ANCESTOR REVERENCE

Every human being alive has ancestors (deceased relatives) and it does not matter what walk of life you are from. We can all relate to death on some level and this keeps us connected whether we realize it or not. Because of this and for many other reasons, so many are intrigued with spirit communication and ancestral reverence. Spirit communication has been long practiced, not just by our ancient ones, but by today's aspirants and spiritualist (espiritita) as well. In general, spirit communication proves the continuity of life after death which in turn gives comfort to those missing and in need of guidance from their deceased loved ones. Yet, for devotees, the spirit world is explored for information and truths about human and spirit life. The primary purpose of this site is to help individuals maintain that spirit connection for a better way of life. Whereas most people seek religion to be saved, I am offering people the opportunity through guided spirituality and the connection to spirit to save themselves. I created this site to highlight the importance of ancestor veneration and the importance of african spirituality from a broad prospective that is not discriminatory. And although the focus of this site pertains to African culture, spirituality, and the various religious practices and traditions of our African ancestors such as Egungun/Egun, Ifa/Yoruba, Lucumi/Lukumi, Orisa/Orisha worship, Santeria, and Vodou/Voodoo; the spiritually guided techniques on this site can be applied to just about anyone within any culture and that includes even those who are interested in such things as altars and altar setup, ancestral/spirit prayers, healing, life after death, and guardian angels. This site was also created to bring positive awareness to those who are mis or uninformed and to

bring enlightenment to those searching for good sound information on how to honor their ancestors, guardian angels, and spirit guides. The concept of ancestor veneration and eggun/egun worship is not "witch" craft in the negative context as many have been led to believe. Aspirants and initiates of Candomble, Ifa/Yoruba, Lucumi/Lukumi, Orisa/Orisha, Regla de Ocha, Santeria, Vodou/ Voodoo and the egungun/egun communities take pride in this form of ancient culture. However, ancestor reverence is totally misunderstood by millions because of misinterpreted, hidden, lost, and forgotten historical information on its true purpose and foundation especially pertaining to Black Amerikans. However, there are those who are familiar with its vision but have chosen to take a relaxed attitude toward its importance. Either way and in many cases, it is my belief that many of the problems that we suffer today in our families and in our communities from mental illness, family dysfunction, verbal and physical abuse, drug addiction, violence, alcoholism, suicide, and other forms of selfdestructive behaviors can come from spirits, ancestors, or karmic connections to our loved ones who have not been appeased, properly cared for in death, or on some level they have not elevated into the "LIGHT" or "HIGHER VIBRATIONAL REALMS" so that their souls can be at peace. And since they are not at peace, these entities cause us, in the living, to suffer in our families and in our communities and as a result we continue to experience social malevolence, emotional and mental confusions, and spiritual problems that in many cases are directly linked to our severed connection to our past, resulting in repeated neglect of not properly take care of our ANCESTORS.

THE ANCESTORS

Many people have heard of honoring one's ancestors, but what does this really mean? There is a much deeper and more beautiful meaning to ancestor and spirit veneration than what one may think from all of the other broader and inferior meanings that we have been led to believe. For one, ancestor veneration in many cases has been associated with some kind of craft that pertains to "witchery". And in many instances, many people have felt that by honoring their loved ones or spirit beings through ritual and offerings, they feel an association to guilt that makes them uncomfortable for which they begin to think that they are engaging in something wrong, however, this is so far from the truth that it becomes disheartening. Some even feel guilty to offer candle light and prayers to their ancestors.

It is a fact that our ancestors believed in life after death. They believed that death was a continuation of life, just in another world - the invisible world. From an African perspective, ancestor veneration served many purposes. For one, many societies within Africa believed that the deceased not only needed a proper funeral, burial, and cleansing rites but it was also very important that the deceased be freed or released from bad deeds. In these instances, friends and relatives would gather around the body at the grave site and each person would recount all the bad deeds that the deceased did during their lifetime and after listening to all the misdeeds, they would all announce that they have forgiven him/her since he/she is now dead.

If the deed or the debt was nancial in nature, a surviving family member would offer to pay off the debt. This was all done to ensure a smooth and easy transition from the land of the living to the realm of spirit. For it was the belief that since the deceased

was totally cleansed and freed from bad deeds, he/she would have no other reason to linger in the lower realms to haunt or cause chaos amongst its family members or community. On the contrary, the spirit would be happy and free to ascend to higher realms of obtaining supernatural powers that could be accessed and bestowed upon family and the community during periodic spiritual visits from the deceased that would provide blessings, protection, long life, prosperity, good harvest, fertility, or whatever the desires, prayers, and requests were from those still in the living. Death was not to mourn, but it was a celebration of SPIRIT of continued life; a festive time of drumming, singing, dancing, drinking and eating - all to honor the dead fro it is believed that to honor the ancestors is to honor your lineage, your culture, and your roots and is the rst step to reclaiming your spiritual heritage. Therefore, the ancestors were and still are to this day consulted by many for guidance, prayed to, venerated with rituals and are given offerings for their continued inuence on the living by helping them to resolve their day-to-day problems.

