It’s all good, as long as we remember to journey in company, and do not imagine that we do the work: Spirit, or Higher Power, or One Love, or however you best understand a power greater than yourself, does the work. We give our focus and energy and, in all humility, gain in wisdom. And we always remember to have ethics: in some cultures, shamanic practices are taught only after years of instruction in ethics. If you ever think it might be okay to use shamanic practices to hurt or harm, just journey to your friends and relations in the upper or lower world and ask them all about it, and let them show you exactly why and how it’s specifically harmful to you.
The practices
Now, in seeking a particular ancestor or ancestors to work with, and pace Resmaa Menakem, I can’t advise inviting any random ancestor into your home or any other sacred space, especially if they’re inclined to be so bad-tempered that you might want to just walk away from them; you could be burning those white-sage alternatives for days trying to clear out that energy. Would you invite your proudly racist Uncle Donald to a family gathering knowing that he can’t be trusted with the nieces, and then just walk away and leave him marauding around the house if he got mad at you? No? Me neither. We all have ancestors who need healing, and we’ll get to them later. As Angela Davis has so wisely pointed out, not all of our ancestors are necessarily our people. What we’re looking for right now are ancestors who perhaps were and are healers in their own right, who have arrived at a state of great light, and who really, really love us.
If you’ve already done shamanic work, you already know how to set your intention and journey to find ancestors who will be overjoyed to help you with this specific work—if you haven’t already met those ancestors. You may be comfortable with drumming for yourself, or you may want to shake a soft rattle for your journey, or use whatever recording you prefer.
Here’s what we might call an intermediate practice, if you don’t have a whole lot of experience yet or are perhaps feeling a bit shy: while drumming, rattling, or listening to a recording of drumming or rattling, try concentrating on this design, and especially on the small black circle in the center.
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