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.
I LOVED this podcast. In coming from an Irish/Scottish – Polish/Russian background, I can see through my adult life how from growing up near my grandparents, I naturally carried on traditions of food and song. In learning my exact DNA a few years ago, I have bought recipe books of my ancestry to draw nearer to them and their parents and so on. And as I move towards my senior years I FEEL them when doing this. It’s a wonderful feeling that comes right from the soul.
I remember taking my Russian/Polish grandmother to see Fiddler on the Roof back in 1977 two years before she passed away from brain cancer. She rarely went to the movies. As a teenager I didn’t understand that. When they did the bottle dance, she whispered to me that her father and relatives danced like that. I remember feeling such a warmth within me from the music, being with her and knowing that story. To this day I ADORE that film and see the play whenever it comes around. The music makes me cry throughout, but a happy cry. I also feel her right near me and her dad as well. How cool is that!!!!
I loved hearing your reaction to Irish / Celtic music and dance! I totally resonate with the feeling of “homecoming” associated with it. I Irish danced throughout my childhood and have recently come back to it as an adult, which has synchronistically lined up with also doing a lot of ancestral connection work. I want to offer some food for thought: most of what we know as mainstream Irish dance was fabricated in the late 19th century as part of the rise of the new Irish Free State. You might notice it’s particularly difficult, not at all like a folk dance should be, really more like ballet- Ireland was trying to become an internationally respected country and wanted to showcase talent and culture by presenting the world with a dance that looked graceful and impressive. And it is! BUT what’s been even more exciting to me this year in my connecting with my ancestral dance tradition is Sean-nós dance. It’s simple, rhythmic, not nearly as athletic, and most of all it is inextricably tied with the music. Your feet are literally a percussion instrument! You can actually hear someone dancing on the recording of the drumming music in this episode. I really recommend checking out some videos of Sean-nós and other old style Irish dance. You might even be able to learn a step yourself 🙂