Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Pinkerton.
Hi Rachel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I had two unmedicated births at a time when there was very little support or widespread information about natural birth. To be honest, I was just afraid of the epidural needle. Labor pains weren’t nearly as scary as the idea of being stuck in the back. Several years later, a good friend asked me to be her support person. She wanted to have a natural birth, but her medical team was trying to push her to get an epidural. I gladly attended the birth of her baby, and it ended up being one of the most eye opening and spiritual experiences of my life to that point. I witnessed how the medical staff repeatedly tried to deny her wishes to birth as she wanted and how much support it takes to protect informed consent and the emotional and spiritual atmosphere that affects how safe and supported someone feels. Witnessing the new life entering the Earth was also lifechanging! It felt really different from my own birth experience where I had very little support and was successful only thanks to my own stubbornness. I realized that the birth experience can be so much more beautiful and filled with ease when mothers are given the right support and preparation. I immediately knew that I wanted to train as a birth doula.
A few years later, I experienced several traumatic shifts, including a divorce and a faith crisis, that led me on a search for truth and a deeper connection to God. This led me to energy healing modalities such as Reiki, Kanika, and shamanism, as well as initiation into priestess mystery school practices and sacred ceremony. Here I learned how the physical body is directly impacted by our emotional, energetic, and spiritual health. I knew I needed to incorporate this wisdom into my birth work. I now offer energy healing and ritual as part of my doula packages because it is so impactful in preparing women mentally and physically for successful labor and postpartum.
But this is only one side of my business. There is always light and dark, birth and death. A little over a year ago, my second husband passed away very unexpectedly and violently. It was extremely traumatic. The night after his death, I was taken in a dream to see him and help him pass. I understand that might seem unbelievable to many people, but it’s how I experienced it. I saw him in the spirit realm, some might call it the astral realm, in a hospital bed hooked up to many machines. I knew that he was receiving the healing there that he could not get in the physical world. I knew that he would be OK. I was also shown past lifetimes where I had trained as a death priestess. I woke up carrying the knowledge of helping souls to transition into the next phase of life. Although I was grieving deeply, it was a blessing to see the greater purpose in this experience. I was meant to help others and bring ancient wisdom and traditions back to into practice.
Soon after this experience I registered to train as a soul midwife, essentially a death doula, focused on the energetic and spiritual support and rituals that help to ease the dying and grieving processes. I also offer ceremonies and guided meditations at funerals that help the grieving to process their emotions. I’m grateful for the full spectrum of experience that helps me to usher life into and out of the world.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Every aspect of my journey has been initiated by trauma. I wanted to support birthing women because I had little support during my birth and postpartum. I offer pro bono services to domestic violence survivors because of the experiences I had in my first marriage. I dove head first into death work because of my experience losing my second husband. Every awakening was a result of tragedy. If there is one thing I have learned, it’s that trauma can either destroy us or it can awaken us to our fullest potential, our soul mission, and being of service to our fellow humans. We get to decide.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I called my business Ancient Mother Wellness because I wanted to emphasize how the wisdom of the ancient medicine women, midwives, and priestesses inspire my offerings. I want my clients to feel held through their times of transition, whether it be through birth or death.
On the birth side, I offer the same services that all trained doulas offer–birth education, birth planning, physical support, advocacy work, etc. What makes me different is my incorporation of ritual and energy work, which is an added support to the physical body. For example, the use of Reiki during labor is a natural pain reliever that can help a woman successfully avoid an epidural if that’s what she chooses. Energy work can also be used as a safe way to try to alleviate certain medical complications before turning to more invasive procedures. This by no means replaces the need for talented and trustworthy medical teams; It is simply an added support.
On the death side, I offer energetic support to the dying and grieving through the use of Reiki, Kanika, and sound therapy. I also use essential oils as a comfort measure and during sacred anointings that mark death as a rite of passage. After death, chord cutting ceremonies and guided meditations help both the dead and their loved ones to move through the time of transition with support and a sense of higher purpose.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Because my work is so unique, I have had many mentors from many different disciplines. Each has been incredibly valuable to my spiritual and skill development. Ultimately, it was up to me to synthesize these skills into the cohesive offerings I have in my business, combining the practical skills with the more esoteric.
I was attuned to Reiki by a local Reiki Master, Amber Kwentus.
I was trained as a doula by Sara Baker at Purple Lotus Doulas.
I trained with the original channeler of Kanika in New Zealand.
I was initiated into priestess work by another mentor in New Zealand.
I trained as a soul midwife (death doula) with a company in the UK.
And I’ve had several other spiritual and business mentors over the years.
My advice for finding a mentor is to prioritize energetics over location or fancy marketing. Pay attention to how your body feels when you interact with them. Some of the best teachers have no budget or live on the other side of the world.
Pricing:
- bro bono birth services to homeless woman or survivor of domestic abuse in a DV shelter
- other prices shared after the initial consult
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ancientmotherwellness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.ancient.mother/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557171630453
