Opinion: To Honor the Ancestors

Like a “Sunday Catholic” who is extremely devout on Sunday mornings but lives a decidedly un-Christian life for the rest of the week, we can all too easily make grand speeches over the drinking horn at blót but neglect to put intention into action when we step out into the wider world. Are we honoring the ancestors in our lives? Or are we dishonoring them?

Why should I work with the ancestors?

There is a question that I’ve asked myself sometimes and that I haven’t had an answer to for a long time: What do I get from working with the ancestors? From all the spirits and all the entities that I could work with – the deities, the fae, spirits of the land, egregores – why should I work with the departed specifically?

¿Por qué debería trabajar con los ancestros?

Sin embargo, hay una pregunta que me he hecho en ocasiones y para la cual aún no tengo respuesta: ¿por qué debería trabajar con los ancestros? ¿Qué gano al hacerlo? De todos los espíritus y entidades con los que podría trabajar —deidades, fae, espíritus de la tierra, egregores—, ¿por qué elegir a los ancestros específicamente?