The first step into the future takes place when we dare look into the past. Westerners may tell you that they do not worship their ancestors and consider this to be a primitive custom. We do live in a society which promotes fear of death, tries to negate its existence and deifies youth and the physical body. Yet all civilized societies in the world do worship their ancestors, through the maintenance of burial grounds, monuments, statues and plaques. In our homes we keep portraits and photographs of our deceased family members, mementos and souvenirs. In reality there is nothing more familiar to us already or more logical than ancestors'worship. our anestors are the root cause of our very being and to truly understand our place in the miraculous chain of life, we must look back upon our origins, understand them and thus determine the course of our destiny. Understanding our destiny can be tricky because we all have a phsical past but we also have a spiritual past. In African spirituality we teach the doctrine of reincarnation. A soul eternally inhabits various bodies at various times. This very doctrine leads us to some very serious considerations:

• The soul is eternal but the body is ephemeral. We are not this body. The body is subject to disease, old age and death. After death the soul joins the realm of the Ancestors, the spiritual world that is closest to ours. Those souls who were particularly elevated through spiritual discipline and actions may become Loa (Orisha or Voodoo Spirits or Angels)

• By keeping the body health, free of contaminations and in a peaceful environment , we are more apt to discover our eternal soul qualities

• It is especially important to keep the family, the tribe, the society and the environment healthy, balanced and spiritually elevated as to encourage great spirit souls to reincarnate among us. thus the population becomes increasingly more advanced on all levels.

In Voodoo it is believed that Ancestors often come back into the tribe or family if it is kept in good and harmonious order. The ancestral soul, newly born into a child, brings all of its ancient wisdom and eternal qualities, though a few months after birth the child will have seemingly forgotten all that came before and will have to overcome the usual trials of life like everyone else. Often a great spirit soul will reincarnate in the second generation, skipping one, so that natural gifts which endowed an ancestor are seen anew in a grand-son or grand-daughter. Yaya Diallo tells the story of his birth in Fienso, Mali and how when he came out of his mother's belly, one of his relatives exclaimed: "Oh no! Not him!"

She had recognized the presence of a grand-father in the newborn. It was subsequently revealed through divination that he would become a great influence on his own culture, though it would take an unusual path. And so it came to be that Yaya pursued pharmaceutical studies in Africa and later in Canada before he was able to return all of his energies to researching his native culture - and in particular the role of drums in healing practices. There are also many cross-cultural reincarnations. Today with the advent of fast travel and instantaneous communications, we may come across souls who obviously have taken birth again in an altogether different part of the globe and in a different culture.

That is why it is so essential - yet often difficult for us to examine our spiritual past. Who were our physical ancestors? Where did they travel? Who were their friends, companions, mentors? What were their actions, karmic paths? It is very possible for us to trace our physical ancestry to one continent but to feel irresistibly drawn to the spiritual practices of another continent altogether. In the end it is as it should be:

Osagboro!

God is One!

We worship him in a hundred ways,

We praise him in ten thousand tongues.

If our ancestors hold the key to the fulfillment of our individual destiny, they have also left us laws which must be obeyed so that we may maintain the harmony and purity that are both necessary for us to catch a glimpse of this destiny. Our freedom to be as we were created resides in our ability to enforce the sacred laws upon ourselves. Incidentally the very word "Loa" or "Lwa" may derive from the French word "loi" (law) to indicate that the Loa are the spiritual embodiments of the ancestral laws lefts by those who came before us all the way back to First Man and First Woman. Amcestral worship is the first and most necessary step towards enlightment. Sacred texts have been left for us to delineate the ways to a wholesome life. In Voodoo a rather complex system of divination exists that can cut through the most difficult questions. More simply, by serving our ancestors and the Loa we learn to hear not with our ears but with our heart. It is to this aim that all Voodoo rituals should start with an ancestors'ritual and indeed ancestors'rituals should take place if and when no other ritual has been planned.

RITES OF THE ANCESTORS

Among the different tribes and people, Ancestors' rituals have taken different forms. Among the Yoruba, men dressed in fabulous costumes and masks parade around, representing the ancestors who have returned temporarely from their spirit world to bless or chastise the living as the need may be. more than only a representation, the men are actually possessed by the spirit of the Ancestor and their mere appearance always signifies great blessings for the village and the crops. Their coming is accompanied by drums, dancing and feasting as they return to greet and mingle with their living relatives. In Madagascar the villages return to the burial ground and un-bury the corpses who will be brought back to the village so that their burial shrouds may be replaced with new white ones. Then a great feast is held in their honor before they are returned to their tombs. Women dance to the drumbeats, their fingers quivering to one side, then the other, to indicate the presence of the spirits all around. In all societies the burial grounds are hallowed grounds.

