Ancestral Guides...




Recently my family and I decided to venture off to pick blueberries in the bountiful woods around a beautiful community in Ontario . As we spent time eating (alot!!) and picking, we reminisced about our ancestors and their wonderful blueberry pie recipes, blueberry pancakes, and the times spent with our ancestors learning the fine skill of picking fragile succulent berries from abundantly gifted plants.

Baba & Gigi

During our time together picking berries, I connected with the memories of spending summers out on a prairie farm with my Baba learning to pick Saskatoon's and create everything from Saskatoon pies, to jams and preserves. I realized that now I too will one day be an ancestor, and the necessity of passing this wisdom to my own family, I had awakened to the incredible role ancestors play in our lives.

The time I spent with my Baba was so valuable to me. I learnt respect for the land and plants, she taught me the importance of leaving some berries for the birds and bears, as well as assuring that the plants are well cared for so that next years crop could gift us with more nutritious berries. She taught me that the land can nurture, and all is in balance when we connect with this land. She taught me the cycle of life.. the birds eat the berries and in their droppings they spread the seeds, the seeds grow to make more plants for the animals to enjoy, the animals enjoy the berries to nourish their bodies, eventually their bodies contribute food to animals within the cycle of prey and predator, or their bodies contribute to the soil with their bones and flesh, starting the cycle again of fertile soil perfectly balanced ready and waiting for the seed to be dropped again.

My Ancestor's prairie farmhouse, a home filled with love & Light!

Some may have called my Baba a Grandma, chef or matriarch of the family, I call her my sacred Spiritual teacher, my Guru, and now since her passing, my sacred Ancestral Guide. When ever I cook, can or bake, I call forth her spirit to assist me, and the creative juices flow!! Together we bake, cook and create the most wonderful nourishing food. When I walk on my land, I can hear in my memory my Gigi's tractor harvesting the grain for flour and feed. He would always summer fallow his land, leaving nature to do its work verses using chemicals supplied by large companies. Today, some 25 years after his passing, I still remember his teachings, ...allow mother earth to do what she knows best, and the land will care for you in wonderful bountiful way. As someone who now hobby farms, I live by the values he taught me about respecting the land.



















Another one of my ancestors now in Spirit is My Grandma Jean. Grandma taught me the value of enjoying a good card game and sharing a beer together (she liked the bottom half of the beer!), a lesson in taking time for family. My Grandma also taught me how to walk into a clothing store, scan the entire store in less than a minute and either find what I want or move on...in other words, she taught me how to value my time and not waste it. My Grandma, a widow when she was 38 and left to raise 7 children, taught me how to be self sufficient and creative as a woman raising a family. Rather then give up, my Grandmother sold apple pies and Avon, she had a hair salon and educated herself to become an awesome dietary aid in a hospital. Still to this day when I eat an apple pie I instantly link with the wisdom and sense of Independence she taught me.


















After reminiscing about my ancestors, I began to realize we have many forms of Guides and guidance living with us and within us. I asked Nathan to expand on the Sacredness of our Ancestors and their purpose in our life, the following discourse was shared by Nathan regarding Ancestral Guides...

Your ancestors, those being the teachers of Sacred ways that came before you now exist as a resource for you to explore and connect to your Authentic Spirit call for this incarnation. You were attracted to certain ancestors because your energy, be it in emotional alignment with your ancestors or not, needed the lessons, trials, and connections you are experiencing through your ancestors of times past (those deceased) and human interactions with you now. For some, your ancestral teachers are from the original group of which you entered through, or in other words your birth family. For others you will explore and find your ancestors from other nations and families as the teachers of your Spirits call. In the world of guidance, we do not limit Ancestral guidance and Guides. Guides see not color of skin, culture or blood as a necessity to be part of an ancestral line of teachers, we view ancestral guidance, teachings and connections as a vibrational alignment with what makes your heart sing, your Spirit soar, your Highest self come forth. Ancestral guidance is accessed by a vibrational alignment with the Ancestral ways of that which frees your Spirit to its highest purpose, ...we as Guides do not limit your Spirits growth by the guidelines of human ways, we encourage you to align with your Truth, that which brings joy and challenge to you.

