Ed. Hausdoerffer, Hecht, Nelson, and Cummings, “Introduction” What Kind of Ancestor of Do You Want to Be? (The University of Chicago Press 2021)

Just as we prepare the young to step into adulthood and release the childish ways for the health and growth of society, so the practice of becoming an ancestor requires the release of our grip upon what is, the letting go of certain ways of being in the world to embrace the changes required for the stream of life to keep flowing vigorously. We can begin to be living ancestors by stepping aside and handing our power, our place, and our voice in ways that nurture those coming up…Being a good ancestor means understanding how to handle power when to hold it, when to hand it over, and how to transform it. Just as our bodies, the fundamental sources of our power, will be transformed when breathing ends, so we can begin to practice being ancestors today by recognizing how we want to transform the power–the life force–we’ve been given. (4)