Saturday, January 31, 2009

Ancestors speaking

Thanks to Lafreya's suggestion, today I bought a copy of The Hero With an African Face: Mythic Wisdom of Traditional Africa by Clyde W. Ford. In the Tattered Cover, I opened to the chapter about the ancestors' voices because the ancestors speak to one of the characters in Children of the Waters, my next novel, and I was immediately blown away.

From The Hero With an African Face:
"The rumbling traveled closer and closer--one, then two, then three, then layer upon layer of voices; a cacophony of humans not moaning or sighing but talking among themselves. I strained even harder to hear, when suddenly a message shot forth from the darkness, ricocheting off the earthen walls, bouncing back and forth over and over again in time with the rhythm of the sea.

'Whatever you do, my son,' the voices seemed to say in unison, 'make your life count for us....'"

From Children of the Waters

"They say when ghosts come around the room goes cold. It was the opposite with the ancestors. When they were near, Billie felt the air around her and the blood in her veins warm. Then she would get a message. The ancestors would speak in one voice, neither male nor female. It was a voice without sound, more like a thought that entered her mind, but wasn’t her own.

Today she felt the familiar warmth spread through her. Trying to control life is like trying to hold water in your hands, was the message she received today. Daughter, tell your man the truth and the healing will continue. Wait too long and healing will slip through your fingers."

Hmmmm. Is it just me or are those passages a little similar? Interesting, huh? Maybe there's something in the collective unconscious about how we relate to those who've gone before.

Anybody else do any talking to their ancestors? Or ever hear your ancestors speak to you or through you?

7 comments:

Jennifer C. said...

My mother told me about the time my grandfather spoke to his deceased mother who told him where to go to find the items need to make him well. This was at a time when he was very ill and nothing worked except what she told him to do.

From time to time I hear messages as well. But like the characters it's not a male or female voice. It's almost like words that come into the subconscious mind and you know you didn't think it up yourself.

Karen L. Simpson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen L. Simpson said...

I hear my messages in dreams and these dreams usually involve tornadoes for some reason.

Once, my mom and dad, both deceased, appeared to me in a dream to tell me my brother and his wife were pregnant. When I called my brother to ask if it were true he was shocked because it was, but they hadn't told anyone yet.

The line to my first novel was shouted by some one in a dream I couldn't tell if it was male or female but it was so loud it woke me up.

Tyhitia Green said...

Ancestors have definitely spoken to me through my writing. And in my dreams. Great post. You made me think of something I dreamt years ago. :-D

Carleen Brice said...

Wow, I'm loving hearing these stories of people speaking in dreams. After my mother died, I had a very realistic dream in which we "spoke" for the last time.

Lafreya, When my mom was diagnosed with cancer I started having recurring dreams of tornadoes. Almost 20 years later I still have them, just not as often.

Bernice L. McFadden said...

Oh please girl -- they talk so much its like a cocktail party going on in my bedroom -- they keep me up at night! -- LOL!

jamey said...

i don't think i'd have a thing to say if they weren't always yacking it up. now i think i'm gonna have to add that to my next book order. four books delivered this week must mean i'm officially into research mode.