We've talked about tracing ancestry through DNA, we've talked about non-linear ancestral time, and we've talked about ways to connect to your ancestry through pilgrimage and exploring the lands they came from or settled on. Now in this episode, let's explore the ways we can connect to our ancestry through folkways—song, dance, story, and food of our ancestors.
"It's through the speaking and passing down through the generations that we have been able to recall, remember, and reawaken these ancestral knowings."
Resources:
- The Gael by Clanadonia - Scottish Drummers & Bagpipers in Glasgow (the YouTube video Becca was watching just before recording this episode)
- Ireland Sacred Pilgrimage Recap
- Liz Migliorelli
- If Women Rose Rooted by Sharon Blackie
- Ancestral Connection through Food
- Land of Milk and Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food and Drink by Bríd Mahon
I would love to hear from you!
What are your folk traditions or what folk traditions are you starting to discover?
Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of Quw'utsun' Made
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject; it’s interesting to hear your thoughts on connecting with ancestral folkways. I myself have been really interested in ancestral cooking and herbalism lately as well as in understanding how dreams have been understood as ways of receiving gifts from the sìthichean (“fairies” or spirits) in Scottish Gaelic culture.
Also, not to burst any bubbles or anything, but the “Celtic creation myth” with the white mare that you refer to here actually looks like a twentieth-century fabrication (there’s a thread discussing it here: https://ecauldron.com/forum/hazel-and-oak-a-celtic-polytheism-sig/eiocha-historical-evidence/). There are actually no (surviving) creation myths from any ancient Celtic cultures at all, so either they were lost or they simply never had them.
Well that’s interesting. I’m going to do more research here. Thanks for sharing (and for listening!)
I have been (tentatively) claiming my Mexican roots the past three years by erecting a Dia De Los Muertos altar. At times I’ve felt very drawn to Mediterranean traditions as well.