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Performing an ancestral ritual by yourself

If ancestors appeal to you but you do not choose representation, or if cost is a factor, you can choose to perform a generational constellation using only tuning into the stones. You can perform this ritual by yourself, without anyone else present. If you perform it yourself and have the time, you can perform this ritual with four times 30 generations.

If you would like to perform it with me, we will do this constellation for ten generations of four ancestral lines at my place in Doesburg. The cost is €20.00. You will first tune into a stone, and if you wish, I can also tune into that stone afterwards. There is no representation of the ancestors because that requires guidance.

This constellation looks different from the constellations in the previous section. In the explanation, I will assume a 10-generation constellation. You lay out one ancestral line of ten stones. For this line, all the steps are followed, up to and including dismissing and gathering the stones. Then you lay the second ancestral line, doing the same thing. The same applies to the third and fourth ancestral lines. In this ritual, all the stones are tuned into in the order in which they are laid. The ten steps also apply here, only the representation is omitted. You do not record this ritual, but you make notes of what you have observed.

This ritual ancestral constellation also offers a good way to connect more with your ancestors and strengthen their positive influence in your life.

It is also important to allow for an interval between the moment you have prepared the constellation and the questions you will ask your ancestors, and the ritual itself. Allow at least a week for this.

In a section about my own experience of tuning into my ancestral generations, I indicated that I regularly observed nothing when holding a small stone (in the case: ‘Curious ancestors,’ under the heading ‘What will you encounter?’). I was aware that I was holding the stone and making contact with it, and that this had meaning. At a certain point, I felt that no new information would emerge in an ancestral line that I had already tuned into to some extent. Nevertheless, I continued to tune into all the stones that were still there, in order to make contact with each generation and strengthen the bond. Others who performed the same ritual for their ancestors indicated afterwards that they had chosen not to tune into the stones anymore. That is also possible.

To set up this constellation properly, I will outline the different steps you need to follow.

The steps are:

1. Choose a place for the ancestral ritual;

2. Choose a symbol for yourself, a symbol for your inner child and stones;

3. Prepare questions for your ancestors;

4. Lay out the stones and symbols;

5. Give a short introduction;

6. Tune into the stones;

7. Thank your ancestors;

8. Release the stones;

9. Start a new ancestral line;

10. Create a place for ancestors and maintain the connection.

1. Choose a place for the ancestral ritual

You can choose to do the ritual at home or with me in Doesburg, the Netherlands. If you do it at home, choose a place and a time when you will have plenty of time to yourself. Make sure your phone is turned off and that you will not be disturbed.

2. Choose a symbol for yourself, a symbol for your inner child and stones

You choose something that symbolises yourself and something for your inner child. You need ten stones if you are laying ten generations, and of course more if you want to lay more generations in an ancestral line. In Doesburg, you can lay a maximum of ten generations per ancestral line.

3. Prepare questions for ancestors

Prepare your questions for the ancestors. See the format under the heading ‘Your questions for ancestors’. If you need to, for example if you are unsure about certain questions, you can also submit your questions to me in advance. I will then look at them with you.

Once you have prepared the constellation you want to do and the questions, make sure there is a week between this moment and the performance of the ritual. This allows all the energies involved to prepare themselves and certain issues to be worked on within you.

4. Lay out the stones and symbols

Place the ten stones, starting with the first generation. Place the symbol for the inner child on one side of you and the symbol for yourself on the other side. Sit on a chair and look at the stones in front of you, with the first stone representing the first generation.

The inner child is represented by the symbol as energy in the ritual. Nothing else happens with it. Similarly, nothing happens with the symbol for yourself. It represents you at the moment when you stand up to tune into a stone and are not sitting in your place for a moment.

You do not necessarily have to stand between the stones to tune into them. You can also sit next to the stone to tune into it. Then you turn the chair towards your symbols.

Make sure you have a pen and paper to write down your findings for each generation.

5. Give a short introduction

When you are sitting quietly and feel ready, introduce yourself by your first name and invite your ancestors to be present. You explicitly state whether it concerns your mother or your father, and whether it concerns his or her father or mother (your grandfather or grandmother). You welcome them and present your questions to them. You may have written down your introduction, or you may prefer to do it from memory.

6. Tune into stones

You start by tuning into the first stone of an ancestral line, which is your mother or father. Then you tune into your grandmother or grandfather, depending on which ancestral line you have laid. You also tune into the other eight generations of ancestors. A quick recap of how to do this:

Pick up a stone, stand or sit next to that spot facing your symbols, hold the stone in both hands, and inwardly indicate to the ancestor that he or she is welcome. Then tune into the stone. This means that you empty yourself and see what you experience. Perhaps a certain physical sensation will arise in you, a thought, an image, a feeling. If you don't feel ready to do this yet, or if you are reluctant to do so, you can also just hold the stone and connect with it with your heart by welcoming the ancestor and giving it your attention for a moment. Put the stone back and write down your findings, if you have any, after tuning into a stone. Then pick up the next stone and do the same.

7. Thank your ancestors

When you have finished with one ancestral line, thank these ancestors.

8. Release the stones

You also thank the stones and dismiss them from their task. You do this by focusing your attention on the stones and saying aloud: “Stones, thank you, you are now just stones again.”

9. Start a new ancestral line

Next, gather the stones together and you can lay them out again.

If you have had one ancestral line, you now lay out the other ancestral line from the same parent. You then lay out a stone for your mother or father again, and take the other ancestral line. However, when tuning in, skip the parent you have already tuned into. So you start the second ancestral line with your grandfather or grandmother, whom you have not yet had. And so on until you have made contact with all ten generations again. Then thank the ancestors again, thank the stones, release them from their task and gather them up again.

You can repeat this for the next ancestral line. Once you have completed one ancestral line, you can always continue another time.

10. Create a place for ancestors and maintain the contact

To ensure that the contact continues to have an effect, it is important that you create a place for them in your home afterwards and that you regularly connect with them by thinking of them.

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