Reciprocity with the Ancestors
Right now, we are moving through Samhain, which is the Celtic expression for “summer’s end.” Some say that as we approach Samhain, the veil of the Spirit World grows thinner. Others say the veil grows extraordinarily thin just on the day of Samhain.
But I don't believe that.
It’s my experience that the spirits are crossing the boundaries of this and other worlds no matter the time of year it is. Most shamanic cultures made a practice of honoring ancestors before colonialism occurred, and some still do. Many cultures did not wait until the end of October to do this. Rituals were and are performed and offerings to the ancestors were and are given frequently, sometimes even daily.
In my experience, the veil is more of a clouded mist whose boundary between this world and the Otherworld waxes and wanes throughout the year in a mysterious fashion. Through that veil is how we can contact the ancestors. When we pray to the well and wise ancestors, they hear us and answer accordingly. We can pray to them to help us navigate personal and global crises. Building a bridge between our world and theirs can be done around the time of Samhain, Beltane, or any other time of the year with the right intention and open heart.
BUT there is a caveat… Just because someone has passed doesn't automatically make them well, kind, or wise. It just makes them not in a body any longer. Despite our cultural Judeo-Christian concepts we have been entrained in, not all souls enter into a place of peace at their death.
This means that if you are calling in the collective ancestors for ritual, ceremony, or other etheric support, you may be calling in spirits who may not be malevolent, but they may not be at rest either. This is why it’s imperitive to create ritual boundary between yourself and the old ones. Those who have more recently passed can be ghosts who haven’t crossed over, and if they have crossed over, they still may not be at peace or may be living in dimensions that mirror the world we live in. Consequently, these ancestors are still holding on to the suffering from their own time, so they will not be bringing wisdom and wellness into this one.
Rather than calling in all of our ancestors without first tending to ritual boundary and discernment, journey to ask the helping spirits to contact those ancestors who have gone through the ancestralization process. There may even be a “spokesperson” that steps forward from the lineage that serves as a primary contact of sorts. These are the ones who have joined the ranks of the well and wise ancestors of our lineages and who have let go of their earthly suffering to join the lines of the luminous ones. These are the beings one wants to be in right relationship with. If there is desire to be in communication with the recently passed ones, repair work must be performed to ensure that the recent dead are well.
Tending to ritual boundary while performing ancestral work (and any spiritual work, really!) is important for spiritual hygiene and our overall health. Otherwise, we are inviting energetic discord into our lives if we haven’t ensured that the lineage is sound, well, and healthy - therefore bringing us energies that are sound, well, and healthy. There is an abundance of reciprocity when working with the ancestors, whether it is sound and well, or charged and unwell. Those who have manifested physical illness may be carrying the energetics of ancestral discord and unwellness due to untended ritual boundary and interaction with those ancestors who have not yet ancestralized. They may not necessarily be malevolent spirits, but if they have not been through the essential repair process, making a connection can be a bit risky.
The ancestors who are in a state of wisdom and wellness no longer operate from their egoic attachment to this world. Although they remember what it was like being embodied, once they have ancestralized, they are available for visceral support and powerful assistance due to their understanding of what it takes to walk in this sometimes very complicated reality from a place of wholeness, loving power, abundance, and truth.
The wise ancestors want to be honored as a part of who we are and wish to be acknowledged as a part of YOU living in this world. We are their link to this reality. We carry their life force in our DNA and coding. We carry them in our bones and blood. We carry their blessings, for we are their hopes, dreams, and passions that create a ripple effect in this world. It’s from this place that we can remember that we are very much loved.
