Pleasing The Ancestors

You can simply find a room and place as many photographs of their ancestors on it as you can. CAUTION: The pictures should contain ONLY deceased relatives; it is acceptable in some places for you to appear in the pictures but not any other living being lest he or she join the deceased. (Don’t highly recommend)

You might place some of your ancestors' favorite items on the table, too. Any representation of them also coffee for them all, along with an occasional cigar, fruit, candy, honey, or anything else you feel they might appreciate.

Be aware that when you take a specific problem to your ancestors, the solution may come in many forms. It is possible one of your ancestors will appear in your dreams and offer a suggestion or solution. Perhaps the problem will simply cease to exist for no apparent reason. So when you are asking your ancestors for help, it is important to be open and aware and to keep a pencil and paper by your bed so that when you awaken from dream, you can jot it down before it fades into the morning.

A few answers to the questions I know you will have:

▪ Do I let the candle burn?

You can, but it is not necessary. You can put the candle out after the thirteen minutes and relight it the next day.

▪ Do I keep giving new water?

No. The fresh natural water (bottled spring water, for example) should be placed on the shrine and allowed to slowly evaporate over the seven days. This symbolizes your ancestors' drinking.

▪ Do I have to do it at night?

No. You may do it any time of the day or night. But, if you start at 6:00AM, you must do it exactly 6:00AM each of the seven days. if you "blow it, " you start over.

▪ Can I do it for a lesser or greater number of days?

Within our belief system there are occasions for performing worship for three days, fourteen days, seventeen days, and twenty-one days. Theses are specific and highly esoteric reasons. Ninety-nine percent of the time, seven days is the correct number.

▪ Do I have to have Pictures?

No. You don't even have to have a formal shrine. All you need is the water, candle, and your prayers.

Remember, you can do it anywhere - at your friend's home, etc. as long as you find a private space and dedicate 14 minutes.

▪ Can I keep a candle going all the time?

yes. you may work with your shrine in any way you like. You can replenish the fruits and drinks and presents daily or weekly, as do most people around the

world. The formal worship, however, takes place on seven consecutive days within each month. The only exception to that would be if you had a reading from a Babalawo indicating that some other approach was necessary in order to solve a specific problem.

▪ I had a friend who was as close or closer to me than my relatives. I called her "aunt". Can she be included in my worship?

No! Only blood relatives can be worshipped this way. (They can be present but understand that under in worship or two separate things)

* Ancestor worship is one-third of the power of Ifa. It requires no initiation, no conversion, no expense. It is something that everyone can do. It is a powerful tool for making positive and discernible changes in our lives. It is equally

effective in providing us with the awareness that life is not a single, accidental event but a continuing process that offers endless possibilities and pleasures

Ancestor worship will provide you with the knowledge that life is a continuum by enabling you to actually communicate with the energy of your departed family members and feel the profound feelings that that engenders. This may not happen in a familiar form - you may not find your grandfather sitting on the edge of your bed - but it will nonetheless be real and true. Not a product of wish fulfillment or hysteria, it will come through as irrefutable knowledge of the nonlinear side of reality.

Why are we so afraid of this knowledge? The answer, I believe, is that when we actually experience this access to other worlds, we are forced to question the very foundations and premises upon which we have built our lives -

questions that invite change. And humans are naturally resistant to change.

Try to imagine the kinds of decisions your would make if you knew you would have future lives. Think about the number of short-term choices you make now. After all, if you believe that this is your only time around, then it makes sense to cram it with gratification and sensation. Growth and development would seem less important than acquisition and indulgence. The national deft, environmental destruction, pollution, the elimination of plant and animal species, fast cars and fast food - all are products of our culture's fixation on the now. But if you knew this wasn't your only time around, you would be far less likely to cut down the rain forest, use nonrenewable resources, or poison the rivers and oceans with lethal waste. Laws won't stop you from tossing a junk food bag out of your car window, but understanding that you need a healthy Earth for your own long-term survival not only might stop you from tossing the bag but would probably stop you from abusing your body with fast food in the first place.

Through ancestor worship, Ifa allows you to experience life as a continuum. And once you have, nothing will ever be the same again. The same kind of attitude changes and life changes that have affected nearly every individual who has gone through what we call a neardeath experience, who has experienced the other dimension and then been brought back, testifies to the

effect of this knowledge. One does not have to die and be brought back to experience it; ancestor worship is our connection to the past and our road map to a better future.

*How It Is Done

The actual ritual of ancestor worship is extremely simple. For the basic ritual all you need is a clear glass, natural water, a white candle, and the discipline to set aside thirteen minutes a day for seven consecutive days. For seven consecutive days, at the exact same time each day, you will light the candle

The prayer to ancestors, should come from the heart if you have a special prayer you're very welcome to use but any time addressing the ancestors be authentic and passionate. If you don't have me sit there listening it will be difficult to receive answers I having faith and belief is a form of honor. The ancestors walk with us second by second, day by day and if we are in tune enough we will be able to see, hear and feel their everlasting presence. -OPN