A prayer of my ancestors
A piece from the vault, edited for today
This post was originally published over on Embodied Relating: Shadow Medicine on January 1, 2023. It has been edited for publication here and removed from Shadow Medicine.
May the land feed you, nourish you
May the air fill your lungs and heart
May the water cleanse you, restore you
May the sun warm your skin and soul
May the great Mother, Venus, Inanna, Bastet, in all her ways of being and manifestations, live in your mind, body, spirit, and guide you through your days
May the great Father, Saturn, Nanna, Ra, in all his ways of being and manifestations, protect you and provide wisdom through your days
May you abolish tyranny, oppression, abuse and spread love, healing, and growth for all those who come in your sphere.
May you be the prayer we have whispered for millennia, embodied and alive, sowing magic and beauty in all you do.
May it be so. Amen.
I was a part of Marybeth Bonfiglio’s Blood and Bones community a couple years ago, and our first “assigment” was to find a blessing of our ancestors and begin reciting it everyday. Sadly, I do not know any prayers or blessings of my ancestors outside those of the Catholic Church. And while I know and feel the Church as part of my ancestral past, I am on a journey of seeking connection to the ancestors who lived before the Church, before invasions from the North, before colonization, white supremacy, and patriarchy. I am seeking connection with the ancients, who were one with the land, the water, the air, the fire, who knew only the Great Mother and Great Father as guides and protectors (not judgmental or capricious “gods”), who wanted nothing more than to live life to its fullest, to be in community, to love as they please, who were one with changing seasons of the weather and with life.
And so, I got quiet one morning and asked my ancestors to sing my their prayer and blessing so I could feel them, honor them, and connect to them. And the words above are what came into my soul, body, and mind.
I do not know the blessings of my ancestors. This brings with it its own grief and sadness. The losses of the people who came before me, without whom I would not exist, sit heavy within me. Their laments, their wails, their pain, I feel deeply within me. I have the opportunity to be the living prayer they sent me this morning, just as you too have the opportunity to be the living prayer of your own ancestors.
May we move through the coming months and years with curiousity and thirst for connection, and as the moments and days pass, may we find answers leading us to more questions, and ways of connection that bring us support, emotional intimacy, and peace.
Below are some resources for you to explore the blessings of your own ancestors.
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Some questions to explore…
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