Badass Ancestors: Finding Your Power with Ancestral Guides

Incorporate Your Ancestors into Your Spiritual Practice I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would! I've been reading Llewellyn titles for decades, so when I see one at one of my favorite book review sites, I want to snap it up even if I am not 100% sold on the topic just by the cover, title, and description alone. I am so glad I went with my instincts on this one. I have long been a student of genealogy as well as metaphysical topics. Why hadn't I thought to marry the two before? The author has a friendly and engaging writing style that is a pleasure to read. The book goes into so many ways about how you can integrate an appreciation for those who went before you into your spiritual practice. The book starts by looking at the history of ancestor veneration and offers direction about how to research your family's genealogy; the author provides resources for the latter in the back. Now that you've learned more about your family, the book dives into setting up a family altar, working with your family including rituals and meditations, dealing with problematic ancestors, and including ancestors of the heart. I particularly liked the last one, because I think it is a great idea to incorporate those friends and mentors who have passed even if they are not of our blood. The author also explores how to work with archetypes like the Warrior or the Rebel. She goes into a little about divination and even has a chapter about eating with your ancestors—including recipes that sound pretty tasty. She ends the book by looking at your own legacy that you will be passing on. I liked that the author acknowledged several difficult aspects of ancestor veneration, like if you have an absent parent or are adopted—and even problematic ancestors you don't want to acknowledge, let alone venerate. Because she included all these considerations, I was surprised that, in the legacy section, she didn't fully acknowledge that some of us will have no legacy, with no children or grandchildren to remember us in any way after we’ve passed. I would have loved to have seen a section in the legacy chapter about how you deal with that. Other than that, I found this to be a delightful book connecting you to not just some mystical past, as we often do as when interested in the metaphysical or non-traditional spirituality, but our family's actual past, the people on whose shoulders we stand, without whom we would not be. Even if the concept of ancestor veneration doesn't sit quite comfortably with your 20th-century outlook and practice, I recommend this book because it will open you to ideas that are worth considering and integrating into your spiritual practice. It feels grounding in a way that few ideas do. I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

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