Ancestor R

Part One Of Three - Ancestor Reverance

Worldwide
*KNOW THYSELF*

*KNOW YOUR ANCESTORS*

Ancestor veneration or ancestor worship is practiced in some form or the other throughout
the world. The types of customs and rituals are varied and in some cultures ancestors are
worshiped as deities. I want to offer spiritual perspectives for various beliefs and customs.

The history of ancestor reverance is multi cultural and dates back to ancient Rome. In Rome
dead ancestors
were considered "ghosts or saints" What ever ancestor worship existed in ancient Rome was
a family affair, not a public one. . They visited the families and thus gained immortality by
reliving on earth. There was no great privilege in this; they were greeted and appeased but
had no substantial influence on the living Ancestor veneration or ancestor worship is
practiced in some form or the other throughout the world. The types of customs and rituals
are varied and in some cultures ancestors are worshiped as deities. I want to offer spiritual
perspectives for various beliefs and customs.

Among the Indo-European races likewise there appeared to have been at first no difference
between gods and ghosts, nor any ranking of gods as greater

Taoists believe that hungry ghosts are ghosts of people that did not find everything they
need to survive in their after life. If a ghost passes on, but does not have enough food,
water, shelter, etc., it will come back into the world of the living to feed on the living. They
will scare you, and then they will feed on your energy and fear. Taoists also believe that the
way a building is made will determine how attracted hungry ghosts or any ghost is to going
there. Taoists get rid of these hungry ghosts by performing a ritual. They will pray or chant
and offer food and other things to the hungry ghosts, so they will have what they need to
survive and move on to their next life

Ancestor worship, which is found in many forms in cultures throughout the world, has long
been a key religious belief and practice in China. Throughout China, ancestors have
traditionally been worshipped with sacrifices, shrines, and ancestor tablets. Ancestor tablets
vary in size and shape in different parts of the country, but typically consist of a one- or
two-piece tablet set up on a pedestal. The tablets are inscribed with the title and name of
the deceased, dates of birth and death, and additional information such as place of burial
and the name of the son who erects the tablet.

The customs involved in installing ancestor tablets in the family shrine also vary by region,
although there are some common practices. Often two tablets are made – one of paper and
one of wood. A ceremony takes place in which the ancestor’s spirit is transferred to the
wooden tablet. Once the transfer is successful, the paper tablet is either burned or buried
with the dead person. After the funeral service, the tablet is taken back to the family’s
house and housed in a shrine. There are usually three shrines for ancestor tablets per
house. The center shrine is reserved for the primary family ancestor, or Shin Chu, who is
placed in the middle of the shrine. The rest of the middle shrine is filled with the next most
important family members. All the other male family members’ tablets are housed in the
other two shrines; occasionally their wives’ tablets join them.

In addition to ancestor tablets, there are also spirit tablets devoted to the host of deities
that preside over the cosmos. These are placed in temples or wayside shrines and serve to
honor these figures and to protect the community.
Attitudes toward ancestor worship and the dead vary among societies. In Polynesian
societies where social rank depends on the nearness on the descent from the gods and their
successors the ancestors, the attitude is one of reverence and expectation of help and
guidance, but it involves little worship.

Among the American Pueblo Indians the dead were believed to become one with their
mythical forefathers, the kachmas; and there were ceremonials involving masked
impersonation of the kachmas, and prayers to "the departed" to give the living the blessing
of rain, fertility, and happiness.

The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls' Day) is a holiday celebrated in
Mexico and by Latinos (and others) living in the United States and Canada. The holiday
focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family
members who have died. The celebration occurs on the 2nd of November in connection with
the Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day which occurs on Nov 1st and All Souls' Day which
occurs on Nov 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using
sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting
graves with these as gifts.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern holiday to indigenous observances dating back
thousands of years, and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl.

Ancestral cults are very common in most of tropical Africa. Here family members include the
ancestors as well as the living. Though customs vary the beliefs are very much the same in
which:

1, The dead remain in this world, sharing invisibly in the life of their living descendants

2. In some cultures part of the dead become gods, in the sense of acquiring supernatural
power; but they retain the characters which distinguished them during life.

3.The happiness of the dead depends upon the remembrance by the living; and the
happiness of the living depends upon the fulfilment of pious duty to the dead.

In ancient Middle Eastern and European societies.

