The Politics of Remembering

How do we come to fear the spirit of those we loved when they were alive? At what point, during the process of transition, does their energetic essence become perceived as demonic? Where is the line drawn between ancestral reverence and worship of the dead, and who established that boundary? These questions remain central to ongoing discourse surrounding ancestral practices among many individuals identified as Black or African American. The phrase “identified as” is used here with consideration of those born in the United States with brown skin who may not align with historically imposed racial classifications. Many within these communities share lived experiences of being feared, ostracized, judged, condemned, or socially scrutinized for engaging in ancestral practices that predate colonization.

Conversely, many Mexican, Asian, and other Indigenous ancestral traditions are often observed, respected, or culturally celebrated in broader global contexts. This discrepancy raises critical inquiry into whether such responses can be attributed to systemic racism that persists within and beyond the community, or whether there exists something deeper: a deep-rooted fear of what happens when ancestral spirits of those who were prisoners of war, enslaved, and forcibly displaced are uplifted, honored, and empowered through remembrance. It also raises questions about whether resistance to ancestral engagement reflects an internalized conditioning shaped by the psychological aftermath of enslavement, forced displacement, and the attempted disruption of Indigenous spiritual systems through colonization and cultural erasure.

Before reflecting on these questions further, it is important to define ancestral veneration, its purpose, and its cultural significance.

Ancestral reverence is the act of honoring and uplifting the spirit-energy of loved ones, usually but not limited to those within our bloodline, through offerings of songs, drinks, food, stories, clothing, dances, and music that consist of the energetic vibrations that surrounded them when they were in physical form. This is done with the spiritual and experiential understanding that ancestral life force energy continues beyond physical death, remaining present through lineage, memory, biological inheritance, and multidimensional continuity of consciousness. In this context, ancestry is not only symbolic but literally embodied through our genetic coding and the through the transmission of biological and epigenetic memory that links descendants to those who came before them. Ancestral practices can serve to simultaneously elevate our past-selves, as we are often reborn into the same bloodline. They can also aid us to transcendently overcome challenges in the spiritual realm before it materializes in the physical realm, as they are viewed as a link to the realm of the invisible, spiritual realm, that we can access directly through our very being.

From a scientific and interdisciplinary perspective, the principle of energy transformation is often referenced in spiritual interpretation, energy cannot be destroyed, only transformed, extending this concept into metaphysical understandings of ancestral presence. For spirit is energy and energy is spirit, in metaphysics everything in fundamentally vibration or energy.

Our etheric composition goes like this. The pure light consciousness that is us remains in ‘heaven’ with source, guiding us from the celestial realm each time our soul incarnates. The spirit is birthed into a new form each time we are born into a new material awareness with a new purpose and embodies the experience of the life we live in the respective lifetime. The soul splits from spirit when we transition in each life and is comprised of all the lifetimes, we have lived carrying both ancestral and past-lifetime wisdom. This is culturally imperative because they are our predecessors representing a key aspect of our identity, heritage, traits, and behaviors.

With this, when we venerate our ancestors, we simultaneously keep their memory alive, activate ancestral remembrance, and empower them to guide and protects us in spirit in ways that we can not in carnal form.

Observations within consciousness research and near-death experience literature include reported cases of individuals describing awareness outside the physical body, perception of surrounding environments during periods of clinical death, and accounts of encounters with deceased relatives or non-physical presences. These narratives appear across clinical reports, cross-cultural accounts, and contemporary consciousness research discussions, and are frequently cited in conversations surrounding the continuity of awareness beyond physical cessation, yet they are often either avoided within healthcare settings or misinterpreted and diagnosed as mental disorders.

Anthropological research demonstrates that ancestor reverence has existed across civilizations for thousands of years. From a clinical counseling perspective, ancestral connection can be understood through several evidence-based frameworks. Family systems theory recognizes that individuals are deeply influenced by multigenerational patterns, beliefs, values, and unresolved emotional processes transmitted across generations. Epigenetic research further suggests that the effects of trauma may be biologically transmitted through generations, influencing stress responses and psychological functioning long after the original traumatic events occurred. Through ancestral veneration we get to heal and transform that trauma holistically.

Importantly, many individuals who consciously reject formal ancestral practices nevertheless engage in forms of ancestral remembrance. Pouring out a drink in honor of deceased loved ones, maintaining memorial tables, preserving photographs and personal belongings, visiting gravesites, celebrating birthdays after death, sharing family stories, naming children after relatives, or adopting the mannerisms and values of deceased family members all represent forms of continuing bonds. Contemporary grief research has largely shifted away from the notion that healthy mourning requires severing connections with the deceased. Instead, the continuing bonds model suggests that maintaining an ongoing symbolic relationship with loved ones can support adaptive grief processing and emotional healing.

Yet ancestral practices often become controversial when expressed through Afro-Indigenous, African Traditional, or pre-colonial spiritual frameworks. This raises important questions regarding whose spiritual practices are normalized and whose are marginalized. Postcolonial scholars argue that European colonization not only occupied land but also systematically delegitimized Indigenous knowledge systems, spiritual traditions, and cultural practices. Within the African diaspora, this often resulted in the demonization of ancestral traditions while elevating religious systems introduced through colonization.

Every individual possesses the right—and arguably the psychological need—to explore and understand their cultural inheritance without fear of judgment, condemnation, or exclusion. Cultural identity serves as a protective factor against psychological distress and contributes significantly to overall well-being. When connections to ancestry, history, and cultural lineage are severed, younger generations may experience disconnection from their roots, diminished cultural pride, identity confusion, and a weakened sense of belonging. Research in developmental psychology consistently demonstrates that individuals who possess a coherent understanding of their family history and cultural narrative often exhibit greater resilience, stronger self-concept, and enhanced capacity to navigate adversity.

Ancestral veneration exists at the intersection of spirituality, culture, memory, identity, and healing. Whether understood through metaphysical, psychological, anthropological, or sociocultural lenses, the practice reflects humanity’s enduring desire to remain connected to those who came before us. The deeper question may not be whether ancestors deserve remembrance, but rather what is lost, individually and collectively, when remembrance itself becomes a source of fear. The key point is not that we need Eurocentric and outgroup validation or acceptance to embrace inherited cultural practices, but rather the understanding of the role these factors play in disrupting identity formation, the preservation of cultural continuity, self-understanding, and intergenerational belonging.