Gajachaya and the Ancestors

For a while now, I have wanted to write about the mysterious “shadow of the elephant”—which, in Indian tradition, is said to open a channel to deceased ancestors—especially in connection with the “Life-Death-Life” workshops. The topic did not make it into the book of the same name, since explaining it properly requires drawing on jyotish, and I worried that without those foundations it would confuse more than it clarified. Still, each time I considered writing an article, the same question came up: what purpose would such information serve? Traditional Indian customs are not ours; feeding a dog or a cow,…