#ancestral followers

[bellepeppergirl]

The Rauh Civilization

Throughout the base game, there were always strange structures that I and many others wondered about. They were pillars and platforms built into or out of the cliffsides; almost looking as if they were holding the very world up. These ruins could be found everywhere, but never were the explained, nor did we get to see much of them aside from these pillars and platforms, save for two locations; the Highroad Cave in Limgrave and the Ruin-Strewn Precipice connecting Liurnia and Altus.

It would not be until the DLC came out that we got anymore information about these ruins, which came with the Rauh Ruins in the Northeastern region of the Lands of Shadow. Even then, information is rather scarce, as these locations and the cultures that inhabit them seem incredibly ancient.

If I were to hazard a guess, my first idea would be that the people of Rauh were the original inhabitants of the land when the Lands Between and Land of Shadow were one; existing before the arrival of Marika's people or even the Hornsent. I would also assume they were likely the worshippers of the Crucible as we can find Devonia in the Rauh Ruins, as well as the Bird Warriors and Golden Hippos, all of which use Aspects of the Crucible.

Devonia in particular was said to have set out on her own to search for the Crucible, so her being in this location suggests to me that this place has to be very important to and connected to that which she is looking for.

Throughout Rauh, we can also find statues of a strange woman.

We have no idea who this woman is as of yet, nor what her significance was. I have seen some put forward the idea that she herself is Rauh, but I am personally of the opinion that Rauh was simply the name of region/nation and its culture, rather than a singular person. Regardless, she is objectively important to them and this place; possibly even being the god the Lands Between during the Age of the Crucible prior to the take over of the Hornsent and then Marika.

Her outfit also has some similarity to good ol' Elden John from the base game, who is notably absent from the DLC, as is much of the architecture we currently associate with the underground and the Uld Palace Ruins. It's possible these two cultures had some connection; possibly being one in the same or, perhaps the people of Rauh were not the first to inhabit the land, but took it from the Uld people, only to have the land taken by the Hornsent, and then taken again by the Golden Order. Perhaps this cycle of taking land and erasing ancient cultures is far older than we realize.

Another idea I had about the Rauh lady is that she could be Romina. Evidence? Well, she's the boss of Rauh, and Romina's Kindred can be found around the base of the ruins, as well as within alongside some good old rot puddles. We also never see what Romina looked like before her transformation, save for her silhouette during the crusade in the Story Trailer for the DLC. The end point of Rauh is also notably a church filled with Rot and Romina, which could imply that this area and civilization was one that worshipped the Rot, which I have mentioned in a previous post has its own sort of cycle of life, death, and rebirth like the Golden Order did. Rot's power is rather intense; after all, just look at Caelid. There's also the Lake of Rot, which connects to the Grand Cloister, which has the Uld civilization ruin architecture and Elden John statues, possibly linking these two once more, but it could also just be a coincidence.

One idea that I am a fan of is that the Rauh people are actually Ancestral Followers. The title of Ancestral implies an ancient heritage, which of course could simply imply the worship, or follow, their ancestors, but perhaps it also means they are the ancestral people of these lands; the natives who were looked down upon for their "primitive" ways by the overzealous Golden Order, and thus shunned and left to live underground. It would not be the only time undesirables found themselves trapped underground, after all. And, once again, this may connect Uld to Rauh, as Uld is a place where we can find Ancestral Followers. In fact, it is the only place they can be found above ground.

Rauh also seems a bit like a tomb. This is a weak connection, but if they are worshippers of their ancestors, a giant tomb would be fitting. Additionally, Hornsent legend speak of ancient Horned Warriors, whom their own horned warriors are based upon, according to their item descriptions. The Ancestral Followers are seen wearing headdresses of horns and antlers, possibly implying that they were the horned warriors of legend who the Hornsent appropriated following the banishment of the Followers, or that they too revered some ancient horned warrior and sought to imitate them in the same manor as the Hornsent.

Another idea that I had was that these people worshipped Eiglay; the God-Devouring Serpent. We learn there were worshippers from the Serpent Curved Sword, which can be found in the Ruin-Strewn Precipice. Their potential reverence of snakes could explain why they would be erased from history, assuming they were. Aside from that though, and the Sword of Light being available in Rauh, which connects to the Sword of Dark, which loosely connects maybe to the Abyssal Serpent, and then the snake skin in the Land of Shadow... there's not much there.

