My Ancestors Guide Me

According to The Student's Manual of Ancient Geography:

...the inhabitants of the Scandinavian peninsula, who bore the general name Hilleviones, the Chief tribes belonging to these groups were located in the following manner ...

Now I have no doubt, with these two new synchronous connections to my dream (*students* and the *general name* for my book at first in the dream), that I am definitely on the right track and that my ancestors are guiding me down this path.

Scottish Clan Connections

In follow-up to my previous two posts, among my paternal ancestors are the Scottish surnames of Scottish Clans significant to the making of Scotland - Clan Taylor (my father's surname) and Clan Wallace (my paternal grandmother's father's surname).

An interesting tidbit, each of my three children each gave to one of their children a first name of one of the surnames of the Scottish Clans.

My eldest son gave his younger son the name Logan. His nickname is Logie.

My daughter in the middle, gave her eldest son the name Cameron.

My youngest son gave his daughter the name Makenzie.

Royal Hamingja

Dragon Raven Banner

Last night's rune drawing was Fehu.

I dreamt.

I was a young woman at the University. I lived in the living quarters with other students. I pretty much kept to myself and didn't get involved in any of the social activities with the other students. I wasn't shy really, I just wasn't very skilled at being sociable. I was also a rather socially reserved personality.

But one of my acquaintance girlfriends came and talked me into going with her to an important university dinner party. I went with her, glad she had pulled me toward going. I sat at one of the round banquet tables in the banquet hall.

There were little creatures (small-sized like miniature dogs, but they weren't dogs) that went around entertaining and performing at the feet of all the students. Though they were entertaining, their purpose was not to entertain - it was to scout out for the special one, sort of like making a preliminary assay to determine candidates who might be real witches.

I was identified as one among a group of female students to be tested for being a real witch. I decided to go along with the test.

Some of the candidates put on their coats because it was cold, icy and snowy outside and the dance would take us outside of the banquet room, but I didn't. I knew I wouldn't be cold as I danced.

We began the group dance in the banquet hall, but as we danced, we danced out the large doors to the outside where it was snowy. We danced into a trance as we danced. I felt no cold. As we danced, we levitated and rose into the air like ravens. Our dance became a dance in flight.

Suddenly, we all had wings and our wings became wings of blazing fire! We danced on fire. Thus, all of us who had passed the initial assay were all confirmed to be true witches. We were true witches.

The dance completed and the fire of our wings ceased, including mine. We began our smooth descent back to the ground. But then I did an unexpected thing. I willed my wings to be on fire a second time, like a dragon, during descent as opposed to during trance dance, and to ascend in flight and dance a second time! No one else did that, only I could do that. All those present were completely amazed that I was the one who would be able to do this second willed ascent on fiery wings. At this point, I didn't know the significance of what I had done, but since on the spur of the moment, I had wanted to do what only I had done, I did it because I could - I was happy, playing, joyous at just being me, this was the motivation for my willed dance.

When I finished my second willed fiery flight, I too smoothly descended to the ground and joined the group. We went inside. There was talk among the elders. Whispers went like wildfire through the student body and all those present. It was unexpected, but the talk was that I was the Witch Queen heir apparent. No one would have guessed that the new Witch Queen was me, I was so not the 'type' they had expected.

There was one final test - rowing in a longship - a strange kind of rowing, but the motion we were to do was a rowing-like motion. The group of us who had flown on fire, were put sideways into a longship (the longship was one longship, but we each had our own too such that we weren't sideways in our own space, this kind of longship cannot be fit entirely into the physical world). We each 'rowed' with our arms.

