Happy Halloween! Happy All Hallow’s Eve!
A Personal Ritual

My offering today is a simple, personal ritual that can be done today, or at any time. The intention is one of honoring your beloved Ancestors, the guidance and gifts you have been gifted from them and your unique gifts that have evolved from them.

Spend some time gathering some pictures/album if you have one, to be used as the representation of your Ancestors. I am going to say that for this ritual, your Ancestors do not have to be biological. These may be those beloveds whom you considered to be “family” in every sense of the word. The key take-away from this statement is that we are all connected and all carry within our spiritual bloodlines the energy of all others who have come and passed before us, whether biological or not. And, I know that there are many who never connected to their biological family and found true home, support, love and Ancestry in other than DNA.

So, when you are ready, let’s begin….

A Personal Ritual of Honoring Your Legacy of the Ancestors

You will need:

A Quiet place where you will not be disturbed, and…..

• Candle of any color or size;
• Candle and holder if needed;
• Lighter or matches;
• Album(s) or Pictures of any Ancestors you wish to honor;
• Blank sheet of paper and marker/open;
• Glass cup or container with a small amount of alcohol, strong black coffee or tea to be used as offering to your Ancestors.

When you have gathered your supplies, take a moment and look around at the space you have chosen for this working. Get comfortable and settle into a chair, the floor or simply standing.

Take several very deep breaths, each deeper and longer than the next and allow any distractions from the day/evening or outside world to fall away for this space of time.

Create a container of Sacred Space for yourself and this work in whatever manner is aligned with your practice. If you wish to do a full casting that is fine, as well as a visualization of being surrounded by white light, an offering to your guides and spirits,etc.

Once complete, verbally invite into that space whatever beings you wish to assist or witness this rite. Feel their presence and offer up gratitude for answering your call.

Turn your focus to the altar space you have set for your working. Bless this space as support and container for the work that you will be doing and offer up gratitude for each of the items present on it-pictures/albums, candle, lighter, sheet of paper and marker. Take several minutes to allow the echoes of what you have set into motion to resonate within you.

Take your blank sheet of paper and pen/marker and in the center of the sheet draw an image that represents You. (I would possibly draw a serpent since I work with that energy frequently, or the glyph for the planet Uranus, which is very strongly activated within me; or an ankh, representing the Egyptian pantheon and those who are my guides and guardians).

As you draw this symbol fill it with all of the intentions of those gifts that have been guided by what you know of your ancestors. When complete, (literally) breathe into this image seeing it enlivened and quickened by your intentions and breath.

Hold up your glass holding the offering to your Ancestors and say aloud a welcoming and calling to those you wish to be present. Make declaration of your intention to honor their gifts left behind and gifted to you and to your work of becoming the embodiment of their legacy. When the calling feels answered place the glass back on the altar.

Around the edging if your paper and symbol draw a star shape or asterisk to represent each of your Ancestors.  As you draw each star of representation, say that Ancestor’s name aloud and hold their image in your mind’s eye for a few minutes. Scatter these stars around your symbol so they fill in space 360-degrees.

Once complete, return to focusing on the symbol of You. Now fill this symbol with all of those intentions of gifts you have cultivated from this lifetime’s work that are unique to you and would be considered your legacy. Hold each gift for a moment in the space of your consciousness and ten send it into the image. When complete, (literally) breathe into this image seeing it enlivened and quickened by your intentions and breath.

Weaving the Legacy

Take up your candle and place it centrally on the paper over the symbol of “you”. Look at each of the stars of your ancestors and envision each sparkling brightly and enlivened. See each connecting one to the other. Take up your lighter and when the star-filled background of Ancestors feels enlivened, light your candle. Let the flame of that candle move into the light of the symbol of “you” underneath. Allow your intention to weave all of the energy of each of your star-filled ancestors into and through the symbol of “you” and up and into the brilliance of light from the candle flame. Spend some time weaving a tapestry of connection from stars to candle to symbol of “you”. Let it continue to build as a complete picture of light and star, you and them (Ancestors), and when you feel ready-draw the energy into your being. Hold the intention of the inter-connectedness.  Remain in this energy for as long as you wish.

When you feel complete. Verbally offer up gratitude to those Ancestors whom you have honored. Offer up gratitude to those guides, guardians and spirits whom you called to witness and assist. Release the energy of your sacred space/casting and allow yourself to slowly return to the mundane.  Extinguish your candle and reuse as needed to bolster and serve as a reminder of the work you have accomplished. Libate the alcohol/coffee/tea to the land and speak the intention of it as gift from the Ancestors to the land.

So Mote It Be!

May the blessings of the  Ancestors remain within you always. And may you always remember that you will one day also become the Ancestor and have those who will carry your legacy forward!