Samhain
Ancestor
Tree
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Find
and cut a gnarly old twisted, twiggy branch from a tree.
Spray
paint it black and then use screws to attach the cut end to a
piece of plywood also painted black.
Now,
you know the cobweb stuff you can buy at this time of year?
Get some of that and puff and clump it to make “fog”
around the base of the tree. You can also take
some thin strands to weave through the twig “branches” to make
spider webs.
On
old looking pieces of yellowed parchment paper (available at any
stationery, office or computer supply store) that have been cut
into small squares, write the names of deceased family members and
ancestors – one name on each square of parchment.
Another option is to actually print out small photos of your loved
ones.
Using
whatever glue you have on hand, glue more black twigs around each piece
of parchment to create a frame. You can make
some frames square, others round, some octagonal – whatever!
Take
some natural brown twine and glue that onto the frames to create a
loop for hanging the names from the “branches” of your
ancestor tree.
It’s
fun to dress your tree up with little seasonal decorations that
you find in stores at this time: small plastic spiders, owls and
crows, tiny skeletons or skulls or even make little ghosts out of
tissue paper or gauze fabric to hang from the branches between the
names and photos.
Our
family likes to skewer candy corn and candy pumpkins with old
hooks left over from Yule tree ornaments and hang those for the
kids to nibble on. It draws their attention to
the tree, makes it more fun and enticing, and gives you an
opportunity to tell them about the people behind the names that
are hung there.
You
can even try hanging one treat
on each name and then before getting the treat, ask your child
to remember and tell you something about that person. If
your child is very young, you can adjust this to letting them hear
a little story about that person as they enjoy the treat.
The
Ancestor Tree makes a nice altar decoration and can be surrounded
by more old photographs and mementos handed down through the family.
Text on this page
copyright 2003 Lora Craig-Gaddis
Pictures from public domain clipart
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