Unlike any of the others, I stretched my arms out beyond the conventional water in which we each rowed. I stretched clear across the water to the other shore and dug my fingernails and fingers into the soil of it. I walked with my fingers digging into the soil, stretching my arms even further, to a door and knocked on it. A woman with a young daughter opened the door - these two were significant to me, although I didn't really know exactly how (in the dream), but I knew that they were. I looked at the blond haired little girl (about 6 years old) and told her that I loved her, and that I had kept my promise (a promise had been made to me during shamanic journey when I was about 6 years old) to her - here I was, and things will be okay now (these are the last words my maternal grandfather ever spoke to me - when I was a young woman -, as if he were seeing into the future and preparing me for the tests with the knowledge that I would be okay and get through them). Then, the rowing test was over and I returned with the group back to the banquet room.

There was no doubt now, I was the new Witch Queen. There was also no doubt that the new Witch King was not the one all had expected it would be. The new Witch King was necessarily the one linked to me, as the new Witch King was necessarily the one soul matched to the new Witch Queen, namely, me.

Whispers spread like wildfire again through the crowd, and everyone including me turned to look at the sandy-haired guy sitting quietly at a table across the hall from me. This was the guy who was my partner Witch King. I had never seen him before that moment, but I recognized him as my partner and the one who had brought me to the school. He hadn't expected it to be him either. Though he had for awhile suspected that I was the Witch Queen heir apparent, he was just as surprised as everyone else that he was the new Witch King, partner to the Witch Queen.

I woke up.

Reflections for the New Year

My personal spiritual practice as a witch is all about my ancestors, those who have come before and those who will come after me. As a witch of primarily Northern-Northwestern European ancestry, most of my work involves these genetic ancestors of mine. But not all - some of my Northern European ancestors found refuge in Northern Africa during the height of the last Ice Age. Today, the modern North African Berber tribe are my genetic cousins, being those who descended from the common interaction of my ancient Northern European ancestors with indigenous North Africans (the Saami of Northern Scandinavia, my motherline, and the North African Berber tribe all share a relatively recent common ancestor - our shared motherline split about 9000 years ago - a group who would become the Saami returned to Northern Europe after the Ice Sheet retreated, while some stayed behind in Africa and became the Berbers.) A few modern Africans in Nigeria also share this motherline ancestry with those from my motherline, the Saami and the Berbers.

In my own ancestor work, I do not neglect the African origins for our species, homo sapiens sapiens, in Africa, even as I also honor my ancient archaic Eurasian human ancestors (including Neanderthals and Denisovans) - all of these human lines contributed to who I am today. I honor them all.

The products you find at mt shoppe Witchcrafts Artisan Alchemy reflect my own ancestral work and seek in spirit to honor all of my ancestors. The mixing of Northern European (and North American Cumberland Gap) and African ancestry is currently reflected in my Hoodoo offerings. In 2014, I will be adding a few products to reflect the Berber African tradition specifically, as well as a few Sufi offerings to honor my ancient ancestors whose ancestral branches can still be found today in some of the Arabic peoples. My kabbalistic offerings honor my ancient ancestors with ancestral branches which can still be found today among those of Hungarian Jewish descent in both Hungary and Israel.

Today I reflect on my roots, the soils from which my clans sprouted, the branches and leaves through which we find individuality, and the stars among which we will ever-live.

Hail the ancestors!

All In The Family

In the past, I have conversed with a mouse, through an ancestral soul connection we both share.

The last common ancestor of mice and humans (base of the clade Euarchontoglires) lived about 100 million years ago. Then my family line branched off into the primates.

Long ago, a family of creatures existed within whom dwelt the potential to become both mice and humans.

Preincarnate Memory & Neanderthal Predation Theory

The two videos below explain Neanderthal Predation Theory (neanderthal predation powered evolution of primitive humans into modern humans who became overwhelmingly distinct from other hominid primates and turned the tables on the once apex hunters of Eurasia). This theory powerfully aligns with one of my preincarnate memories as described below the videos. The sheer horror and terror of my experience as an ancient human hominid I never forgot, still to this day ... even the fact that I had no sound-words with which to express my utter terror (as this prehistoric period of time was before articulate human language had developed) ...





