Ancestor Veneration

Synopsis
Ancestor veneration, while not the same as worshipping a god, is still one of the most basic forms of religious behaviour. Life is a sacred power, and one strengthens that power through community and culture – and the continuation of community of culture increases the sacred power of life. Part of community continuation is the veneration of ancestors, the maintenance of a proximity to the after-life and the spirits dwelling within that afterlife.

Part of this community continuation is also found in naming, because if a descendant is given the name of an ancestor, that ancestor can live in his descendant. Ancestors only survive in the after-life so long as they are not forgotten, so tribesmen ritually communicate with their ancestors in order to assure good health, long life and many children. In addition to the power to help his kin, an ancestor also has the supernatural power to harm his kin – which is why they are feared as well as respected.

Ancestors can be visible or invisible and are believed to have the power to possess man or beast. Ancestors are believed to often visit their descendants in the forms of snakes, hyenas and other animals, or to have direct communion through possession. If forgotten or neglected, ancestors strike out at their descendants through curses and calamities. The living and the dead form a totality that must be engaged if life is to be lived fully. A man without ancestors (without family) is a man with only half a life.

No tribesman can communicate with a spirit who is not kin. A tribesman cannot become an ancestor unless he produces children. Likewise, only those who lead good lives (keep a Barbaric code of honour or uphold whatever moral standards the tribe has) become ancestors. Ancestors must be role-models, sources of tradition and stability.

Variations:

 * Brythunian practice of feeding the dead at the spring and autumn equinoxes by leaving food or holding picnics in cemeteries.
 * Darfari create wooden reliquaries to honour their ancestors, containing their skulls.
 * Keshani religious beliefs include the idea that their ancestors can influence the living and that the ghosts of the murdered will haunt their murderers. When a Keshani kills another man, it is believed part of the dead man’s spirit attaches itself to the killer. A Keshani will neither eat nor drink until he has been spiritually cleansed by a leopard-skin wearing priest after he has killed another man.