What is an ancestor? Dictionary.com defines it as “a person, typically one more remote than a grandparent, from whom one is descended. ” So, that would make my mami an ancestor of mine since she passed away. It also makes my cousin who was 19 at the time of his passing in 2004 another one of my ancestors. We all have them! And many we are not even aware of because they were here before we came to be in this lifetime.
My beliefs are that even though our ancestors (and everyone that’s passed away) aren’t here in the physical plane. They are always with us and watching over us from the spiritual plane. These last few years mine have been adamant about getting my attention. I’ll give you a few instances:
I’d be deep in sleep and would hear a voice in my ear speaking to me.
I’d be deep in sleep and was awakened by a voice. I sat up in my bed, more asleep than awake and heard the voice talking rapidly. I felt like it was chanting over me. I felt like it was trying to “level me up” with these chants. I know it sounds strange lol but it’s what I felt. I sat there looking like those Mortal Kombat characters as they waited for the opponent to make their final Decisions move. I sat like that for a few minutes and dropped back into my sleep.
Things of mine would get thrown on the ground.
Vivid dreams.
Specific songs.
They got my attention alright! No better time to put up an Ancestral Altar to honor them! I wanted to make it a habit of mine to thank them daily (sometimes multiple times a day depending on the day I’d have) and to include them in the everyday life.
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Okay! So here I was wanting to start an ancestral altar and didnt know where to begin.
First I decided where I wanted this altar to be. A good guide for this is knowing why you want to have an altar. What’s the intent? To honor my ancestors? To thank them for their support and assistance and love? Or maybe I just wanted to connect more to them?
I could’ve easily placed it in my office. But I decided against it just because I didn’t always go in there daily. And I wanted to have it somewhere I’d see them daily and use it as a visual reminder that I am not alone. I am not walking this life path alone. I have a support team rooting for me not just here but on “the other side”. I also want to be able to see the altar on a daily basis to remind myself of that, and to be thankful! That’s how I decided on the dining room.
One option was to hang a wall shelf up but decided against it(I wanted something more sturdy because spirits will be spirits and energy manifests in different ways) so I decided my side table would be where I’d put it. Some people put a table cloth on theirs, the option is yours. “Just go with what you feel” is what I say. Other altar options can be a treasured box, a closet, small desk, a chair or stool, a bench. I learned that it’s okay to think outside the box with this.
I won’t post any pictures of my altar because it feels like it’s very personal. It is in my dining room and anyone who walks in can see it. It’s not like I keep it a secret. However it is not seen by many people. Because being inside of my home is an honor not everyone will have.
I also added photographs of the ancestors that I want to honor and thank. I didn’t start off with many. I had my mother’s urn with her photograph, and a picture of my godmother. That was it. Now I have my paternal grandparents, my mother’s aunt who was very spiritual, my maternal grandfather, my maternal great grandmother, a picture of a known guide of mine and a picture of Archangel Michael who’s been with me since I can remember.
I have this Dominican Faceless ceramic doll aka Muñecas Lime. And it represents all of the ancestors that I don’t remember or know about from this life and past lives. It was important for me to honor them as well.
