Ancestors and Ancestral Helping Spirits

In this monthly podcast about shamanic issues, shamanic practitioner Dory Cote talks about the practice of honoring one’s ancestors and working with ancestral guides.

Questions answered in this podcast include:

• What is the difference between ancestors, and ancestor helping spirits? [0:37]
• When you call upon these ancestors that you have just described, is it similar to calling a friend to help you with a problem? Or do you call them to visit, or do you choose them because of their skills? [5:55]
• Are ancestors similar to power animals, in that one journies to find an ancestral helping spirit? [8:27]
• So a piece of what you are discussing is, what’s in it for them? A teacher likes nothing more than a good student. When we approach with respect, learning from their wisdom helps them too? [11:47]

• Dory, you have done a lot of work with children. Do you see a lot of children who have bloodline ancestral spirits around them? [13:28]

• Do nations have ancestral helping spirits? We have a lot of talk right now about our founding fathers and mothers, in this country. Do groups have ancestral spirits that work with them as well? [14:51]

• Is there anything else you would like to add about ancestral helping spirits? [17:23]