Ancestral healing is an intention with purpose to release the shadows, wounds, and unresolved traumas from our ancestral lineage. The shadows of the powerful relationship we share with our ancestors can create subtle impacts on our psychological and emotional behaviours. A story will begin to emerge as you unravel and compare your own characteristics and ancestral conditions, theseemingly irrational fears, psychological, emotional, and physical difficulties and uncover their roots in your family heritage.

As we cannot control who bring us into this world, we cannot sway the fluency with which they raise us, or force the culture we have been born into, to become welcoming but we can transform the way we think about all these things. We can choose to be determined and start the process of healing with an intention. We create the actions needed to resolve any or all these issues with our family.

It is through the power of those who came before us that we have evolved both our physical and mental states in positive and negative ways. Ancestral wisdom and wounding can be passed on equally and for generations, by entering into the ‘right relationships’ with them you can enlist the help of your ancestors to clear the wounds and unresolved issues. The ancestors cannot help you unless you let them and if you don’t ask them for their help none will come. In acknowledging their existence, a continuum between the living and the dead can provide a link with the past that inspires and supports.

The whole point to ancestral healing is to understand that we are the carriers of old stories in new bodies, using contemporary ideas to deal with it all. The ancestors left their troubles behind to be picked up as their own unfinished business. It was not always their intention to leave the kind of legacies that they did. Sometimes it was unavoidable circumstances. Sometimes it was a series of poor decisions.

Imagine your heritage to be linked together like prayer beads with each bead recording the exploits of each family member. The prayer beads are all linked together, they are connected to each other made inseparable by their very connection. Each bead retains its own story, but it is passed to the next prayer bead, as the seed of bloodline. These stories are just like the seed of reproduction we inherited and would become the cause of an inheritance carried into the next generation. Some of us will be lucky, others will not be so fortunate in what they inherit.

After exploring your roots, the next step is the discovery of your ancestral patterns. Some of the negative legacies from our predecessors can have a staggering and overwhelming effect on our behaviours and emotions. If these are not addressed, they can cause negative familial patterns which affect the relationships between family members. To instigate the change, we need to alter the family patterns that dwell within each of us. 

A Simple Exercise

Try to have kind, generous conversations with the ancestors, telling them that you love them and that there are no unresolved issues, you can only feel the forgiveness of all that went before. If you are lucky enough to have time to be with those family members before they die, this is the best time to do the greatest amount of ancestral healing and forgiveness.

From the moment a loved one breathes their last breath to the final goodbyes at the funeral service. This is a difficult time for us, as well as for them. What we have learnt in the years of working in this field, there are some simple things that have been suggested that can support the passage from life to death to have a spiritual belief and faith.

For the ancestors to work with us, they need to be able to communicate in some way. Sometimes we need an intermediary for this, a bridge reaching into the spirit world. This is when people turn to psychics, mediums and clairvoyants who can communicate with our beloved ancestors and deceasedloved ones.

You do not need to be a medium or clairvoyant to communicate with your deceased family. Many people communicate by just talking, by placing the photograph on the table or altar, some dream their loved ones while others experience coincidences that has the personality of the deceased written all of it.

Praying To The Ancestors’ Practice

A lovely simple way to connect with your ancestors – you can set aside 5 minutes every day for that purpose. Light a candle on the altar, then talk to them, ask them for guidance and protection, say a prayer, sing a sacred song, or hymn or chant a mantra. Ask your ancestors for what you need currently, then give thanks. Choose a closing prayer such as a saying ‘Amen’ or ‘Blessed be’ or chant ‘Aum.’

Meditation To The Ancestors’ Practice

This is a slightly longer practice which creates a feeling of relaxation and
openness to the ancestors. Begin by lighting a candle on your altar, say a prayer to open your connection. Ask for guidance and then focus on your breath and relax.Ask to receive light, pure compassion and love from your ancestors. Feel their light surround your body and fill your mind with peace. You can ask for creative inspiration or intuitive answers to personal issues. You can do this on a regular basis and keep a record of your experiences in your journal. While it may not seem that you are not connecting when looking back over your journal you will become aware that the ancestors are guiding and supporting you all the time.