Prayers to the Ancestors
Since 2021, I have been part of a virtual group of seven women who hail from different states in the Eastern US who are, like myself, commited to working deeply with the ancestors. Having known each other from previous trainings and gatherings, we are all experienced shamanic practitioners and meet on a regular basis. It’s been a rich four years of working together as humans and also with our collective ancestors in the Spirit World. I have personally learned so much and am grateful for it.
We first began with ancestral repair work, diving deep into each lineage to ask our grandmothers or grandfathers what was needed and to be a witness to the wisdom and deep love that the well ones offer us all. The main intention of ancestral healing is to assist any ancestors who may be stuck in suffering from their life experiences so that they may be freed to join their predecessors and ancestralize along with them. After repair work is completed, providing ancestral maintenance work is a consistent practice and a gradual unfolding of their untold stories so we can hold them in our hearts and remember how to walk in this world with them.
Over the time of working with them, ancestral healing dissolves the suffering and allows any souls stuck in time to be absorbed back into the ancestralized vibration of wholeness. The beautiful thing about ancestral healing is that it creates a domino effect throughout time and space, healing the ones who have gone before and who have yet to come, as well as the ones embodied now. Together, our Circle continues the practice of dropping in to keep the love and lines of communication open.
When the ancestors are in a well and wise state, they become a massive source of support from the Otherworlds. We have also come to understand that our ancestors encompass much more than the people who came before us from which we are descended and related to by blood and bones. Our ancestors also include blended and adopted families. And here’s something else to ponder: our relations also include the many ancestors from past lives! Going further, if we also recognize that our relations are also non-human kin, whether in past lives or present, how many ancestors can we count in total?
Indeed, we are all connected in a beautiful, great web. 🕸️
The ancestors who have ancestralized are well and wise and no longer operate from their embodied attachment to this world. However, I have personally found that because they did live embodied lives, they have a particular insight into our own daily challenges that can give nuanced feedback and approaches that we may not have discovered on our own. Some of our ancestors may have taken treacherous journeys during their lives to arrive where they did, all for the sake of carving out a better life for themselves, their families and for the generations to come, which includes us. Through their blessings and even through their burdens, we can learn from them and how they responded to their experiences in their lives and then we can apply that Elder wisdom to our paths.
I often go to the ancestors to ask about how they navigated through difficult times in their lives, and how their wisdom might support our own navigation in our world now. They have gained wisdom that we all could use to tap into, especially during these current Tower Times.
Recently, I dropped in to them and asked what wisdom they might offer myself and readers of this month’s newsletter. Here’s what they said:
You are invited to join hands with the legions of ancestors that you are already interconnected with, whether by bones and blood, past lives or non-human kin. We keep the fire burning through the darkness. We seek balance and justice in our worlds and we know you seek it in yours as well.
Keep the flame of truth alive in your hearts. Your flame will assist the lighting of many dark nights, but through this, you will come to understand that it is through loss and grief that propels the reunification of people and helps us in rebirthing of ourselves from the ashes. For it is only in times such as yours now that we can become more clear in what dreams live in our hearts. Your task now in your emobied time is to relight the fires of forefathers and mothers as you build an even stronger foundation.
So, speak to the ancestors... give them offerings to acknowledge them. These are often foods and spirits they enjoyed while they were embodied. Pray to the ancestors. They are already listening and waiting for your permission to assist. Then, lean back, for they are a network of support for us during difficult times such as these.
May you come to understand that each and every day is another opportunity to acknowledge your ancestors, who are all around us. All you need to do is open your eyes, your senses and most importantly, your heart.