Ancestor worship in various forms existed among the ancient civilization of the
Mediterranean, where cults of the dead sometimes also existed, and among later European
peoples. Ancient Egyptian religion featured a cult of the dead but gave little attention to
ancestral spirits except to those of royalty, which were venerated by the people and
especially honoured in rites observed by their royal descendants. In ancient Babylonia a cult
of the dead also existed, and among the members of the ruling class ancestral spirits were
honoured by festive rites and sometimes deified. Beliefs and practices of late Zoroastrianism
(a religion founded by the 6th-7th-century-BC Iranian prophet Zoroaster) included rites for
the spirits of the dead, who were believed to have power in the affairs of the living. In
ancient Greece ancestor worship overlapped with hero worship. Some ritual attention was
given to spirits of household heads and political leaders, and the spirits of men whose deeds
were heroic were sometimes elevated to immortality and made the objects of rites of
reverence. In ancient Rome ancestor worship was a familial cult activity. Ancestral spirits
were believed to have influence on mortal life and to return to visit their relatives, when
rites were held in their honour.

Among various northern and eastern peoples of Europe, ancestral spirits also held some
importance. Ancient Celts, Teutons, Vikings, and Slavic groups conducted rites of
propitiation and sacrifice.

In Western Christianity, All Souls' Day commemorates the faithful departed. This day is
principally observed in the Catholic Church, although some churches of the Anglican
Communion and the Old Catholic Churches also celebrate it. The Eastern Orthodox churches
observes several All Souls' Days during the year. The Roman Catholic celebration is based
on the doctrine that the souls of the faithful which at death have not been cleansed from the
temporal punishment due to venial sins, or have not fully been purged from attachment to
mortal sins, cannot attain the beatific vision in heaven yet, and that they may be helped to
do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the Mass (see Purgatory). In other words, when they
died, they had not yet attained full sanctification and moral perfection, a requirement for
entrance into Heaven. This sanctification is carried out posthumously in Purgatory.

All Souls' Day is also known as the Feast of All Souls, Commemoration of all the Faithful
Departed. The official Latin designation Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, on
which this last name is based, is rendered more literally in Portuguese Comemoração de
todos os Fiéis Defuntos and many other languages. Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos or
de los Difuntos) is used in Spanish-speaking countries, and Thursday of the Dead (Yom el
Maouta) in Lebanon, Israel and Syria.

The Western celebration of All Souls' Day is on 2 November and follows All Saints' Day,
which commemorates the departed who have attained the beatific vision.
The Eastern Orthodox Church dedicates several days throughout the year to the dead,
mostly on Saturdays, because of Jesus' resting in the tomb on Saturday.

Within Judaism, prayers for the dead form part of the Jewish services. The prayers offered
on behalf of the deceased consist of: Recitation of Psalms; Reciting a thrice daily communal
prayer in Aramaic known as "Kaddish" which actually means "Sanctification" (or "[Prayer of]
Making Holy") which is a prayer "In Praise of God"; or other special remembrances known
as Yizkor; and also a Hazkara said either on the annual commemoration known as the
Yahrzeit as well on Jewish holidays.

Fet Gede is known as "the feast of the dead" in Vodou, it is celebrated on Nov.2nd. We
honor those that have come before us, Fet Gede is a very festive celebration, in which on
this day the thinnest veil between life and death.

How can ancestor reverence help us?

A beautiful 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 specific
line – it is a link that needs to be understood and respected. In this modern scientific age it
is very difficult 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 find 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 someone’s karma, I find 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.”

"Ancestor worship includes all of the attitudes and acts usually associated with the worship
of nonancestral gods and spirits. According to some scholars and theorists, ancestral spirits
are anthropocentric conceptions similar to other supernatural beings; that is, the spirits
have the qualities of personality and the capabilities of man, to which supernatural potency
is added. The spirits see, hear, feel, understand, and communicate with the living; they
make moral judgments; they are wishful, willful, joyful, angry, stern, permissive, kind,
cruel, and sometimes capricious; and they have all the other emotions and traits of human
beings. All of the behaviour and practices that are customary with regard to other kinds of
supernatural beings are found in rites of ancestral worship--veneration and propitiation in
the forms of prayers, offerings, sacrifices, the maintenance of moral standards, and festivals
of honour that may include pageantry, music, dance, and other forms of art" Courtesy
article JesusI

Ancestors offer protection: Departed ancestors are believed to wield great authority, having
special powers to influence the course of events or to control the well-being of their living
relatives. They provide protection to the family and keeping it together is one of the
departed ancestor’s main concerns. The living may regard the departed ancestors as
‘guardian angels’ to them; protecting them from serious accidents, or guiding their path in
life.

Your ancestors miss you and want to know you, the more they are included in your lives,
the more interest they will take in your life, the dead can heal and change your life around.
 You have ancestors not just from this lifetime but from numerous past lives.

Ancestors can intercede: Sometimes departed ancestors are considered intermediaries

between God and deities and the family they have left behind. It is believed that they
intercede with God, Saints and deities for the benefit of the family.

