Through daily prayer, mediation, creation of art, music, food and ceremony, the ancestor spirits can communicate, guide, protect and heal the living. Connecting with them can transform the past and heal future generations.
In particular, the days on and around October 31 to November 2 are a transformational portal on the wheel of life. This is a powerful period where the veils between the worlds are the thinnest, so it is a perfect time for us to pause, honour and pay homage to our ancestors and our loved ones who have passed on.
The Traditions of Ancestral Communication
Ancestral communication is an ancient and daily practice found in many cultures around the world, including Mayan, Celtic, Aborigine, Indigenous American, Ancient Greece, Ancient Eurasia, African Tribal, Tibetan and the Vedic/Yogic traditions. Some major religions, such as the Catholic faith, honour the deceased on All Saints Day and All Souls Day with prayers, candles, incense, chanting, ceremony and offerings. In Mexico they celebrate the Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos),with roots from the Aztec Goddess Mictecacihuatl, (Lady of The Dead). In the Celtic tradition, Samhain, which observes the transition time between the two worlds.
Ancestral work can transform the karmas of past generations, as well as work into the current and future generations for healing.
Halloween and The Day of the Dead
These two celebrations are traditionally considered ceremonial days and nights to honour and communicate with one’s ancestors. This is a time to create family altars, perform ceremonies with the ancestors and lay out offerings of flowers, incense, crystals, art and food. Halloween or All Hallows Eve literally means Holy Night or All Saint’s Night. It is a time to honour and communicate with those that have taken their spirit walk.
Who is an Ancestor?
The Lakota say Mitakuye Oyasin, “All are my relations”- the tree, water, sky, earth, animals, brothers, sisters and those that have taken their spirit walk. There is a sacred hoop, a medicine wheel, a mandala of life. All is connected. All is life and all has the essence of Love. All are children of the Great Mother and Father – in spirit and physical form.
An ancestor is one who took a physical body and experienced the loves, sorrows, joys and pains of being human. They are your parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandparents. Anyone who has taken their spirit walk.
Anyone who is in your soul tribe.
The ancestors are ones who intimately know what it is like to take the human incarnation and share your spiritual and/or physical DNA. They can have great empathy, compassion and sensitivity for what it is like to be in a personal earth journey. They can provide helpful teachings, guidance, protection, healing and forgiveness from the spirit dimension. Ancestors may also have their own continued healing work and evolution to do as a spirit and are still considered part of the sacred hoop of life.
There are other types of ancestors, including Territorial Ancestors (aka Land Ancestors) and Spiritual Ancestors. Territorial or Land Ancestors are beings that incarnate on a piece of land and are now connected to the land as spiritual guardians and stewards.
Your family ancestors can also be your Territorial Ancestors if you are living/working on ancestral lands. Your Spiritual Ancestors are lineages of spirit beings that your soul repeatedly chooses to work with. This could be Archangel Michael, Buddha, Quan Yin, White Buffalo Calf Woman, Star Beings from the Pleiades, or the Egyptian wisdoms spirits- the sky is the limit. There are infinite possibilities and a particular ancestor could be in multiple “categories”.
For our ceremony on how to communicate with your ancestors, we are going to focus on your soul tribe ancestors. It is perfectly all right to invite your other ancestral lineages to be present and assist as well.
Communicating with your ancestors requires personal work, and helps to dissolve old programming, emotions, grudges, stories, and transform on many levels.
Why Practice Ceremony to Communicate with your Ancestors?
There are many ways to communicate with your ancestors and eventually it may become a daily practice and dialog for you. Simply calling them into your heart and having a quiet moment can be perfect. However, ceremony can help to amplify the communication.
Spirit is energy and uses high vibration frequencies to access the earthly realm. Ceremony is high vibration. The difference between offering ceremony and personal prayer is like the difference between playing a guitar amplified or playing a guitar acoustically. They are both beautiful and appropriate for different needs, but one has a stronger resonance and reach. Just as it is easier for us to hear the amplified guitar, it is easier for spirit to communicate with us using the higher vibration of ceremony.
What is Ceremony?
There are many ancient wisdom traditions that share the gift of ceremony and there are many ways to do ceremony- individually or in groups. There are three essential pieces that apply:
1. Intention: Declare your purpose, from your heart. It can be a positive affirmation, asking for an answer to a question or healing.
2. Attention: Be Present, be grounded in your heart and clear your mind. Energy flows where your attention goes.
3. Purposeful: Make sure what you doing is meaningful to you. Keep your attention on your inner intention, on what you are offering up from your heart.
Honoring our Ancestors and our dearly departed
Traditionally altars are created with offerings, or “ofrendas” of candles, flowers such a marigold, and favorite foods and beverages.
This is a beautiful time to create an altar/offering in dedication to those whose lives have visibly or invisibly touched our own. For in this web of life, we are all connected and we are here as result of the efforts and energy of those who came before us.
We are the torch bearers of this time and as we honor and integrate the way our lives have been touched by others, we weave our own visions into this collective tapestry.
Consciousness does not die, it transforms. What appears as death in one form dissolves to give way to a completely new form, but this is the cycle of life. And like every living thing on the planet, we too are a part of it.
So with devotion and with gratitude, call on your loved ones, your angels, your ancestors to guide and watch over all of us during these time of collective transformation.
Watch the video below, to Connect with the medicine of your ancestors: Create an sacred alliance with your ancestors and draw on the generations of strengths, healing and medicine that is within you, encoded in your DNA. Align, connect, transform.
