Honoring the Ancestors – Not just for Samhain

This will be the first of several articles on the importance of honoring one’s ancestors. This is the foundational practice for a strong, flexible, enduring spirituality. This is where it begins for their wisdom flows in our veins. They are in us, they watch over us and but for them we would not be.

The path of one’s spiritual journey can often be a frightening, seemingly chaotic one. The devotee is often challenged to redefine him or herself, starting with the mores that are held most dear. It is a time of moving outside the safe, narrowly defined boundaries that over the years we have stubbornly created around our spirits, hearts and minds. This is not a particularly pleasant prospect but the result is a heart fully open to the passion and inspiration of the Divine and a faith that is founded on knowledge and love, rather than fear.

Devotion is never something manifesting solely in one’s outside actions, but rather it is a condition of the spirit, a heart on fire with love of a God/dess…so full of the awareness of Their love for us that it can barely contain the knowledge. Devotion is the act of holding the hand of God, nestling against His shoulder and resting confident in that love. It is the process of entering into a passionate love affair with a Deity. And that knowledge is something that impacts every aspect of one’s life. It is impossible to be touched in such a way and not have one’s life transformed…even if the transformation be against our ego-bound will. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, we must first be consumed in the flames of our own becoming.

We live in a society starving for experience of the Divine, yet by its very nature this society disparages, disregards or blocks the very things that would make such an experience possible. Devotion, like any other relationship, is something that evolves over time…deepens over experience. Falling in love with a God or Goddess, what the spiritual journey is all about, is a process of discovery, awakening and often great, great healing. As such, there are steps, foundational steps that make the process flow all the more smoothly.

Many traditions pay special homage to their ancestors, to those who have walked the spiritual path before us, contributing to the common thread we all share. Honoring one’s lineage (and let me make it clear that one’s lineage encompasses all of one’s life times and one’s ancestors back to prehistory, not just this particular incarnation.) is the first and one of the most important steps in developing  a  strong spiritual foundation. It is a place of beginning. Ancestors may include those who died for you, who were close enough to be kin and spiritual kin. No one lineage is better than another. Paying homage to the ancestors is not, in any way, shape or form and excuse for racism, which is vile in the eyes of the Holy Powers. Rather it is a means of honoring the process of one’s spiritual journey, honoring those who came before us, whose actions and lives helped create our own, shape our own. It means honoring those who shed blood for us, so that we might remember and also learn to craft lives of honor. It is an acknowledgment that we are all connected through the Divine. We honor the continuity of Divine presence throughout the course of our lives. We honor their strength, courage, wisdom, their struggles and seek to learn from them.  “Dis” (plural: disir) are specifically the female ancestors of one’s line. The name implies a warrior’s spirit as well, so Disir generally are guardians of one’s wyrd.

Wight is a rather ‘catch-all’ phrase for nature spirits, elementals, land spirits. Some use it to imply ancestors, but that is not it’s common usage. The word is actually an anglicization of the Norse word ‘vaet’ (plural vaettir). It is very important to thank those beings that see to the proper flow of natural energy, whose areas we inhabit and feed off of. The relationship between devotee and wights is often a symbiotic one: they will partake of the energy of our ebbos and in return, the energy of our dwelling is pleasant and harmonious. (this can go a long way to diffusing any negative energy sent one’s way). More importantly, they govern the energy that we draw upon and also maintain proper functioning of the earth and living things. They are, essentially, little guardians of the natural world. If one does nothing else, a life spent honoring the wights and ancestors is one spent in harmony.

One does not evolve spiritually in a vacuum. The strength of one’s House depends on the integrity of one’s lineage. One’s ancestors and the wights can assist us in our journey. We can learn much from them but only if we empower them to act with us.  A house cannot be built without bricks…paying homage to one’s ancestors and the spirits of the land is the mortar and clay from which those bricks are formed. We begin in the physical because with the heart’s opening to the Holy Powers, we are entrusted with the responsibility of reflecting that Divine Presence and love to others. That is done through our physical incarnations. The first step in doing this, is to honor those who have struggled to do exactly that before us.

I have had the opportunity to attend many open pagan gatherings and one thing I have found to be, sadly, quite prevalent is total disregard for the land which bears us. Pagans speak of honoring the earth, but there is little understanding of the necessary steps to doing so. One cannot base one’s spiritual journey on blatant, if ignorant disregard for the very loom upon which our threads will be woven! Often the land is so leached of vital force and energy that the wights are in utter agony…essentially starving.  I attended one ritual where their cries were so plaintive that I left, went to the corner store, bought beer, bread and tobacco, came back and made ebbo. It almost made it worse…as though I had handed a starving man a single piece of bread, though it was the best I could do at the time. Conversely, a household that makes on-going ebbos to the wights will be filled with healthy, vibrant life and the number of wights will actually multiply. (I’ve had them follow me home. During the ritual I mention above, I made an open invitation for them to come with me.). It’s very important to remember that wights are not mindless creatures but quite sentient beings with their own duties and path to follow. What is sought is partnership on the spiritual journey, an equal give and take that benefits both.

