It is October, and for some of you, the leaves are changing and you can finally wear that fabulous leopard print sweater you only get a sliver of time to wear before covering it in layers of heavy coats. Here in California, I am suffering Day 4 of near-to-over 100 degrees of heat, and I am not complaining. Just a little “dewy” on my forehead, and not from any serum application.
In many belief systems, October means final harvests and Ancestors. This is the time to get back in touch with those who love you, and need your prayers. Not all of our ancestors were Saints – I have a couple of “wild ones” in my lineage (that’s all I’m going to say about that), but honoring your life while you are on this plane is honoring your Ancestros as well. If it wasn’t for them meeting, procreating, and living, you would not be here. Aside from visiting the cemetery to lay flowers, candles, sweets, and even a bottle of whiskey or rum at their headstone, you might consider those same offerings in a small table in the home for the month of October and through November 1st and 2nd (All Saints Day and All Souls Day).
Honoring those in your family lineage also means that you must take care of YOU in order for the family lineage to continue. You are the living representative of both your mother’s and father’s sides of the family, whether for good or for bad, and it is up to you to represent in the best possible way so that the future family will have good memories of the family.
Some Ways to Honor Your Ancestors at Your Altar and Elsewhere
- Pour a glass of cool water daily to refresh and hydrate them. Pour out the water from the day before into your potted plants or corner of your yard to refresh the Earth.
- Check in on an Elder. If there are no Elders in your family, then you might be the Elder. You can honor your family by checking in with a neighbor. Leave a small bag of groceries at their door. A can of soup, a box of tea, a tin of cookies, just to let them know that someone cares. Your Elders in Heaven will smile on you.
- Set a boundary that you need to set. We all have our own level of tolerance for certain behaviors.
- Take Spiritual Baths. We collect more “funk” than we realize. The World is dusty.
- With that said, soak your feet. Epsom salts and Eucalyptus Oil in warm water. Cuts “de funk” you are picking up on those city streets. After a good soak, scrub with a brush, soak in clear water, dry and massage in some good cream. Wear socks around the house so the cream can do its work.
- Consider wearing all white garments after taking your spiritual bath. Carry on that cleansed feeling through the day. Can be combined with the above mentioned prayer time.
- Sit in silence. Listen to the thoughts that come to you. Pray, not just for the obvious reasons, but for anyone and anything that comes to mind in your silence. Break your prayers up into sections of time and subject. First, say your normal prayers taught to you as a child (The Lord Is My Shepherd/Our Father/Hail Mary etc.) Then in free-form style, pray for forgiveness of any wrongs that you might have done. Pray to forgive those who have done you wrong. Then move to the outer circle level of people. The teen in the neighborhood with the sour disposition. Then pray for the poor, those needing health, those who are downtrodden. People who you do not know but are in need of prayer. Lastly, Give prayerful thanks for blessings received, blessings about to be received, and blessings that others will be receiving in short order.
- Bring flowers into your home. They raise and elevate the energy of your home and your own spirit.
- Cook a meal that you know your Elders enjoyed. Serve a spoonful of each food on a plate dedicated only for your Elders in spirit to use. Leave it on your Altar or on the floor in quiet corner of your home. Light a white tealight candle to invite them to dine.
- Write a “love letter” to your future family descendants. Your future grandchildren, nieces and nephews need all the knowledge and experience you can share to carve a path in this World.
- Read a passage of Psalms and Proverbs each week. Daily if you can, but most will want to “chew” on the words read over a few days to see where they apply to their personal situation.
- Choose to Rest. It is perfectly fine if you cancel or move an appointment (if it is not necessary) and do some quiet work (mending garments, writing letters, or just reading a book). This “down time” is for you to regenerate yourself to keep on going.
- Eat wholesome foods. Reach for a juicy apple instead of a candy bar (although quality dark chocolate is good for you, too!). Strive for protein in the morning (3 eggs anyway you like or a protein shake). At lunch, think tuna on crackers, sliced turkey on sourdough bread (not that weird textured white bread stuff). For dinner, a chicken breast, 6 oz. of steak, or a nice fillet of fish. Embrace vegetables – the more the merrier! A meal of gently sauteed sweet potatoes in olive oil or butter and a light mixed salad is satisfying and you get some great nutrients as well. Stay away from overly processed chips, fast food, and things you wouldn’t want to feed your child or pet.
- Move your body daily. I have a three pound weight in my desk drawer that I pull out and do some arm work when I take a break from writing (just like I did writing this post). Do squats in front of the kitchen sink as the counter is the right height to hold on to. Get a gym membership and GO. Take as long as your body tells you to to exercise. Walk daily. It hwlps your muscle tone and the inner working of your digestive system.
- Practice self compassion and self forgiveness. As we age, we reflect on the actions we took during times of duress and strife, and sometimes, we (and others) sit in judgement of those decisions. Forgive yourself. When life gave you lemons, you make lemonade and if it was not considered “sweet” enough at that time, it is what it is. The past cannot be a “re-do” or done over, you have to keep moving forward and if those decisions were made with a pure heart, then God will judge you as doing the best you could under the circumstances.
Remember to light a tealight or 7-day white candle on November 1st for all the Saints and Elevated Celestial Beings in an “attitude of gratitude” for all that they have done for you, whether you know it or not. Your Guardian Angel, heavenly Hosts and the Higher Powers that Be have intervened in your behalf in ways that we will never understand. Give them thanks. Also, light a white candle on November 2nd, All Souls Day for not only your family, but also for souls that have no one to think of them. You do not have to do anything elaborate, but at the end of your list of family and friends who have passed, just the mere speaking “…and all those souls in need of prayer…” is sufficient enough without calling any entities in towards you. This way, you are following the directives in the Bible and doing service to those in need on the Other Side.
