I also pray to my ancestors daily, and weekly I make a small drink offering. Another addition is that for every drink offering I make to any entity, I toast my ancestors. So, for example, if giving a drink to Woden, I might say "Woden, I give this drink to you, and in the name of my forefathers who sought, found, and kept seeking, I toast." As the example shows, I usually use which ancestors I toast as a kind of specification for the prayer. As for effects, what felt like my mother was a big help in calming a creepy presence in one room of our house, and during the meditation for my Samhuin Grove Ceremony last week, I had a rather profound emotional impression of the generations of ancestors before me.
So, all of that is to say that I find ancestor veneration to be a meaningful and valuable part of my religious practice. As for including it in the HGD? I'm not as sure whether it is a necessary/helpful part of GD-style magical practice. Mostly I'm going on JMG's repeated point that magic != religion. That being said, the potential link with the runes (through Othala, if nothing else) might give a good reason to include it as part of the practice.
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Date: 2021-11-08 06:53 pm (UTC)So, all of that is to say that I find ancestor veneration to be a meaningful and valuable part of my religious practice. As for including it in the HGD? I'm not as sure whether it is a necessary/helpful part of GD-style magical practice. Mostly I'm going on JMG's repeated point that magic != religion. That being said, the potential link with the runes (through Othala, if nothing else) might give a good reason to include it as part of the practice.