Once again, I'll have to do some more digging around and stuff to come to more conclusive conclusions, but it's also possible that all we'll ever be able to do is speculate, and that's part of the fun. Would love to hear any other potential theories. One thing we can be sure of, however, is that the Rauh people were likely once a dominant civilization in the Lands Between pre-split and that, whoever they are and whatever happened to them, they are seemingly gone and forgotten; possibly even intentionally so.

[elden-ring-item-descriptions]

Ancestral Infant's Head

Skull of a very young ancestral spirit. Just think how many sproutings It might bear.

Uses FP to spray spirit vapor inflicting magic damage.

The vapor becomes a temporary geyser which deals continuous damage to everything it touches until it disappears.

[starry-bi-sky]

tales of the passerine - danny fenton being bruce wayne's first kid

okay okay. so this is like a continuation/elaboration of my oneshot/prompt i wrote about the idea that Danny was the first batkid. We have a lot of aus where he joins the family after the rest of the bats do, right? So hey! Lets shake things up a bit. Danny is the first to be adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Danny's parents and unfortunately Jazz die shortly after the events of TUE -- how so? I was gonna say an ecto-filter explosion, that would call back to the TUE explosion and trauma behind that. But lets do something new! Carbon-monoxide poisoning.

It's not too unexpected for something to break in the Fenton house, especially with the Fenton parents' questionable understanding of proper weapon handling and lab safety. The water heater broke from a stray shot by one of the weapons, and was promptly MacGyver'd incorrectly. Danny went to stay with Tucker for a guys' night, and came back to a dead silent house.

(Danny's neighbors got a very unfortunate shock when he ran to the next house over in hysterics.)

There was a lot of shuffling around with CPS, the police. People had to be called in to handle the equipment in the lab, and the GIW was rumoring to show up in aid to clearing the scene. When Danny heard of that, he immediately went and dismantled the ghost portal to the best of his abilities. He burned the physical blueprints of all his parents' inventions, their blueprints on the ghost portal, and their most dangerous weapons were destroyed beyond recognition. Anything to prevent the GIW from getting their hands on his parents' tech.

It opened up another investigation, but he was not under the list of suspects. He was placed in the care of Vlad Masters, where they then went back to the rebuilt castle mansion in Wisconsin. Danny, terrified of the future that has once passed and may do so again, shuts down in his grief. Inadvertently, he ends up somewhat repressing his ghost half. Something Vlad, who is grieving Madeline but relishing in Jack's demise and his custody of Daniel, is not very happy with.

Vlad's... gone into a bit of a mental health spiral. He's becoming increasingly possessive over Daniel, the final remnants of his friends and a liminal being like him. He doesn't like that Danny's repressing his ghost half -- both out of genuine concern as a ghost, but also because of his desire to control Danny and groom him into the perfect son. If you ever had a phase where you read Dark SBI found family fics, first off; me too bro, and second off; those are the vibes I'm thinking of.

Danny's mentally shut down from grief! And fear. He's dropped into a bad depressive state -- paralyzed with grief and the terror of the inevitable. Clockwork saved his parents because he believes in second chances, but what's the point of that when his family ended up dead anyways? Danny doesn't wanna believe that he's destined to become evil, and he's holding out onto that hope, but it's a thin line, and he feels utterly hopeless and trapped. He hasn't used his powers or ghost form since he trashed the lab, and Vlad has alarms set up to prevent him from trying to escape.

He's also unintentionally cut off Sam and Tucker -- both of whom are so scared and concerned for Danny too, and are trying their damndest to reach out to him. He keeps ignoring their texts. Danny basically haunts Vlad's manor. He goes out to eat if he has to, attends parties Vlad drags him to, and stays in his room all day if he can.

At parties, Vlad doesn't allow Danny to leave his side, or really talk to anyone -- not that Danny wants to. A product of Vlad's increasing possessiveness. Well, he almost doesn't let Danny leave his side. Danny has a habit of slipping off to hide somewhere for the parties whenever he can, and Vlad reluctantly allows it so long as he stays alone.

This becomes an advantage when eventually, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after missing for years, and holds a bright charity ball to celebrate the return. Vlad has been chomping at the bits to get his hands on Wayne Industries, and with the return of its owner there is no better opportunity to wipe out his rival. He goes, and he as normal, brings Daniel with him.

