{"id":428,"date":"2022-10-19T13:35:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T13:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/?p=428"},"modified":"2022-10-19T13:35:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T13:35:00","slug":"make-an-ancestor-altar-cloth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/?p=428","title":{"rendered":"Make an Ancestor Altar Cloth!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Make an Ancestor Altar Cloth<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Ancestor<\/div>\n<\/div>
 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An ancestor altar cloth is something you can make any time of the year, although it can come in particularly handy for Samhain\/Fet Ghede, when many people choose to perform ancestor-focused rituals. This project can be as simple or as complex as you like, depending on your time constraints, creativity, and crafting skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • A plain white or cream-colored tablecloth, or other piece of fabric<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Fabric pencil<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Embroidery floss and hoop, or fabric markers<\/span><\/li>\n
  • A genealogy of your ancestors<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    A few notes here, before you get started. There\u2019s no hard and fast rule about how to do this \u2014 it\u2019s a craft idea that is very personalized. Do what works best for you. If you\u2019re handy with a needle and thread, you can embroider the cloth – it will definitely last longer that way. If you\u2019re not confident about your stitching abilities, you can use fine-tipped fabric markers (keep in mind that this option may limit your ability to wash the altar cloth if it gets dirty or stained during ritual).<\/span><\/p>\n

    As to your genealogy, you can keep it simple if you like, or if you\u2019ve never done any genealogy research. You\u2019ll need the names of your parents, of their parents, their grandparents, and so on. If you want to include your children, you can do that too.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Start by putting yourself in the center, and writing your name carefully with a lightweight fabric pencil \u2014 these wash or brush off easily when you\u2019re done. Branch out, including your parents\u2019 names above you, one on each side. Using lines to connect everyone, gradually add the names of your ancestors. You can even include dates of birth and death, or place names if you have the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

    It\u2019s best to do all of this in pencil first \u2014 or better yet, use Post-It Notes, one for each ancestor\u2019s name – to position people around the cloth. If you know the names of lots of ancestors on one side, but only a few on the other, it can start looking lopsided pretty quickly, unless you\u2019re able to rearrange people (this is why sticky notes are great).<\/span><\/p>\n

    Once you\u2019ve figured out everyone\u2019s placement, add the names in fabric pencil until you\u2019ve included as many people as you like. If you\u2019re going to embroider the names, work from one side to the other, just to keep things simple \u2014 you may even want to do different branches of the family, or different generations, in alternating colors. If you opt to use fabric markers for the final work, be careful! Stitches can always be picked out, but markers are permanent.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Keep in mind that the very act of creation is a magical one, and you can utilize the crafting of this altar cloth as a ritual in and of itself. Particularly if you're stitching, there's a very meditative aspect to the creative process. After you\u2019ve put everyone\u2019s names on the fabric, use it as an altar cloth for rituals involving ancestor work.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Make an Ancestor Altar Cloth   An ancestor altar cloth is something you can make any time of the year, although it can come in particularly handy for Samhain\/Fet Ghede, when many people choose to perform ancestor-focused rituals. This project can be as simple or as complex as you like, depending on your time constraints, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[93,80,7,83,6,15,16,373,3,25,62,115],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-helpful-hints-and-tips","tag-ancestors","tag-fet-ghede","tag-free-spells","tag-halloween","tag-love-spells","tag-mambo-sam","tag-new-orleans-voodoo","tag-samhain","tag-spellmaker","tag-spellmaker-com","tag-the-voodoo-boutique","tag-voodoo-love-spells"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spellmaker.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}