Ancestors and the Personal Altar

The idea of ancestors is central to Change. We in the modern west have a great difficulty with ancestors. We do not know what they are or how to enable them.  Yet in order to be a diviner, we must establish a harmonious relation with these  ancestors. It is central to our connection with the Great Tradition of Change, the only way its blessings can flow.

 
In the world of Change, the Zong or Ancestors live in the tomb and, at the same time, sit at the court of the High Lord. They ensure a continuous flow of blessings from the invisible world, connecting what is above and what is below.  The sacred cosmos portrayed in the World of Change revolves around the axis they create and it is invoked any time the ritual of high divination is performed. This axis the Axis Mundi or World Tree, a zone of absolute reality where there is perfect access to the spirit world that has the shape of the human heart (xin). It is  where the dead rest in peace and receive the great offerings.

 
In the World of Change, the creation and enshrining of an ancestor spirit is an extremely important ritual that involves fixing and feeding the ghost in the tomb and a mourning ceremony that enshrines its "bright spirit" in an image or tablet on our ancestral altar. The ancestor is fed there through sacrifice and ritual attention that culminates in the sacred meal which humans and spirits share. At this time a shi or Embodier, literally a person acting as a "corpse," would be possessed by the installed ancestor spirit. Through his or her medium, this spirit would be present in the human community, sharing the meal and extending its radiant and liberating blessings (fu) to ten thousand generations of its descendants.  This process of releasing and enshrining the spirit is one of the most important manifestations of Change and its way of transformation. It is a heng ritual, fixing the omen an ancestor represents and giving it an enduring place in human life, a paradigm of sacrifice and blessing.

Initiation and Divination

Induction into the world of the dead and coming into contact with one's personal ancestors as a conduit to the great powers is a central part of the initiation of a diviner in virtually all traditional cultures, from the Wu of ancient China to the sangomas of contemporary Africa.  The result of the initiation and "night-sea journey" it involves is the creation of a personal altar, a place where our own dead are honoured so that they can open to the great powers beyond.

During this initiation, you experience the great powers literally re-arranging your connection to the world of the dead. You then must fix this omen or process by establishing a sacred space filled with objects that represent these powers and by honouring them with sacrifice - your attention and devotion. Through this, the invisible world of the Past Ones can enter your life. It is a  necessary step in coming to peace with the past and the world of the dead, what we might call real psychic hygiene. There is an image of this sort of Dwelling Altar in line 37.5 of the Change.

Outer World Center (37.5 [22.5 : 21.2] 38.2): You are asked to become a formal member of a noble family. Though the marriage gifts you offer are very small go through with this and you will have great cause to rejoice. Go back and accept the challenge. Bite through the obstacles to union. In an unexpected way, in an unexpected place, you have met a spirit power of great importance. The influence will enter your heart and make everything clear. These comings and goings release bound energy. Co-operate with the on-going process of change. This is influenced by a transformation at the thresholds of the inner world, when Bright Omens (30) that guide people's lives emerge from the Tiger's Mouth (27).

Ancestor Worship

Traditional "worship" of ancestors means giving them the recognition they need in order to exercise their power. It is an image of a creative relation to the figures of the psyche, complexes that people our imagination that both came before us and will outlive us.

Ancestral worship is the central link connecting divination, the sacred vessel and the sacred meal, the power of the dream or omen animals, the animal form of these ancestors that represents their imaginative potency and power. It opens what we call the Secret Sickness pathways that focus on clearing the corruption in our inner parental images and the cultural images of our ideals and institutions.

We must confront this theme in order to truly enter the world of Change. If we wish to truly use its power, we must "fix" or heng the connection to the ancestors, giving it a real place in our lives and our hearts. As the old myths say: "This is particularly important for diviners and spirit-workers. It is what makes their power firm. It is what keeps harm away. It is stated in Change: A man without heng will not succeed as a Wu-Intermediary. How true! Not fixing the de, the power and virtue of an omen, leads to failure. Just reading it is not enough.