Additionally in every family and compound, there is a special place for food and drink to be placed daily, to nourish and refresh the ancestral spirits. In some African tribes the compound would have had two entrances front and back. One for the living and one for the dead when they left their family. Near this rear entrance, a flat round stone was placed upon which the first portion of any food cooked in the compound that day would have been placed. A sharing of the abundance. The Ancestral Altar should in fact be separate from any altar to the Orisha or Loa. It is preferably set up outside, in the garden, on a porch, in a hallway or carriage way - but not in the bedroom or living-room where the presence of ghosts is not favored.

A small table can be used, a large flat stone or the altar may be set upon the ground itself. The ground can be covered with a white cloth though a stone would be left bare. Decorate the Ancestors Altar and surrounding with anything that you wish that belonged to your ancestors or reminds you or your ancestry. Add pictures, portraits, mementos, make a hand-written list of the names you remember or have been told about. Follow your intuition and the voice from your heart.

You will also want to include a dish or pot with a mixture of 9 different types of earth, including some dirt form the cemetery ( preferably where your ancestors are buried), some dirt from your place of birth, from countries of your ethnic background and from other places that you feel a special attraction to . A large glass or dish of water will also be placed on the alter although some people will use nine glasses of water. Offerings set up on an ancestral altar may consist of:

• Incense, preferably a cleansing scent such as sage, cedar, pine, sandlewood.
• Flowers, fresh cut, white or assorted colours. You may also choose a permanent offering of dried flowers and herbs (such as eucalyptus, sage, cedar etc.)
• White candles.
• Cigars or tobacco.
• Some rum or drink.
• The first portion of any food cooked on that day except for foods that may have been a taboo in one of your ancestors' life.

To start your ancestors' ritual you would first light the incense and purify the air and the surroundings with the smoke. Similarly you want to offer cigar smoke or a little tobacco . Blow the smoke on the altar and all of the offerings with the same respectful attitude that Native Americans use when passing the Peace Pipe.

Sprinkle a little fresh water on the altar and the ground to refresh the Ancestors. (the water should be changed or refreshed daily on your altar) Light your candle offering and speak to your ancestors. Use your full name to introduce yourself, inserting any other name you may be known by. Speak from the heart: " I have come here with these offerings for you, my Ancestors, with a pure heart .

I salute : (here name all of the deceased members in your family line) I salute all those who throughout all times have been associated with my family as friends, companions and mentors, remembered and forgotten, named and those who remained unamed.

I salute all those who have inspired me throughout history (name them) I salute all of my unamed ancestors from (name countries and /or continents)

I salute all those who have come before and whose names are now forgotten, from all times, from all continents, from all walks of life and all spiritual paths." For ancestors who may have died prematurely or in a violent manner add: " For my ancestors (name), I offer this special prayer so that their souls may now rest in peace through the intercession of the four archangels and the 7 African Powers ( recite a prayer from your heart)."

Then say:

"To all my ancestors, Grand-Mothers and Grand-Fathers, all of the Ancient Ones who have come before me, I offer Love, Honour and Respect. I thank them for the protection, abundance and all blessings which have been afforded me and I present myself here today with a pure heart and clean hands to beg them for further protection, abundance and blessings. Mojuba O! Mojuba O! (Pronounced moyuba o, it means with love, honor and respect).

Continue:

"May all my ancestors guide me and protect me so that I may overcome all obstacles and difficulties and follow successfully a path of righteousness tha is in accordance with the will of Heaven. ACHE! Ache signifies the life-force, the spirit that exists in all things. While you are reciting these prayers to your ancestors, meditate on the problems that are arising in your life at the present and try and visualize the direction which you would like your life to take. Remain clearly focused and at the same time humble enough to accept that you may have to change direction if that is indeed the will of heaven. Beware of asking for unimportant things as ritual work is always serious work.

Offer the food and drink to the Ancestors, thinking of nourishing them and including in your thoughts First Man and First Woman. Meditate on your personal abundance and see it connected to the works of all those who came before as well as to the greater abundance you can facilitate for all those who will come after. When you feel you are finished with the ritual, rap three times on the ground, pour libations (water or drink) and say Ache! Let the candles burn out if possible.

You do not have to wait till you have everything on the altar to begin Ancestors'worship. You may start your practice with only one kind of dirt and add on as you go. Pictures, artifacts and relevant objects will appear as you continue. Ancestors want to be remembered and will make the work easy for you. You can also simplify the above ritual to just a few minutes each day and do a more lengthy version once a week or on special days etc..

ACHE

© Black Moon Publishing 1993

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