Ancestor(s) Summoned…
Yep, check. And what’s next…
We’ve explored the importance of ritual in our lives. As promised, I wanted to follow through by sharing with you some of the ways a few of you ritualized either my dad, or your own ancestor, last week.
If you did something to invite ritual into your life at roughly the same time, then, thank you—you were among soul friends. If you didn’t, for reasons known only to you, may you be prompted to explore why—and then next time participate trusting that the experience will provide benefits in your life that you simply cannot predict ahead of time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pat wrote:
“You may recognize the small table that I used in your dad’s ritual. It was a part of the desk “set” where your mom did all the books for the farm.“ Pat also voice messaged me and said her ritual for Dad was pretty normal—she did most of the talking!
Pat was Dad’s, and our family’s, guardian angel for the last six years of his life. In no small sense, she still is.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dad always kept a corner of his heart open for my in-laws Lee and Patty; would ask Kristin about them often and would always want to know when they were safely home when they travelled. And it became a bit of a fun thing between he and Patty when she would ask Dad “Why don’t you darn farmers put signs next to roads that tell the travelers what the heck is growing there in those fields?” I only think he was half-joking when he said
“We should buy Patty a sign that reads ‘corn.’”
Me: “Dad, she knows what corn looks like.”
D: “Still. She’d laugh.”
But Dad would have loved it more.
Maybe we should have bought that sign.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
With a silent prayer, lovely birds chirping in the background, a sweet picture, hops placed inside the pot (from the same bag that was placed with Grandma and Grandpa) , small beautiful roses and some petals placed in the pot as well, a candle that says AWAKEN, some THYME seeds, both appropriately named, and last but not least, strawberry ice cream. Very lovely and peaceful moment. I enjoyed every second.
~ Janelle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When my good friend Mary texted this picture, I responded by saying “a LOT of family lore and story involves that plant! And every time we tell them, we laugh.” Mary also shared with me her own poignant story in which sage played a vital, profound role. Perhaps there’s a deeper reason it’s called “sage.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LeAnn is Kristin’s sister, my beloved sister-in-law and Anam Cara—LeAnn even invited Kris Kristofferson to the devotion too! “It’s a long song,” so said Dad. LeAnn was one of the most engaged and responsive “Dad practitioners” out there. I am forever grateful for her spiritual and soulful support and encouragement.
And Oatly should owe us…big time!
The roses we bought and used in our ritual are being kept. I’ve named the picture above “Symbolic.” I’ll leave it to you to discern why.
Eventually, they will become a part of our compost here on our property—to give life to something new and not yet known.
~~~~~~~~~~
O hydrangea— you change and change back to your primal color ~ Bairyu (A famed Japanese death poem)
Now that Dad’s remains have been returned to the clay landscape of his farming life; and his soul now returned to the eternal from which he came, I’ve made a decision on how this Substack blog/newsletter will continue. It has to evolve given the intention from which I initially started it—to chronicle Dad’s dying that included stories of his reluctant Elderings. Dad remains a presence in our lives, to be sure; and so still has Elderings to give. But I want to do that within a larger scope of writing that explores more of my passions about this mysterious thing we call “being human.”
Next week, my family and I will be out of town attending the wedding of a young woman my daughter Cassidy, especially, grew up with. We symbolically “adopted” her as an honorary Lenseigne so this will be fun watching her take this next important step in her life—Cassidy is a part of the bridal party. Note also: the Lenseigne’s simply are not capable of being in SoCal without a visit to Disneyland. So, yeah, “Arrrgh, there be that too in our future, says I!” (See what I did there? Arrrgh!)
All this to say no blog post next week. But when it returns, on Friday, May 19, the blog will have an evolved Intention and new title (if I can figure out how to do that on Substack)—I’ll explore and explain more in that first post. Suffice it to say there will still need to be more stories told about my Dad (some already in final draft form written before he died), and his Eldering; but the blog will take on a new life, with a wider perspective, as I explore more of my passions that have been kindled through this new form of writing for me; and as I explore and articulate this new and mysterious part of my soul life that seems to have now captured me.
I hope you stay a part of this exploration—you’ll soon learn why YOU are vital in my life. Let’s continue to hand each other along…together.
As always, “like” the posts you like; and PLEASE comment as you are called to do so. You can also email me at kertlenseigne@substack.com
I always respond.
In kindness,
always kindness,
~ kert
🙏🏼
Im getting "curiouser and curiouser" about ...
"a larger scope of writing that explores more of my passions about this mysterious thing we call “being human"."
Oh how I loved seeing glimpses of others rituals.
Have such a fun time in SoCal.