The mystery of my ancestry has been on my mind for a long
time. I have been delving into my past
and I have successfully traced my Fathers family tree back to the ancestor who
immigrated to South Africa in 1694. My Mothers tree has not been that easy but
I am not going to give up, I will continue to poke around. Recently I had my DNA tested to see where I
come from. The results were a mixture of "Yes I guessed that" and
"Wow...really?" It has given me a deeper understanding of
myself.
As an Afrikaner I have always prided myself on the fact
that I have no English blood, wrong… turns out I have quite a bit of ancestry
from Great Britain. Not Anglo-Saxon but rather Celts that stayed north of Hadrian’s Wall. To be expected – Western
Europe, Nederland, Belgium and Germany is next and then Scandinavian and
Eastern Europe. The most surprising
result is that there is 10% European Jewish, Ashkenazi ancestry. So what did I find out – I am definitely of
European decent! Of course that is
nothing new.
What I have uncovered is that I have expanded my view of who I
am. Basically I am a Celt because they
were everywhere. Now we think of Celts
being in Scotland and Ireland but initially it was the whole area and they
moved around a lot. Then of course the Vikings came and things shifted again. I am exploring all of these pieces. I am
researching their traditions, art and music and it is giving me a complete
picture of myself. I feel it also
explains the unyielding spirit of my people.
It has been an interesting journey. I think everyone should have their DNA tested
it teaches you so much about yourself.
Another bonus, it adds so many new vacation destinations.
A more esoteric reason for doing this work is; if you
believe in past lives then you are your own ancestor and I am searching back
for a link to the past lives that have the strongest influence on this
lifetime. From the previous past life
work I have done there are a number of lives that are impacting this one (in
many of them I was an inhabitant of early Europe). Those deja vu moments of
forgotten memories that stir when you do something you believe to be for the
first time but it feels like it is not.
For me an example of this is that I decided to teach myself the
Bodhran. The day I picked it up I found
I could play it – not with much finesse mind you – but I could play it. Where did that come from? Is it a memory from a past life? Now I am working on honing this skill.
There is so much that lies hidden in our memories and in our
blood… Is it time for you to explore yours?
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