Vlad thinks Wayne will bleed his little heart out for Daniel's poor orphan sob story -- he's a fellow orphan himself, after all. He's not wrong; Wayne's little heart will bleed, just not in the way that benefits him.

Bruce sees Vlad and Danny approaching before they're even close enough to introduce themselves - and like with many of the children he will soon come to care for, it's like someone set a mirror into the past right in front of him.

Danny Fenton's suit is tailor-made for him, and despite the fact that it's his perfect size, the sag in his shoulders, the ducked down head, and the way he hunches into himself all pictures the image of a child in shoes too big for him. There's a far away, glazed over look in his eyes and grief marble-cut into the lines of his face. There's not enough makeup in the world that will hide the dark circles under his eyes.

("My nephew, Daniel Fenton." Vlad's hands are possessive on Danny's shoulders. Bruce immediately notices the way the boy tenses under his touch. "His parents passed recently, and as his godfather I was designated his guardian.") ("I'm so sorry, the loss must've been terrible.") ("Yes, carbon-monoxide poisoning caused it. Daniel was out with friends, when he came home... they had already passed.") (Bruce immediately dislikes that Vlad shared the details of their death unprompted -- he likes it even less when Danny flinches at the reminder and hunches into himself.)

Danny runs off at some point earlier into the charity. At this point, parties are still being held at Wayne Manor (because iirc google search mentioned that was a thing at first before it was changed), so he disappears and hides in one of the empty rooms nearby. It just so happens to be the same room Bruce Wayne hides in when he needs a break from all of the socialization.

Thus begins a long, long process of trust. Bruce can't reveal his hand as being smarter than he looks, but he can be compassionate. Kindness needs no measure of intelligence. He keeps Danny company for as long as he can before he runs the risk of being found.

Rinse and repeat. Vlad insistently wants Wayne Industries, and he'll go to as many Wayne parties as he can to get his hooks into the man. The problem is that Bruce Wayne is never alone, and getting him alone is impossible. Finding him too. It's like the man never stops moving. Always talking to someone, always circling somewhere. He orbits around the room as if he isn't the sun of the Gotham Elite's solar system.

Danny's had such repetitive behavior that Vlad never thinks to believe that Bruce Wayne is disappearing to go talk to him. That "Vlad's" son is even interacting with him at all. Danny never gives him a reason to think so, and neither does Bruce.

Danny doesn't actually acknowledge Bruce until a handful of parties in, where he hands Bruce a small slip of paper he smuggled in that says; "don't trust Vlad". Danny's face stays carefully blank, but he's so tense that his hands are trembling, and he's purposely looking away from him. Bruce plasters a smile onto his face, slips the paper into his pocket, and tells him "okay".

(he's been busy with his own goals with the mafia, but he sets aside time to investigate Vlad Masters. He was holding off. Until now.)

Danny does eventually start speaking to Bruce, he's starting to really like the guy. He's starting to see a little hope, even as Vlad is starting to get more and more agitated with him the more he refuses to use his powers.

He reaches out to Sam and Tucker again, and starts trying to reconnect with them. Vlad has spyware on his phone, and he limits the amount of times he can talk to them. A weird parental control lock of some sort that leaves a time limit on how long he can talk to them for. 30 minutes. Danny doesn't tell them anything about Mr. Wayne.

Danny, slowly, wants out of here, and he's slowly gathering the motivation to do it. Vlad is genuinely scaring him -- and Danny wonders just how truthful the past-future Vlad was when he told him that Danny wanted his ghost half separate. He starts trying to come up with an escape plan.

Vlad has anti-ghost wards everywhere around the mansion, and while they're always on, they boost to full power at sunset. The doors and windows are always locked, all main exits have alarms set on them. The only reason it's not super extensive is because Danny hasn't tried leaving at all yet, so Vlad hasn't had to tighten anything.

At night, Vlad locks the door to his room and puts up an anti-ghost ward around the room. The mansion is on the outside westward side of Madison, more entrenched in rural Wisconsin. The closest town is a four-way stop sign with one house on three corners, and an open bar on the fourth. Not much to go.

He refuses to go to Sam and Tucker; Vlad would look there first. It's too dangerous. Vlad would sound alarm bells and have a manhunt looking for him, Danny can't risk going just anywhere. Too much risk of being found, sold out, or caught. There's really nowhere for him to hide.

