A lot has been coming up about ancestral karma recently. And that isn’t so surprising given that we walked through Samhain and Day of the Dead a few weeks ago, and that we’re a short four weeks from the Winter solstice (in the Northern hemisphere). We’re turning inward. And we’re seeking resolution and reconciliation before the new year dawns, so we enter 2020 and the new decade it ushers in as unfettered as possible.

Ancestral Karma

So… What is ancestral karma? It’s karma that’s comprised of patterns and beliefs, wrongdoings and rightdoings and middle-of-the-road doings, committed to and by our ancestors. That karma doesn’t just stay with them, however. Due to the nature of generations - mother and father to daughter and/or son, and so on - it’s passed down very much as with genetics. (And yes, that means that in addition to our own soul karma we are subject to family karma.)

Let’s say, for example, that there’s a “legacy” of abuse - whether physical or psychological or both. Ancestral karma may see that abuse repeated from generation to generation. And while much of that certainly comes down to choice (like it or not), there is the energetic imprint of abuse in play, as well, which isn’t a choice.

Another example: Let’s imagine we come from a family of blue-collar workers; nine-to-fivers who probably lived (live) paycheck to paycheck. It’s quite literally “in our blood” and so what’s expected of us. Deviating from that - or even dreaming about deviating from that - raises up a host of major blocks and barriers preventing us from ending that now-karmic cycle.

It isn’t that we aren’t meant to end it, it’s that we have generations of workers in our family vibrating to us, “This is how it’s always been done. Who do you think you are? Aren’t we good enough for you? Doing something different is dangerous.”

Consider how these forms of ancestral karma might impact us in the present:

• religious persecution

• poverty

• royalty

• public notoriety

• wealth

• criminal behavior

• success

Ancestral karma is sometimes overt, sometimes sneaky and yet always pervasive. The question is: Will we allow it to persist when it’s harming us in some way? And then, if our answer is, “No,” our next question is: How do we end ancestral karma?

Ending Ancestral Karma

There are two necessary steps in ending ancestral karma that’s undermining us. We must honor it, and then we must heal it.

Honoring It

This step could likely prove the more challenging of the two. How do we honor abuse, persecution, poverty, etc.? At face value, it seems the exact opposite of what we would do. However…

Honoring it doesn’t mean condoning it. Honoring it means acknowledging it - and not just the deed. It means acknowledging those who committed the deed; who held and passed down the belief; who bowed under the weight of the hand they were seemingly dealt and were unable to choose differently.

And, yes, that likely involves forgiving it. Here’s the rub: That forgiveness must start with us, in the present, before it’s extended back to our ancestors. For some of us, that may add to the challenge because it’s a fact that forgiving ourselves can be harder than forgiving others.

So, how do we actually honor it? We bring it to prayer or meditation or contemplation. We might light a candle. We might hold pictures or artifacts that belonged to those ancestors. We face it head-on for what it is. And then we offer it (and ourselves and them) forgiveness.

Healing It

This is where energy work enters the picture. Because where there is ancestral karma there are etheric cords. And when those etheric cords represent beliefs, behaviors, actions, etc. that hold us back and/or keep us small they require cutting.

To be clear, cutting those toxic cords doesn’t mean we’re cutting our ancestral ties. Use the metaphor of the tree as a family, and consider how all trees benefit from pruning. Weakened or rotting branches are energy drains, and so when they’re pruned the health of the tree improves. That’s what we’re about with the cords we must cut.

We must identify the location of the cords where they intersect with our energy body. We locate them through our physical body as our energy body represents it. We’ve already identified the toxic karma through honoring and forgiving it (and ourselves). Now, we must ask our body where the cord attached to that karma is located.

To do this, we tune in and locate it (and any smaller cords associated with it) with our intention and our body wisdom. We’ll feel a sensation - a vibration - that tells us where it enters our energy body. And once we’ve located it, it’s time to cut it.

Cutting a cord - even when it’s toxic - can affect us deeply. Breathing helps. Wherever the cord may be located, imagine that with our inbreath we are breathing into the point of attachment. We exhale, and on our next inhale into that same point, we intend that cord - and any of its minor cords - is detached from our energy body.

And then, we intend and invite and uphold light. We fill the attachment point with light. And as the cord (or cords) slips out of our energy field we intend that it is lit with light and that the light traces the length of the cord back to all ancestors touched by it, dissolving it and the karma. This action offers relief and release and healing where and to whom it was sorely needed and yet somehow not an option in that time - in their time.

When we feel complete, we notice how we feel personally, and we notice how we feel about that toxic karma. How has its impact on us been changed through our loving offering? How are we feeling now, having enacted a profound healing on behalf of ourselves and our family?

Moving On

It could be said our work here is done, and that could even be true. Given the nature of humans, however, there’s likely some aftercare we’ll need. There are habits in need of change - both inward and outward. There’s great compassion and yet great resolve required to uphold what could be called a new attitude, perhaps especially with other present family who may feel threatened in some way by our new lease on life.

As I’m fond of saying, baby steps will carry us miles. And so we take it one step at a time and know that with every step we are rewriting our future.

Blessed be.

>> If you feel this is something you need to undertake and yet don’t feel you can do it on your own, you could book an energy healing session with me and we’ll work through it together.

Honoring and Healing Ancestral Karma first appeared on Ellen M. Gregg :: Intuitive Healer on 21 November 2019.