Repost - Thurisaz Rune Poem

This is a poem I wrote about 15 years ago attempting to describe one of the preincarnate memories I have carried with me all of my life, now understood within the context of Neanderthal Predation Theory.
 
The Thorn

from the mind inscribed before time in a dreamlike primeval existence
before my life began, at your side, I loved you
set before seeing, witnessing the violent play of creation
rising jagged with twisting thorns ascending toward there
wild and fierce the bloody storm from below, a churning pit of cold fire and coal
dripping with pain torn from earth, cutting edges
raging from a lawless horror, a terror untamed upon the earth
spreading as a plague coming near with powerful fury, iterating screams
reverberating with dysrhythm, the battering melody shattering the noise of silence
in agony melding together, into a cyclone of spiraling shrill despair
hopeless, the sound of an inky blackness, line upon line writing
a writhing scroll, twisted with affliction, death and blood everywhere
below the colorlessness of the sanctuary where I stood, immobile in the sight
testifying, not forgotten, revealing some wordless cry of terror
embedding beyond the throat, becoming chained in the belly
burning my world, descending into the hallowed depths of my heart
with no way to restrain it, its direction of attraction
toward me the knife came to cut
please see me! I am here! I cried without sound - to you as you watched it climb up
as you watched it climb up with some curious, strange fascination
not seeing me, or disregarded, either way, outside your direction of attention
as the rabid destruction erupted up the wall, and all I could do to escape the blade
becoming broken, I turned away, pulling myself in ... only to be thown away
thrown down, as a coarse grain into the only history I ever knew, and I know
what you did, throwing me down to be ripped apart, for those who would destroy me
why do you hate me - still you don't see me, you don't hear me, and you don't care
try as I might to rewrite the story, I cannot forget the truth
and some things can never be fixed

Paternal Ancestral Ethnicities & Folk Soul Impulses

As some who read my Facebook may recall, I recently learned from my father that my paternal line hails from the Cumberland Gap in Appalachia, making it very likely that some of my paternal grandmothers were Appalachian root workers known as granny witches, and practitioners of ethnic Appalachian folk magic.

(In honor of my Appalachian roots, over time, I will be adding a focused line Appalachian folkish conjure formulas to my Etsy shoppe!)

The oral tradition of my paternal family - that as being primarily of English, Irish (Scots-Irish as well, given my confirmed autosomal genetic link to Scotland) and German descent, as well as having American roots in the Cumberland Gap deep in Appalachia, and into Appalachian Kentucky, as well as having some Native American American (Cherokee and Potowatomi) family members - fits exactly with the historical ethnic makeup reported by Kentucky Emigration and Immigration Department -
 

Pre-statehood settlers of Kentucky were mostly of English, German and Ulster Scots descent who migrated from the Atlantic seaboard states. Immigrants from North Carolina and southwestern Virginia came by way of the Cumberland Gap and over the Wilderness Road. Immigrants from Maryland and Pennsylvania came on flatboats and rafts down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh. Other early immigrants included small groups of French, Swiss, and Welsh. During the mid-19th century the Ohio River brought many German immigrants and settlers from New England and the Middle Atlantic states. Many Irish settled in Louisville during this time.

In 1790, historians estimate Kentucky's population was English (52%), Scots-Irish or Scots (25%), Irish (9%), Welsh, (7%), German (5%), French (2%), Dutch (1%), and Swedish (0.2%) in ethnicity.

1820 statistics vary slightly: English (57%), Scots-Irish or Scots (18%), Welsh (9%), Irish (8%), German (6%), French (2%), Dutch (1%), and Swedish (0.2%).

Native Americans were the indigenous population also living in the area with the immigrants, giving support to the oral family tradition of having some Native American family members. As a small child, I grew up around one aunt known to be a full blooded Cherokee. She was known by the name Palace. The clannish rural area I grew up in (often humorously called Taylorville - my birth surname is Taylor) was one in which many families in my father's extended family lived in homes and properties clustered together in proximal concentration. Even today, several families of the Taylor Clan still live here in proximally clustered homes. This clannish way of living, also fits well with ethnic Appalachian ways of living.