Until there is. Bruce is telling Danny about the history of Wayne Manor, and says, as casually as saying the weather; "The manor has dozens of empty rooms, I'm sure Alfred wouldn't mind filling another one if he could." And quietly, hesitantly, Bruce places a careful hand on Danny's shoulder, unrestrictive and gentle; "He wouldn't mind getting one ready for you if you need one."

And there it is. There's his out.

Danny, just as quietly, replies; "I'll keep that in mind."

The ball starts rolling.

Now I've been trying to summarize this au as much as possible for length convenience, but Vlad has been steadily growing more and more controlling. More emotionally manipulative. More agitated at Danny for not using his powers.

He wants Wayne Industries under his thumb but he's been steadily growing more and more concerned with Danny. He's started grabbing him, yanking him around, shaking him; trying to goad him into using his powers. He gets angry when Danny doesn't react, or tells him he doesn't want to use his powers. He hasn't outright attacked him, but he's getting there. This has been happening over the time it takes for Bruce to indirectly offer Danny sanctuary at his home.

It all comes to a head when Vlad stops going to parties at all -- something Danny has to pretend he isn't upset about -- because Vlad doesn't want him around other people anymore. Vlad rarely goes now without him, and only leaves to go to a Wayne function or to handle something at VladCo.

Danny can't wait for Vlad to leave long enough to escape. So he leaves during the night of a big storm. Vlad's locked him in his room, but Danny doesn't bother trying to go for it; he goes to the alarmed window instead. Danny's been repressing his ghost half so long that he can't access his powers immediately anymore -- he can feel it, he knows its there, but he can't quite reach it.

He breaks the lock by hand.

Immediately the alarm goes off through the entire castle, filling the room with red, and he scrambles for the rope the Wisconsin Ghost left for him a few months back. Danny's already out and climbing down the side of the castle before Vlad even reaches his door -- the only good thing about the entire room being ghost-proof is that Vlad can't get in that way.

The rope ends before it reaches the bottom, and he's still twenty feet in the air. It won't kill him if he lands it right. Danny takes his chances, and drops. He breaks his ankle, but he survives.

And he fucking books it to the back garden. He hears Vlad shrieking over the thunder and rain.

I'll save the full experience for a future oneshot, but Danny makes it out into the nearby woods and forcibly experiences what it's like to be in a horror game, trying to hide from the thing that's hunting you. There's only one thing going through his mind; "i'm going to die"

I have this mental image for this scene. Very stereotypical horror imo. Where Danny is hiding behind a tree, with a hand over his mouth, and Vlad is a few feet away from him, glowing ominously red through the trees, trying to search for him.

Danny doesn't get away from this unscathed, but he does get away alive. That's all he could ask for. He gets away by getting his ghost half awakened long enough to transform into Phantom and fly to Gotham.

But he gets to Wayne Manor, he gets to Bruce. Or, at least, Alfred answers the door from his insistent pounding. Danny's just in tears and Alfred gets him in the living room, wrapped in a towel, with ice on his swollen leg before he has to step out and alert Bruce.

Bruce already breaks multiple traffic laws on a nightly basis. And that's just with the sheer existence of the batmobile itself, not including the speeding and military artillery attached. He breaks double the amount trying to speed back to the cave and get out of the suit.

Right off the bat: Bruce will know, at least before Dick enters the picture, about danny's powers. He'll figure out something considering the fact that Danny traveled from Wisconsin to New York in a single night. That'll be a bit of complicated affair, but I've already got something in mind.

Actually it'll probably be very soon after Danny joins the family, because Bruce tries to offer to fight for custody for Danny - the state Danny was in at arrival is clear enough evidence for a trial. But Danny immediately shuts it down, says it's not going to work and then Vlad will know Danny's with him and he won't be safe. He tells him that Vlad cannot know Danny was with Bruce.

Danny's biggest regret was not telling his parents he was a halfa, and while he doesn't want to tell mister wayne (yet), he does tell him about Vlad being one. He needs to know why Danny can't be seen with Bruce. So he tells him, and Danny's current plan is to just hide out from Vlad until he turns 18. That way, he has no more legal jurisdiction over him. After that? He's not sure.

