Dances with Ancestors

Destiny Guidance But how specifically can they help us.? Here are the many ways. A major way is to escort us on our destiny path. Think about this: We came from the metaphysical realm and are going back to it, and that‘s exactly where the ancestors are residing, having already made that round-trip. So who better to guide us on that path than the ancestors? As American root doctor Orion Foxwood put it, :“Our ancestral spirits . . . are interwoven into . . . our destiny.” Another American practitioner notes that ancestors guide their descendants. American Granny Magicians too say that their ancestors guide them. Still another stresses the concern that ancestors feel when we go astray. They are “constantly doing whatever they think is necessary to connect us with our life’s purpose” when we go off course, and are “persistent . . . about putting us back on track.“ For example, grandparental ancestors help get their living grandchildren back on the destiny path after becoming lost . Vietnamese-American elders say the same thing. How so? Ancestors are familiar with the realm of our current life as well as that of our prenatal past and postmortem future. They can help us understand ourselves, not only our experiences here in earth school, but also our metaphysical origin and destination. In short, they can act as awesome destiny guides. Here’s an example, I took a shamanic journey to an ancestral spirit for destiny advice. The conversation went like this. Me; The planet is headed over a cliff--it’s dark. Ancestor spirit: You need to lighten up. M: How? AS: Look for the incongruity in everything. I did, and you know what? The world is way-y crazier than you’ve likely ever imagined! Our destinies, then, are wrapped up with those of our ancestors in biological and other ways. Ancestors and descendants, in short, have a collective destiny. So, with the guidance of our ancestors we can better understand our purpose and meaning on earth, especially when we go off the path. Since our ancestors, while walking their own paths, also at times went astray, they know well the pitfalls, the crossroads, the dead ends and the like, and so are able to offer clear-eyed guidance. Africans, in fact, say that the ancestors are especially eager to guide us. Too, without recognition of ancestral guidance, we have a “hole in the soul” that yearns to be filled--a condition adoptees know well--making for a dispirited spirituality. And since spirituality abhors a vacuum, that hole is a welcome mat for the Dark Side, and so can be filled with addictions like opioids, video games, random sex, alcoholic “spirits” and the like. that ruin our lives and those of people around us. Ancestors, in short, are a familiar and helpful resource for staying on our destiny path. They know how it can be found and how to keep us on it. For this reason, indigenous cultures specifically call on them for guidance. To the Celts, for example, ancestors provided that help. The Xhosa people of South Africa honor the ancestral world in order to strengthen their intuition, which causes a “profound remembering” of our “true calling and what our job is in this world“--our “service to the planet.” The West African Dagara people hold ancestor-honoring ceremonies, since the “purpose of human existence is to conjoin our world with the light-realm of the ancestors.” In Norse tradition the ancestors not only do general guard duty over the luck we inherited from them, but they are engaged, in particular, as guides on a daily basis. Quiche shamans as well invoke the ancestors for guidance; participants in fire ceremonies are invited to call upon their ancestors one-by-one to ask for destiny help. The Peruvian Q’ero people honor power spots on the landscape by making offerings to enable reconnection with ancestor spirits who, they say, shape their destinies. Mexican shamans communicate with ancestors to get useful information for clients. Fijians too say that ancestors are useful guides. Modern people are starting to notice this. An NDEr often reports that ancestors meet them with the statement, “It’s not your time,” which indicates that they are closely watching over their descendant’s “allotted time” here in earth school by “guiding us in important decisions” so our souls will learn the lessons they need to learn and so fulfill their destinies. Psychics report the same thing. Often these otherworldly guides are grandparents. For good reason, then, American writer Gabby Rivera advises us: “Forge your path. Crack your ancestors wide open. By any means necessary, unearth your roots.” We might put it this way: Keeping our ancestors in mind keeps us on the ball.