by Jim Garrison
At some point in our lives, we naturally come to reflect upon the people who came before us—those who in one way or another brought about our existence, or who contributed to the whole process that made us who and what we are.
According to tradition, it is at Samhain that the veils that separate the worlds of the living from those of the departed grow most thin and one might be able to communicate with these spirits. But there are other times when one might wish to commune with the ancestors, to seek their wisdom and support. It is for such occasions that I share this meditation with you now.
Before beginning, prepare a comfortable space to meditate, some place quiet and private that you can use for this work without interruptions or intrusion. Clear the area of distracting things and prepare a sacred space according to your personal methods. Light a plain, white candle in the north and turn off the lights. Sit, facing the candle and looking to the north. Make yourself comfortable, take deep breaths, and relax. Observe the candle flame. Let the flickering light dance across your skin and become the focus of your vision. Feel yourself sink back into your body. Listen for your heartbeat and feel your heart. Relax. Listen to the rhythm of your heart, feel the pulse of your whole body without moving. Feel the movement of your blood, the inner tides and currents of your circulatory system. This is the strongest, most intimate connection we each have with our ancestors. They live on in each of us. We can flow back along the years through this human river. We can remember the lives of our ancestors. Their memories are carried forward within each of us, a buried treasure locked away within our hearts, awaiting for us to see them out, to open ourselves to their ancient songs. We are the sum of all who came before us within our various lineages. Follow this red river back as far as you feel a need to do so, or care to go. Relax. Listen. When it is time, return your focus to the candle flame. Breathe deep and bring yourself back to the here and now. Stretch your limbs and turn the lights back on.
This is a good time to record your experiences in a journal or diary. What did you see, feel, or hear? What insights or gifts did you bring back with you from this journey? Do not be worried should you not have immediate results. Such things can take time to develop the proper circumstances for the right frame of mind to settle into place, and for you to connect with these ancestral forces. The spirits of our forebears do not necessarily spout bad poetry or lecture us about improbable things. This is not the way to channel wisdom from lemurian warlords or any of that stuff. Rather, this is a simple method of respecting the ancestors we all have and of communing, if not communicating, with their essence, which we share within our own very bodies. The point of this exercise is not to channel the words of a dead person, but to reconnect with the powerful currents of our own, individual lineage of ancestors. The results of this practice are more felt than heard. It is the goal of such a meditation to establish a deep rapport or connection to the wellspring of our being, something that strengthens and refreshes our innermost self.
The visions we carry in our blood are the deep memories of our peoples, the secret stories of our own tribes. Each of us is eventually an ancestor—it’s just a matter of time.