Do you need help to connect with your ancestors and receive their guidance? Book in for a session with me, a master alchemist with 30 years experience -Click Here
How to Create a Day of the Dead Altar
In Mexico, people build altars in homes or at cemeteries. They are decorated with specific and meaningful items that the loved ones enjoy. There are seven layers to a Day of the Dead altar, each layer having it’s own significance. The soul must pass through all seven levels to eventually rest in peace.
The beautiful altars are works of art:
There are altar items that correspond with each of the four elements.
• Fire: Candles
• Wind: Tissue paper designs (Because Tissue paper has fluidity of movement)
• Water: A glass of water
• Earth: Fruits, Marigold flowers
Commonly found on the altars are, trinkets the deceased enjoyed such as toys or books, Copal or other incense, and religious items. Marigolds, which are vibrant yellow and orange flowers, are place on altars to represent rebirth.
A simple way is create the altar, smudge the photos of your family as well as the items on your altar; focus on those who have crossed over.
When you are ready to begin, call them in, name them to summon all of your ancestors.
Burn sandalwood or frankincense incense to bless them. Talk openly and freely about your hopes, dreams, fears, and/or troubles.
Speak about the memories you have of your ancestors, think back to the times you shared, laugh, cry and feel all the emotions. Clap your hands to end the ceremony.
For further luck, bless a bowl of fresh fruit with the incense smoke, put a small bowl of the fruit on the altar and then share the fruit with family and/or friends throughout the day to call in the sweetness of life.
Making an altar (or ofrenda as it’s sometimes called in Spanish) for the occasion can be a way for you to honour the life of someone who was important to you, or remember your ancestors. There are no hard and fast rules about how the altar should be made — it can be as simple or as elaborate as your creativity, time and materials allow.
Be creative and make something that looks attractive and is meaningful to you. Here are some of the elements you may wish to include on your altar and some ideas about how to put it all together.
What You Need:
• A table, shelf or flat surface on which to build your altar
• Two long sugar cane stalks (or other material) to make an arch
• Boxes or crates to create different levels
• A tablecloth or paper
• A photo of the person to whom the altar is dedicated
• A glass of water
• Flowers, preferably marigolds
• Fruit, bread, and other foods
• Candles and incense
• Things that the person you’re honouring enjoyed in life
Here’s How:
1. The arch: If you have long sugar cane stalks, tie one to each of the back legs of the table and join them at the top (tie them together with string or use tape). Then, if you want, you can decorate the arch, attaching flowers to it. The arch represents the passage between life and death. If you can’t get sugar cane stalks, get creative and make your arch out of other materials.
2. The base: Place boxes or crates on the table where you will build your altar in such a way as to create tiers so that the elements of the altar can be displayed attractively. Put a tablecloth over the table and boxes so that the boxes are hidden. Then place the papel picado around the edge of the table and each layer.
3. Photo: Place a photo of the person to whom the altar is dedicated on the top level of the altar, in the center. If the altar is dedicated to more than one person, you can have several photos, or if your altar is not dedicated to anyone in particular, the photo can be omitted and it will be understood that your altar is in honour of all your ancestors.
4. Water: Place a glass of water on the altar. Water is a source of life and represents purity. It quenches the thirst of the spirits.
5. Candles: Candles represent light, faith and hope. The flame guides the spirits on their journey. Sometimes four or more candles are placed together to form a cross which represents the cardinal directions, so that the spirits can find their way.
6. Flowers: You can place flowers in vases or pull the petals out and scatter them over all the surfaces of the altar. If you use cempasuchil (marigolds), the scent will be even stronger if you pull out the petals. The bright colors of the marigolds and their fragrance are synonymous with Day of the Dead. Fresh flowers remind us of the impermanence of life.
7. Fruit, bread and food: Seasonal fruits and special bread called pan de muertos are usually placed on the altar, along with other foods that the person enjoyed in life. Mexicans usually place tamales, mole and hot chocolate on the altar, but you can use whatever fruit and other food are available to you. The food is a feast that is laid out for the spirits to enjoy. It is believed that they consume the scents and the essence of the food.
8. Incense: It is customary to burn copal incense, which clears the space of any negative energy or bad spirits, and helps the dead find their way.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you evolve and transform:
Use the techniques to break through the 5 major barriers, which are keeping you locked in doubt, mistrusting your decisions and leaking energy and money flow. Open the doors to new levels of success, boost aligned support, and magnetize your goals.
— Click Here
2. The 3 Keys To Heal The Hidden Energy Leaks In Your Business
Free guide for healers, intuitives & empaths in business, so you can stop over-giving & finally claim the success you deserve, guilt-free. Break free of the shackles that keep you small, no longer question your intuitive decisions, and be unwavering with your certainty, grounded in your Wisdom, firm in your Strength, and rooted in your Truth.
3. Join a healing course to amplify your ability to make a difference in your life and the lives of others
If you’d like to work to me, to upgrade your healing potential by accessing ancestral wisdom, ignite your soul’s calling, connect deeply to the multi-dimensional spirit realms, and aligning the inner and outer world, to stand in the fullness of your Brilliance
… just reply to this message and put “I’m Ready” in the subject line.
4. Work with me privately
If you’d like to work directly with me, to help your practice ascend to higher levels of influence and take a stand as a leader of your community… just reply to this message and put “Private” in the subject line… tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and we’ll get you all the details!
-Click Here
