening
Foundations and boundaries for ancestral work, including ethics, guidance from elders and teachers, and naming the realities of colonialism, genocide, capitalism, and earth extraction, with somatic grounding practices to support safety, discernment, and presence
This month is about building trust. In yourself. In your body. In the way you listen so that you receive in the way your soul re-members.
Month Two ~ Diwa | Listening to Spirit and Inner Knowing
This month is about learning how to listen more clearly and how to tell the difference between noise and true guidance.
We’ll root and focus on:
Building relationship with spirit allies and guides who are aligned with care, integrity, and your well-being
Developing intuitive listening through the body and nervous system, so guidance isn’t just in your head, but something you can feel and sense (developing your psychic abilities and awareness)
Practicing discernment between guidance, imagination, projection, and ancestral memory, and exploring how spiritual relationships support this lifetime’s work, including where boundaries are needed
This month is about clarity, steadiness, and learning to trust yourself without rushing the deep listening required to root deeply.
Month Three ~ Integration | Sacred Witnessing & Purpose
This final month is about bringing what you’ve learned back into your real life in a grounded, responsible way.
We’ll anchor with:
Clarifying your role as healer, helper, or witness, without hierarchy, and with humility and care
Exploring sacred contracts, vocations, and responsibilities, and what it means to walk these paths in community, not alone
Integration practices and a closing ceremony to honour what’s been learned, name your commitments, and support you in continuing beyond the apprenticeship
This month is about making what you’ve journeyed with livable, not just beautiful or something to set aside…to align with a path blessed and supported by Ancestors and community that we will build together.
