Lares Familiares

As I make the focus of my work that of my ancestors, I am now looking at the thought of also working with the Lares, in particular the Lares Familiares / Domestici. I have two Lares statues, which I got immediately when I decided to set my ancestor altar, containing family portraits along with the names of known ancestors that I was able to discover through ancestry websites before it met a dead halt in Genoa, Italy in 1765.

From my understanding, the Lares are sometimes regional and local minor gods, or spirits tied to a specific place or home, or family, as is maybe similar to the Norse Dís. The idea of a household deity isn't new, as many cultures have some sort of variation and alongside Hestia/Vesta, the goddess of the Hearth, to which in modern times I associate with the kitchen/stove. Many homes had some sort of Lararium, and some where obviously more impressive than others, as the one below from Pompeii.

I have been looking for resources (first online) in ways to honor and/or work with the Lares, not dissimilar I guess to ones own work with ones Agathos Daimon, in ways to better serve the home, family and livelihood. I have come across this academic research paper regarding the Lares by Mariah Elaine Smith from the University of Kansas that might bring up some interesting information. As with long-lost ancestors and workings with any dead or spirit guides, one must perhaps begin with arrangement of reciprocity.

Thus, I tell myself, one must first set some sort of relationship especially when perhaps decades have passed with no mention, notice or work with a familial Lares. I cannot just suddenly call a lost uncle and request a favor when I have never spoken to him prior, regardless of the good intentions to meet for the first time (as my half-sister discovered when she wanted to reconnect family ties). As the pessimist that I am, I will first assume the ties were damaged through generations that first need mending and then learn the appropriate methods of veneration and offerings. Most of my books pertain to the ancient Greek religion, so I currently find myself lost on where to begin, but as a bookworm and psuedo-historian, happy to begin the journey.