Ancestral Veneration

As  an up and coming occultist from the ground up back in 2012 I had no idea where to begin with, from buying books, small candles and a few herbs here and there to experiment this new path I had chosen to walk only with the direction found in books.

Back then I had no idea the importance of looking back at where I was from, nor the lineage I come from, nor how to pay my respects to my dead, it was not only after I came along and met my Conjure teacher Mama Starr from “Old Style Conjure”, that I began learning the importance of ancestral veneration as a first step when getting into an occult practice/ folk-magical tradition in order to establish the first step in spirit contact.

It was here where I had found one of the practices which I completely value the most now, my relationship and ancestor shrine started very simple and small, and over time it grew with new items offered to them which hold sentimental value and resonate with their own beliefs, further down the line, I had an ancestral investigation done as well to find out more about my ancestors, interesting enough, ancestors from many generations ago showed up to speak and deliver a message leading me to look further into my roots, my culture, beliefs and mythological creatures from my native land, learning so much more on who they were, their life style and their beliefs, statues of Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl rapidly found a space in the ancestor altar to represent those ancestors from that time, along with animal totems for each within my ancestral court, the style of communication also changed over time with them, what had at first started with prayers and the light of a candle had now become something more like having a cup of coffee,smoking a cigar and talking with grandma’ and grandpa’ Monday evening at the light of a candle, and it has changed even more as of recently that new changes have happened within my ancestral altar and the practice involved within it.  

I can honestly say that ancestral veneration not only has given me the first step into spirit contact but also as a means of help in my magical practices, I as a practitioner of Conjure/ Rootwork do ask my ancestors for help and guidance when doing a magical work, when performing a reading, or simply when I feel I need direction, ancestors at the closest to us when it comes to spirits, some of them knew us in life before they passed away, their love and affection is pure and are willing to help us on whatever they can, or believe possible to help with, now I’m not saying all ancestors are holy and helpful either, just like when they were alive, they have their own opinions, choices, and character, some might not like us for whatever reason, equally as veneration, a sense of healing needs to happen in order to grow spiritually with the relationship, I myself do prayers for those and leave offerings equally to pay my respects to them, we can see this in our families, not all family members get along but we are family after all and we have to be respectful to one another.

How to get started!

I’d like to provide you with a basic list of items and instructions of what you can do for your ancestors and I encourage you to establish this first step into spiritual contact, weather it be that you are an aspiring root worker, witch, diviner, you’ll be able to benefit from this relationship with your dead, a shrine to them is very personal and none will look the same.
The following is a basic list of items, these items are not written on stone, so please accommodate to whatever religion/ Practice and cultural background you come from, this is just an example of what I started with when I first made a shrine for my dead.

• Florida water 
  
• A white handkerchief /altar cloth(optional)
• pictures of your ancestors (Nobody alive on the photos)
• A glass of water
• Cigarette/ Cigar  
• 1 White vigil candle
• Frankincense and Myrrh mix of equal amounts 
• Brazier and self lighting charcoal Disk

First find a space within your home which you will dedicate for your Ancestors, this space will be only for them, you can place a small table in that place where your altar will be set, begin by cleaning the table and the floors along with the walls around the table, with a little of the Florida water sprinkle the Area praying on the Heavenly father to clear the space from all negative energies lingering within the space and for it to be cleansed and blessed, with the Brazier and the self lighting charcoal disk going, sprinkle some of your mix of resins over the burning disk, and allow the smoke to swift freely, with your hand you can fan this smoke in the direction you need it to go while praying once again the space to be clear from all impurities lingering in the area and for it to be blessed, set your Handkerchief over the table, arrange the photos of your ancestors as you wish, pour a glass of water (preferably spring water), light your white vigil and knock three times on the table with the bottom of it in a gentle way as you set it by the glass of water, light up a cigarette or cigar and blow some of the smoke over your altar, offer this as an offering to them as well, name your ancestors known to you by name and pray for them to have all the light and energy they need to assist you, pay your respects, etc, at this point the relationship and your communion with them is very personal, you will likely need to set one day of the week to do offerings, set a candle for them, offer fresh water, liquor and tobacco, along with prayers, from here on you need to pay attention to your dreams and keep a record on experiences which have taken place as your bond with your ancestors grow stronger.
Further I will list two additional items which I completely recommend to help you in your journey of spiritual communion with your ancestors

Oil of the Faithful Dead/ Lux Perpetua

Hands down, the best Oil I’ve used faithfully for my ancestors, this is my personal bottle which is running a little low as you can see.
This Oil is offered by the online store “Wolf & Goat”, and I came across them right around the time my Grandfather had passed away, I looked for something to give to my grandfather as a way to pay my respects to him and the rest of my spirits, I can probably write a whole blog about this Oil itself as it helped my connection with my ancestors rapidly and my dream experiences as a mean of spiritual contact with my ancestors has been way better since I used this oil, Literally one of my most valuable Oils which I use to anoint items in my Altar, candles, etc. It comes beautifully packaged and expectations are met and go beyond what I had expected, Hand made Oil with lots of ingredients, comes with a scroll full of details along with instructions of use, you can find it at Wolf-and-Goat

“Listen to them whisper” Honoring the Ancestors.

First I have to say, Mama Starr is awesome, way before she took me as a student, I had read some of her books which is what got me into conjure, her Down to earth, no nonsense Style of being as a conjure woman from the South, is strongly manifested in her books, she tells it as it is!
This book helped me understand further ways to set up ancestor altars, understand spiritual communication and workings with our dead, I strongly recommend this book to any new comer into the practices to bring light into an unknown path full of mysteries and ancestral contact.
You can find this book along her others at Old Style Conjure

This is it for today Folks, Hope this helps you in your Journey, I hope you enjoyed my Blog post and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask, I’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have!