No one in my family has, in oral family tradition, ever been Catholic Christian - I was raised as a Protestant Christian (where Protestantism in my mind is the first major successful impulse of the Teutonic folksoul to return to its native Pagan roots, and to throw off the yoke of the non-native religiosity imposed on the people via the Romanization of Pagan Europe). The religious affiliation of Appalachia with folkish Protestantism also fits with the ethnic and religious history of Appalachia and the oral traditions coming from my paternal family.

Dipping into the Sea of Ancestral Essence

Background - Yesterday I listed for sale at my Etsy shoppe shark teeth and Sahara Sea creature remains from the Eocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by the emergence of the first modern mammals and lasted from about 56 to 34 million years ago . The dinosaurs were already extinct during the Eocene Epoch, but huge predators still ruled the sea. I also posted on my shoppe Facebook page a video discussing the source of consciousness as hidden and taught in Old Norse myths. In the video, the Nine Daughters of Ægir are also discussed as they pertain to this source of conscious awareness. The emergence of the first primitive mammals (mouse-like creatures) following the extinction of the dinosaurs (during an epoch earlier than the Eocene, namely in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, often referred to as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, which occurred approximately 65.5 million years ago) links to my mouse fylgja. Extinction of the dinosaurs is linked by science to extinctions of ocean floor species following asteroid impact.

Early this morning, I dreamt a dream of bringing up a giant (jotun) creature from the Ancient Sea. The creature was at once also me.

I was on a exploring research ship sailing upon the Dark Sea in a liminal time containing both all time and timelessness. We lowered down a large net into the depths of Dark Sea, seeking to bring up something very important, very ancient, very mysterious.

We brought up an ancient cocoon-like liminal-like bubble shell-craft in which an Ancient Creature had been preserved. The Ancient Creature was both a sea creature and me at the same time. As a sea creature, the bubble ship and its content reminded me of a giant clam-like creature. As me, it reminded me of a hibernating human form with all its books and computer gadgets resting in a time capsule cocoon of some sort. It had been brought up to the surface - I felt the creature's "studies" would now reawaken.

The dream changed.

As one among three couples, we had moved into a long-shaped apartment (brings to mind now a Viking longship), though we all had private living spaces. One of the males of the couples, named Jeff (derived from German Gottfried, meaning "Divine peace"), the companion of one of my "sisters", had been charged to find us our apartment. He had done well. We were all pleased. We were moving into this apartment because of a new research job-study we were all participating in.

One of my sisters had the job of being the homemaker. The rest of us had jobs outside of the home. I recall the floors being vacuumed in preparation for our move into the new apartment.

My new state of the art high tech computer software was being set up and configured for the research project. During the set-up, I had a bit of difficulty with the number 2 on the touch screen. I had to try several times before touching the number 2 right, getting my touch to strike the screen right to get my entry to take. It "took" on the third try.

After setup, I saw and also wanted a cool sleek black backpack like the one being carried by one of my sisters, so I could carry my computer stuff around with me too. I put in my order for one. Fossilized amber was associated with unlocking and accessing our computers. (Amber is associated with Freyja and ancient witchcraft.)

I woke up. I also listed a few specimens (here and here) of copal amber from Madagascar yesterday on my Etsy shoppe. During my last ritual blot (Haustblot), I had placed my own more ancient fossilized amber with fossil inclusions on my harrow in honor of Freyja.

