ancestors

[mato]

I am curious as to everyones relationship to their ancestors, and the ancestors role in wicca. I would like opinions and stuff.

[Danustouch]

Would you like to clarify? I'm a bit confused. Do you mean if some of us consider ancestor worship or reverence a part of our spiritual path?

[mato]

I always here that the old gods drew people to paganism, and all that. But I was wondering if any one was drawn to their path by their ancestors. What role do the ancestors play in wicca ie. worship consultation or what ever, are they even acknowledged?

[Demeter]

I speak only for myself.

As far as I know, my immediate ancestors were good godfearing Protestants (except for the ones that were good godfearing Catholics and got run out of their own country as a result). My living grandmother's great grandmother was Native American -- Cherokee, I think, but I will never know for sure because my grandmother doesn't want to talk about it. If one goes far enough back in any ancestry, of course, one will hit pagans eventually.

I'm sure I'm not alone in this state of affairs. I think for many of us, "ancestral" influences mostly go toward studying the culture from which one descends -- people of Celtic ancestry studying Celtic culture, and so on. We acknowledge where our distant ancestors came from, but we don't even know who they are. And as for more recent ones .... well, I remember my other grandmother. And my great grandmother on that side. Let's just say that consultation is not an option, much less worship.

Even regarding ancestral cultures, many of us are drawn to study cultures not our own -- I, as my screen name will show, am more drawn to the Greco-Roman pattern than the Celtic.

Maybe the Fam Trads, who by definition know their ancestors who went before them, might have a different take on this, but for your basic American first generation pagan, "ancestors" have very little to do with anything.

[MammaStar]

Originally posted by Demeter
......
I'm sure I'm not alone in this state of affairs. I think for many of us, "ancestral" influences mostly go toward studying the culture from which one descends -- people of Celtic ancestry studying Celtic culture, and so on. We acknowledge where our distant ancestors came from, but we don't even know who they are. And as for more recent ones .... well, I remember my other grandmother. And my great grandmother on that side. Let's just say that consultation is not an option, much less worship.


For me, I'd say that is true also. When I first started, I read a lot of the "Wicca 101" books. Then after my year and a day mark, I decided that I wanted to follow the Celtic path. My heritage is English/Irish/Italian with a *smidgen* Lakota thrown in. So, for the past almost 2 years now, I've been learning what I can about the Celtic path with some Green thrown in. I do plan on learning about Strega, and I'm finding I'm drawn to the Norse myths though I have no "ancestors" that I know of from that path, but right now I'm concentrating on the Celtic path.

Is that what you mean?

[Niamh]

My heritage is Irish/Polish. ANd from the Irish, the Norse. I've been pulled toward the Celtic pantheon and religions. I'm not sure if I speak to my ancestors or if I'm looking into past life experiences. I think both.

My more immediate heritage, like other people's, consists of Irish Catholics and Polish Catholics. Both of these groups are known for their belief in superstition and supernatural phenomena. Some things are just in the blood! And I think that there's more in me than there has been in relatives of the past generation or so. Or I'm just more in tune with it.

But yes, I think ancestry has played a big role for me.

[Danustouch]

Well...I follow the Celtic Pantheon. And I do feel that in many respects, I was called to that pantheon because of my lineage. But..I haven't been able to trace my ancestors back far enough, to see if any of them were pagan. To my knowledge, they were mostly protestant.

I also have a great interest in the Native American Religions, and have some Native American blood in me.

My grandmother said that we also had a spot of gypsy in us, but...my grandmother is not the most reliable source for such information. So I might never know the truth about that.

However, I find my *Recent* ancestors had a lot of influence on my spiritual beliefs.

My Uncle, for instance, was always fascinated by the ancient egyptians. Their medicines, their culture, and the pyramids. He was also into herbalism. He was also the most open minded of all of my relatives, and I think he rubbed off on me a great bit. He always questioned the idea of the "Absolute Truth"...and the theory of one supreme God. So..I think that he had quite a bit of influence in my beliefs.

A really interesting story, however, involves my Aunt. She consulted psychics, alot. And was interested in the powers of Chrystals, and in aura's. She also consulted astrologers, and read tarot. I remember her trying to talk to me of these things, briefly, when I was a young teenager. But..my parents put a stop to that, quickly. Such things frightened my parents, and they forbade her to speak to me about them. I forgot about all of this, until sometime last year. My Aunt had passed away about five years ago. When my relatives went to clean out her house, my sister found a tape, of one of my aunts sessions with a psychic. The psychic said.."you have no children of your own. But you are very close to your neices and nephews. However, I see a particular closeness to one of your neices..a teenager. She seems to be a troubled soul". Now..anyone who knew me in my teenage years, knew I was a very troubled kid. She went on. "You need to spend more time with this neice. She needs you to help her become what she must become. You should try to talk to her about magick, and things of a mystical nature. She is interested in such things, but she doesn't aknowledge them yet.". My aunt stated that she had tried in the past, but that my parents had forbade her to speak of such things to me. And that she was afraid that if she tried to teach me, my parents would forbid her from seeing me. The Psychic said..."In time, she will learn all of these things. You need to help her.". Unfortunately, a couple of years before my Aunt died, I went off to college. When I came back from college, is when I found Wicca. After that, I had very little contact with her. I don't think she ever knew that I became wiccan, before she died. I moved out of my parents house, and just kinda...lost touch with the rest of the family. So I don't think she knew. However, when she was in the hospital, in her last days, I went to see her. At that point, she was heavily drugged on morphine, to relieve her pain, and was floating in and out of lucidity. I brought with me that day, to the hospital, a big chunk of hematite, which I clutched between her hand and mine, as I said my goodbyes. She squeezed my hand a little bit. And when I went to leave, she looked right at me, and said.."I am so proud of you.". I couldn't figure out what she meant. For the life of me. What exactly, she was proud of me for. But..they were words that rang in my head. Last year, my sister finally told me about the tape. She played it for me. And it suddenly became clear. My Aunt DID know...she may not have known I was Wiccan. But I have faith that she knew about the chrystal, and that she could see the peace I'd come to in my spirituality.

Now..I read the Tarot. And I am Wiccan, and I use Chrystals. All of the things my aunt was told by the psychic, that she should speak to me about.

So..in some ways, I feel that my Aunt guided me to the path that I am on now. Without ever doing it overtly. And that to this day, she guides my steps.

[Hedwig]

I live in West Virginia and most of the people here are Scotch Irish. From my mom I get Welsh, German and Native American, from my Dad, I get Scotch and English. My Great- Grandfather is 1/4 Cherokee, 1/4 BlackFoot Apache and 1/2 German. What all of this some how equals is that I learned a Green path from his son, my maternal Grandfather. Most Appalachian Witches are heavy on the "green" side. West Virginia is covered with gorgeous gardens and secret herbal shops. Even more interesting is the fact that most, like my Grandfather attend Protestant Church. He does it for the "socializing," he says.

I don't follow any specific pantheon. I call the Divine by whatever name feels right at the time. I worship the spirit of the earth and I've learned this all from my family.

[Niamh]

Danustouch...
That's a great story about your aunt! I'm sure she knew/knows...