THE ANCESTORS

What is an ancestor or who can be considered an ancestor? Depending on the culture, the denition of ancestor has many meanings. In some cultures you cannot be considered an ancestor unless you have lived a good standing, morally correct life. In other cultures, women are not considered ancestors at all. However and generally speaking for most, ancestor veneration or ancestor worship (meaning to maintain an ongoing relationship with those who have departed) is not only a tradition shared amongst our Afrikan ancestors, but the concept has existed through almost every known culture including various

parts of Afrika, the Pacic, South American, Indonesia, certain parts of India and Indochina, even among those who have converted to Islam or Christianity. Even Jewish people have been known to light candles and say special prayers honoring their family members anniversary of death. And in celebration of All Souls Day, many honor the dead by putting gifts, owers and food on the graves of their family members for it is believed that once death occurs, the physical body is left to decay and the soul transits into the realm of spirit where such spirit continues to live as an ancestor or a spirit guide. And in many instances, the living will leave money, cloths, animals, and messages at gravesites of their deceased relatives in hopes that the deceased might use these things on their journey. In addition, many cultures will honor the dead with festivals, drumming, singing, dancing, and drinking for it is believed that to honor our ancestors is to honor our lineage and our roots and is the rst step to reclaiming our spiritual heritage. Therefore, the ancestors are consulted for guidance, prayed to, venerated with rituals and are given offerings for their continued inuence on the living by helping them to resolve their day-to-day problems. Because so many cultures, primarily outside of the United States, believe that the invisible world plays such an enormous part in every day life, it is custom and is extremely important to pay a great deal of attention to the dead and the ancestral family. I think we all can agree that death is a universal fact and is the inevitable end of all human life. However, in many cultures, life does not just end there. The soul continues on, just, in another form (spirit) and in another world. It is also believed by many that the dead are reborn into family members so that they can nish whatever

business they were not able to nish while on earth and for these reasons a great deal of concern, care, time, and money is spent on proper burial rites. From the preparation of the body all the way through to the prayers, ceremonies, and sacrices given to help ensure that the deceased is satised and appeased for an easy transition from the land of the living to the land of the dead. For it is believed that if proper funeral rites are not performed for the deceased, the spirit of the dead person will become a ghost to roam the world without peace, lost and confused with the abilities to harm and haunt people and relatives until it gains attention and proper acknowledgment of the proper burial rights, prayers, offerings, or ceremonies that will bring contentment to its soul. Traditionally in Afrika, ancestors were called egungun and were viewed as departed family members: parents, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Egungun is a society of people who believed in the continued existence of the ancestors in the life of the living. They believed that there is a the link between the dead and the living and that the egungun represented ancestral spirits that would return from heaven to visit and periodically commune with the living during a 7-day festival where honor is given and sacrices are offered at shrines specically set for the ancestor spirits. How important is ancestor reverence? Lets see, try to put yourself in the shoes of your ancestors. If you were an ancestor and your family members and friends were to just forget about you, how would you feel? If you were alone, lost, and confused in

the spirit realm and there was no one person praying for you or giving you light so that you could nd your way, what would you do? If you wanted to save someone or help them to better their life and they just ignored your messages, would you give up? If you wanted forgiveness or just wanted know that you were still loved, and there was no one to show you some attention and your efforts were ignored, wouldnt you feel alone and abandoned? And God forbid, but, if you were ill and approaching death or you died suddenly, how important would it be to you that someone, even if one person, were to remember you?

ANCESTRAL HEALING

Now, in my continued search to further validate my point about the importance of ancestor veneration amongst various cultures, I came across another article online written by David Furlong called Healing Your Ancestral Patterns where he talks about the need to grab every opportunity to heal our ancestral family lines because we are all linked to the universe through our ancestry. In this article, Mr. Furlong enlightens us with an excerpt from a book called Karma and Reincarnation by Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama, Head Priest of the Shinto Tamamitsu sect of Japan which states: The parent/child connection manifests as one link in a long chain of ancestral karma that stretches back through time. Your link to your family allows you to be born into that specic line it is a link that needs to be understood and respected. In this modern scientic age it is very difcult for people to accept the fact that they are responsible to their ancestors, that they are