Final mtDNA Motherline Results - Top 16 Genetic Motherline Matches

כ״ב באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 24
Ash 27

This list shows the top 16 best mtDNA genetic matches for me in the world. These top matrilineal ancestral root matches cover a period time from within the last 300-400 generations since the last Ice Age to the present. In other words, in all the world, tracing the data from the last Ice Age to the present, the information shows (quoting from the results) "where in the world (I) have matches to (my) mtDNA. These matches indicate (my) maternal geographic ancestral roots." As indicated in the previous post, where it says that I have "0" "difference to (my) best matches", it means that all of my matrilineal genetic matches are EXACT matches to my own defining motherline genetic markers. Quoting, "a difference of "0" indicates that we have exact matches for your samples." So, the matches in this list are all exact matrilineal genetic matches to me (as far as matrilineal motherline defining genetic markers are concerned). The people on this list are my matrilineal genetic twins, so to speak.

Final mtDNA Motherline Results - U5b Haplogroup

כ״ב באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 24
Ash 27

Hey, hey, happy day! I received the final hardcopy report and final results of my mtDNA ancestral motherline genetic analysis today! Here is a redacted photo of the hardcopy result showing confirmation that my motherline genetic haplogroup is U5b (Clan Ursula - the most ancient motherline in all Europe). In all the world, tracing the data from the last Ice Age to the present, the information shows (quoting from the results) "where in the world (I) have matches to (my) mtDNA. These matches indicate (my) maternal geographic ancestral roots." When it says that I have "0" "difference to (my) best matches", it means that all of my genetic matches are EXACT matches to my defining genetic markers. Quoting, "a difference of "0" indicates that we have exact matches for your samples." How cool is that!

My Mother's Daughter

ח׳ באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 10
Ash 13

Me, descendent of the prehistoric Scandinavian matriarch, Ursula. My mtDNA motherline haplogroup U5b, although most recently in history coalseces around Budapest Hungary, is sourced (for my ancestral subgroup) in Sweden and Norway among my Scandinavian ancestors. Last night I dreamt of being among my ancient Scandinavian Viking kinfolk, who with me among them, entered again into the reality of this world! We are united!

My mother Ursula is the most ancient Clan Mother in all Europe.

Cheddar Man & Me

ח׳ באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 10
Ash 13

I'm in the same (broad U5) mtDNA motherline haplogroup as Cheddar Man.

Cheddar Man is the name given to the remains of a human male found in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, England. The remains date to approximately 7150 BC, and it appears that he died a violent death. It is Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton.

In 1996, Bryan Sykes of Oxford University first sequenced the mitochondrial DNA of Cheddar Man, with DNA extracted from one of Cheddar Man's molars. Cheddar Man was determined to have belonged to Haplogroup U5, a branch of mitochondrial haplogroup U, which has also been found in other Mesolithic human remains. Sykes got DNA from the 9,000 year old Cheddar Man's tooth, and from a 12,000 year old Cheddar tooth from the same cave.

Bryan Sykes' research into Cheddar Man was filmed as he performed it in 1997. As a means of connecting Cheddar Man to the living residents of Cheddar village, he compared mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) taken from twenty living residents of the village to that extracted from Cheddar Man’s molar. It produced two exact matches and one match with a single mutation. The two exact matches were schoolchildren, and their names were not released. The close match was a history teacher named Adrian Targett. They, like anyone else carrying haplogroup U5 today, share an ancestor of many thousands of years ago with Cheddar Man through his maternal line.

Sykes argued that this modern connection to Cheddar Man (who died at least three thousand years before agriculture began in Britain) makes credible the theory that modern-day Britons are not all descended from Middle Eastern migratory farmers who entered Britain about 10,000 years ago. Instead, many modern Britons (and many modern Europeans generally) may be descended from ancient European Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherer tribes, who adopted farming much later.

Interesting.

Superhaplogroup UK and the U5b1b1 and U5b1e Subclusters

ח׳ באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 10
Ash 13

I carry the mtDNA genetic marker 16270.T, one of the defining mutations for mtDNA haplogroup U5 (Clan Ursula). Interestingly, this marker is also associated with mtDNA haplogroup K (Clan Katrine).

From the article, Who are U?

