I was doing a meditation about a week ago on one of my friends Animal Spirit Guides and I asked him for a message to bring back with me for her. He told me “honor the ancestors.” I knew that he didn’t just mean our physical ancestors, but also our spiritual and the ancestors of our lands.
That can be pretty tricky, though. I mean, sure, we’ve all heard of Ancestry.com and some of us still have grandparents that we can talk to in order to learn about our physical ancestors. But how do you find your spiritual ancestors? And ancestors of the land? What does that even mean!
First, let’s talk about honoring your ancestors. How DO you honor them? Well, there are several ways to do this. You can make an altar and put up pictures of them on it or even leave offerings of flowers, coins, or food for them. You can also say thank you, good morning, and good evening to the collected pictures during your day. When you do this, find that place of stillness deep inside – you don’t have to go into a meditation, just take a moment in stillness to say thanks. Learning about their lives is another way to honor them – researching who they were, where they came from, learning what kinds of lives they led… this all honors your ancestors. Call your grandparents just to say ‘hi’ and have breakfast with your mother. Small gestures are as great as big ones – just do what’s right for you and what speaks to you.
Finding your spiritual ancestors is a little more difficult. It is far more nebulous and intangible, and you may not be sure WHO your ancestors are when you’re honoring them. But your spiritual ancestors include those whose teachings you follow – Buddha, the Dali Lama, Gerald Gardner, Wayne Dyer and can stretch as far as the beginning of time to Cleopatra and Boudicca. You can also honor your spiritual ancestors as a group – the church members who have come before you, the ancient Celts, Native Americans, or the people who started your coven. Sometimes you just get a feeling that you’re part of something bigger – a tapestry woven through time with each ancestor taking the place of a thread. You give thanks to the entire tapestry.
The ancestors of your land are typically much easier to discover than your spiritual ancestors. These are the people who came before you in the place that you are and the place that you’re from. For me, I would be looking back through the history of California (where I was born) and Arizona (where I live now). This includes everyone that came before – the metal heads, disco queens, jazz cats, cowboys, Native American, paleolithic people. Learn the history of your land. How were the mountains formed? When did the lakes develop? What stories did the people carry? What did they eat? How did they spend their days? Here, for the ancestors of your land, you can bring offerings of food, drink, tokens, and thanks. It is best to leave these in the old cemeteries of the land where the ancestors lay en mass. But you can also give these things in your backyard if your local cemetery is not open to such gestures. You would be surprised, though, what they will tell you if you ask how to conduct such honorings. Also, visit the historical sites in your area and learn their stories. What would being there have been like?
Without these ancestors, you wouldn’t be where you are today – you wouldn’t be the you that you are and we would not know all that we do. Our ancestors deserve honoring, our lineage, our spirituality, and the land.
