Autumn and Ancestors

Autumn Equinox is a moment of balance before darkness begins to grow over light. As we journey toward Winter Solstice, we walk into the darkness, into contemplation, into the Earth, into our Self and our mortality, joining the Ancestors.

Nearly every culture celebrates the Ancestors between Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice. With the recent full moon, we began Pitru Paksha, the Hindu period of Ancestral Remembrance, which continues until the new moon on October 14.

The Going-In-Time

Returning home from Italy and Malta, I see that the fawns have lost their spots, the green leaves have lost their August brightness, poison ivy is bright red, thistles are brown and dry, blackbirds gather to feed and migrate, and even the goldenrod and asters are fading as the sunrise comes late and sunset far too early. Birds are heading south, plants are moving toward death, darkness is growing. The Going-In-Time has begun. Ancient rituals, remembrances and celebrations are in rhythm with Nature’s cycles.

Building Strength and Resilience

In Malta we watched migrating birds being banded (or “ringed” as they call it there) by Bird Life Malta. In the Spring when the barn swallows and are at the end of their journey, they might weigh 14 grams. In the fall, when they are beginning their journey, the same species can weigh 24 grams - a 70% increase! They have spent their summer building strength and resilience so that they can make their journey safely. This is our reminder to build our own strength and resilience for our journeys.

Soaking up the power of the Sun

We build strength and resilience physically, enjoying the last of the local fresh fruits and vegetables, enjoying outdoor time - even October beach days! We eat well, exercise, meditate, and take our vitamins to build our immune system as the season of cold and flu and family gatherings approaches.

The Time of Sleep and Dreams

And as the night grows longer, we sleep a little more and we open our mind’s eye to our dreams. We open ourselves to connecting with our Ancestors.

In the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni in Malta - a beautiful underground burial complex dating from 3300 BC - they found The Sleeping Lady. This beautiful statuette depicts a voluptuous woman, dressed in an ornately decorated skirt, sleeping on a couch that sags under her weight. This woman is prepared for her journey into death. She enjoyed the abundance of life, knowing that the Going-In-Time was coming. She prepared so she could rest in eternity with ease.

Most humans are not ready for our death. We don’t like to think about it. It’s like the line from the old Loretta Lynn song, “everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” Even in Yoga, where our spiritual practices are preparing us for death - and for an aware, joyful and full life - we often call Savasana not its true name of Corpse Pose, but Final Relaxation. It can be hard to relax into the thought of our mortality. When our Ancestors left this world, they may have left behind unfinished work, healing that needs to be completed.

And so especially at this time we do the work to prepare for our own death and offer prayers, rituals and healing to our Ancestors.

Honoring your Ancestors at Home

You can honor your Ancestors in your home, quite simply with an Ancestor Altar and, during special times like Pitru Paksha, a short daily ritual.

Create An Ancestor Altar

Your altar can be a small table, bookshelf, corner of a dresser, whatever you have. Clean it, perhaps cover it with a special cloth. Bless it in your own way as a holy space. I have an Ancestor Altar that is always up; for rituals I often use a brass tray as a small altar.

My Ancestor Altar greets visitors as they arrive to our home

Gather Ancestral Items

Gather photographs and belongings of your Ancestors and place them on an Altar. (General guidance says not to include photographs of living people on your Ancestor altar). I have a wooden spatula of my mother’s, an ink stamp with my father’s name, and a rock my sister gave me on my altar, along with lots of photographs.

Honor the Elements

For an Ancestral ritual, you can then make an offering to honor each of the elements. In the Celtic and Native American traditions, the four elements of Earth, Fire, Water and Air are honored. The Hindu tradition adds Space as the fifth Element. The traditional Hindu offerings for Pitru Paksha are a bowl of raw uncooked rice and/or black sesame seeds for Earth, a candle (tea light) for Fire, a cup of water for Water, incense for (Air) and some flowers for Space.

Light the Candle

To begin your daily ritual, light the candle. I light a tea light and let it burn until it goes out. I also like to offer some sound - drums, bells and/or rattles. For me this awakens the energy ; it let’s the Ancestors know I’m here for them.

This altar was in a cave in Xaghra, Gozo, Malta, where I received a beautiful sound healing. The candles were lit and the energy was awakened.

You may want to do this each evening during Pitru Paksha - until the new moon. Or perhaps start at the new moon and continue until the full moon on October 28 or complete on Samhain, October 31. You can even continue all the way to Winter Solstice.

Say a Prayer or Mantra to Honor the Ancestors

You can then offer any prayer, mantra or song from your own faith tradition. Bring the feeling of gratitude, faith and devotion. Offer healing, compassion and love.

For Pitru Paksha, the traditional mantra is the Pitru Gayatri. You can listen to it here.

Om pitru ganaye vidmahe

jagad dhaarineye dhimahi

Tanno pitru prachodayaat

Indu Arora translates its meaning as:

I welcome, honor and recognize all the ancestors of my lineage. I acknowledge and meditate upon the knowing that they together hold the world. May all the ancestors (maternal, paternal, known, unknown, my partner’s paternal/maternal, known, unknown) guide us and may they be at peace.

Join Others in Ritual Celebration

It can also be incredibly powerful to honor your Ancestors in community. I’m fortunate enough to belong to an amazing circle of women, held by our teacher and mitra (friend on the path), Shiva Rea. Together we share Pranams and rituals for our Ancestors. Powerful stuff.

I was once a member of an amazing heart-centered church, where everyone would send in photos of departed loved ones and on All Saints Day, they would show a slide show of all the Ancestors while our choir sang. Let me tell you, the tears, they did flow.

The Celtic and some Native American cultures share a common celebration called the Dumb Dinner (Celtic) or Ghost Supper (Native American), where the living honor the dead at a shared meal. I’ll be sharing with respect and acknowledgment learnings and practices from these traditions and others as I host an Ancestral Gathering at Dancing Feet Yoga on October 27.

For details and to register, visit Dancing Feet Yoga’s events page.