Connecting to Those We have Lost

I was doing something simple today - making breakfast. I decided to make a childhood favorite - blueberry muffins. While mixing the batter, I realized I was doing more than making muffins - I was connecting to my ancestors.

My mother used to make blueberry muffins on a quiet Sunday morning - they were a favorite of my father's too. I realized I was using a copy of the same cookbook my mother-in-law introduced me to connecting me again to her. I thought of her as a second mother loved and was loved by her tremendously. She used to say she would adopt me if her son & I ever broke up because I was her daughter (she passed in 1991 long before we did break up). I was using my mother's green glass mixing bowl she made the muffins and other wonderful baked goods in many, many times - I lost her in 2003. And I would soon enjoy the fluffy muffins my father and I often shared before he would head out to play a round of golf - I lost him last month.

Samhain is a time we who follow a Pagan/Wiccan path say the veil between worlds is thinnest (Halloween to others) and lets us commune with those who have crossed to the other side.  It is only a month away and perhaps this time of year is what made me so reflective. I realize that connecting to those we love doesn't have to be a formal ritual at a certain time of year - it can be a simple act of making muffins. I think this is where the love of family traditions comes from. Those little traditions reminds us of and connects us to those who are no longer on our plane. 

How do you connect to friends and family who are no longer with us? I'd love to hear in the comments here or on our Facebook page. However you connect, do it often - and especially with those that are still with us.

from All Wicca https://www.allwicca.com/index.php?route=news/article&news_id=79