Honouring our Ancestors
March 19, 2010
In all the years that I have been studying religion I have never spent any time looking into any form of African or Afro-Caribbean spirituality. Up until now I felt that this area of study was closed to me. The strong exclusive cultural associations of the religion seemed on the surface to bar me from learning about it from the inside out so to speak, dissuading me from exploring its depths. My only experience with it in the past has been a cursory look into the Orishas or Afro-Cuban deities while I was studying the various Goddesses of the Womanspirit movement. I also felt I was hampered by my inability to speak Spanish or Yoruban, the African language from which the prayers and songs of the tradition are derived. Lately all this has happily changed. I feel very fortunate to have been introduced to a lineage holder of an Afro-Cuban religion called Lukumi (among other things), who is also the co-founder of an organization called the Orisha Consciousness Movement and who has been gracious enough to share aspects of his path with me in English.
I don’t want to jump into a discussion of Afro-Cuban religion at this point or write about his particular spiritual tradition in this post. I will leave that for another time. For now I want to explore a few significant points that the Baba has brought to my attention and which have introduced me to a wider view of my own spiritual heritage.
One of the very first things that the Baba or teacher of this lineage suggested that I do before I start to learn about his religion was sit down and sort out where I came from. Who are my people? How did their lives influence or shape the person that I am today? What were their spiritual influences and did any of them pass anything of value onto me? Honouring your ancestors he said, is as good a place as any to start any spiritual quest. In fact it turns out to be the best place to start.
These questions were ones that I must have been anticipating for a very long time because over the past 3 years I have been studying my families roots and have even gone so far as to subscribe to an online genealogical data base in order to start working on my family tree. One of the interesting things that I discovered is that census forms contain much more information than birthdays and the number of persons in a particular household. They also include the profession or trade of the people in the family as well as their religious affiliation if they have any. It was in these government documents online that I discovered quite a lot about my family’s religious heritage. Better than that however has been the enjoyable process of sharing candid and sometimes very poignant conversations with elders within the family. It has been through these sources that I have been able to piece together an simple history of our religious affiliations and spiritual traditions. It is my hope to share some of what I have found in this blog.
Matthew Wright (1874-1934 ) and Martha Langlands (1874-1958), Newcastle upon Tyne (maternal great grandparents) who emigrated to Hamilton Ontario Canada in 1911.
William Mitchell Clark (1860-1949) and Emily Scobel Ballantyne (1856-1944) Hamilton Ontario Canada
Hiram Webster Bush (1863-1946) and Emmarilla Merchant (1865-1941) Collingwood, Ontario Canada (paternal great grandparents).
William Thomas Parker (1869-1920) Lucy Emma Brock (1874-1901) Wyebridge, Ontario, Canada(paternal great grandparents)
Anjali
1.I came to know something about Lukumi or the Orisha Consciousness Movement because of your post. You have mentioned about Spanish or Yoruban prayers and songs. I think some encouragement which requires to be given to the people who may be taking their efforts to preserve this ancestral treasure to bring it into the knowledge of the younger generation.
2.I also do believe that our ancestors emboss our life in many ways. Remembering spirituality of our ancestors in these days is very important. Human nature is to forget good things early and remember bad things till the end of the life, we have to reverse it. Ancestors’ virtues are leading us on to the way of spiritual progress. However I am not for to much digging into this treasure where we may stuck up our self and loose our real way of spiritual progress. We have also to keep in mind that we are being watched by the younger people. Hence we have to keep doing the good things which remain to lead even after our death.
3.Thank you for your post.
Ketkar
Thank you my Friend, I am finding that it is best to start at the beginning with the sharing of my path here on this blog. My parents and grand parents, as well as all my other ancestors have presented me with a spiritual legacy which I hope to honour in this way. Most of them were very traditional Christians, however as you know my father was a student of the Theosophical Society and Helena P. Blavatsky who in the late 1800′s introduced many Westerners to Hinduism and Buddhism from her organization established in New York City and at the International Headquarters at Adyar, Madras (Chennai). He is the one who gave me my first copy of the Gita and the Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha when I was a child. I will save that part of the story for another day.
I also wanted to mention that I too think that it is important for teachers to preserve and pass on their spiritual lineage so that younger generations can benefit. The Baba of the OCM is doing just this and has introduced me to the teachings that he has received from his Baba before him. As you know I love to study the religious lives of different people. I am glad that this path has been opened up to me by a gracious and kind young teacher who loves his lineage and is pleased to share it with others who show a sincere interest. His humility in doing this inspires me and I am sure that he will be of great benefit to others by following in his Baba’s footsteps and passing on what he knows. I hope to write more about him and his path as the weeks go on.
Wow Great start!
Thanks for sharing your story…
I started flashing a bit when reading on the line from the movie The Jazz singer “If you don’t know where you came from, how do you know where you’re going?”
ASHE
Hello Anjali,
I was browsing the web looking for info on OCM and came across your blog.
I have been very deeply impressed by Baba Raul’s books and teachings. Sadly, I never got to meet him and study under him. If you could provide me any information about his successor and how to contact him, I would be most grateful. I am interested to know how Baba passed away so young.
I have felt a very strong connection to the Venezuelan Indigenous Goddess Maria Lionza but not finding a way to go about finding anyone who can introduce me to her rituals and worship. It is more of a problem since I do not speak Spanish.
Thank you so much and God bless you.
highpriestess
Hello Anjali,
Soon after I posted this, I found the OCM info on facebook.
So I have the contact info.
Peace and love.
highpriestess
Good luck in your journey. Maybe we will meet someday.