When Bryan Sykes named the “Seven Daughters of Eve,” “Katrine,” the founder of haplogroup K, was on an equal level with the other six European mtDNA founding mothers. However, most charts now show K as part of a superhaplogroup UK or as just another subdivision of U. If the names were assigned now, we might be called U9 or maybe U8a. Consequently, K haplotypes sometimes also have defining mutations for one of the U’s. The two situations which have come up involve mutations 16270T (which I have) and 16356C, which are the defining mutations for U5 and U4, respectively.

So, while it's not mentioned in my preliminary results as to whether or not I have any of the defining mutations (16224C and 16311C) of haplogroup K (making it very likely that I do not have these defining haplogroup K mutations¹), research shows that haplogroup K descends from haplogroup U, through a U5-U4 (UK) superhaplogroup . Many Western European Jews fit into haplogroup K, while my Eastern European Hungarian Jewish mtDNA result fits into haplogroup U5. U5 is an older haplogroup than K. So, these facts are congruent with the DNA Tribe results which say that my Jewish line is not Northwestern European, but Eastern European (Austro-Hungarian) even though Clan Ursula has strong links to Scandinavia and Celtic lands.

In parallel with all of this, though my preliminary results don't provide my subcluster of U5b, one article states some interesting information which suggests (given all my DNA results thus far), that I may fit into the U5b1b1 subcluster of U5b:

The 5656G allele, including all major subsets of U5b1, is broadly distributed both in western and eastern Europe (fig. 3A; table 4). The U5b1b subclade is found all over Europe, but it occurs in western and central Europe with notable sequence variation. The haplotype diversity (excluding subclade U5b1b1) is 0.96. We note that U5b1b was also identified in a northwestern African population, among the Moroccans. In contrast, its diversity in eastern Europe is much lower. There, the haplotype diversity (excluding subclade U5b1b1) is 0.79, whereas most of the U5b1b sequences in eastern Europe belong to the U5b1b1 branch. In the Eurasian cohort, U5b1b (other than U5b1b1) is absent from native Siberians and is notably absent from the Ob-Ugric populations and the Samoyeds.

Most importantly, the data indicate that U5b1b1, the only subcluster of U5b in the Saami population [my Sweden and Norway link], is present outside the Scandinavian-Baltic and the Volga-Uralic regions—namely, in the French, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Czech, Russian (Kyrgyzstan - mine), Ukrainian, Polish, and Hungarian (mine) mtDNA pools—and, further, is present even in the Caucasus, among the Nogay, Kabardinian, and Armenian (mine) mtDNAs.

... although the U5b1e subclade is another possibility for me - "U5b1e has polymorphisms in 152 2757 10283 12616 16189 (I carry mtDNA marker 16189.C) and has lost its polymorphism in 16192 (backmutation) ( + U5b1 polymorphisms) and arose about 6600 years ago. U5b1e is mainly seen in central Europe among Czechs, Slovaks (mine), Hungarians (mine) and southern Russians (mine through Kyrgyzstan)."

¹It may still be true, that I have other genetic markers not mentioned in the preliminary results, as in the email, I was told that "our results are now in the process of being checked manually. Generally there are only minor adjustments to be made. The final results of our analysis will be sent to you ..."

From Clan Ursula in Budapest, Hungary & Talas Valley, Kyrgystan

ח׳ באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 10
Ash 13

Well, I am definitely surprised by the preliminary results I received today from my motherline mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic haplogroup analysis. The final results with more detail and explanations will be sent to me within the next few days or so according to the email, after results are checked by hand by the researchers.

It seems that, while my comprehensive ancestry (compiled through autosomal STR analysis of genetic markers I inherited from both my mother and father) is Northwestern European (Wales, England, Scotland, Sweden, Ireland, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Italy) and Asian-Middle Eastern (Armenia, Budapest Hungary Ashkenazic Jewry, Turkey and Israeli Jewry), my motherline is not primarily centered in Northwestern Europe (although my mtDNA haplogroup has strong Swedish and Norwegian roots). Generally, my mtDNA motherline (from the data so far, at least) coalesces in Eastern Europe (Austro-Hungarian) and Turkish-related areas (Talas Valley Kyrgystan).