An Ancestral Guide is a vibration within yourself that aligns with ancient practices and rhythms that best serve your Highest purpose here on this planet. You may feel in alignment with a Grandmother or Grandfather, Uncle or Aunt within your lineage, a relative through whom their life has taught you how to free your Spirit. You may be in alignment with Ancestral Guides from religions, spiritual practices, cultures, and ways that you were not birthed to, but yet they, those teachers that lived in the nations, cultures and beliefs before you awaken within you your Spirits call. Ancestral guidance is not limited by differences perceived by the human eye or cultural rules and beliefs, male or female, those perceived as holier than others, rituals, colors of skin, ney, we see no barriers, limits, rules or rights of passage, to us all is one always and in all ways when accessing guidance....to this we encourage you to...

Seek out and practice your ancestral ways, eat the foods, listen to the music, enhance the purpose of their nation and seek ancestral counsel in all that you do. Call upon your Grandmothers and Grandfathers, your sisters and brothers, call upon the birds, the sun, call upon the teachings of those that have been here before you and awaken within you the truth of your Spirits call. Forget these ancestors and you have forgotten yourself! These are your gurus, teachers, they show you the shadow and light of life, they show you the truth's of what is and what was and what will be, they have tried and tested reality and their experiences, thousands of years of experiences and education are found in these Ancestors, this is priceless, the greatest education you will ever have.

Gift yourself this wonderful gift of Ancestral connection, let it not disappear. To access their wisdom, to find your Ancestral teachers and guides look within the family you have, be it birth or connections with those you feel a kinship with, see the teaching, ...in teaching love did they explore hate or hostility, how do you feel about that. Did they nurture or feed another, in their teachings of the land were they connected or disconnected, in exploring their teachings you will find your truths. Explore how their lives influence the life you are here to live. Perhaps the ancestral struggle for food has left you with the lesson of appreciation and generosity for others, perhaps the ancestral lesson of violence has left you with the lesson of tolerance and kindness, perhaps the lessons of love has left you searching for your own love, and perhaps the ancestral lessons of being one with this land the nations of wings and fur has given you the space to explore your connection with oneness and love. It wont take long to review and connect, be open to the trial of exploration in order to connect with truths for yourself.

Nathan teaches the value of connecting with many different levels of Guidance. His teachings have always focused on the lessons that Spirit Guides, Ancestral Guides, and Angelic Guides are vibrational attunements with Divine energy and this vibrational alignment lies within ourselves, it does not exist as being outside our self with control over us, teaching negative damning lessons! Nathan, my Guide, has taught me that all that I need, want or desire is within, and tapping that source is as easy as taking a moment of silence, and in gratitude with love, asking for the vibrational energy within me to be in alignment with the Highest purpose for this planet.



















Here is an exercise Nathan gave to me several years ago as a way to connect with the vibration of my ancestral teachers, my Grandmother, my Baba, my Gigi, and even one day, my parents...

Ancestral Guide meditation: In a peaceful setting,light a candle, close your eyes and remind yourself (visualize) of an Ancestor, ancestral teachings of a nation, people or culture that resonates with you, connect with that energy by visualizing yourself sitting around the candle flame amongst a circle of wise teachers from the Ancestral ways of which you seek wisdom from. This is your council of Ancestral Guidance, there for you to access Divine wisdom for your life journey. Ask these teachers of your Ancestral Council to assist you in whatever your trials are, ask them to share with you their greatest teachings for the Highest good of your Spirits call and for of the world around you. Listen, allow the energy to speak, bathe in the energetic flow of those before you, allow yourself to become more conscious, awaken once you feel the flow of ancestral energy present in you, upon opening your eyes, begin to journal your experience. For the next several days after this meditation, be very present in the moment, allow yourself to follow your hearts promptings, trust, and watch for signs and guidance from your life, those in your life, and your dreams...your guidance from your Ancestral guides will become more evident as you practice this meditation on a regular basis.

For me, when life is confusing or scary, when I feel challenged or lost, I turn to the Ancestral Guide meditation. I light a candle, close my eyes, ask the energy of my Baba, and Grandma to guide me, to align me with my Divine purpose, to show me my answers...I find this to be very effective way to learn how to surpass obstacles and awaken to the guidance available to me from my Ancestral Guides..

On a final note, according to the teachings from Nathan,Ancestral guides differ from that of Spirit Guides and Angels. Nathan shares in his teachings that Ancestral Guides are the first line of Guidance available to us because they have been here in this human earthly vibrational field living life, experiencing the human experience, and have a first hand knowledge of the human aspect of living life.









Next week we will discuss Spirit Guides, until then,

I wish you many blessings and Light!!




Denyse









photo #1 by Elaine Pace - Mother Earth Therapy, other photos by Denyse