Ancestor Groups

✾ Ancestors of Blood

Also known as the ‘Beloved Dead’, these are the ancestors closest to you, who are connected to you through direct lineage. They form the foundation of your spiritual power, act as fundamental guides, and are best petitioned for wisdom and protection.

✾ Ancestors of Love

Better known as the ‘Blessed Dead’, Ancestors of Love (or Adoption) are individuals who are spiritually important to you, and to whom you offer the ancestral rites of veneration, but who are not related by blood. These can be legitimately adopted such as through legal means, or found family.

✾ Ancestors of Place

Ancestors of place are those directly associated with land, but who are not themselves land spirits (Genus Loci). These may be Ancestors of blood of yours from Ukraine, for instance, who only appear to you when you step foot on Ukrainian soil for the first time. Or they may be unrelated people entirely; the deceased local residents of a small rural town you now inhabit, with no connection to you at all, but who may still choose to lend you their power in exchange for stewarding their once-beloved community.

✾ Ancestors of Spirit

Sometimes called the ‘Heroic Dead’, this is a rare category that not everyone even has; these Ancestors of Spirit are those spirits who are not necessarily ancestors themselves at all- and may not even be Human in the first place- but who may be still be attached to you or your familial lineage and act as guardians or guides to it.

✾ Ancestors of Work

Called the ‘Mighty Dead’, these are spiritual ancestors of your magical or religious tradition- such as Saints for Catholics, or Marie Laveau for Voodoo practitioners; they form the foundation of your initiatory power and are best petitioned to aid in religious and magical workings, act as spiritual and religious guides, or on other matters pertaining to faith and the work.

✾ Deep Ancestors

Though few work with them, Spirits which hail from forgotten history, which are given the ancestral rites of veneration, are often termed ‘Deep Ancestors’ by some. These are people whose names have been forgotten, paleolithic and similar prehistoric people (or even creatures), or more nebulous ‘ancestral’ groups such as the Denisovians.