And to wrap this up, since this has already gotten very long and I can make more posts about this au later; I've thought about it, and I'm going to say that Danny does become a vigilante before Dick enters the scene. He goes by, as you probably guessed; Nightingale. "Gale" for short.

[subzeroparade]

he's that girl.

[serpentface]

FAMILY TITLES AMONG THE HILL TRIBES

(ft. various linguistic notes and tangents)

In-universe Brakul’s self-given title of ‘Red-Dog’ is Brakul 'ne-Dainh' in his native language (Bict-Urbinnas dialect of the Highland language group) and Brakul 'Chin-Reyla' in Wardi. Ne-Dainh/Chin-Reyla is not something he treats as or considers an actual surname or identity, just a self-styled nickname. He already has a title.

Family names/surnames are not a native practice among the Hill Tribes (though some clans or individual families have adopted this practice), and all traditionally use titles that designate immediate ancestry, clan and tribe. These full titles are officially given when one comes of age and are spoken aloud in ceremony (with the entire direct male and female lines listed by name, with most traditions expecting 12 generations of each being named).

The function is to cement one’s sense of place in the world, and their place in a direct ancestral line, which puts the person under the full watch and guidance of their ancestors. It's also a critical method of recording lineage- the long held practice of each person memorizing at least 24 total direct ancestors allows for very long, largely accurate records of family history to be kept, with some people able to trace their ancestry all the way back to initial settlement of the Highlands (or even beyond).

Brakul’s full title is:

“Brakul virsum Kuligan et Borunil an Briyonis ne-Taig an Bict-Urbinnas”

Which dead literally translates to “Brakul son of Kuligan and Borunil of the Foothills (of) Red-Cattle, of the North (Urbin/Erubin) River Valley” but has a much richer meaning in the original language.

"BRAKUL VIRSUM KULIGAN ET BORUNIL"

The actual meaning here is closer to ‘Brakul, son of Kuligan and his father’s fathers, and Borunil and her mother’s mothers’.

“Virsum” means ‘child (son/daughter) of’ (the gender is contextual), but implies the person’s status as a descendant of a full male and female line of ancestors. A different word is used if you’re just saying ‘I’m so and so’s son”. The title describes him as a son of his father Kuligan and of Kuligan’s male line, and of his mother Borunil and Borunil's female line.

All ancestors (within this particular system of kinship, divided into one direct male line from the father and one direct female line from the mother, and not including husbands from the female line or wives from the male line) are invoked and credited with the word ‘virsum’. Speaking it as part of the personal title is part of the routine and necessary honoring of one’s ancestors, who watch over their descendants from the afterlife and can temporarily return to the land to guide and protect (and sometimes punish, or teach sharp lessons to) the living.

"AN BRIYONIS NE-TAIG"

The actual meaning here would be understood as ‘clan/people of the foothills where cattle are lit red by the setting sun'.

‘Briyonis’ is the word for ‘foothill’, citing his clan’s specific location being the foothills that form the slopes of the north Urbin river valley. He is of a lesser clan within the powerful North Urbin River tribe. His clan benefits from close affiliation to their more powerful ruling clans located directly in the river valley, which grants them access to a greater variety of cultivated foods, but their actual position in the foothills still renders them predominantly reliant on cattle for subsistence. Clan names referencing cattle or horses are very common, given their frequent centrality to life.

The ‘ne-Taig’ literally means ‘red cattle’, but the ‘ne’ color word for red specifically invokes shades of red seen in and cast by a rising/setting sun. This red cast is culturally regarded as a unique beauty and evocative (and part of the name) of the solar god Hraighne. The foothills his clan is physically located on are a vantage point from which the western horizon is not fully obscured by mountains, and they experience very striking sunsets and are directly touched by the light. This is fairly unique to this location, and is invoked in the clan name and identity. ‘Ne-Taig’ here suggests a visual of grazing cattle illuminated red by the sun as it crosses the horizon.

‘Ne-Dainh’ carries the same implication, a dog illuminated red by setting sunlight. The Wardi language does not have a comparable word for a sunlit red and ‘Chin-Reyla’ really does just mean ‘(orangeish) red dog’ (‘reyla’ is specific to orangey-red colors, which is the closest match he could get. There’s no way to impart the meaning of ‘sunlit-red dog’ in Wardi that is non-clunky enough to be appropriate for a name).

