Today is National Genealogy Day, a time to commit to a regular pattern of honor and communication with a specific ancestor until Samhain.

Choose a deceased grandparent or older relative with whom you either feel or would like to build a strong connection. Put a photograph of them in a beautiful frame. (If you don’t have a photograph, create a sketch or write and decorate the individual’s name, and frame it.)

Prepare a tray with the photograph (or framed sketch or name), a candle in a firesafe dish, a crystal, a feather, a small mirror, and a token that is specific to that person (such as a horseshoe charm if they rode horses, a pen if they liked to write, etc.).

Light the candle and meditate on what you know about this ancestor and the relationship you would like to form with them. Once a week until Samhain, make time to have a conversation with this ancestor in different spaces or outside. Extinguish the candle when done. Keep your ancestor tray visible for daily communication.