First, the top 3 mtDNA genetic matches (all with an individual score of 1) for me in the world are as follows:

• Talas valley, N Kirghizistan (also spelled Kyrgyzstan)
• Austro-Hungarian Ashkenazi Jew
• Budapest, Hungary

I'd never heard of Kyrgyzstan before today. It seems to have been part of Russia until it achieved independence in 1991. It is primarily Turkish - a Turkish genetic connection is congruent with the earlier autosomal DNA tribe results (DNA Results label) I received from another independent lab (DNA Tribes in the USA) not associated with the lab through whom I received these mtDNA results (Roots for Real in Europe).

Austro-Hungarian Ashkenazi Jew is self explanatory. The Budapest, Hungarian result fits with the more specific Austro-Hungarian Ashkenazi Jew in a more general sense. Both of these results are also congruent with the DNA Tribes results received earlier.

Second, My mtDNA haplogroup branch is U5b. Although U5b is strongly found in Sweden and Norway (also congruent with earlier DNA Tribe results), it looks like my motherline branch of it is more Eastern Europe (Hungary area) and Asian (Turkish area). In fact, none of the dots on my motherline map (see below) are placed in Northwestern Europe.

On mtDNA haplogroup U5b, called the Saami, this research found that:

The Saami are regarded as extreme genetic outliers among European populations ... It (the research) was shown that the “Saami motif” variant of mtDNA haplogroup U5b is present in a large area outside Scandinavia ... It (the research) suggests that the large genetic separation of the Saami from other Europeans is best explained by assuming that the Saami are descendants of a narrow, distinctive subset of Europeans.

The European Clan Mother broadly associated with haplogroup U5 is Ursula. To drill down into the possibilities, my specific branch of U5b locates primarily to Hungary and Kyrgyzstan:

Research has shown that "Turkish Jews are mostly H and X haplogroups."

Research has also shown that "As to MtDNA U5b among Jews, this haplogroup is rare among both Sephardic and Western Ashkenazi populations, but is found among Eastern European Ashkenazim, supporting the theory of some admixture among the Eastern European Jews."

Research has also shown that "Haplogroup U5 and its subclades U5a and U5b (mine) form the highest population concentrations in the far north, in Samii, Finns, and Estonians, but it is spread widely at lower levels throughout Europe. This distribution, and the age of the haplogroup (up to 60,500 years old), indicate individuals from this haplogroup were part of the initial expansion tracking the retreat of ice sheets from Europe ~10kya. Haplogroup U5 is found also in small frequencies and at much lower diversity in the Near East and parts of northern Africa (areas with sizable U6 concentrations), suggesting back-migration of people from Europe to the south."

At any rate, U5b is a European haplogroup with strong Scandinavian and Celtic links, but it looks like my particular cluster of genetic mtDNA markers (not disclosed publicly here, although they are on my results) closely align around Hungary (specifically, Budapest) and a Turkish-related area (specifically, Talas Valley North Kyrgyzstan) - far away from Scandinavia and Celtic lands. Taking all this together with my DNA Tribe results, it is very likely that my mtDNA motherline may suggest a population of "Scandinavian-Celtic" Ashkenazic Jews originally from Northwestern Europe, whose later descendents migrated from there and settled primarily in Hungary and Kyrgyzstan (although I am speculating).

Hopefully, the final mtDNA results will add some insightful additional information.

My mtDNA matches map (I only have information on the first 3 matches - circled in purple - with the preliminary results):



Wow, the top Talas Valley Kyrgyzstan result is definitely an outlier and far away from my previously known ancestral history in Northwestern Europe. Very far away from Northwestern Europe, and far away from Hungary too. Turkish and primarily Islamic today, this result is a mystery to me. I would have never guessed my motherline traveled through this area of the world. This area of the world has definitely left its mark on me, though I don't understand it at the moment. It's all new. I need to do some research on the migrations of mtDNA haplogroup U5b now ...