"AN BICT-URBINNAS"

‘an Bict-Urbinnas’ is fairly simple, Bict means ‘north’, and 'Urbin' is the name of the specific river that stems from a northern and eastern tributary. This river has a very ancient name (or a derivative of one) that predates settlement by the Hill Tribes, and its exact meaning is lost.

The root -(n)nas designates a river valley, but has strong implications of being an esteemed and bountiful place, rather than solely a literal geographical descriptor (as the river valleys are centers of power and trade in the highlands). It may be a loanword from the Wardi language family, as its usage is VERY similar in form and function to the Wardi -(n)nos, which also suggests a place of esteem and bounty (more specifically having connotations of a kingdom).

’An’ literally means ‘of’, but in the specific sense of describing the place and identity of a collection of people. ‘an Bict Urbinnas’ would be understood in speech as ‘of the north Urbin River Valley (people)’. The clans historically settled in and around the valley of the North Urbin River form the totality of the Bict-Urbinnas tribe.

The ‘Urbin’ word predates the contemporary Wardi name ‘Erubin’ for the river, the latter of which invokes the semi-mythological founding figure Erub, who himself was of a Wardi tribe located downriver to the south of the Highlands. The real historically extant ‘Erub’ was most likely named Urub after the river, with his cited name shifting over the centuries in folklore, and the Wardi name for the river shifting with it.

‘Erubin’ as a corruption of ‘Urbin’ functions very well in Wardi language due to ‘-bi/bin’ denoting something as a ‘gift’, usually in a more metaphorical sense. ‘Erubin’ is understood as meaning ‘(The river that is) Erub’s gift’, and the Erubin/Urbin river is a key tributary to the much larger Black river, one of the key rivers that feeds the region's wetter and more fertile west. This 'gift' meaning also occurs in the name of the southeastern Imperial Wardi city-state Erubinnos, which is understood as meaning ’((The kingdom that is) Erub’s gift’. He is considered to have conquered and taken the land (from the core city's actual founders, the Wogan people) and established a kingdom there in the early days of warring Wardi tribal monarchies.

[thegentleintellectual]

“I woke up today, confused, inside of something feminine and ancestral in its misery.”

Excerpt From: Terese Marie Mailhot. “Heart Berries.”

[minitaurkid]

A chibi Ancestral Follower.

[kaerinio]

also, not to be insane, but . . . i think it's beautiful how dany wants so desperately to give her brother new life by naming her son, then a dragon after him. however, the more i reflect on it, the more i think about how she could have just named rhaego directly after her brother. he could have just been rhaegar. so, i am going to take some liberty here and say that rhaego is named after rhaegar, yes, but in this name, she is also thinking about rhaegar's children, whose names contribute elements to the naming of rhaego (rhaenys and aegon). they are pieces of her brother, and it was he who gave them life first. in honoring rhaegar, she honors them, as well.

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

The Ancestral Followers like to get high on magic deer blood.

It's safe for regular humans in small doses. Kale buys dried blood whenever he can make it to Siofra, and sells it in Limgrave at a huge mark-up.

[elden-ring-item-descriptions]

Remembrance of the Regal Ancestor

Remembrance of the Regal Ancestor Spirit, hewn into the Erdtree.

The power of its namesake can be unlocked by the Finger Reader. Alternatively, it can be used to gain a great bounty of runes.

Ancestral spirits exist as a phenomenon beyond the purview of the Erdtree. Life sprouts from death, as it does from birth. Such is the way of the living.

[subzeroparade]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Elden Ring  Rating: G Summary:

"I am a soul in a loosely-bound collection of porcelain limbs, and my only ally is the distant, mercurial Moon. Are you so unimaginative as to be bound by duty? This is not the winning side.”

A Tarnished kneels before Ranni, and lies.

[nana2009]

unfortunately i am doomed to bear the grudge my ancestors have held for over 500 years

[sadlazzle]

man i am rlly struggling w rennala this time around. idk what exactly im doing so differently but her second phase is absolutely handing my ass to me

[theskeletoninthegarden]

I may have wanted more from Fena: Pirate Princess but I am mourning it's loss

[stuck-writing-sickos]

can an AI make this

[conjuremanj]

How to Build An Ancestor Altar.

