HONOURING THE ANCESTORS 

In most ancient cultures there were days set aside in the year for expressing gratitude for the work of the ancestors. In my case I was born in England but my mother was Swiss and my father was of mixed heritage. He was born on the island of Mauritius, which was not populated by humans until the Dutch formally took hold of it in 1598. Later it was governed by French and then British authorities. Both the French and British brought folk from Asia to the island. My father’s father identified himself as Indian. At some stage in his ancestry there had been a conversion to Christianity and the adoption of a French surname ‘David’. Research suggests that the folk with that surname in Mauritius probably came from Bengal.  

In early 2022 when I was re-reading ‘Mantra Yoga and Primal Sound’ by David Frawley, I had this strong sense that somewhere in my heritage there had been people who cultivated a loving relationship with the Goddess Kali. The sense of the sacred engenders heightened awareness of all matter organic or inorganic and all phenomena which occur in one’s environment. We should try and have that heightened awareness all the time but it can be draining. Geniuses enjoy that level of focus which allows them to memorize words, images, concepts and even mathematical formulae with ease. In the past stories, songs and sacred speech were not mechanically recorded nor were they always written down so they often had to be learnt by heart. Of course most people go through a phase of wanting to reject what they see as constraints when your elders tell you to do this or that. And as a creative person I am all for change and growth. Yet some practices have stood the test of time. This article is not about the nature of the Goddesses and Gods, that would entail a much longer discussion. I give thanks to those of my ancestors who cultivated a respectful relationship with other humans, with animals, with the land and with those forces which appear to be supernatural, but are of course natural to the mystic and the shaman. I give thanks to those of my ancestors who passed on skills and knowledge to their kin. I give thanks to those of my ancestors who learnt and passed on music and mantra and I smile at the thought of connecting with those of my ancestors who were prepared to be outcast or considered mad because they felt they had to go their own way.