**Monthly "Pub Moot" and Lecture Series- *in English*** **This Month’s Topic:** **Calling upon the ancestors: Ancestral magic and lineage worship in Hinduism and Tantra** *Ancestral veneration and worship are a distinctive feature of South Asian religions, especially Hinduism, in a way that has very little parallels in other religions. Like the ancient Romans and their worship of the ‘Manes’, the ‘forefathers’ – deceased ancestors – in Hinduism form a class of beings or energies that are rooted through blood, kinship, sacrifice and libation. Encased within mythic and ritual paradigms that go back to an ancient Vedic past (circa 1400 BCE), the Hindu ancestral rites are arcane, confined to theologians and priests, and are comprised of elements that modern world would classify more as ‘magic’ than as ‘religion’. Beyond the simpler idea of funerals being prayers led for a single individual, these ancestral rites involve a series of rituals that unite a departed person with their ancestral lineages and invoke them collectively and regularly at various significant moments in life, notably during family celebrations like weddings, when the blessings of both the gods and the ancestors are sought for. The ancestors are said to bless with abundance, health and long life when propitiated, and ominous when ill-favored. Over millennia, this concept of blood lineages influences the tantric idea of spiritual lineages – of teachers and practitioners – through whom blessings and intercessions are sought for and through whom spiritual power is channeled, restored, summoned and worked upon. This talk gives a brief overview of these ancestral rites of the Hindus and of lineage worship practices in Tantra.* Pub Moots will generally be held on the **4th Wednesday** of every month. Sometimes there will be exceptions based on what is going on, so make sure to check back here on Meetup for the exact information All are welcome- experienced practioners, newbies, merely curious, Wiccans and Wiccan-curious and practitioners of similar traditions and those who have no idea why they want to come but just do and even those who don't know a thing but simply like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and suchlike...:-) **General schedule of the evening:** 19:00- 19:30- Meetup, time to eat and socialize 19:30- 20:30- Lecture and Discussion 20:30-21:00 and beyond- Open discussion and more socializing- eat, drink, and be merry! **Attendance is free** but you will need to buy something at the pub.:-) *(The Pub is old-school Austrian and cash-only, so bring paper money!:-))*