Religous beliefs vary on this but since we don't know yet what's it's like on the other side, I
would say in some context it's true. If your recently departed had a favorite Saint/Guru/
Hero I would definitely put a picture up at the altar. If you need something write a cross on
the back of the picture, and put in your petition to your ancestors.

If ancestors are neglected or forgotten you can have bad luck or problems. They want your
attention. Many times when people tell me their problems, if I feel it's spiritual in nature I
inquire if they remember their ancestors, often it's a
"no" as soon as they set up an altar, or perform a mass, their problems greatly subside..

If you are having medical problems that have no diagnosis or constant fatigue, heaviness,
or depression this is a sign that your ancestors need attention. I though I was developing
CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) until I started my altar and fed my ancestors, after about a
month I was completely healed.
Part Three Of Three - Setting an altar up,
Saluting
Thoughts are living things. A thought is as much solid as a piece of stone. We may cease to
be, but our thoughts can never die.

Every change in thought is accompanied by vibration of its matter (mental). Thought as

force needs a special kind of subtle matter in its working.

The stronger the thoughts, the earlier the fructification. Thought is focussed and given a
particular direction and, in the degree that thought is thus focussed and given direction, it is
effective in the work it is sent out to accomplish

Thinking and talking to your ancestors is important, so is an altar. An altar can be a shelf in
the closet or a very pretty display. You'll read all sorts of ways to have sacred space, from
using holy water, florida water, even using your own urine! I would start off with a clean
white cloth, but if, for example, you have a small child or pets that would pull it down, don't
do it and don't worry. The reason being that your ancestors want you to acknowledge them
and have a relationship with you. Your altar will grow and change in time, you'll be adding
more pictures and more things that they like, so don't stress if you are on a budget, and
can't have white roses, or fancy stuff, try using their favorite perfume instead or even
yours. It's the intention and sincerity that counts. Let THEM guide you.

By setting up an altar you are elevating your ancestors spiritually.

Put a picture of your ancestor(s) on your table, shelf, with a white candle and a white plate
and a glass of water.

Water is a passageway for the spirits, it also refreshes them.

The candle represents the soul and light of God.

Here is a great and comprehensive starting point courtesy of Jean Kent, and used with
permission. This is how you salute your ancestors.

Weekly Salute To Ancestors - COURTESY JEAN KENT

You will need a glass of water, a white candle and a plate. When you bow, bow by just
slightly bending your knees and coming right back up, still facing forward. Face East and
light the candle. Take the glass of water and the lit candle and raise them while announcing
to the spirits, Spirits of my ancestors, mother’s side, father’s side, love honor respect! Drop
a small quantity of water on the ground then bow. Turn clockwise to the West and do the
same, then turn counter-clockwise to North, then clockwise to South. After you are done,
leave the candle to burn out in the center of a plate, with the glass next to it. If you are
nervous to leave it burning when you are not present, you can snuff it then relight it later.
Dump the water out and throw away the wax when you are done. If you are struggling with
finances, you will find it beneficial to place a fork, butter knife, and spoon around the
candle. Have the knife and fork touching points, making the sides of the triangle, and lay
the spoon across the bottom to form the base. This symbolizes that you need money to eat.

Here is another way to help your ancestors -COURTESY JEAN KENT

Yearly Mass For Ancestors

Once a year, go to a Catholic or Greek Orthodox Church’s Parish office and request a mass
for your ancestors. (Jewish also provide services for the dead but the Catholics will do it no
matter what your religious belief are) You should do one for your mother’s side, one for
your father’s side. In addition when you request this service you you should give a a $3.00
donation for the poor, understand you don't have to be there when they perform the mass
on the other hand, the mass will not be valid without the donation. When the Parish is
taking your request, they will ask when you want to schedule the mass, just say whenever
is available. The effect takes place as soon as you pay for it. It is imperative to do this once
a year so that the spirits you have work for you. If you don’t take care of your ancestors,
then why should they help you?

Why do we offer tangible things to our ancestors? If my ancestor was an alchoholic should I
offer him liquor?
Our ancestors will feed of the energy of the food, treats and drinks, give them what they
like in life. As for your ancestor having an addiction problem, I say go ahead, they are dead,
give Uncle Bob his favorite beer.

"I am adopted or my ancestors were really bad people"

If you have no idea who your ancestors are, still pray for them and put up a picture of your
favorite saint or icon. You say your ancestors were "bad" let God be the judge, do the mass
at least.

Put a glass of water by your bed, it helps to get messages or dreams from your ancestors
and will help you sleep.in general.

Can I put a picture of a living person with my ancestor who passed?

