By Judy Ramsey
In shamanism, ancestors are a source of great personal power and support that one may call upon to enrich one’s growth, to gain wisdom, and to manifest one’s highest good.
Who are the ancestors?
Depending on one’s culture, they can be as specific as immediate family members or refer broadly to what shamanic practitioners call All Our Relations, including those with whom we have a heart connection, beloved animals, or everyone and everything who was alive at a particular moment in time. In shamanism, everything has a spirit with whom one may interact. It’s about the connection one has to those in the web of life who are willing to help us.
Christina Pratt, in her Encyclopedia of Shamanism, defines ancestor spirits as spirits of deceased family members who are not only dead, but who have successfully completed their transition into the spirit world where they now belong. These are the well ancestors, who are in their power and want to help from their wholeness. These are the spirits a practitioner calls upon for support and guidance. Ghosts are ancestors who haven’t yet achieved wholeness and can’t support anyone.
Critical to working with ancestors is the development of a close relationship with them through honoring and acknowledgement. Many cultures honor their dead. Long ago, vigils were conducted in the home before burial, and the deceased continued to be honored through generations. Days of the Dead in Spanish and Latino traditions have an ofrenda, or altar, set up all year long. In Celtic traditions, people fasted and prayed that ancestors would come to the wake; they’d make amulets with the deceased’s hair for an ongoing connection with the person. In Bali, every home is a temple with ancestral altars to keep them close to the family. In Africa, the sangona, or village wise one, retrieves wisdom from the ancestors and channels their advice to villagers.
Modern cultures of the western world have lost this connection with the ancestors. Over time, churches gradually separated people from their home-honoring of the deceased by setting up communal graveyards and rituals that replaced traditional celebrations. According to Dr. David Kowalevski, a shamanic practitioner who works with death and dying, the honoring of ancestors was replaced with honoring of saints. Religious authorities promoted the present and future life, rather than the past. Dr. Kowalevski also points to what he calls the “industry of dying” that further promotes disconnection—funeral homes, laws requiring coffin and burial specifics, sales of coffins, plots, and memorabilia for both human and pet deaths.
Why do ancestors matter?
It is the responsibility of ancestors to hold the memories and wisdom gained from the past all the way back to when humans first began to inhabit the Earth. It is the responsibility of the living to heal the past, to learn from ancestors’ mistakes, and to create change for the descendants.
Ancestors are a source of personal power for a shamanic practitioner. They often present themselves to apprentice shamans, especially if the ancestor was a shaman, wise woman, or medicine man, themselves, and they become teachers and strong allies. A practitioner draws on the collective wisdom of humankind and translates this information from the past into appropriate rituals, healings, and ceremonies for the present situation.
Because our ancestors have the same energetic signature as we do, they can help with family problems and dynamics such as addiction, depression, conflict, or dysfunction. They can help to heal relationships with those who have died. They can also repair the DNA by restoring the original matrix of the person in shamanic ceremony. Ancestors make good helping spirits because they have spiritual experience derived from the crises they themselves experienced in their lifetime. They are the wisdom keepers of the line and the keepers of truth. They help us to face our moments of truth.
How do we connect with our ancestors?
From a shamanic point of view, our ancestors care deeply for us, because we are part of a spiritual family. They are always watching us and are always present, especially if we had a close relationship with them when they were alive. Explore your feelings about connecting with your ancestors. Does it feel comfortable or awkward? Is there anything within your psyche that resists connection?
In Dr. Kowalevski’s experience, the ancestors must be called. They will give us what we need, not necessarily what we want, like any other ally. When I asked, my own spirit allies gave me the following tips to pass along.
1) It is best to connect with ancestors through ritual and ceremony. Finding the well ancestors, connecting in a meaningful way, and then maintaining that connection are the key points. Come from a place of gratitude and awareness.
2) Connect through an altar dedicated to the ancestors. Approach the ancestors with a desire to build community with them.
3) It is important to honor one’s origins, all of which either came from or caused upheaval and dissolution of some kind. Honor the cycles of life and the energy it took to come to the present moment.
The shamanic view of ancestral energy is ancient and traditional across many world cultures. One does not have to be a shamanic practitioner to honor one’s heritage. Look at family history to see what means of honoring ancestors is most appropriate. A simple photo collection is a good, basic beginning. Look at the photos and notice the physical similarities through the line. Talk with family members about the gifts that ancestors contributed and acknowledge those strengths within yourself. Learn the names of distant relations.
Judy Liu Ramsey is truly blessed by her relationship with her Scottish and Chinese ancestors. She has been a shamanic practitioner for more than 12 years and is approved by Sandra Ingerman as an instructor for shamanic practice. She offers healing to both people and animals. If you’d like to learn more about how to access the depth of ancestral gifts through ritual, ceremony, and shamanic journeying, Ramsey will be teaching her class, Ancestors: The Power Within on May 4-5, 2024.
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In shamanism, ancestors are a source of great personal power and support that one may call upon to enrich one’s growth, to gain wisdom, and to manifest one’s highest good.