On my altar, I have four figurines representing the four ancestral lines of my parents: my maternal grandmother’s line, my maternal grandfather’s line, my paternal grandfather’s line, and my paternal grandmother’s line. Each figure symbolises the gifts I may receive through that particular lineage.
For my maternal grandmother’s line, I searched for a long time for an image that felt right.
When I attune myself to this lineage, I see a long line of women before me. Women with healing and spiritual gifts. In my experience, many of them carry not only these gifts, but also the memory of a time when revealing them could be dangerous. I see women who were condemned and persecuted for what was considered witchcraft.
What did that mean for me?