They are not buried here. None of my blood relatives are buried in my home state. Yet that has not stopped me from making lasting, powerful, magickal, connections to women, who have gone before me, namely the Divine Marie Laveau and a Black woman from Pioneer times, who is buried in a cemetery, near and dear to me, which is close to my home.
Before each of their graves, I have knelt. I have poured my heart and soul out to them. I have left offerings. I have done ceremony and asked for their help, with issues that weighed heavy on my heart. And each time I have wept and asked for help upon their graves, they have answered me, and given the help I was seeking, openly and graciously. And upon my asking, I have kept my promise and returned to their graves, in gratitude, to leave offerings of thanksgiving for their spiritual guidance, protection and assistance.
For not all of us are blessed with ancestors to whom we can call upon at their gravesites. Not all of us have that blessed grandmother, auntie or uncle, at whose knee we can sit and soak up their magickal and powerful wisdom. Some of us have to create our families in the here and now and find those ancestors to whom we have a deep and spiritual link. I am one of those people, and I am forever grateful to those who have gone before me, to whom I can turn and pour water to daily, as part of my ancestor veneration and ritual.
So during this time of year when we celebrate the darkness, and our loved ones on the other side of veil, during Fet Gede, Samhain, and Halloween, let us do it with glad hearts for the spiritual connections we have with those who answer our call, whether we be related to them by blood or simply by love.
Najah Lightfoot
