Effective Spirits

Thank you all for the responses to the Ancestor Service so far. I am currently gathering names and petitions for the upcoming February 6 service. I am also very happy to find that most of the people who took part in the January service on New Year’s Eve/Day will continue with our next one. This means we’re likely to set a new record of ancestors served. The January service included about 45 living participants and honored slightly more than 500(!) of our blessed dead.

For this service, I’ve been asked for the first time if I would also honor pets who have walked on. While my spiritual traditions do not give ceremonies to dead pets in the same way that I interact with dead humans, that does not mean they don’t deserve to be remembered.

And so yes, I will set aside a special altar for beloved pets starting with the February 6 service. You are welcome to send the names of any pets along with the names of your human ancestors, or you can send them separately. Either way I will make sure they are included.

I also accept photos of these pets (and the humans!) and am working on a way to incorporate that into the Ancestor Service, perhaps with a dedicated book where they will all be entered.

Thank you so much to A for suggesting that we include pets in the Service.