Hoodoo is a practice of ancestral . The honoring and/or even worshipping of ancestors is practiced around the world. Many African religions have a foundation in the belief that one's ancestors play an important role there life, living even after death. The spirits of the dead are invited in the household so that they may influence the family and provide blessings and protection. Maintaining a connection with our dead ancestors is a foreign concept to the majority of Americans. Christianity teaches that death is a concrete ending and many approach the subject of death and dying with morbid fear and confusion. For those who are seeking to practice hoodoo, it can be difficult to address these ingrained fears and establish a new understanding of life and death.

Hoodoo like many African traditions, sees life and death as being an journey of the soul. it rises on the spiritual plane where our souls continue to live. Endurance and wisdom from those who came before us and establishing a relationship with them is vital to the success of every working, charm, trick and candle burning used in the tradition. Without with our ancestors is like shooting in the dark hoping to hit your target which results in a lot of wasted time and energy.

Our ancestors don't just power magical workings, they also can guide us so that we can avoid a negative situation and recover from it quickly. The real strength of a conjure man comes from the foresight provided by our ancestors through the ancestor altar. A beginner might be overwhelmed by the all the information that is available on the subject and become confused. I understand how a person could reach a “stalemate” in their research for authenticity. Find a place in your home that is relatively low in traffic, meaning that not many people will see your altar. You can also use a closet space. Your altar will become a point of spiritual gravity a highway for spirits to travel through. (So not the bedroom) This spiritual activity can negatively affect your dreams and sleeping pattern. ( Meaning the energy) Find a space for your altar (table) Next clean your surface with a spiritual solution like Florida Water, Rose Water or Koloria 1800 etc. Wipe in a circular clockwise motion. After the altar is dry, say a prayer over the table expressing your intentions for it to act as a holy space.

If the table is made of wood you could then rub a blessing oil into it like Van Van or Ancestor Oil. Find a cloth for your altar. Most commonly white cloth but any would do. Cover your altar with your altar cloth. The very first thing on your ancestor altar should be the Bible. Make sure that your Bible doesn't take up to much space there are other things that will to be added.

Also, it is likely that your ancestors were Christian and they will respond to verses because they are familiar with them. Next, place a white seven-day candle before the your Bible. (We use candlelight to provide our ancestors with illumination.) The candle acts as a beacon drawing spirits closer to us.

The white seven-day candle can stay lit at all times if you do stock up on them. (don’t light the candle until your altar is completely set up) After the candle has been placed on the altar, add a wine glass full of water next to the candle. (Any glass or chalice will do) We are born of water and your bodies is partially made of water. It's entry point between the world of the living and dead. The glass of water allows for a stronger connection with the spirits who will be called apon. You can place a picture of your ancestors to the left and right of your Bible, candle and glass of water. Their pictures help to strengthen your connection.

Don’t worry if you don’t have pictures of them. There are other things that can be added to your altar to strengthen the connection. Next place anything that might have belonged to them on the altar in front of their pictures. Add items that are significant to your spiritual practice on your altar, I highly suggest some type of divination tools like bones or tarot cards. It come in handy for clarifying a message.

Finally, place an image of a spirit known for protection on your altar. It’s always best to have a working relationship with the spirit you chose to place on the altar, but if your beginning you might not have a working relationship with a spirit of protection so use this time to begin communicating with that spirit. I suggest Saint Michael or the Virgin Mary. This spirit will act as a guardian between you and any random spirits that may be attracted to your altar, Place an extra candle and glass of water next to the image of your protector.

Other common items you can choose to add is dirt from an their grave, incense burner, candle snuffer, a bell, flowers etc. Arranging your items is personal preference. The water, coffee and rum should be cleaned and refreshed at least once a week. Any food offerings should be left on the altar until it has lost all life and becomes stale. Your candles should be replaced as soon as they go out.

Now that your ancestor altar is completely set up, it’s time to begin welcoming the spirits into your home. Begin by inviting your ancestors to “sit” at your altar. You can achieve this with a three-day long ritual that is intended to prepare the space.

Day 1- at your altar, try to imagine the faces of those who have passed. Say a prayer out loud to them. Speak their names. Take as much time as you need to really make a connection.

Day 2- Prepare meals that they would like. You can Leave the food on the altar.

Day3- Bring them gifts as an offering. Before bed, say another prayer giving them thanks and honor. I suggest this be done at least once a week. Pay attention to your dreams and to your intuition during this process. Your ancestor will eventually respond to your prayers so pay attention.