“And now we take the time to honor the ancestors”
“I’m not worried, I know the ancestors are protecting me”
“This space is cleansed by the ancestors”
“On my altar, I make sure to honor the ancestors”
“I am guided by the ancestors”
“When you are on the spiritual path, you will learn to walk with the ancestors”
“I walk with the ancestors”
“The ancestors always have my back”
“The ancestors.”
Who are the ancestors exactly?
And what is the purpose for honoring the ancestors rather than specifying my or your ancestors?
Let’s get to the root of how saying the ancestors is yet another way to gain access to, and present the illusion of proximity with indigenous cultures outside of one’s diasporic bloodline.
Hearing the term the ancestors is a way to determine if the space you are in is a big ole red flag of cultural appropriation and spiritual dominance.
A time ago, I was talking with a mentor about being protected by the ancestors. At the time, I was involved with a neo-taino women’s circle and fully under their spell. The women’s circle was run by a savvy New Yorker from the Bronx who touted the taino narrative so convincingly, the circle was more like a cult than a circle of women.
In the women’s ceremonies, she would often call out to the ancestors to protect us and I began to adopt the moniker “the ancestors” in my lifeways. One day, when I was having lunch with a mentor, I mentioned the ancestors to them and they asked- The ancestors? Who are the ancestors? I answered, my ancestors. My mentor asked me then how come you don’t say my ancestors? You don’t know who you’re calling in when you say the ancestors it could be anyone.
That conversation led me on a path to take a hard and deep look at exactly what I was calling in, and the root of the term “the ancestors” in our modern day spiritual lexiCON.
As I began to dig in, I found the collective new age world shifted after 2020 and rather than calling on specific cultures in pan indian ceremonies, saying “the ancestors” was a way to continue to culturally appropriate while also, showing broadly that the person leading the event, (typically, although not always of the euro dispora) has access to any ancestors, all ancestors, and your ancestors. This is a not so subtle act of spiritual dominance that has yet to be challenged or pushed back on any mainstream new age awareness bringers. Until now.
Tools:
Next time you’re in a pan indian ceremony and someone says “the ancestors” Raise your hand and ask who are the ancestors.
Ask the facilitator to define the ancestors and if they generalize the ancestors or justify saying the ancestors are your ancestors and my ancestors, with you never having met that person in your life until that moment, or share bloodlines with that person from the same geographic area, they have no business calling in YOUR ancestors.
Do you really want someone you don’t know having access to your ancestors? To be able to call in your ancestors anytime they want? Are you open to giving someone that kind of power? If yes, then, is that how you live your life, by giving people the authority to call you in at any time for any purpose? >A life of being of service is admirable, a life of being used is not<
Invite workshop facilitators you know to shift out of calling in the ancestors by inviting everyone to call in their ancestors- providing a space for each and every person in the space to call in their ancestors.
Take a DNA test and do your family tree. How do you know who your ancestors are if you don’t know who they are? Are you only calling in known ancestors or are you doing the work to connect with your bloodline lineage thereby strengthening the connection with your ancestors.
If you do not have access to your ancestral line, a DNA test will give you the resources to connect with the regions where your DNA is prevalent. By finding out where your ancestors are from, you can begin the work to connect with the culture that was ripped away through colonialism, trauma and time.
Educate those in your circles that to monolith ancestors by using the phrase “the ancestors,” is not only diminishing, it is an act of spiritual dominance through assumed ownership over everyone’s ancestors no matter the bloodline.
Insightful questions to awaken one’s truth consciousness:
Who would be so pompous to believe that people don’t walk with their ancestors on the daily?
Do we not walk into rooms like our ancestors are with us? Or are your ancestors an afterthought and at the beck and call by anyone who wants to call in your/the ancestors?
If you are not willing to give up the authority of your life to anyone, then how prudent is it to give someone the authority to call in your family from the other side at their will- not yours.
Ask self- am I in a space, reading a book, taking a class, where someone is expressing themself as an authority on my ancestors and not giving me the tools to remember how to connect with my ancestors in an empowered way?
These ^^^ are questions to ask yourself when on the journey of healing displacement trauma.
Seekers, it’s important to be protective of your ancestors with every step of the way. Not that they need protecting anyways- they are the ones that protect YOU! It goes without saying, they are much more wise and powerful than you imagine them to be. Simply lighting a candle and saying thank you for protecting me can be everything to your ancestors.
So the next time you’re in a space with a facilitator that says “the ancestors” gently ask who are the ancestors and if they can’t answer, I can assure you, nothing good will come from that event and you’ll need to be cleansed after your cleansing.
Punto.
