The description is based on a 10-generation constellation.

You will need ten stones. If you wish, for the sake of clarity, you can prepare pieces of paper labelled with the words: mother, father, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, paternal grandfather, paternal grandmother, generation 3, generation 4, and so on up to and including generation 10. You will also need a symbol for your inner child and a symbol for yourself. Nothing in particular happens with either symbol during the ritual; they simply represent a part of your own energy. Prepare your questions for the ancestors. You can use the template on the web page ‘Your questions to ancestors’ under ‘Ancestral constellations’. Link: internal://cba94dd0-fdd7-4902-906b-d6c071ac8760

As you can see there, you always begin by stating your name. You welcome the ancestors and, in doing so, explicitly name the ancestral line you are establishing (whether mother and grandmother, mother and grandfather, father and grandmother, or father and grandfather). You let the ancestors know that you wish to connect with them and ask for their help in your life. You can also ask your ancestors to pass on a message if they have one, to share any information they wish to convey, and you can tell them that if they themselves need help, they can let you know. If you want to do this from memory, it’s useful to have a note to hand setting out the various elements of your introduction.

Once you’ve decided to carry out this constellation, it’s a good idea to wait a few days before doing so, to give your ancestors time to prepare. It’s therefore also highly advisable to have a brief chat with your ancestors, tell them you’re going to do this, and welcome them in advance.

When performing the ritual, make sure you have enough time and that you won’t be disturbed.

Make sure you have something to write with.

Place the 10 stones in a row and position both symbols next to you. You say out loud who the first two stones represent.

Keep your note-taking materials to hand whilst you’re tuning in, so that you can make a note straight away if something comes to mind. However, you may prefer to work differently and write down your intuitions and sensations afterwards. Please note: when tuning in, your memory often doesn’t work as well, as you’re not in your usual everyday state of consciousness.

Once all this is ready, stand or sit in front of the ancestral line and say your introduction and questions to the ancestors. The first stone in front of you is that of a parent, the stone behind it that of a grandparent, the one behind that of the third generation, and so on.

When you pick up a stone, you can note down the number of the relevant generation, and for the first two generations, also whether it is the father or the mother, the grandfather or the grandmother. This will help you avoid losing track and, at some point, no longer knowing which ancestral generation you have already covered and which you haven’t.

Once you’re holding the stone, briefly welcome the ancestor and see what comes to mind, what you notice, what you feel. When you’ve finished, put the stone back, make a note that you’ve covered that generation, and write down what came to mind or what you experienced within yourself.

Then take the stone representing the second generation and do the same. Continue in this way with all the stones.

When you have finished with all the stones, release them from their representative role by telling them that they are now simply stones again. You can then continue with the second ancestral line from the same parent, or carry on another time. You do the same thing: you lay out 10 stones again, but you no longer tune into the parent, as you have already done so in the previous ancestral line. So you start the second ancestral line with the grandmother or grandfather you haven’t worked with yet.

The third and fourth ancestral lines follow the same steps.

In a short piece describing my own experience of tuning into my ancestral generations, I mentioned that I often perceived nothing when working with a 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 was meaningful. At a certain point, I sensed that no further new information would emerge from 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 every generation and strengthen the bond. Others who did the same constellation for their ancestors said afterwards that they’d chosen not to tune into those stones any further. That’s an option too.

Make sure you create a little space for your ancestors afterwards so that you can think of them from time to time and connect with them.

The following webpage explains the constellation step by step.