Generations of Ancestors

If you’ve taken any of my courses, you likely know that, to me, connecting with and getting to know our ancestors is keeping time!

We are made of our ancestors, their physicality and their experiences, their places and times, their hopes and fears…

For us to be at home in our bodies and lives, to be able to live consciously here in a multi-dimensional universe, to have a sense of connection and continuity that can foster respect, we must know our ancestry. And, I suspect, no little portion of the lack of respect for land and peoples exhibited by us in our culture comes from our lack of actual connection with or memory of our own lands and peoples…

Each year when the Day of the Dead comes around, and in general during this deepening and darkening time of year, I devote much of my time to researching, remembering, and honoring my ancestors. 

And so, I invite you to connect with and get to know your ancestors a bit more as well.

• Write down what you do know: names, places, times, and stories.
• Ask around (which can lead to some very interesting conversations).
• Go online (Google search, www.familysearch.org, www.ancestry.com and so much more)

Here’s a 6 Generations of Ancestors pdf you can print out and use to write in the names of your direct line family tree, giving you a way to see them all together. I do this on a chart starting with myself, and I have other charts starting with each of my grandparents (since I can trace back more than six generations). Using pencil is wise as what we think we know can change!

Here’s a slightly different version of a large-format 7 generations chart I use: