The Denali Institute of Northern Traditions

Ancestral Memories

 Halloween, or the eve of Samhain, is a special night in the Northern Sacred Wheel of the year.  It is the night of the Thin Veil, when ancestral energy streams sweep closest to human consciousness in Midgard.  It is the night of ancestors, ghosts, and oracular utterances from beyond the grave that we can attune with and use for future benefit.

According to Northern lore, the crucial junctures between seasons create windows in the fabric of space and time, facilitating easier contact between worlds.  On this special night of Hallows-eve, we will follow ancient traditions by exercising the energies of Eihwaz to communicate with your ancestral streams.

BACKGROUND.....

Halloween is a surviving remnant of the ancient celebration of Samhain, the Celtic feast of the dead which on the calendar takes place on November 1.  It was converted into All Saint's Day or Allhallows Day by the Christian church, but it never lost its underlying association with death and ancestral streams.  The trappings of modern Halloween, the plastic skeletons and witches' hats, are a much diluted continuation of the festival of the dead at Samhain.  

The Northern folk always began celebration of a holy day on the eve preceding, when the potential energies of the new day are gathering to be birthed in the dawn.  Thus, Allhallows day became “Hallows-eve” which through common usage, became “Halloween”.

The seven to ten day period around November 1st is the most appropriate time in the annual wheel to recognize and to celebrate death as a part of Life.  At this time, all summer foliage is dead and, in Elder times, all animals not required for work or as breeding stock were slaughtered, and their meat was preserved for winter supplies.

This month will be dedicated to attuning with your ancestral stream using the energies of Eihwaz for enhancement of this working.

In both lore and rune shape, Eihwaz represents the vertical axis of Yggdrasil, the Northern World Tree as it pierces the three cosmic realms of Asgard, Midgard and Hel.  It is known as the rune of communication between these realms.  Because of its principle association with the mysteries of death however, Eihwaz is the rune most used for communication with the underworld.  

With this rune, the ancient Northern Seers would call up the dead and gain wisdom and prophecy from them as Odin is reported doing in the Eddaic poems.  The Song of the Sibyl (Seeker Lesson #2) is one such example of this type working.  However, in this month's working, we will exercise some practical precautions.  For instance, in modern day there is no need for the practitioner to expand energy conjuring up specters when communications with the astral world can be established through pure mental imagery and etheric linkages.  Also, in this month's exercise you will operate within the parameters of your ancestral stream which has a reason to respond to your inner call and with whom you have resonance in your auric vibrational pattern.  Not only is there a blood bond, but a Love energy connection as well.

HALLOWS-EVE EXERCISE:

Step #1 – Take a moment and prepare some specific questions that you would like to ask your ancestral stream about your family stream or the Creative Life Force.  As instructed in your lessons, open your study session with appropriate ceremony and place yourself in a deep alpha or theta meditative state.  

Step #2 – Join with the energies of Eihwaz by energizing its rune form and then image it into the World Tree Yggdrasil. Move down the tree trunk to the underworld realm of Hel where souls of the Midgard dead travel into and rest for a period of time.

Step #3 – Call to a member of your ancestral stream that you knew and had a love bond with in this present incarnation.  Ask them to introduce you to your Kin-Fetch and observe what happens in your Inner World imagery.  Your loved one may be your Kin-Fetch or you may be introduced to another Being with whom you will recognize a kinship with.

Step #4 – Ask your prepared questions of this Being or request that you be introduced to one of your family Disir, the near-goddess Being that watches over the welfare of your clan.  Both your Kin-Fetch and Disir are imaged as female in gender.  You may choose to contact either the matriarch or patriarch ancestral streams.  You may want to incorporate the energies of the rune Othala into your working to help you communicate with your family Disir.  

Stay in tune with your family stream for an extended period this evening.  Reach back as far as you can, even beyond memories of your great-grandparent generation.  More than any other entities in the Inner World of Yggdrasil, your family ancestors are the closest and most receptive to your reaching out into the etheric realms.  They want to help you evolve.  In turn, they can introduce you to others that will help you in your search for Truth and accurate knowledge of the Creative Life Force.

You will do great honor to your ancestral stream if you use the thin veil of this Hallows-eve to make connection with and bring your family stream to active consciousness within you.