Effective Spirits

In ancient Egypt, the souls of humans who passed final judgment were called akhu, a word meaning both “shining/brilliant” and “effective.” Akhu travel between life and death to convey messages, offer advice, and support their relatives or descendants in their trials and challenges.

The akhu continued to be relevant and honored in Egyptian culture even as Egyptians shifted into later religious practices including Christianity and Islam. In time, honoring the akhu evolved into the veneration of Christian saints, who comforted Egyptians as they were colonized first by the Roman Empire, and later by Arab Muslims and various European powers. Egyptian Muslims also retain a belief in the helpful dead, as they honor saints of their own, as well as some saints favored by their Christian neighbors and friends. I wrote my dissertation about Coptic (Egyptian Christian) martyrology and the helpful dead in Egypt as they have been honored throughout the millennia, so I am quite familiar with these practices. As it turns out, my personal practices from my own cultural upbringing aren’t that different. From my earliest memories I have been talking to dead family members, friends, or other souls and interacting with them just like I interact with the living.

WHY AN ANCESTOR SERVICE?

On Christmas evening 2023, I had a powerful dream about the ancestors, one that was quite different from my usual interactions with the dead. After some divination and thought about how to carry out what the dream requested of me, I conducted a modest prayer and candle service on behalf of all ancestors on New Year’s Eve.

In the dream I was in a vast empty space with a large group. At some point I became aware that all the other people, most of whom I did not know, were ancestors. Those who were present that I did know have all walked on, and informed me everyone else had too: this was a gathering of the blessed dead I had been invited to witness.

An older person that the rest of the dead seemed to respect spoke on behalf of the group. She said they wanted the living to give them more attention, that they missed their loved ones and wished to be connected, or in some cases re-connected, with them. I asked how I could help and was told “why don’t you give us lights like you gave the other dead ones recently,” referring to a ritual I’d done the previous month on behalf of the Gede spirits of Haitian Vodou, as part of one of my ancestral practices.

They did not ask for petitions, nor request offerings (though I gave some, since I do not go to any dead without a gift). They asked only for lights to be lit and for the names of the dead to be read aloud so each one could be remembered and reconnected to the living world.

The elder noted we had a holiday coming “for an end and a beginning,” which I took to mean the upcoming secular new year celebration. So after clarification and divination to understand their request, and to keep my promise to fulfill it (and which we did together in the dream: lighting candles and speaking their names), on December 31 I set up an altar and performed the first Ancestor Service as 2023 ended and 2024 began. It was a success, based on feedback from those who took part.

This website helps me monthly future Ancestor Services to our effective spirits as long as there is interest. The services are held on the sixth day of the month, or as close as possible to it, in honor of the Suwenet or Sixth Day Festival of pharaonic Egypt, a traditional monthly holiday for the blessed dead/akhu.

HOW DO I TAKE PART IN AN ANCESTOR SERVICE?

Email andezo@gmail.com with a list of the names of any/all ancestors you would like me to read to greet on your behalf. This list can be as short or as long as you wish. I will light a candle, read their names, and offer them your greetings and love.

Note: If your loved ones have been deceased LESS than 70 days, I can read their names but I do some of the service differently for them, as they are still on their journey. Please note in your list if any of your loved ones are in the 0-to-70 days of death category so I can offer them extra care.

DOES THE ANCESTOR SERVICE COST ANYTHING?

In order to permit as many people as possible to take part, my Ancestor Service is offered free of charge. Everyone is able to take part, even if they can’t donate. Anyone who sends names for their blessed dead will be included without any sort of cost.

Of course candles aren’t free, nor are the flowers and bread and offerings I put on the altar, so the service does have a cost. Accordingly, I welcome donations. If you can donate to honor your ancestors, or add a little to honor the ancestors of someone else who can’t afford to chip in, that would be helpful. However, this is never required and I am not setting a price on this work. Donations go to candles and offerings and anything left over is donated to charity so others can be helped. The first service’s extra donations went to a wildlife charity; other donations have gone to people raising funds for funeral costs or other ancestor-related or death-related charity work, as a way to pay forward our honor for the dead. If you or someone you know is looking for help with funeral, memorial, or burial costs please contact me. I will be happy to add you to my list of recipients.

Ancestor Service is planned for the 6th day of each month, or the closest available day if that day happens to be a Sunday. The day and time for the next service is posted on our main page with a countdown timer. I can add to the list of names until around sundown Pacific US time on that day, and then I am setting up to begin. If you would like to light your own candle at home and say something to your ancestors that same evening, you are more than welcome to join in.