THE IMPORTANCE OF HONORING THE ANCESTORS – PART 2

Most people think too much in terms of black and white. In their limited world view a person is either evil or good with nothing in between. But that is not how nature operates. Our ancestors are seldom evil, but they can be negative, just like living people. Another erroneous notion is that family members who pass over to the world of spirit automatically become “angels” and all their character flaws, negative thinking and spitefulness are instantly erased just by them becoming spirits. Others assume that ancestors automatically become wise, just by passing over to the realm of spirit. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I mentioned in my Middle World article which deals with the astral realm, a spiteful person will be a spiteful spirit and a goodhearted person will be a goodhearted spirit. A human being with lots of issues will be a spirit with lots of issues. It is as simple as that!Basically we can divide our ancestry in two groups: the negative and positive ancestors. Let’s discuss the negative ancestors first. They are unlikely to be evil, in fact they might have been wonderful people, but they are negative for you, meaning that they are obstructing you in some way, hindering you from moving forward in your life and sabotaging your plans for the future you want to create. This is often due to the ancestors imposing their world view, ambitions and religious conditioning on you! For example, if you have decided to take up the study ofmagick or Wicca, and among your ancestors were some very devout and probably narrow-minded Christians, they may now put all kinds of stumbling blocks in your way. For instance, after your ritual to get a job you may find that you have a lot of bad luck, and you start wondering whether or not this whole “magick business” may be evil and “God” is punishing you for it etc. Even if you don’t believe that magick is evil, if the problem persists you are likely to give it up because it doesn’t work for you. Well, it doesn’t work for you simply because your ancestors won’t let you do it, not because the magick isn’t working!Or you may be an artist and want to earn your living by painting but your ancestors think that artists are lazy louts and obstruct you, so you never have any success. To sum it up: negative ancestors are those who are hindering and obstructing you, even if those were the spirits of your beloved grandmother or grandfather. As a rule, negative ancestors have to be dealt with before we can actually work with our positive ancestors. For all practical purposes even ancestors who were good people, and may have your welfare in mind, but are imposing their views and ideas on you, are considered to be negative ancestors. Always keep in mind, they are not evil, they are not out to get you, but they have an agenda and you have free will, which includes permanently dismissing them, which you can learn in my Wisdom of the Ancestors Workshop or by online tuition via voice chat, which makes it possible for your to learn the method, no matter where you live.Now to the positive ancestors. These are the ones that are willing to help you according to how you wish to live your life. They can protect you spiritually and physically from harm. They can open many doors for you, whether you need to get a new job, improve your financial situation or find the perfect partner. Some of your spiritual ancestors can even become your guides and take your spirituality to a higher level. Ancestors can accomplish many things you could not, simply because they are in the Otherworld which gives them access to knowledge that you might not have access to and because they are free from the limitations of the physical body, of time and space.

You will find that your ancestors are usually perfectly willing to help — if you acknowledge them and give them what they need. To help you they need regular feeding. There are lots of rules and regulations on how and what to feed the ancestors. Generally they like alcoholic beverages. As to food, they may have certain preferences but you don’t have to give them anything you don’t feel good about. As a vegetarian I won’t serve meat to my ancestors, even though some of them would like that. I found other foods that please them. You can “train” your ancestors to accept food which is okay with your lifestyle and affordable for you. In the end is better to give them a little food even if it is not their favourite than to leave them hungry. And remember, leaving your ancestors hungry means they cannot act on your behalf, which is likely to result in problems for you, such as poverty and other troubles.

According to voodoo tradition (the healing tradition of voodoo, not sorcery!) it is very important to feed your ancestors, because if you don’t, you will remain in poverty! So if money is always a problem, maybe you should consider attending to your ancestors! Obviously you cannot begin feeding your positive ancestors until you have got rid of your negative ancestors or you would be feeding the negatives too which could make things worse for you. Performing ancestral rituals is actually quite easy but you should be taught by somebody who is experienced with ancestral rituals and has learned this within a proper tradition, such as voodoo. Once the negative ancestors have been dealt with, and you have made contact with your positive ancestors it makes sense to construct an ancestral shrine in your house, so that your ancestors will have a place in your home where they can reside, and a doorway to your life.