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If you know the source of the quote above, either in Jung's works or in the book by Deloria where it's cited, please post it below!
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Greetings Ancestors distant and close removed~If I clear my mind of what I have read, heard , what has been synthesized I maybe can begin to translate the importance I feel of ancestry in my life. I have never formally been shown how to wildcraft for example, yet when I go into the forest I speak with my ancestors and they speak into my veins, my blood, my code if you will I am led to discover great abundance, and seem to have uncanny skill finding exactly the herb my body might need in that moment. I've often mused that this is a connection to my ancestral roots, some medicine person back back long ago. Is our connection with our ancestors what we call intuition, or gut? Are we in a constant state of "downloading" information from them, only blocked by our incessant need to assign and compare...? More recently I erected a shrine with a fig, a candle, etc simple items intuitively felt to honor a friend. Psychoanalyze this experience as much as you like but I received a FLOOD of dreams afterward, after asking for communication during this season of veils between worlds. Hundreds of people who had passed looked into my eyes one after the other...and only one living in the town I do asking me to check into our bloodlines...for common ancestors. A dream yes, but very interesting. Is this the chemical musings of a mind in mysterious sleep? Was the symbolism of the objects that I "intuitively" erected on the shrine coincidentally also symbolized in ancient ritual to communicate with ancestors and the dead? Did my ancestors beckon me deeper when my mind was clear enough to do so?
Time has been shown to not be a linear progression...what has it been shown to BE? So, here we are in our perceptive states, us humans, divining answers through ourselves, creating translations in our broken and insufficient language. For me I think their is a personal language of speaking with ancestors...its older than words yet newer than time...as in dream a matter of letting go and then filling up again. There is much to hear, I believe. If we correlated time and space to astronomy, or astrology many things are happening all at once that pertain to the past, present,and future...our "house" (solar system, astrological, etc) might very well be this moment with a mainline to our ancestors open to perceive or negate at all times...this...
"Moreover, my ancestors' souls are sustained by the atmosphere of the house, since I answer for them the questions that their lives once left behind. I carve out rough answers as best I can. I have even drawn them on the walls. It is as if a silent, greater family, stretching down the centuries, were peopling the house."
Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)
And the irony...having fasted from the internet increasingly since last December I have tuned into ancestors and had not noticed when logging on that this was a very "old" discussion...I love it!
I love this quote. It serves to humble my ego. To remind me that I'm a link in a long chain. And also to remind me that my "successes" in this life might be related to withstanding tensions and imbalances created long ago. I tend to want to achieve in this life. To ACHIEVE in big ways. But living ethically and suffering through my mysterious oppositions within myself helps in small but important ways. I love the idea of paying debts. My mother talked about purgatory. While I don't believe in a literal place, Jung's idea is the same, I think. Paying debts gives my suffering meaning.
I suppose this topic is about roots and personal background and how one deals with it, so in my opinion the answer to your question would be both yes and no. Here is a negative aspect of roots, background, and context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znQe9nUKzvQ - Malcolm X: The House Negro and the Field Negro
Interesting subject. Hillman and Sonu lamented well on this. I've never felt an obligation, especially to the many ancestors I have known whom I have disliked. I have felt icky when I've suspected they may be trying too break out, and through the tributaries of my personal style. I do have a few that I thank constantly for without them I would no doubt not be here, or at least I might be here in pretty terrible shape psychologically. I often curse my maternal grandmother, who spent most of her life boiling my grandfather's hat in order to cast a spell that would make him return from his philandering back to her. NOT! Guess what? It didn't work....Can't say I've ever boiled hats, but yes, I confess, I've tried some odd emotional and interpersonal gyrations in my time in order to have what/who at the time I thought I wanted! I know little of my ancestors, but must say I often suspect I carry the interpersonal curse of my maternal aunts and occasionally feel I would like to kick it loose from that shared piece of the genetic pool. I see Craig Chalquist has added his brilliant, as usual, 2 cents to this discussion. Thank you Craig. Wonderful musings. Next time around, forget the ancestors, I want some of Craig's DNA! Most enlivening topic....
I think you have to read Vine Deloria first to understand the context of this quote. Vine Deloria wrote several books, one bring Custer died for your Sins. Vine Deloria's is a must read if you study Native American studies. His work examines many influences Native American people endured thus having to overcome many of the problems that Native families continue to face in our communities. The work of the Ancestors is paramount in that as a Native person, I can not know my self fully unless I know what gifts and wounds my ancestor's faced. It is part of the path of individuation and the shadow work. I haven't read Vine Deloria for years but it is the work of all our Dreams to teach. I was happy to see this quote. I could say more but I am just now joining the Depth Psychology Alliance and am not fully aware of this process.
I wonder what my ancestors "gave" me? Did they just give me the genetics I am made up of? I dont know about that any more. An example I offer is that my daughter sleeps with her hand in the same position I do when she sleeps. It is awkward and looks painful. I have seen pictures of me doing the same thing.
What are we doing here? I know, I know, what kind of question is that.
But arent we here to try and make it a better place? Why would we do that? What is the premise of that question? Is it the future or is it the past?
right on!
Since this topic is going all over the place, but mostly in an “I don’t care about my roots” direction, I’ll add something. It seems there is a pattern that the members of this Alliance have liberal political tendencies. Conservatives on the other hand show more respect to their dead than to living family members. I am here thinking and writing in English (I hope it’s a better English than Tarzan’s) and definitely belong to those who don’t care too much about history, tradition, and belonging. On the other hand, I actually do respect my nation, family, and ancestors much more than mentioned in my previous comment, but don’t (at least I can try) let them reduce my perception and understanding of right and wrong.
The crisis we are all facing way or another is an outcome of accumulated history and events. There will be a lot of movements in our sense of belonging to the family, community, nation, and world. Perhaps we can recombine our attitude in a way functional to new circumstances.
"Without thinking of good or evil, show me your original face before your mother and father were born." Zen koan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Münchhausen_trilemma