Sitting with our Ancestors

 Written By Jerry Buie

I was recently giving readings at a retreat center in Costa Rica. The readings I do were handed down and taught to me by Malidoma Some’s and is considered a direct correspondence with one’s ancestors as revealed through the shells and items on the divination cloth. It occurred to me that many of the participants had a limited perspective of ancestor. 

Often when people consider the concept of ancestors, they reference the most immediate people they recall from childhood which is likely grandparents or some distant relative and frequently we know just enough about these relatives lives to sometimes be turned off by them or deep in our family wounds. For instance, I know I have questionable people in my family line, not the kind of people one wants to have a cozy relationship. But I also know there are stories of quiet heroes in my family line.

In many spiritual practices there is an effort to connect to those who’ve come before us. The Coastal Salish have elaborate ancestor burnings in which meals are sent energetically through fire to “feed’ these dearly departed. Malidoma’s people, the Dagra have elaborate ritual in honoring ancestors of the blood line. At the retreat in Costa Rica, I found myself having to remind people that our ancestral lineage reaches to the beginning of time. We must remember that those who existed before us are in a different state of engagement with us today. These ancestors of our blood are paying attention to us because their situation depends on how well we clear and clean the ancestral line and we do that by aligning with our gifts and talents and if we are living our purpose in this life.

I was recently in ceremony and had a brief vision. I found myself in front of a tribunal of my ancestors. Not only ancestors of my blood line but also those who have been teachers, elders, and guides in this life. Their primary question to me was if I was living up to the gifts and opportunities offered to me in this life? What was I doing with my gifts? These are interesting questions that had a powerful impact on my consciousness. 

We can and should broaden our concept of ancestors to include teachers, elders, guides as well as beings from other dimensions such as from nature. Our four-legged friends and winged ones, and the other inhabitants of this world can also be our allies and ancestors. The concept of ancestors in multidimensional.

By connecting to my ancestors, by honoring them, by considering the depth and breadth of our existence and my connections to my ancestral line I begin to understand that life is not by coincidence and that each life; mine, yours, everyone’s has great and powerful meaning. In our most recent retreat, it was a powerful witness to invite participants to move beyond the immediate barriers to those connections and witness the power of connecting with the blood line ancestors as well as the ancestors of the lands we were at, the ancestral beings from other dimensions and to be in full recognition of our interrelatedness. By related to the earth as an identity as opposed to a commodity, we empower ourselves for a more powerful and fulfilling existence.

In many ceremonies we say Aho Mitakuye Oyasin, To All my Relations. Perhaps in looking at the relationship of ancestors we can begin to fully understand this concept of “All my Relations”.