actually liable for the actions of their ancestors if the resulting karma has not yet been dissolved. Many nd it absurd to think that the actions of an unknown ancestor could possibly have anything to do with what is happening to them today. But time and time again when investigating someones karma, I nd problems that stretch back generations. Their spirit is not just an individual entity, it is also part of the family spirit that births and nurtures it. Even in the bible, Numbers 14:18, there is reference to us as children suffering for the sins of our forefathers even unto the third and fourth generations clearly suggesting how integral the ancestors are to our lives and how we must learn and teach prayer and sacrice including the giving of ourselves to keep us in harmony with our lineage. This article further makes it clear that many cultures, both sophisticated and primitive, pay a great deal of attention to the ancestral family line proving that this form of veneration is one of the most widespread of all religious belief systems. Many people venerate all of their ancestors without any emotional problems or hang ups but there are some who nd it uncomfortable or they feel bitter about giving veneration to ancestors that have been abusive in some way or another whether emotionally, physically, sexually, and/or verbally. While in many cases, it is understandable why someone may not want to venerate an ancestor that has caused harm to him/her or to another loved one, however it is my plea to keep in mind that you

must TRY TO forgive. Of course, it is up to you and what makes you comfortable. I know this is easier said than done but when we forgive, we heal ourselves. Many times, ancestors who have done wrong in life will seek light and prayer from you, wanting forgiveness, wanting repentance, and wanting to give, help, and do for you on the other side what they did not get to do in life, all because they have transitioned through "The Light of Understanding" and have come to realize their mistakes now that they reside on the other side. If you can nd it in your heart to pray for your ancestors who have done wrong, then great, it not, then you must do what makes you comfortable. [If you choose to pray for an ancestor that has caused harm to you or a loved one, you can say a brief prayer that you forgive them and that you pray for the soul of {name of person} to elevate and nd the light, peace, and love in God that he or she needs that will bring peace to you, your family, and your home.] Either way, we need to pray for healing, for both the deceased, for ourselves and for generations to come so that we can alleviate as many dysfunctional and abusive patterns as we can so that they will cease and will no longer plague any member of the family line, directly or indirectly. On another note, we also need to pray for ancestral healing from karmic energy. Many of us have heard of karmic energy that affects an individual singly but multiple family members as a whole can also carry karmic energy, whether negative or positive. From a negative aspect, I am sure that you can think of at least one family that just cannot get it together

they struggle and suffer for many reasons. These families can carry a karmic energy of sickness, poverty, death, or even mental illness. While in other families; drugs and judicial problems are prevalent. Some would even view this type of enery as a generational curse. Through ancestral healing, whether through prayers, rituals, or ceremonies we can work to heal our ancestors in the spirit realm so that they can help us to heal in the living for a better way of living. For this reason, I have written an "Ancestral Healing Prayer" that can be said at your altar or at any time that you get the feeling to help not just the deceased but yourself in the healing process.

ANCESTRAL HEALING PRAYER

I offer light and pour libation with respect and honor for all my ancestors whose names I know (say all the names that you know) and all the ones I dont know to uplift and liberate their soul(s) in the name and light of the Almighty God. For it is through the love, the will, and the power of God that all souls are saved. I offer prayer and protection by way of the Divine Creator for those ancestral souls that are in darkness, forgotten, or lost. Let the light I offer fade out the shadows of fear and guide them toward the arms of God.

I offer guidance to my ancestors by way of the Guardian Angels and Protective Spirits who by the power and order of God will assist them in their greater act of evolution. Let the light I offer be a Beacon of Hope and serve as an escape and protective shield from the shadows of despair. I offer love, compassion, and comfort to those ancestral souls that are suffering and depressed. Let the light I offer lead them from discord and the miseries of their souls to the sanctuary of God and the joys of heavenly bliss. I offer healing by way of the Supreme Being on all spiritual levels for those ancestors who were abused, aficted, deceived, enslaved, hated, lonely, misguided, neglected, oppressed, pained, saddened, traumatized, and died tragically. Let the light I offer to their souls inspire clemency, liberation, faith, love and harmony from today onward. I offer forgiveness to the ancestral souls that want to repent, sincerely, for the error of their ways in both realms of life and death. Let this light guide them to the truth, enlightenment and righteousness of God.

In addition, I forgive those ancestors that committed wrongs that have set their generational line us that are living in barrenness. And I forgive those ancestors whose past sins Ive had to suffer as a result of their own naivety, ignorance and inferior habits and traits. Let the light I offer serve as a reminder for us in the living to acknowledge and learn not to make the same mistakes as the ones who lived before us. In every way, I forgive those ancestors who need it most so that their souls will embrace in positive gratication a new and improved way of living in the spirit realm and that those souls will elevate in peace and awaken to eternal life as God promised.