What happened to our traditional ancestral autumn ceremony?
Although it’s hard to recognise now, Hallowe'en is in fact a Christian festival which overlaid the ancient traditional gatherings of Samhain. Recent commercialisation of Hallowe’en has turned it into a depressing and meaningless ritual mostly aimed at commercially exploiting families with children and playing on their vulnerability.
It’s in our ancient heritage to gather in October, in the presence of our ancestors, as a loving act of reverence. A moment when ancient people believed spirits were closer to us, and therefore available to help guide us through winter.
Reclaiming this vital ceremony is worthwhile, as it can be transformed into a positive time for self-care, rest and reflection. October rituals of lovingly remembering ancestors becomes a way to help us navigate the cooler months ahead. This will particularly help those who feel a foreboding for autumn’s seasonal change.
The reclamation process starts by hitting life’s pause button for a few hours, to take time to connect to an ancestral inner space, where all your loved ones from the past are waiting to guide you. Meditating with, or simply contemplating, your ancestral lineage is deeply nurturing, yet it’s largely ignored as a spiritual practice and not on most people’s ritual radar.
Discovering your ancestral chain starts with parents and grandparents but to really get a sense of it’s purpose you need to become a time traveller. Send your consciousness as far back in time as you can, where remarkable people and places are waiting to be unearthed. Feeling these ancestral threads through time can empower us by bringing them back with us into the present.
Landscape is important for making ancestral connection yet modern humans have strayed too far from ancestral land. So, actively seeking out sacred places supports this journey. Using tools like meditation near ancient sites such as burial mounds, settlements, stone circles, rings of trees (wood-henges), sacred groves or springs, can support this vital connection. Sometimes simply sitting beside an open fire can also transport you into the land of your ancestors.
The key to going on an ancestral journey is your intention. Knowing what you want to ask your ancestors is essential. This can be simply, for example, asking for their guidance and support over the coming months, or for help with a specific issue. Just avoid making your ancestral quest too complicated, remember you are tapping into potentially many lifetimes of accumulated wisdom.
Once you start this process it helps you to make it a regular practice. Tune in now and again, when you feel it’s most needed. Creating an altar in your home or special place in nature is another wonderfully helpful device.
To be clear, it’s not actual crossing over into the spirit world, but rather linking with the soul energy of our loved ones who came before us. Yet, it can be a felt as a sense within us, of the ancestors being with present with us now. This is a response from your energy system recognising a feeling of belonging.
Many people in your lineage may have suffered trauma or lived difficult lives. When you connect to ancestors you go beyond their earthly personality and interact with the perfection of their souls as they have shed their imperfect earthly existence.
Ancient indigenous people kept relics of their ancestors with them all the time and placed artefacts in their homes and sacred places, it’s useful to follow this timeless example. Trees are a great help, as placing something significant close to the roots of a tree is both symbolic and gives you a great cue for visualisation.
Awareness of your ancestry is a wonderful support when grieving. It gives perspective to loss and reveals the bigger picture of your place in a long line of people who lovingly created your family. Grieving is an act of love, so it’s beneficial to absorb the wider context of being a member of a chain of connected people, who deeply loved each other.
Asking people who have preceded you for a simple blessing is a beautiful way of healing grief and loss. A blessing brings calm and love to a painful situation, yet perhaps it’s not something that often comes to mind.
Our ancestral chain is one of the biggest containers of human love we can access during our lives. One day, of course, we will join our ancestors, as we are travelling with them on a continuous journey. Then our descendants will be able ask us for help and guidance, as the cycle continues.
Anam Cara Energy Healing provides guidance and support for creating your ancestral connection and journey.
On Saturday, 15th October, 2022 Simon is hosting an Ancestral Healing Ceremony for up to 20 people. Further information and booking details are found here:
Future ancestral group healing sessions will follow and be posted on this website.
Individual healing treatments, both in person and over distance, can be arranged by contacting Simon directly by email/telephone: simon@anamcaraenergyhealing.com/07979 498559
Ancestral Connection guided meditation is accessed here: