The Wheel Turns: Samhain Greetings
Summer's End and Remembering Our Ancestors and Beloved Dead
Samhain is my favorite holiday. Hands-down my favorite holiday.
Being raised in the Spiritualist church, I have been surrounded by a host of the dead my entire life. I was taught that the dead and our ancestors were not something to be feared, but cherished. Communicating with our beloved dead, as well as other guiding spirits, was part of the weekly church service. The fact that life continued after “so-called death” was a central tenet that, even when I left the Spiritualist church, I never turned my back on.
And as much as I love Halloween with its costumes and candy, this time of year is first and foremost about giving special attention to my Ancestors, healing my ancestral lineage, and taking time to remember my beloved dead.
So, what’s the difference between Ancestors, ancestors, and beloved dead? Plenty!
Not all who have died are Ancestors with a capital “A.” Our Ancestors are those previously incarnated spirits who are healthy, shining, whole, and who have elected to take their place as a guardian and guide for a specific blood or spiritual lineage or humanity as a whole. These are our dead who have done their work after death — they have a larger perspective of reality and they are supporting those who are living in becoming better people.
Our beloved dead are those who we knew and loved in life, but who are no longer incarnated. They may be close to us at times. They may communicate and give us signs and encouragement at times, but they still may have their own work to do for healing, resting, or getting ready for the next life. One of the ways we can help them is to light a white candle and pray for their healing.
And then there are our ancestors (with a lowercase “a”) — these are the spirits of those who came before us who we may not have known, but they are still in that cycle of rebirth and healing. This is where things get really tricky because, for most of us, our ancestors both carried and caused a lot of trauma. Over the years, I’ve learned that my ancestors going back to the 1600s included settler-colonialists, an enslaver, a federal Indian agent, racists, misogynists, and bigots of every stripe you can think of. My ancestors also included people with the Sight, Granny-women, unionizers, and restless wanderers.
I carry all of that in my blood and in my epigenetics. Part of my work in making this world a better place is unflinchingly looking at those traumas, cleaning them out of my conscious and unconscious, and healing them through right action and right relationship in the world today. It’s hard work. It’s good work. I don’t always get it right, and I make tons of mistakes. But this is some of the truest way that I can honor the web of life and my Ancestors.
My favorite way to honor my Ancestors and remember my ancestors and beloved dead is to bake a cake or bread, cover it in butter and honey, light a candle, and pour out a libation of whiskey right onto the ground. I ground, center, and open my heart to them — inviting them to speak to me or just partake in the offerings. When I’m ready to leave, I extinguish the candles and bring them inside and leave the food offerings outside overnight.
How do you honor or remember your Ancestors and beloved dead? How do you heal the trauma in your ancestral line?
I want to share with you a playlist of Samhain/Ancestor-themed music.
Of course, one of my favorites is not on my streaming service, so you’ll have to check it out on Youtube: Gwydion Pendderwen - I'll be Reborn
May your Beloved Dead find healing and peace this Samhain season.
May you feel the love and protection of your Ancestors around you every day.