Ancestors

[Bathilde]

How do you honor your ancestor? Do you have any particular ritual, do you leave offerings?

To honor my heathen ancestors I try to bring back some of the traditions they held, and I like to give them offerings and hail them in sumbel. I also honor some of my christian ancestors that I knew personally before they died.

[Recycler4570]

Long before I'd ever heard of heathenry I had offered various booze to ancestors, mostly because the ones I knew where serious drinkers and it was an imitation of some indians I have hung out with.
I have not yet worked out a specific ritual or offering for either of the Grandfathers who died in the last couple years, mostly because both where alcoholics who had quit drinking years before they died and I can't see mead, beer, whisky etc. being proper under those circumstances.
So far it has been a very simple like "I thank my family and ancestors for what they have given me."

[Gemyndig]

I usually offer apple juice to my Ancestors at regular intervals (I usually get a feeling when to do this - I'd like to do it more often though!) I have a special Weofod in my living room just for them, with photos etc on it of my most recently dearly departed, both humans and pets (it's for all my Ancestors though really). I use non-alcoholic drink because there is one loved one in particular who died of liver failure connected to alcohol abuse, so it seems inappropriate to offer anything stronger.

Sometimes i get a prompt to offer some money to a charity that a loved one would have liked, and so it's like they can still help the people and animals they want to through me. I get a real sense of the reality of reciprocity with Ancestors, like the relationship can indeed live on beyond death and we can help each other. I wanted at some point too though to begin a grain-burning rite like in the old days, but since most of my Ancestors graves are spread out here there and everywhere, I thought of doing it at the Weofod using some wheat grains on a charcoal or something. I reckoned that if they're able to connect with the apple juice I leave overnight, they can connect with the grain there too.

I'm wondering if the idea of burning was an act of transmutation of the substance into another world, like people thought that such as the grain could then literally pass into the Ancestral world? I wonder if this was the reason why the Angles were so into cremation as well...

[Bathilde]

I'm wondering if the idea of burning was an act of transmutation of the substance into another world, like people thought that such as the grain could then literally pass into the Ancestral world? I wonder if this was the reason why the Angles were so into cremation as well...

I feel the same way.

[Gemyndig]

I've started doing a more formal weekly offering for my Ancestors now and intend to do the grain burning thing soon to see how it works out. I've burned pine resin on charcoal the past couple of weeks during the offering and it smells good and has a purifying sort of feel to it, but next time I'm shopping I'll get some wheat grain and see what that's like (I'm getting quite excited about it really - I'm wondering if other grains might work too, like barley, or maybe spelt, as that is an old English grain apparently.)

[Gangleri]

Because Ive never been close to my (extended) familly its hard for me to connect to my biological ancestors, I give honour to what I call my forebears, those who'se existance before me helped give shape to me and my world.

Fun fact, I'm a direct descendant of Charlemange.

[Bathilde]

Let's see some evidence to support your fact please.

[Gangleri]

my mother is big into Genology (I think that's the english word, its about finding out who your ancestors where) and she said so, she has a blog with the findings which I will look up.

She also said we are decedents of the sister of Bredo (famous dutch poet)

Don't forget that after so many centuries, there will be many people who are decedent from such names.

[Bathilde]

I haven't forgotten. I do genealogy myself. Here's my ancestry page:

thebucci.com/annabucci

[HeathenHammer]

I'm a mix of Northern European ancestry, like Norwegian, German, Scotch/Irish. I also believe there's a tiny bit of Native American thrown in there. Anyways, I got the Norse symbol "The Triple Horn of Odin" tattooed on my left shoulder. I got that to honor my ancestors.

Inntil Neste Gang
--Nick--