What is equally disturbing is that ancestor veneration is so rarely mentioned in Paganism. This is fundamental and yet, with the exception of the occasional Reconstructionist religion like Heathenry or Hellenismos, the only time the ancestors are given proper respect is once a year at Samhain. Outside of that, they seem to be little thought of in contemporary Paganisms when in fact, they should be thought of first and foremost, every single day.

There are endless ways of making proper ancestral offerings. It’s not difficult. The key is continuity of practice. One good step  step an aspiring devotee can take, is the construction of an ancestral altar. This should be a separate altar from one’s altar to the Gods– a simple shelf will do. the important thing is that, if possible, it should be separate from one’s main altar and should be dedicated entirely to the ancestors. In our kindred, we have  a communal ancestral altar with offerings from each person. It’s quite a gathering of energies: Cherokee, Norse,  African, Roman…we honor our spiritual lineage too. There are pictures of our kinded Dis and of other deceased ancestors (it is appropriate to place pictures of the deceased, even if they died as infants, on one’s ancestral altar, however under no circumstances should the picture of a living person be included: it is the equivalent of tempting or thumbing one’s nose at Death…neither of which are wise courses of action.),offerings of cigarettes, raw tobacco, cornmeal, glasses of water and various symbols of our ancestors from farther back in both our spiritual and physical lineage. Any objects belonging to one’s deceased ancestors is appropriate as are symbols. My personal altar has pictures of my dead, objects they owned, and of course, regular offerings (every morning).  It’s as simple as that, though it’s vital to remember that an altar is a living, changing thing and there must ever be a consistent flow of energy. Keep the offerings ongoing and fresh. Do not neglect the altar…be it the ancestral altar or the primary devotional one.

Once the ancestral altar is constructed, do not forget about it. The altar will grow and evolve over time as the devotee becomes more and more interactive with his/her ancestors. It becomes a living thing, a living source of spiritual power. Continuity of practice is better and more important than complex offerings. A simple thank you, please watch over me and the gift of a glass of water every day, is, to my mind, more gracious an act than a plate of food once a month or less.

In addition to making an altar, there are many other ways of honoring one’s ancestors.  Keep in mind that if you visit the graves of deceased family members—especially on special days like anniversaries, birthdays, etc, keep pictures of deceased relatives around, reminisce about the deceased at family gatherings…well that is also honoring one’s ancestors. It’s not as foreign a concept to our culture as one might think, it’s simply seldom stated in spiritual terms.

Since our ancestors and the wights are part of our spiritual journey, it is appropriate to invite them to partake of the energy and offerings of each ritual. Therefore, offerings and calls are made during services. In our House, this is usually done right after the space is consecrated. In Asatru, offerings of bread and beer are traditional for both wights and ancestors, but I have found that both will make their personal preferences known. Remember always that these are individuals, not abstract concepts. After the space has been consecrated, pour the beer on the bread and make a formal statement inviting the wights and ancestors to partake. We also offer cigarettes, tobacco, cornmeal, maple syrup and /or milk and sometimes honey to our wights. Our Dis likes clove cigarettes. It is also proper to set aside a portion of one’s meals, anything one cooks even an empty place at table for the ancestors. Walking through a graveyard and reading the names on the graves is a way of honoring the egguns. I will honor other people’s ancestors if there is no one else to do it. According to the Kemetic theology, to remember and speak aloud (thus imbuing with life and making sacred) one’s name was to empower one’s spirit with eternal life. The same holds true for telling their stories. Cemeteries are sacred places. The gateway into them, much like the torii gate marking the passage into Shinto temples delineates passage between worlds, passage into sacred territory. Talking to the various Gods and Goddesses of the underworld may also provide other suggestions for proper offerings.

For both the wights and ancestors, food may be offered by setting it on their altars or on the main altar. Drink may be poured out over a special stone (wights seem to like stone altars), poured out into the earth or left opened on the altars. When honoring them during rituals, the food/drink is best left on the main altar. It’s important, out of respect to both honor them during ritual and outside of that venue.

One way of making proper offerings that is often neglected is just talking to the wights and to the ancestors. It’s possible to develop a vital, interactive relationship with them and they themselves will be the best guide in how to do this. (note: remember the ancestors are not infallible. They are not Gods. They do, however, have a vested interest – usually-in your ongoing health and wholeness.)

I am Heathen. In our faith, the goal of one’s life is to die well. This is not the outcome of some morbid fascination with death but rather the acknowledgment not only of the natural, eternal cycle of rebirth but that dying well encompasses every part of one’s life and involves living well, serving the Gods, crafting something for the future. We strive not only to better ourselves and to grow closer to the Gods but to strengthen the threads of our communal wyrd, to craft something better for those who will come after us. Working with the ancestors in honesty and integrity of spirit is the first step on that path.