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We all come from many walks of the esoteric, yet I believe there shouldn't be a reason why we all at some point should work with our ancestors - especially those practicing for the sake of knowledge and information.
They are a source of local, genuine and relevant information. There is the idea they watch us to a varying degree and may know us. They can be teachers of our history, and friends, guides and counsel in the spiritual world.
After an odd experience last night, I came to the conclusion they are real and would mostly like to benefit us.
I am happy to divulge that experience to any who ask, but for now I would like to ask;
What ancestral work do you do? What do your practices look/feel like? What led you to this?
Create a family tree that goes back a few generations, thinking about each member of your family based on the information you have available. I wouldn't stress about any gaps. Make up a printed page of this information organized so you can see at a glance the information you've gathered and put it in a small picture frame. Light a candle once a day, look at the family tree and say some words of thanks to them.
I did this for a while after reading some things that Aiden Wachter wrote in one of his popular books. I'm pretty certain that there is no single way to go about it, so let your feelings guide you.
I study anthropology and ancestry, and am from Scottish Irish bloodlines. So I also study Gaelic, Irish and Scottish history, magic and lore. Sometimes I will light a candle for them and plead for them to intervene for me. I only do so when I am under attack from something. I was also raised in a Baptist family and attended a variety of churches, so I also pray biblically and include Saints.
We all come from many walks of the esoteric, yet I believe there shouldn't be a reason why we all at some point should work with our ancestors - especially those practicing for the sake of knowledge and information.
They are a source of local, genuine and relevant information. There is the idea they watch us to a varying degree and may know us. They can be teachers of our history, and friends, guides and counsel in the spiritual world.
After an odd experience last night, I came to the conclusion they are real and would mostly like to benefit us.
I am happy to divulge that experience to any who ask, but for now I would like to ask;
What ancestral work do you do? What do your practices look/feel like? What led you to this?
This sums it up so well. This genuinely is one of those "feel your way through it" things which makes it so magical. I really think it's wonderful how close we are. I am but one of many who have stumbled onto this.
Thank you for sharing your practices. I know @Diluculo_DelFuego it does vary, and thats ok because it is about feeling. Besides, one ancestor may respond more to one practice than another.
My family tree would be pretty hard to find. Mum was a mixed baby when it was looked down upon. Adopted. No clue where grandad went. I know he was Kenyan and that's it. For me This is kind of what makes it special. We found grandma (and lots of other family)using the dna websites, but there is nothing on grandads side. Given the ancestor I spoke was a black women I am extremely interested in learning more from her.
So the main reason is that it requires a belief in an afterlife where your ancestors continue to exist as coherent personalities after death, and a lot of people don't believe that. Not just atheists - some people believe that the soul has been reincarnated in a new body, or has returned to Source and become one with it, things like that.
I don't believe you retain your personality after death (I think spirit/mind arises from matter, and that your spirit is recycled throughout nature just like your body is)
However weirdly I still do ancestor offerings once a week. I'm not sure who I think is there. Maybe a general benign channel that I'm tapping into. Maybe since they are long since made part of the ecological cycle, I'm addressing the part of the natural world that used to share my blood. Maybe it's just a physicalised gratitude practice that's good for me whether anyone's listening or not.
I recently found out I have a particular dangerous genetic mutation and it's what got me thinking about it. This faulty gene, spiralling back through time. I'd love to know how far back it dates.
This doesn't ring true for me. My great grandparents were all buried on the other side of the world, and I don't really know who any of them are. My grandparents who ARE here only like me if I hide my entire personality from them.
The only way that I am able to connect with the idea of ancestors is if I assume them to be much, much older.
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This is my ancestor prayer. A lot of it comes from a ritual where you ask the ancestors you have a relationship with to reach back into your family tree to connect you to any of your ancestors that were magic practitioners, so you can ask for their wisdom. Link to that:
I call out to my honoured ancestors, whether human, spirit, god, rock, plant, mountain, river, insect, star, planet, moon, fungus, virus, bacteria, or any other form of person unbeknownst to me. I call out to any and all who are invested in my path to be here with me now.
I call out to the blessed dead, you who lived well and died well, be here and hear me.
Arrive and partake of this cool, clear water. May it quench your thirst. Partake of this smoke, that it may comfort you. Partake of this candle flame, that it may bring you warmth and light, now and forever.
May you have and enjoy these things, and every thing that is good, that the souls of the blessed dead thrive upon.
I am your descendent, who carries your blood upon this earth in her bones.
I am root of your root, bone of your bone, blood of your blood.
I am the torchbearer of our line.
I remember you who came before.
I remember you and I honour you.
I thank you, for every struggle you endured and overcame so that I could be here today. I am not ungrateful. I do not forget.
I want to honour your courage in the life that I now live, and I ask for your help to live it more fully.
You who went before me,
I praise you and I ask for your support, your knowledge and your insight. You are needed in these times. I need your guidance and wisdom here and now, ever and always.
I ask you for closer contact and more direct communication. Reveal yourselves to me in dreams or show me a sign through the day. Please make your signs obvious, if you can.
Uplifted ancestors, I ask you for protection. I ask you for abundance.
Courage comes easier to those with a shield and a refuge: I ask that you be my shield and my refuge.
You are welcome in my home and in my life.
May you be given sustenance and comfort and ease; may you be given strength and hope and joy; may you be given beauty and grace and honor.
[Meditate/listen for a few minutes]
May divine peace, mercy, light, blessing, and power be with you, past present and future.
