Hearthside

I am afraid it is a bit of unfortunate business that sparked me on this thought train, but just the same, the idea is still a useful one and something worth sharing. I have been thinking a lot about ancestor veneration lately, but not on the individual level, on the community level.  A tribe that shares frith, shares ancestors. Our lives are irrefutably linked. But our ancestors help to create cohesion and belonging within the group. They seek to make us better and improve our luck. They seek to help us heal what needs to be healed, so that we can grow as a community. Even on the larger community level there are shared ancestors. These take the form of local folk heroes or ancestors of place that are publicly venerated. (Often without all the members of the community who are venerating them really understanding what they are doing.) For people who are not familiar with ancestor veneration as a common practice, they don’t recognize it, and yet feel drawn to participate in it, even w...

This one is not going to be super exciting. I have other stuff in the works, but this weekend my schedule has been a bit crazy. (Not that I have promised to adhere to any sort of schedule for posting anyways.) I have been coming back to this topic a lot lately, so let’s see if we can unpack it. Do you honour the ancestors in your personal practice? If so, who are you honouring? This seems like it should be fairly easy to answer on first glance, but it really isn’t.  Most people in heathenry seem to honour their recent dead primarily in their ancestor practice. I know that a lot of my ancestor practice is based on honouring and maintaining relationships with recent dead. It makes sense. Presumably, you knew them in life and then wanted to continue your relationship with them in death. That makes perfect sense. It is also very healthy to do in order to accept their passing.  Things get very complicated fast though. Ancestors aren’t just the recent dead. You may be doing lineage ...