They Are - Not Were:Remembering my Ancestors and My Journey of Becoming

Gogo_Noma
3 days ago
4 min read

A picture of a woman surrounded by her Ancestors under water

"What I heal, I do not only heal for myself.

What I ignore, I do not ignore only for myself."

Gogo_Noma

Thokozani, Badimo Child

I consciously say They Are, NOT They Were.

In African spirituality, we do not die - we evolve. We ascend. We continue living in a different form. We return to the state of our true Self. We leave the world of the relative and return to the world of the absolute.

This is not poetry to me. It is memory. It is truth that has been whispered to me through dreams, through prayer, through silence, and through the long seasons of unlearning that prepared me for this moment.

They are still here - only the form has changed

When I say They are, I am acknowledging something sacred: presence does not end when the body ends. My forefathers did not disappear, and they did not dissolve into nothingness. They shifted their position of consciousness. They returned to a more expanded state of being. A place closer to Source, closer to truth, closer to remembrance.

What changes is not existence, but the way participation happens.

They now participate through intuition, dreams, synchronicities, protection, correction, redirection and spiritual governance. They remain part of the living system of the family.

The journey does not automatically end in wisdom

This is where many of us unknowingly hold a romanticised understanding of ancestors. Passing from the physical world does not automatically elevate consciousness. Death is not a spiritual promotion. It is a transition.

Power is also not the correct language when we speak about spiritual order. There is no hierarchy of competition in the spiritual realm. There is positioning, complementarity and responsibility. Each being occupies its rightful function within the larger spiritual system.

Consciousness does not suddenly become purified simply because the body is no longer present.

Through Spiritual consultations, I have found this truth, many return still carrying forgetfulness

I have learned, gently and carefully, that many people return to the spiritual realm still carrying unhealed wounds, unresolved emotional patterns, distortions of identity and disconnection from their true Self.

They return before spiritual awakening. They return still forgetting who they truly are.

This is why even in the world of the absolute, some ancestors remain limited in clarity, limited in function and limited in their ability to protect, guide and intercede. Not because they are harmful or malicious, but because they are still on their own journey of remembering and healing.

AmaDlozi amahle are not automatic

To become Amadlozi Amahle, that is, true protectors, guides and messengers, is not a status granted by death. It is a state of consciousness. It is refinement. It is alignment. It is purification of intention. It is the remembrance of one’s divine assignment.

Spiritual authority is formed through consciousness, not transition.

This is why our healing matters more than we realise. Our healing is not only personal. It is lineage work.

Every time I choose to unlearn what distorted my identity, to face my shadow, to restore my relationship with my body, my boundaries and my truth, and to stop betraying my own soul, I am not only preparing myself for a more aligned life here. I am also preparing myself for the kind of ancestor I will one day become.

I do this work because one day I will also be remembered

This is something I sit with often: One day I will also cross. And when I do, I do not wish to return still confused about my purpose. I do not wish to return still fragmented, afraid of truth and disconnected from my divine responsibility.

I want to return awake. Able to protect. Able to guide. Able to intercede. Able to carry wisdom instead of unresolved pain.

The world of the living also shapes the world of the ancestors

We often speak as though ancestors influence only us. In truth, the relationship is mutual. Our level of awareness in the physical world directly influences the quality of spiritual leadership that will exist in our lineage tomorrow.

The work we avoid today becomes the limitation of our lineage tomorrow.

This is why I say, “They are”

Our relationship with our ancestors is not nostalgic. It is active, present and participatory. They are still evolving and we are still becoming. We are moving along the same spiral - only on different layers of consciousness.

Remembering is the real initiation

We do not need to rush into execution when our inner soil is still wounded. We do not need to force embodiment when alignment has not yet taken place.

For many years, my own life appeared to be marked only by loss, confusion and emotional heat. I now understand that those years were not disruption. They were remembrance. They were spiritual reorientation. They were the undoing of everything that taught me to forget who I was before survival shaped me.

Now, I execute daily - not from desperation, but from alignment.

A gentle invitation to you

Before you try to become powerful, before you try to manifest faster, and before you try to execute harder, I invite you to sit with one honest question:

What kind of ancestor am I currently preparing to become?

Not by title.

Not by reputation.

But by consciousness.

Because one day, someone in your bloodline will call your name in prayer. And what responds to them will be the quality of the life you chose to live now.