Even though the majority say no, people put up co-pictures all over the world, back in the
days, people were photographed with the dead it is said that you never put a picture of
someone living with the dead, the dead might want to take them. Personally I don't see the
sense in this or a cosmic law, correct me if I am wrong. If you had a child that passed it's
natural sometimes there are pictures with family members. My religon tells me this is a no-
no but if someone has a picture of themself with a deceased child, perhaps think of it this
way that it's very healing to both the child and the parents to still be together.

Also consider spending time at your altar, talking to your ancestors, telling them about your
life and activities, your hopes and dreams, this will spark interest from your ancestors on
your life.

There might be a time that you don't feel anything anymore, nor have dreams or feel a
presence, in this case, your ancestor might have passed on to a higher level.

ANCESTRAL HEALING PRAYER

written by T.M. Lawson

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 don’t 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, afflicted, 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 I’ve 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 gratification 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.

In the name of God and through his mercy and blessings, let today be the beginning of a
continual healing process for all my ancestral guides and release of all blocked and negative
 genetic energy patterns within the generational line steadily healing each family member
including myself day-by-day. As you, the Ancestors heal on the other side, we ask that you
forgive us as you have been forgiven and help us to heal with free flowing positive and
progressive energy for the better well-being of all concerned.

In God’s name we pray and may the Light, Power, and Peace of God be with us always. And
so it was spoken and so it will be!

Conclusion The power of thought

Thought alone is the whole world, the great pains, the old age, death and the
great sin, earth, water, fire, air, ether. Thought binds a man. He who has
controlled his thoughts, is a veritable God on this earth.

You live in a world of thoughts. First is thought. Then there is the expression
of that thought through the organ of speech. Thought and language are intimately
connected. Thoughts of anger, bitterness and malice injure others. If the mind
which is the cause of all thoughts vanishes, the external objects will
disappear.

Thoughts are things. Sound, touch, form, taste and odour, the five sheaths, the
waking, the dreaming and deep sleep states - all these are the products of mind.
passion, anger, bondage, time—know them to be the result of mind.
Thought is the root of all mental process.

The thoughts that we perceive all round us are only the mind in form or
substance. Thought creates, thought destroys. Bitterness and sweetness do not
lie in the objects, but they are in the mind, in the subject, in thinking. They
are created by thought.

Through the play of the mind or thought upon objects, proximity appears to be a
great distance and vice versa. All objects in this world are unconnected; they
are connected and associated together only by thought, by the imagination of
your mind. It is the mind that gives colour, shape, qualities to the objects.
Mind assumes the shape of any object it intensely thinks upon.

Friend and enemy, virtue and vice are in the mind only. Every man creates a
world of good and evil, pleasure and pain, out of his own imagination only. Good
and evil, pleasure and pain do not proceed from objects. These belong to the
attitude of your mind. There is nothing good nor pleasant in this world. Your
imagination makes it so

Thought is the greatest force on earth. Thought is the most powerful weapon in
the armour of a human being thought transforms, renews and builds.

The far-reaching possibilities of this force were most accurately developed to

perfection by the ancients and put to the highest possible use.

For, thought is the primal force at the origin and back of all creation; the
genesis of the entire phenomenal creation is given as a single thought that
arose in the Cosmic Mind.
 The world is the Primal Idea made manifest. This First Thought became manifest
as a vibration issuing from the Eternal Stillness of the Divine Essence. This is
the reference in classic terminology to the Ichha, desire of the Hiranyagarbha,
Cosmic Soul, that originates as a vibration.

This vibration is nothing like the rapid oscillation to and fro of physical
particles, but is some thing infinitely subtle, so subtle as to be even
inconceivable to the normal mind.

But this has made it clear that all forces are ultimately resolvable into a
state of pure vibration. Modern science also has newly arrived at this
conclusion after its prolonged researches in external physical nature.

In physics you have the term "power of orientation". Though the mass of energy
is there, the current will not flow. It must be connected to the magnet and then
the electric current will flow through the power of orientation.

Even so, the mental energy which is dissipated and misdirected in various
worthless worldly thoughts should be well directed in proper spiritual channels.

Thoughts of love towards your ancestors, evolves them, releases them, helps them.

At the beginning we have a physical body plus all the spiritual parts
of it as well. That is where we are now on earth. We are
getting born at the beginning and are suffering a physical death at
the end of each physical incarnation. We all
shall start one day to be fed up with these suffering and start
thinking about what caused this. Our soul strives for Love nothing
but Love. Imagine the ancestors seeing all this going on at their level.
They too, still need your love, and your attention.

In conclusion let me leave you with this thought...

"The bottom line of this all, is that the Dead and the Living are mutually dependent
upon one another, we are each other’s symbols, each other’s hope, postulation,
future, destiny; each other’s Spirit …"
(courtesy Steven Van Neste)