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Is there a place for ancestor worship in modern society? For thousands of year many cultures with various beliefs celebrated the people that came before them. With elaborate ceremonies they welcomed their ancestor’s spirits back at special times of year, to let them know that they are thought of and appreciated.

The distant relatives you have never known created the long and epic story that came before you. None of us just appeared, everyone had someone that looked after them as best they could, though as history tells us many things did not go as planned. With so many leadership changes, wars, greed, slavery and natural disasters, life could be very unpredictable. Religious and cultural affairs were the normal state of being; praying, worshipping, ceremonies and daily offerings could help lift the situation in difficult times.

With hindsight from history, archaeology and DNA we can see the trail that came before and can emotionally connect with this. Our ancestors set certain days a year aside to celebrate those that came before. Your life is important and their life in their time was important. It’s like reaching through a portal and appreciating all the things you’ll probably never know. Though you can read and research certain time periods to understand more. Meditation can be helpful.

Honouring the ancestors can be easily done, a mini ceremony as such. Use the cultural norms you already practice or try something new. Maybe a few candles, incense, flowers, fruit, and natural elements set out on a table, altar or shrine. Maybe some soft music, bells or drum might help. Just say a few sentences to your ancestors and sit silently for a while and see what inspiration comes. Then say good bye for now, but leave your beautiful arrangement as it for a day. Remember to blow out the candles. Some people use All Souls Day, All Hallows eve (Halloween), Samhain, Day of the Dead, Parentalia, Sukkot and Obon, plus many more. Choose a day that you are comfortable with. Enjoy this time.

Sharon D Bush

Writer Historian Artisan Sage. B.A. Double Major History/Ancient History University of New England, Australia.

Through religion and good manners people are taught that asking for something is an uncouth sin that should not be uttered. It’s no wonder that so many suffer in silence when others are willing to share. This is of course bad for manifesting the things you want in your life. If you send your desires out into the ether, but the voice in your head says you do not deserve it or shouldn’t ask for it, then it won’t happen. Why not make a manifestation card. Get a small piece of cardboard. Think of six things you want to manifest in 2018. Say them out loud in a mini ceremony and five minute meditation. Stick your manifestation card on the wall or fridge where you can be reminded. Be firm about what you want, say it out loud on New Year’s Day.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with empowering yourself! Never forget how much natural magic there is in you. Repel negative influences in 2018, send any anger out into the universe, it’s not yours and you don’t have to wear it.

Express love, compassion and strength in 2018. Dark corners of humanity will continue to come to light as has been the case for the last few years.  Exposure brings learning, protection and help for those in need. This continues to lift people to a new level of purity in heart and mind.

At this point we begin to continue as a species, with an emphasis on improving life on our planet as a group, not only as sole individuals. Humanity fighting humanity for resources must end. Global greed and envy are destroying parts of our planet. There is enough food and housing to go around if we share and place limits on abusive governments.

We are sensitive beings even when we say we are not! There is no escaping natural physiology; we have created so many things to protect our physical body and gentle emotions. Rise above in 2018; see what is real and what is not. Go with peace and kind-heartedness.

Sharon D Bush

Writer   Historian   Artisan   Sage

Sharon D Bush, B.A. Double Major History/Ancient History University of New England

I’ve often thought the pagan nature festival Beltane, could be celebrated by any group, family or individual regardless of their preferred spiritual beliefs. What better to revere than the natural world around us? The area we live in gives us food, water and shelter; our eco-system lets us breathe, survive and prosper. But more than that there is a certain magic and magnificence in natural settings, something the attuned easily pick up on.

Beltane is a Celtic fertility festival dating back thousands of years and led by the Druids, until they were banished when Christian and pagan worlds collided. The Druid Priests and Priestesses held an oral tradition about their beliefs, with apprenticeships lasting more than twenty years. Because everything was held in memory a great deal of the information was lost in these turbulent times. What remains of Beltane are written histories from other cultures, histories and poems since the advent of writing in Celtic countries and what remains in myth, stories, sacred sites and memory sharing through the generations.

Beltane is fertility and fire festival celebrated in local areas, usually over two days. It celebrates growth and renewal for the land and its people, with fires, traditional attire, feasts and ceremonies on the eve of Beltane, 31st of October in Australia or southern hemisphere. The 1st of November is the day of the well-known maypole, a day of ribbons, flowers, nature appreciation, picnics and thoughts of future prosperity. There are many ceremonies in books or online, or you can do a little reading and make up your own. Beltane celebrations in the northern hemisphere are held in the United Kingdom, Ireland and parts of France and Germany on the 31st April and 1st of May.

It gets confusing in Australia with Halloween on the 31st of October, but when you think about it, Halloween in an autumn festival and doesn’t fit with our spring. That said many families in Australia will celebrate a bit of both or Just Halloween since it is so commercially fixed in everyone’s minds, especially if you haven’t heard of Beltane. This is what happens when you have mass migrations of Europeans to the other side of the world. There is always something of the ancient culture of your forbears that remains with you. Use this strong spiritual connection to celebrate your own spring festival, there are many ancient traditional festivals still going strong today.

