Samhain 2006 (1)

HOOKING UP WITH THE ANCESTORS ©
by Lady Raven Ariana

Deepening towards the dark of the year, I pause and consider the Ancestors. Where have they been? What skills, accomplishments, and experience have been lost over time? I hear many wild theories about how ancient technological masterpieces might have been created. Did alien life forms make the Pyramids, Stonehenge, Easter Island, and the great Chalk Figures in Britain?

I juxtapose this with modern times as I witness the extinction of many handcrafts and knowledge at the expense of profit and modern technology. Our venerable Ancestors once survived without refrigeration, central heating/air conditioning, and electricity. Stonemasons, carpenters, metal workers, weavers, herbalists, and midwives were extremely skilled in their Arts, made living wages, and had apprentices to learn the experiential tactile nuances that made a true Craftsman/woman. Midwifery and home birthing is one of the fading Arts that are being banned and legislated into extinction by the lobbying of big money.

We are rapidly losing the valuable knowledge that we need to feed and clothe ourselves. Animal husbandry, on the sustainable level, is losing precious and key knowledge, as those who had family or indigenous farms die. Mega corporate interests successfully lobby to skew laws that drive small farmers out of existence. Animal rights activists actively raise money and lobby, often with charismatic celebrities, to work hard to deny people the personal choice of raising, husbandry, and eating/utilizing animals or their products.

Agriculture has become a complete mockery of fostering genetic diversity and gene pools that develop in relation to their biospheres. Gross profits and the lucrative lining of pockets has used human ingenuity to create seeds whose offspring will not produce, thus insuring that the farmer must go back to someone like Monsanto to purchase new seeds. One of the tragedies in the Iraq debacle was the rules imposed by USA politicos giving Monsanto the ability to sue farmers who saved seeds that may have been cross-pollinated by genetically engineered rice, patented by Monsanto. Greed in action!

I say these things because this is what I have witnessed first hand. Documented history includes the artists that created the masterpieces like the Chartes Cathedral or the Sistine Chapel. When modern records are lost, maybe our inheritors will believe that these Works of Art are beyond the technologies of those times, sadly ignorant of their true handcrafting and artisinal heritage.

Why would this be different now? Remember the Greek plays from old that had the descent of Deus ex Machina? This was the artist’s ploy that allowed the Gods to intervene at the last minute and resolve some absurd and irresolvable conflict providing a nice ending. Are alien life forms the Deus ex Machina of the modern dilemma of the lost technologies of yesteryear? Blame the aliens and you don’t have to be accountable for any complicity in the loss of skills and craftsmanship. Why look at the past when you can scan the stars? Maybe alien life forms will save us from climatic disaster, corporate greed, and politicos with pork barrels to fill.

I’m not all doom and gloom here. I actually believe in an experiential connection to the past that can present brilliant insights gained from those who have gone before. I like to call this “Hookup to the Ancestors”! The “Hookup” doesn’t require state of the art technology, though it does pose some challenging dilemmas to the modern dilettante. A person needs an element of patience, belief in practice, and a certain discipline. These skills are rarely valued by the “modern instant gratification generations”. Before you name me an “old foggy”, I ask you to consider that I am using the most cutting edge technology to master this monologue and I have been known to get slightly more than impatient if my hook-up time takes less than a few seconds

The “Hookup of the Ancestors “ that I mention involve time, practice and mindful relationship. It takes time, measurable by the passing of seasons rather than seconds. It ties into the heart of our planet, cosmos, who and what we are, and to the profound pattern found within the helix of our very DNA. So many tragic inevitabilities are the result of lack of knowledge and practice/patience.

“How can I “Hookup?” you might ask. The answer lies in the nature of relationship with Spirit and the Ancestors. “How does an individual have a relationship with people who are no longer alive on Mother Earth?”

“Hooking up” is a matter of practice, persistence, and a desired direction. The skills one might develop would include practices and training in receptivity to our “outside the cultural box” experiences. This might include a mode of meditation, journeywork, or oracular ability and proficiency. An individual pursuing a relationship with the Ancestors might encounter many of their own familial issues. This encounter is a bonus and gift of the Work; we gain the ability to transform, through some Ancestral Alchemy, personal healing, resolution, continuation and furthering of Ancestral Line business, and Ancestral Aid.

Cultivating Ancestor relationships involve honoring the Ancestor relationship and their contributions in an appropriate fashion. Dialogue is imperative. If you lack reflective and communicative tools, how can you understand the Ancestors or even begin to puzzle out the complicated metaphorical language with which they may choose to communicate or you might have a small chance of understanding? Suspending disbelief and cultural programming are an ongoing challenge

We reside in the North West quadrant of the Wheel and I choose at this time not to give more specific direction. If you are curious and need more advice, this publication’s staff will happily provide for your needs, also you can access the archives and locate the Ancestor article posted by this writer happily written last Samhain. The conclusion of my missive is that we do not “know” what are Ancestors have lost via the continuation of capital culture. The conclusions that we might draw fall on the legends of the conquerors. Winners write the history even if it is diminutive and a bunch of lies and propaganda.

In honoring the Feast of the Dead and considering some of the dilemmas of modern times, one thing I imagine is the late Steve Irwin saying, “ What a bunch of Croc!”