Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Who Are Our Ancestors?

Who Are Our Ancestors?

Last updated on: January 18, 2015 at 5:37 pm by John Beckett

Who Are Our Ancestors? 2015-01-18T17:37:40-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Honoring ancestors is a common and natural impulse across cultures and religions. It’s easily understood by most people even if they don’t actively practice it. Most adults have a grandparent, parent, or other relative they knew in this life who is now an ancestor – remembering and honoring Grandma instinctively strikes them as a good and proper thing to do. This is a point of honest commonality across many religions.

I see four categories of ancestors. We may honor them differently, but they are all worthy of our respect and devotion.

Ancestors we know

Pearl West (1907 – 1990), my maternal grandmother

We begin by honoring the ancestors we know. These are the people we knew in life, those we’ve been told about or who we found through genealogical research. We have pictures of these ancestors, or stories about them, or a bit of biographical data. We can honor their memory because we have memories of them.

I knew my maternal grandmother very well. She came to live with us when I was 9 and lived till I was 28. I have pictures of her, but I don’t need pictures to remember her: I remember her face and her form, her voice and her hair. I remember the foods she liked to cook. Most importantly, I remember how she loved me and our whole family, and how she went out of her way to care for us, over and over and over again. I knew her well, and it’s easy for me to honor her.

My father’s family traces our history in this country through James Beckett, who was my great-great-great-grandfather. There are no pictures of him. We know he was born in Ulster around 1750, moved to North Carolina after the American Revolution, and died around 1820. That’s it. But that’s enough to honor his courage and determination to cross the ocean and provide opportunities for his descendants – opportunities that have benefitted me. I can call his name because I know his name.

Ancestors we don’t know

We knew a few ancestors in this life and we know more through history. But we all have many, many more ancestors who are beyond the reach of historical records. I know James Beckett’s name, but I have 15 other great-great-great-grandfathers and 16 great-great-great-grandmothers whose names I do not know. They are also worthy of my honor and respect.

Mainstream history is helpful here. Many early immigrants to the Southeastern United States were Scots-Irish, meaning it is highly likely many more of my ancestors came here from Scotland by way of Ireland. I can visualize ancestors who were Irish, Scots, Celts, and Picts. I can go back further and further to ancestors who lived in places further south and further east, though I cannot know exactly where or when. At some point tens of thousands of years ago, I had an ancestor who walked out of Africa.

I don’t know these ancestors, but if they hadn’t lived, I wouldn’t be here. I cannot call their names – I can’t even visualize enough placeholders for all of them. But I can acknowledge their gifts and honor their lives.

Bryn Celli Ddu burial mound, Anglesey, Wales

When we honor these ancestors, we subtly affirm an important fact: most of them weren’t Christians. If I assume my ancestors in the British Isles converted to Christianity in 500 CE (it could have been earlier – it also could have been much later) then I’ve got about 50 generations of Christians in my heritage. While the “out of Africa” migration date is highly contentious, even using the conservative date of 70,000 years ago I’ve got about 2300 generations of non-Christian ancestors – and that’s in addition to thousands more generations of human ancestors who lived in Africa.

Yes, in leaving Christianity I have rejected the religion of some of my ancestors. But I’m working to restore the polytheist, animist, and pantheist religions of many, many more.

Ancestors of spirit

While biologically we are all related at one level or another, there are people who have influenced us to whom we are only tangentially related by blood. Some of these we knew in life: teachers, neighbors, spiritual leaders. Others we knew by their work: authors, scholars, activists. As a Druid, OBOD founder Ross Nichols is my spiritual ancestor and it is proper that I honor him, even though I never knew him and never heard of him before he died.

Because of my ancestors of blood, I have physical life. Because of my ancestors of spirit, I have spiritual and religious life. I have built my practice on the foundations laid by those who came before me.

Henry David Thoreau

People in other religions who are unused to ancestor work are likely to understand the importance of honoring civic heroes. We have Presidents’ Day – I’m old enough to remember when it was Washington’s birthday. We have federal holidays honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and (for better or worse) Christopher Columbus. There are countless statues honoring war heroes, civic leaders, and sports stars… and don’t forget The Apotheosis of Washington, the painting on the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building which depicts George Washington becoming a God.

We’re all familiar with the faces on Mount Rushmore and the famous monuments in and around Washington DC, but go to any small town square and you’ll see statues of people you likely don’t know. Local ancestors are just as worthy of honor as national ancestors: they may be less-famous ancestors, but they’re our ancestors.

Ancestors most ancient

It is proper to honor our ancestors because we are in debt to them – if it weren’t for them we quite literally wouldn’t be here. Their lives and their work laid the foundations on which we build our lives.

We intuitively understand the need to honor our parents and grandparents, and it doesn’t take much thought to extend that back to the first ancestor who came to the land where we live. A little more thought brings up ancestors further and further back: those who survived war, famine, and plagues, those who crossed mountains and rivers, those who overcame constant obstacles of a life far different from our own. Keep going back and eventually you reach the first modern humans – the first of our species.

But our ancestry does not stop in East Africa 200,000 years ago. Homo erectus, Homo habilis, and Australopithecus are also our ancestors. If they were here we could not speak with them because they did not have the capacity for language (we think). But as with our more recent ancestors, if it weren’t for them we wouldn’t be here, and it is right that we honor them.

We don’t stop here, either. We have ancestors who were long-extinct mammals and even-older vertebrates. We have ancestors who were smaller and simpler creatures stretching back to the first life. Each of us must decide for ourselves how much importance we place on honoring these ancestors most ancient, but never forget they are our ancestors.

The urgent need to honor our ancestors

One of the core problems of modern society is our unwillingness to consider the needs of future generations. So what if we burn up all the oil and change the climate to something inhospitable for humans? I won’t be here – why should I care?

But when we honor our ancestors we realize we are the beneficiaries of their lives and their work. Because of them, we are here.

Because of us, future generations will be here. Will they look back on us as mighty ancestors who left them a healthy world and a thriving culture? Or will they look back on us as we look back on ancestors who owned slaves and slaughtered the buffalo?

How do you want to be remembered?

* * * * * * * * *

For a solitary ritual of communion with your ancestors, excerpt or adapt the Main Working from this Samhain ritual.

For a group ancestor ritual – particuarly with a religiously mixed group – try this Ancestor Communion Ritual we led at a Sunday service at Denton UU last year.

There are many other ways to honor and commune with your ancestors – find the one that works for you.

Previous Post

January 15, 2015

Religion and Smart People – A Reasonable Response to Unreasonable Smugness

Next Post

January 20, 2015 Imbolc – A Solitary Ritual

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What caused the sailors to throw Jonah overboard?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A vision A mutiny A prophecy A violent storm