Ancestor Connection and Healing Ritual
“When I cried out to Mother Earth: “What became of our songs, our plants, our rituals, our languages?” the ancestors responded by humming a tune through my vocal cords. They said the memories reside in my/our DNA, and it is only a matter of asking them to return, taking the shape that is needed for this present moment.”
To say that we are living in a strong time this autumn of 2020 is an understatement, with degrees of intensity varying widely from person to person. As a world community, we are face to face with the unbalanced reality we have collectively created, the underpinnings of which have been largely based on exploitation, greed, and superiority. Overarchingly, we have not been good relatives to each other, our fellow creatures, or to the Earth herself. A global pandemic, mass awakening to systemic injustice, and protests in support of the movement for Black lives-for many of us this has felt like a firestorm of transformation and there have been moments where knowing where to start or continue our growth has been a swirling kaleidoscope of chaos.
So, where do we start? Where do we embark on this journey of collaboration, healing, and forgiveness? Let’s begin by becoming good relatives.
And where does the journey for becoming a good relative begin? A powerful place to start is connecting with our own ancestors.
Inviting relationship with our ancestors can help to reconnect us with the Earth people wisdom that is needed now for us to have more harmonious and reciprocal relationships with each other and all life. Because the ancient memories stored in us are also held in the Earth, connecting with our ancestors can lead to deep healing within ourselves and also with the land where we live. Creating an ancestral altar and ritual provides an opportunity for a deep re-membering.
This year especially, it feels important to remember that people are also part of nature and we are all family. Potently in the past months, we have felt, seen, and heard the request of our big human family for all of us to become better relatives. We feel that by becoming better relatives, more healing, equity, and balance will be possible for all people and Mother Earth.
Planning Your Ritual
October 24th, 12:00 pm EST and corresponding times zones
In gratefulness and recognition of our Ancestors and the great need we have to re-member the ways of our Earth People lineage, we encourage you to join us in activating these memories through the Ancestor Connection and Healing Ritual. We invite you to pray with the land where you live and with the sacred lands of your ancestors. Many others will also be seeking connection to our past for the purpose of a vibrant future for Earth and all life. We want to become good relatives.
Creating an altar for connection with your ancestors is simple and we (O.N.E., ForaTree.org, and GoodRelative.com) have created a printable instruction sheet to provide guidance and the framework for you to bring your creativity and open heart.
We invite you to let us know that you will be participating in this ritual. If you would like to, you can also share your ancestral origins or family story through the "Let us know you’re participating" button above and below.
Ancestors,
I am the seed of your precious lineage. I know that your memories and wisdom live in my bones and my heart. I feel grateful that through you I came to be and I want to be a good relative for my small and big family.
Through this ritual I invite my healing and wise ancestors to be present in my life and to help awaken the ancestral memories carried in my blood. Somewhere close to me or thousands of years ago I know that I have ancestors who were Earth People and that they shared the breath of this knowing through the sacred helical strands that are my physical blueprint.
Thank you beloved ancestors.
Thank you for my life and our Earth lineage.
Thank you for your sacred ways, connection to the Earth and the cosmos.
Thank you for planting the sacred seed that I am today.
I feel immensely grateful for the medicine that was your life and your dream.
This ritual of connecting with our ancient Earth lineage creates the opening to experience our unique human identity as caretakers of life on Mother Earth. Rituals and ceremonies help to cultivate us so we can be contributors to healing and nourishment for our families, communities, and Mother Earth-Good Relatives.
We are grateful for the courageous people that felt the fires of inequity, trauma, and forgetfulness burning, long before now. We are grateful for the wisdom carriers who protected their traditional knowledge and helped it to grow. We are grateful for the ancestral wisdom we carry in our blood and bones.
“But then, as thousands of European ancestors swirled around me and reassured my fearful heart, I wished I had honored them sooner. I wished I hadn’t disowned them. I wished I knew how beautiful they were. I wished I could have seen through the thin wall of time that dominates our understanding of Europe. I wish I could have realized the days when Indigenous Europeans were deeply connected to the earth and to kinship. In my mind, I told them I was so, so sorry for forsaking them. But, of course, they did not care. They only held me tighter and assured me they would be with me to the end.”
Lyla June’s full essay, Reclaiming our Indigenous European Roots, can be read here https://medium.com/@MOONmagazineEditor/lyla-june-reclaiming-our-indigenous-european-roots-64685c7fc960