Intro to the Blog
Background
I first began to dig into genealogy after I got an Ancestry DNA test. I was curious where my ancestors came from. We had family stories about German heritage from my father's side of the family and we had stories of English, Irish, and Norwegian on mom's side. I also later took a 23andMe DNA test that was a gift from my brother Clayton and his partner and now wife Mary. I later uploaded my raw DNA file from Ancestry to MyHeritage for a free ethnicity estimate. I discovered that our ancestors migrated to the United States from France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Albania, Portugal, and Spain. I was fascinated and wanted to learn more about who my ancestors were.
I asked my grandparents about their parents. I only remember three of my great grandparents by blood: Doris Maxine Perry (1921-2011), Fonda Doris Magill (1918-2015), and Wanda Dean Trantham (1932-living). I also met Doris' husband Joseph John Kook, who was my great grandpa by marriage. However, as is typical of children, I was not very interested in family history. I only saw my great grandparents during holidays, so I never really got to know them well. I did a free trial on Ancestry doing as much research as I could on my first, second, and third great grandparents to build my family trees. I got help from my mom building some of my tree off her's as a distant cousin had traced the Gunderson family line all the way back to Norway. I also later discovered FamilySearch, a free genealogy website, and began to do more research on there. I listened to podcasts like Family Tree, Research Like a Pro, and Genealogy Gems to learn genealogy tips. I found out about WikiTree, a free collaborative genealogy website, from episode 307 of the Research Like a Pro podcast, and I am slowly adding info on there as well. I started working on an ancestor scrapbook filled with info on my great grandparents, second great grandparents, family trees, ancestral places, and DNA results.
I read the books Ancestral Tarot by Nancy Hendrickson, Honoring Your Ancestors by Mallorie Vaudoise, and Badass Ancestors by Patti Wigington. I began to build my ancestor veneration practice using tarot as a tool for communication and began giving offerings to my ancestors on Sundays in homage to my Christian ancestors that went to church on Sundays. I later added Thursdays in honor of my Norwegian descent as Thursday is Thor's day. Thor is the Norse god of thunder and lightning, and well known as the protector of mankind with his hammer Mjolnir. I eventually incorporated Tuesdays into my ancestor veneration practice, so that I now give offerings three times a week. I am currently reading Ancestral Grimoire by Nancy Hendrickson, The Book of Ancestors by Claire Goodchild, and Ancestral Whispers by Ben Stimpson. I am creating an Ancestor Grimoire binder with tabs for each ancestor. In each section, I am combining information from my genealogy research, family memories, and recipes with tarot cards and astrology profiles.
Blog Format
I recently listened to episode 277 of the Research Like a Pro podcast about starting a family history blog to share stories. It inspired me to create Of Blood, Bone, & Heart: The Magic of Our Ancestors. I chose this title because our ancestors are of blood with DNA as well as of heart through marriage and adoption. Our ancestors are of bone as they laid the foundations that our modern world is built upon. I see the magic of our ancestors all around us and within us. This blog is a way to share genealogical information as well as my ancestor veneration practice. I want to write our family history through memories, photos, holidays, recipes, Census records, surnames, graves, and family trees. However, I also want to share the more spiritual side of my ancestor veneration practice such as tarot spreads, death day remembrances, prayers, altars, offerings, folklore, rituals, and crafts. I will release a new blog post each Wednesday, the day of the week ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication and the Roman god equivalent to the Greek god Hermes. Some blog posts will be random single posts about a specific topic like maybe diving deep into DNA results or a particular omen/sign I noticed from the ancestors that week. I also have several series already planned for this blog: The Ancestor Files, Family Tales, Wisdom of the Ancestors, The Family Hearth, Ancestral Roots, A Walk Amongst the Tombstones, Ancestral Footsteps, and Crafting our Heritage.
The Ancestor Files
And yes, I got the inspiration for this title from the X-Files. You're welcome. This series will feature a case study into one ancestor per a blog post full of biographical information from Census records as well as personality traits and family stories about that ancestor. I will also include family photos in the post. It is in this series, that I also plan to share corresponding tarot cards with birth and death date pairs as well as sun sign astrology and zodiac tarot cards to dig into another layer for a deeper understanding of the ancestor profile.
Family Tales
In this series, I am going to interview a living family member and share their story. I will also include some of their favorite family photos. For me, part of honoring our ancestors is about honoring each other as the ancestors live on through us.
Wisdom of the Ancestors
In this series, I will dive into an ancestral value and how we continue to live by or honor that value in our family today. I also plan to share tarot spreads with advice from the ancestors in this segment such as things they regret or wish they did when they were living. Not only can we learn from their strengths and what they did well, but we can also learn from their weaknesses and the mistakes they made.
The Family Hearth
In this series, I plan to share family recipes. I recently listened to episode 287 of the Genealogy Gems podcast about food and family history, which inspired this section of the blog. I will give some of the backstory of the recipe and who it came from then dive into the ingredients and directions. This is also where I plan to share recipes inspired by our heritage.
Ancestral Roots
In this section, I will dive deep into a family surname. I plan to give a little background on the surname and the members of the family that share it in the tree. Then, I will explore the meaning of the surname and its origins as well as the common places that surname is found today.
A Walk Amongst the Tombstones
Welcome to the graveyard. This is where I will share memorial posts honoring death days. With the living we honor birthdays, so in my ancestor veneration practice I honor the days that family members died and joined the ancestors. In this section, I will share some information about the ancestor and light a candle in their memory.
Ancestral Footsteps
In this series, we will trace the footsteps of our ancestors. I will focus on a town or county in which our ancestors lived and share who all lived there and when. I will give a little background history on the area and possibly add in a fun piece of regional folklore.
Crafting Our Heritage
This series will be dedicated to learning ancestral skills and sharing creative projects whether painting or crocheting, quilting or woodworking, sailing or horseback riding. This will be the spot where I share how I and how other family members keep ancestral skills alive or how we honor our ancestors through our art.
Treasure of the Ancestors
This is the section of the blog where I plan to share family heirlooms and the stories behind them, whether lockets or ornaments, tools or plates. These are the things our ancestors left behind for us to treasure.
Languages of the Dead
Another way to honor our ancestors is to learn their languages. Many of our ancestors spoke divergent languages from English such as German, Dutch, French, and Norwegian. So this is the section where I plan to share fun vocabulary words from different languages.
Ancestor Tales
One way I specifically honor my ancestors is by reading aloud folktales and fairy tales at my ancestors altar. So in this section, I thought it would be fun to share a story and discuss some of the diverse variations of the tale.
Songs of the Dead
This is where I plan to share music and songs from our ancestors heydays. It will be a mix of popular vintage music from the time as well as songs that I know some of our specific ancestors liked to listen to when they were living.
Ancestral Rituals
This section will be about rituals from my ancestor veneration practice such as prayers, offerings, dedications, and so on. I will share how I honor the memory of my ancestors through ceremony.
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