Author: Regina LaRue, 3rd gereration Hoodoo practitioner
It’s not enough to simply remember the ancestors with food and drinks.
We must “Re-Member” with them again.
This means, if you didn’t grow up in a tradition that practiced honoring the ancestors, and you were conditioned and taught to fear their veneration, you have become estranged to them. So you must first “come back home” and rejoin with them so they can also remember who you are.
When they died so did the relationship you had with them because you were taught death was the end of their be-ing. You stopped talking to them because you were taught they couldn’t hear you anymore. When you smelled their cologne you were taught this was just your memory, and not their spirit telling you they were close by. You were taught they were in heaven and removed from anything human and earthly, or resting in peace oblivious and unconscious to the needs of those they left behind. However the ancestors are very much alive-breathing and living through you.So before you set up your altar, tell them you want to restore the relationship that has been severed. Tell them it’s time for a family reunion and ask for their forgiveness for being away for so long. In that the ancestors are also in you, then forgive yourself for not knowing they were there the whole time just waiting for you to come back to them.
Carry On..