Working With Our Ancestors

Hello again friends. First a little venting is needed.... now that the days are getting colder I can’t stop shivering. I am not a winter person at all. I like the season but I don’t like the cold. Does that make any sense? I think I was a bear in my former life because I want to just lock myself indoors and hibernate for the winter. Wake me when the weather gets warmer. My poor little fingers and toes are freezing no matter how warmly I’m dressed...sigh....I can’t be the only one with this problem can I? If you hate the cold winter months as much as I do please give me a shout so I know I’m not alone in my misery.... LOL

Okay, if my fingers will come out of their frozen coma I’m gonna try and explain the way I work with my own ancestors so this topic will be broken into several postings for convenience sake.

When someone speaks of ancestor altars visions of voodoo build in the minds of many people. The fact is honoring the ancestors and creating altars for them is practiced in almost every religion all over the world. In fact, seeing such altars in Asian businesses and other public places is common.

The beloved family member who cared for you while in the living hasn’t stopped caring for you in spirit. Why should we ignore or forget about them because of passing? Passing is not the end....it’s the beginning of a new journey. We mourn for them because we are not able to see them in the flesh as we once did. We cannot touch them, hug them, or feel their warmth. Maybe we mourn because of the way they entered into their new journey.

Los muertos (the dead) are still part of us, and you can still have closeness with them if you choose to. They are still there to guide us and offer advice. Spiritualism and the spirit world are wide open areas. There are no rules to follow. Two individuals seeking the same outcome may have a very different approach...but the same effect. Creating an altar to your ancestors is one way to accomplish this task.

Your altar becomes your focal point and it should be used every day. If you can’t accomplish using the altar on a daily basis than at least use it once a week, no less. Here is where you take your problems, worries, concerns, and happiness. This is the place to sit and talk with the ancestors just as if they were sitting right in front of you. Tell them you still love them and you haven’t forgotten them. Here you can ask for assistance in any problem you have and ask for guidance and solutions.

These altars are a place of prayer, wisdom, and growth. The more the altar is used the more energy it builds. Eventually it becomes so powerful that someone walking near it can actually feel the energy as it nears the body. More on that a little later....first things first.

Staying connected to your ancestors in this way is only the beginning. Spirits are energy. Energy is attracted to energy. This means that not only will the altar become a place for your ancestors...it will become a place for other spirits as well. What does this mean? It means that we have now built a bridge to fill the gap to us and the spirit world giving us stronger ability for communication not only with our own loved ones but with other spirits who are attracted to the energy you exposed. It isn’t like the world we live in where you lock your front door to keep unwanted people out. Any spirit can communicate with you here....if you choose to do so.

Okay, I’m gonna stop here I don’t want you to get zombied out staring at your computer screen for too long. In the next posting I’ll share with you my method of setting up an ancestor altar and other goodies.