Sharon D Bush

Writer Historian Artisan Sage

Sharon D Bush, B.A. Double Major History/Ancient History University of New England

My primary school aged daughter recently asked me what a goddess is after watching a television commercial. It’s not always easy explaining the spiritual or moments of growth and empowerment to the very young, but what a wonderful question!

The young ladies version:

You are a goddess; you are beautiful, full of strength and personality.

You aren’t scared to try new things; you sing, dance and create.

You love to watch the changing seasons, flights of birds and gentle animals.

You have a certain magic and mystery about you.

You love to watch the stars and moon, and you always spot a rainbow or animals in the clouds.

You are so special!

The grown up version:

As above, plus a little extra: This neo-pagan movement emerged in the 1970’s in North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. As women became aware of the many male dominated religions and began to search for the sacred, spiritual and feminine – they found beautiful and empowering goddesses to admire in many pagan cultures. The goddess movement has no strict guidelines and is without a central priestess or goddess (thought the ancient mother goddess is popular). This is a free flowing beautiful energy in every woman and she may use it in within a group or in daily life. This is a raw sensual power that is often missing for many women if they don’t break free of the confines of normality or oppressing situations. This is about freedom, friendship, self-love, empowerment and connecting to the natural world. You are needed more than ever! Rise up and govern this world – teach others to make wise decisions.

Sharon D Bush

Writer   Historian   Artisan   Sage

Australia is a vast beautiful island continent; home to many cultural identities. Long before this time Aboriginal people spent their days hunting and gathering their way along the songline’s of the land. They met for ceremonies, looked forward to seasonal gatherings of food and could survive harsh climatic change. These instinctive people managed to survive the last ice age 20,000 years ago by taking refuge in the most habitable places. With the oldest continuous culture on earth, DNA studies have shown that Aboriginal people were the first out of Africa and travelled through Asia, making Australia their home 70,000 years ago. In a dreamtime world mythologies emerged from the distinct flora, fauna and individuals that roamed the land. When the first Europeans landed a clash of cultures took its toll on the indigenous people. Disease decimated many and the legal ruling parties used pride and status to disenfranchised the Aboriginal people and degrade their traditional ways.

It was decided that aboriginal people should be saved from themselves! Christian settlers genuinely though they should help turn the population into god fearing, suit wearing, second class Europeans. Many were separated from their parents and sent to Christian missions, to learn the ways of the west. Aboriginal people belonged to the land; they had no need of towns, rules and work!

In the 18th century (1701-1800) century there were about 250 Aboriginal languages and 600 dialects. In order to trade or gather for ceremonies aboriginal people could speak five languages. By the start of the 21st century 150 languages remained. Only 60 Aboriginal languages are in use today. By the 1960’s the Aboriginal people began to know their rights, they rose up and demanded to vote, be married without permission, buy property, get a better education, squash racism and be included in Australia. In the 1967 referendum 90% of Australians voted YES.

In 2008 the Australian government said sorry to the Aboriginal people for past mistreatment on so many levels, especially the stolen generation. Few could imagine the anguish of having their children taken from them. Many indigenous people still do not know their heritage, or family members, but DNA testing is helping them to find their people.

There is still work to be done, so take your family and friends along to the reconciliation event in your local area.

Sharon D Bush

Writer Historian Artisan Sage

Mythology is deeply embedded in our cultural heritage. There are fantastic stories in most cultures, but what percentage is truth, fantasy, creativity, embellishment, religious undertones or philosophical riddles? On taking a deeper look many may have a firm basis, but few have the evidence to back them up. These stories travelled through the oral tradition until someone finally wrote them down. Many of the stories that involve people, especially heroes and heroines could easily be true; people are capable of extraordinary things when pushed to the limits. Maybe the biblical David and Goliath is an example of a fight with impossible odds and not just a proverb of the underdog finding victory against an opposing religious belief. Warring and fighting were pretty common in our past history. If the story of General Hannibal taking his elephants and army over the Alps into Italy wasn’t written down, few would have believed that. Troy was always thought to be a mythical city, but archaeologists believe it to be a ruined city in Asia Minor (now part of Turkey). Many scoff as soon as Atlantis is mention, but only 5% of the seafloor across our planet is mapped and volcanoes and other catastrophes do happen, just look at Pompeii.

Mythical creatures have always fascinated humanity. Dragons are very interesting; they seem to pop up in many world cultures. The Chinese Dragon is easier to explain if you look up a picture of the rare or nearly extinct seven metre Oarfish – then watch a Chinese’s dragon parade, the similarities are startling. Dragons also feature in Celtic and Viking Mythology; either you have natural erosion that exposes dinosaur bones to tribal people, just like we find today or a few creatures survived a lot longer than they were supposed and didn’t died out with the dinosaurs or the last ice age only ten thousand years ago. Remember that oral tradition of passing down stories of experience. Many of the world’s most mysterious creatures could have been deformed in some way, which may even describe myths around Bigfoot or Yeti?

I could probably rattle on for hours, but you get the idea; the truth is often stranger than fiction, so we can’t afford to dismiss all the mythology that seems unlikely, because anything is possible!

Sharon D Bush

Writer Historian Artisan Sage