“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are a continuation of these people.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh
This is a very special time of year. The veils between our world and the Ancestors’ are thin. Therefore, this is a great time for healing and receiving guidance, as well, as a fabulous time for honoring the ancestors.
Through genetics, we know the importance of our ancestors and their health on our own health. Through epigenetics, we know that our ancestors have an even bigger effect on us. For along with their genetic information, they also pass down their thoughts, beliefs, fears, and feelings. Most of these live in our subconscious minds and they can have enormous effects on our lives and culture.
For instance, ancestors who lost everything in the great depression may pass along a belief of scarcity to their progeny. This can appear in many ways. Maybe they hoard (money, food, things), maybe they continually are broke or lose their jobs, maybe they refuse to help others, maybe they continue the story of losing everything, or maybe they are obsessed with earning as much money as they can.
To become conscious individuals, I believe it is our responsibility to take ownership of our previously subconscious beliefs and heal or shift them if necessary. One of the greatest ways to honor your ancestors is to heal and clear the burdens and limiting beliefs they carried. Through our healing, we are able to heal our ancestors as well as the future generations.
If you do the work of healing your ancestral lineage (or even simply research your lineage), you discover that we each have oppressors and oppressed among our ancestors. Or as Helen Keller states, “There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.” Therefore, I think that it is important that we do this work with an open Heart and free of judgment.
If we look at our current events, we can see the subconscious beliefs of our ancestors bubbling up. It is time that we lay to rest the belief that we or anyone is better than another person. This belief has been promoted through racist, sexist, homophobic, and other hateful words and actions. And it is false, as we are all connected.
Another belief that needs to be healed is the belief that we are separate from Nature. This is an impossibility, we are Nature. This belief has allowed us (and our ancestors) to pollute, clear-cut, mine, drill and create other forms of destruction. Around the world, we can see the challenge of this belief. To me, this is most evident at Standing Rock, where protectors are gathering to say, “This is our Mother, you may not bulldoze her. The water is our medicine, you may not pollute her.” This is exciting and the ancestors (and Nature Spirits) are happy to see this.
These are only 2 rather large beliefs that are effecting our culture. Most of us have other beliefs, fears, or patterns that we inherited from our ancestors. I often encounter these in the healing sessions with my clients. As quantum physics tells us, we create our environment and life based on what we believe. Therefore, it is important that we align our subconscious beliefs with the life that we want to live; rather than be held captive to our limiting beliefs. This can be done in a number of ways. I work with Flower Essences, Plant Spirit Healing, and PSYCH-K to help with limiting beliefs and to heal the wounds of the ancestors.
Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “We know very well that we have ancestors. But our ancestors are not only human. We have animal ancestors; we have plant ancestors; and we have mineral ancestors... Not only were they part of us in the past, but they continue to exist within us. Just look deeply into your cells. We see that we are the whole history of life.” While this is a great time of year to work with and honor our human ancestors, we can also connect with our other ancestors, including those of the Star Beings.
Here are some ways to work with your ancestors:
- Create an altar for them
- Learn about your heritage
- Make special family recipes
- Set a place for them at your table
- Share family stories or read cultural fairy tales
- Ask them to visit you in a dream
- Say prayers for them
- Have a special candle that you light in honor of them
- Do a healing ceremony for your ancestors
- Spend time in Nature
- Cedar and Corn are two Plants that help with ancestral work
There are many more ideas. Mostly, keep your ancestors present in your daily life. This helps to keep their memory alive and allows you to receive guidance and support from them. If you are adopted or did not know your ancestors, you can still work with them and honor them. I would do journey work with them and ask them to visit my dreams. It is amazing what you can learn in this fashion.
And know that when you honor your ancestors, you honor yourself and vice versa, when you honor yourself, you honor your ancestors. So follow your Heart and live the life of your dreams. Your ancestors have given much for you to have the life that you have. You allow their memory (and in some way, their lives) to continue.
