The candle for October is the Ancestors Candle brought to you by Lucky 13 Clover Spiritual Supply.
Ancestors Candles are burned to elevate the Spirit(s) of those of our family who have passed on and to aid and assist in their elevation to the higher levels of Heaven. This candle specifically is for our blood line relatives – not childhood friends who you have grown to adulthood with and call “cousin” – for those a white candle can be burned, but for your Ancestors a candle that has been especially marked for those who came before you and are the reason you are here. This includes your great-great-great grandparents and even further back for some who have tribal connections.
It is suggested and often practiced that a separate small table, hutch, or top of a bookcase be reserved for ancestor reverence and veneration only. This is then deemed the Ancestor Altar. On this table or top, place a white doily or cloth. Add yourself a bud vase or other small vase for fresh flowers. When asked, I suggest going to the dollar store and purchase a small white or clear plate, a single wineglass, a clear glass water glass, and a single cup (can include a saucer) that will forever be used for foods and libations offered to the ancestors.
Offerings to the Ancestors
In your ancestor dishes you may place any foods or libations that you believe would be accepted by your ancestors. These include:
Their favorite foods, sweets, libations such as a slice of cake or pie, coffee, wine or spirits, cool water (in the water glass), a ‘dab’ of each of the foods on a certain holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner).
Additional non-food offerings may include:
Photos in a nice frame (if available)* see below
Cigarettes or Cigars (if they smoked)
Flowers of any type
Perfume (grandma’s or Mama’s favorite)
Florida Water or Kananga Water
Gum or Candy
Fruit
Pastries, cakes, or pie.
Additional scented candles or a birthday candle on their day
You may greet them like as if they were still living with a “Good Morning” and “Bless me on this fine day”. You may play music that you think they might enjoy. You may select a time to sit in front of your altar to read from your choice of spiritual literature books or recite the Rosary for them. Any time spent with your altar is time spent with your family that has passed on, and this creates a bond with them that they will do their ‘spiritual work’ on the other side to guide and protect you. It is said that there are seven levels of Heaven and their work on the Other Side is to make sure the family lineage continues on into the future. The main ‘job’ for them is to protect and guide the progeny (a person’s descendants) so that they thrive and live a long, successful life.
Disposing of foods and libations
After a couple of days on your altar, it is fine to toss the foods onto the garbage can in the kitchen and dump the libations down the drain. Clean their plates before offering more food, or clean them and put away until you have an occasion to use them again.
*The ‘hard and fast’ rule regarding photographs is that the deceased is the only one in the photo. If you have a photo of yourself and grandma, load the photo onto your desktop and do some editing to take your image out of the picture. It is said that to have a living person’s photo on an ancestor altar is to “hasten” their movement “to the other side”. You certainly do not want that for yourself or others, so do a little photoshop editing before printing that photo for the altar.
