Ancestor Worship for Modern Times

Previously, whenever I read or heard a reference having to do with ancestor worship, I reacted with immediate scorn.  Although I have an interest in religion generally, I never investigated ancestor worship because it seemed so misguided.  I knew for certain that none of my ancestors were even remotely close to being god-like or deserving of relgious worship, and I did not think there were very many other ancestors out there deserving of such a reverential status either.  As I discovered later, however, it was the word “worship” that threw me off.  This concept could be better understood at the outset, perhaps, if it were referred to as “ancestor communing.”

Ancestor worship is commonly practiced around the world, especially among indigenous peoples.  The established organized relgions of the world ccondemn it as being too primitive, but the reality is that it is too powerful.

I finally discovered what ancestor worship is while reading a book about the Yoruba people of West Africa.  Ifa is the name of their religion, and Ifa is the name of their oracle as well.  I was reading the book because I am a diviner, and I am always investigating new and different ways to divine.  I read in that book an explanation of what ancestor worship actually is, and it instantly seemed to be not so outlandish after all.  In fact, I thought I would give it a try.  It seemed not to take much time either, and I had nothing to lose by putting it to the test.  The author explained in his book that ancestor worship consisted of a full third of what the Ifa religion is all about.  Another third of that religion is the frequent use of the Ifa oracle.

All the equipment you need for doing your own ancestor worship ritual is a glass of water.  The container holding the water should be clear glass, because the connection with your ancestors is powerfully activated by focusing on the water while you are addressing them.

You should do this ritual each and every day.  You can do it at any time of the day, and you only need to do it once daily.  Doing it twice daily does not intensify or accelerate the effects.  There is no specific amount of time that you need to spend doing it.  Initially, doing the entire ritual took me about ten minutes, but as I continued with it day after day, it took me longer and longer as I continued to elaborate on the ways that I requested my ancestors to guide me.  Precisely how long you take with this ritual is completely up to you.  There are no guidlines.

The exact words I use vary somewhat from day to day, so you need not memorize how I do it word-for-word.  You should use your own words, and speak from your own heart.  However, it is important that you stick quite closely to the gist of what you read here.  Here is what I say:

“I send blessings and love to all my deceased relatives, to all my ancestors.  I send my love and the deepest best wishes possible to my mother, Dorothy Nammack; I send my love and boundless energy to my father, James L. Nammack; I send blessings to my sister, Blaine Nammack, and I send you all my love and best good wishes.  On my father’s side, I send love and the most wonderful blessings possible to my grandmother, Dot, and to her husband whom I never knew; I send all the love I have to my great-grandmother, Bobby.  I send my love and the deepest blessings and best wishes to my great-aunt, Laura.  On my mother’s side, I send all the love I have to my aunt, Sis; I send blessings and all my love to my aunt, Lil; I send all my love and all the energy possible to my aunt, Emma; I send my love and my blessings to my uncle, Bub; and I send great love and great energy to my cousin Richard. I send all of you all my love and all the positive energy of the Universe.  I also send all my love and blessings to those deceased realtives of mine whom I never knew.  I miss your presence in my life, and I truly appreciate your friendship and your love for me when you were with me here on earth.  In many ways you strengthened me, and I thank you for that.

“I ask you to guide me so that……………………….”

For the rest of your ritual, include whatever you would like to have or accomlish.  The sky is the limit.  You can include wishes concerning your love life, and that includes your sex life.  You can include wishes for your financial well-being.  You can include wishes for even greater success in your chosen field.  You can include wishes for your relationships with other people.  You can include wishes for your robust health, which could include weight loss.  And, as long a you are at it, you might as well make your wishes as grandiose as possible.  Shoot for the stars in every way.  That is important.

When you are dealing with wishes that primarily concern yourself, you will ask your deceased relatives to guide you in those matters.  When you are dealing with wishes that primarily concern others, you will ask your deceased realtives to guide them in those matters. 

And, once you begin doing this ritual everyday, you must not skip any days, no matter what.

This ritual is so powerful that you will notice results in your life no later than the very next day.  Within the next three of four days, you will notice your whole life starting to turn around in a much more productive, practical, and natural way for you.  Within the same three or four days, you will also find yourself feeling far more hopeful about things than before.  The changes you experience will be those of your heart and mind, and you will experience changes in your physical and environmental circumstances as well.  In other words, both physical and nonphysical reality will be changing.

When you do this daily ritual, you can set up a permanent altar for yourself if you wish.  I do not.  I usually do my daily ritual at my kitchen table.  You can also place photographs of your deceased relatives nearby if you wish, but those photos must include no living person other than yourself.  I was told through my divinations that the inclusion of photographs of your deceased realtives does enhance the effectiveness of the ritual.  I also did a divination about whether or not it is acceptable to use photos that include people still living, and I was told that this would be detrimental to those people.

You must not mention in your daily ritual anyone who was not a blood relative.  Do not include references to deceased people for whom you felt so close in life that they seemed like family.  Insofar as this ancestor worship ritual is concerned, they were not family, and must not be included in the ritual.

If you would like to burn incense during this ritual, that is fine.  But you must definitely not light a candle.  I had this confirmed for me through a divination.

After you finish with your ancestor worship ritual, you should drink your glass of water.  I also confirmed that through a divination.

If you know how to divine, I would definitely recommend that as a way of frequently checking into the things you are requesting thorugh your deceased relatives.  You might find that you should elaborate on some requests, and that you should focus more narrowly on others.  And when you are going down the wrong path, you will find that you should exclude those wishes, as your deceased relatives will not be helping you with those items anyway.  If you are using playing cards or tarot cards to divine, shuffle the deck throghtly, and deal out three cards from the middle of the deck.  Fan out the cards anew to select each card.  Read your three cards as three sentences of a paragraph.

As you continue with your ancestor worship ritual day after day, your life will continue to change, improve, and become progressively more deeply fulfilling.

Copyright 2008 by James L. Nammack

Tags: ancestor, Ancestor Worship, Ifa, magic, mystic, occult, paranormal, religion, West Africa, wish fulfillment, worship