3 Things You Should Do Before Setting Up an Ancestor Altar
Based upon my experience, here are 3 things you should do before you setting up an ancestor altar, placing an ancestor altar, or make offerings to your ancestors (ancestor veneration). I came up with this list based on my own experience. I remember that when I first started honoring my ancestors. I remember I was in college, and I set up a little box at the foot of my bed. I remember I would place some food that I got from the campus’ cafeteria on the altar every day, but I never knew if the ancestors were pleased with the setup or the offerings. As time moved on, I would meet people from all over the world who honored their ancestors differently from how I did. When I inquired as to how, did they know when their ancestors were pleased? The people who would answer typically would go off on a tangent and tell me that the way I was doing things was incorrect.
After some years of trial and error and finally listening to my Spirits, I learned that there is no right or wrong way to honor your ancestors. There are really only three rules, and they are: 1) Honor your ancestors at least once a week, 2) Never place pictures of living individuals on the altar, and. 3) Never allow your ancestor altar to become dilapidated.
Everything else is optional and relative, which means the way that an individual honors their ancestors is based upon their discretion as it goes according to one’s feelings. In other words, an individual adds and subtracts things from their ancestor altar per their liking. I wish I had known this years ago, and I understand that I did not because I did not know how the ancestors communicated to me. This is why I list three things that you should do before you set up an ancestor altar.
Spiritual Tip #1:Determine what type of psychic skills that you have.
Most people do not believe it, but we all have a psychic medium skill that we are born with. That is the ability to intuit information. This is the reason children and even animals know when changes are coming and occurring. Most of us are not aware of these psychic skills because we have been taught to suppress them in the West and only believe what we can physically see, touch, hear, smell, and taste. Consequently, when we hear the word psychic, we have all been programmed to think of some old lady with a crystal ball telling people that we will meet the love of our dreams, or something drastic is going to occur like we will turn into wolfman (laugh).
There are four types of psychic skills: mental (claircognizance/clairaudience), emotional (clairsentience), clairvoyance, and physical. There are plenty of online resources that will help you determine your dominant skill but note that you can have all of these skills developed.
Spiritual Tip #2:Develop this skill because this is how your Spirits will most likely communicate to you. I recommend that you spend at least a month developing this skill. So that you can distinguish when you are making messages and when your Spirits are communicating. Trust me, there is nothing worse than having your Spirits tell you of an opportunity that falls through your fingers. Or being warned of danger, but you plunge into the danger head first because you second, third, and fourth guessed yourself. So, develop this skill.
Spiritual Tip #3:Finally, test your skill out for a test drive. Contrary to popular belief, most people who work with their Ancestors and Spirits are not your stereotypical medium who blindly follows superstitions. Most of us, like myself, are very skeptical, and we practice certain traditions because we have applied them and observed their efficacy. And, if you continue to follow this path, you will learn to do this each time Spirits communicate to you. So, test it out and see how if it works. Try having your Spirits tell you something based upon your psychic skill and, then, physically verify.
After you follow these three suggestions, you should be able to distinguish between your own voice/thoughts/emotions, your Spirits, and even negative energies. You will also know how to psychically defend yourself and block yourself from destructive influences. For more information on Spirits, check out my books Honoring the Ancestors the Kemetic Shaman Way, and, the Kamta Primer.
Hetepu (Peace & Blessings)