Old Photo of Me

ג׳ באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 5
Ash 8

I'm warming up to the new Facebook Timeline, so I decided today to change over to the new format for my personal profile there. I came across an old photo of me in my twenties posted by my adopted sister through my kids. I can clearly see my Celtic and Scandinavian ancestries in my facial features, so I can easily believe that I have no Native American ancestry, in myself at least. I laughed seeing my old hairstyle back in those days - ohmygawd!

Grunwald Family Surname Found Among Hungarian Budapest Jewry

ב׳ באדר תשע"ב
Keowulf 4
Ash 7

This article on Malchiel Gruenwald is evidence to support the recent genetic result I received of having Budapest Hungarian Ashkenazic Jewish ancestry. It is known in my family that on my mother's mother's side we have a Jewish Grunwald family line. Grunwald is a Jewish surname still found among Hungarian Jews of Budapest (at least it was before the Holocaust).

Quote from the article "although Gruenwald's own relatives were not so lucky: a third brother Philip, director of the Jewish Museum, was one of a number of Jews killed by Hungarian authorities in Budapest ..."

Philip Grunwald, this man's brother, lived in the Budapest Jewish community. Malchiel and Philip Grunwald had another brother, so while Malchiel ended up in Israel, and Philip was murdered in the Holocaust, I don't know what happened to the other brother or to the rest of the Grunwalds in Budapest, who may, in some way, be related to me.

"Hungary's pre-war Jewish population was 800,000, of which 180,000 survived."

Hungary: Jewish Family History Research Guide

My Genetic Ancestry Summary

ל׳ בשבט תשע"ב
Keowulf 3
Ash 6

I did the most extensive 27-marker genetic analysis available, along with specific population analyses (European, Middle Eastern and Native American). My United Kingdom (Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish) and Germanic ancestries were confirmed by the results. I now have to add to this European ancestral list Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary. I was surprised by the results in that I have deep Swedish-Norse roots, an interesting and unexpected Middle Eastern ancestry (Armenian, Hungarian Jewish, Turkish, Israeli Jewish), and no notable Native American ancestry (despite oral family history). Taken all together, I can conclude that my primary genetic roots are pan-Celtic (including Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish and Belgic), Norse (including Swedish, Germanic and Norwegian), Italian, Armenian, Hungarian Ashkenazic Jewish, Israeli Jewish and Turkish.

My Middle Eastern Genetic Panel Map

ל׳ בשבט תשע"ב
Keowulf 3
Ash 6

My primary Middle Eastern genetic area is circled in yellow, and the next highest 4 areas are circled (or colored - Hungarian Budapest Ashkenazic Jewry) in red. Click to enlarge.

Armenian (Lake Van, Armenia) (0.9) 123,276.54
Ashkenazi Jewish (Budapest, Hungary) (0.68) 42,642.80
Armenian (Sason, Eastern Turkey) (0.83) 38,824.54
Turkey (0.83) 27,497.77
Ashkenazi Jewish (Israel) (0.87) 21,440.00

My European Genetic Panel Map

ל׳ בשבט תשע"ב
Keowulf 3
Ash 6

My primary European genetic area is circled in yellow, and the next highest 4 areas are circled in red. Click to enlarge.

Celtic (0.95) 921,899.01
Belgic (0.95) 559,522.46
Germanic (0.94) 495,966.75
Norse (0.93) 419,887.28
Italian (0.94) 318,722.69

The Germanic and Ashkenazic areas overlap on the map.

European Genetic Panel

ל׳ בשבט תשע"ב
Keowulf 3
Ash 6

DNA Tribes® Europa is a specialized analysis that includes a detailed comparison to genetic sub-regions of Europe. The scores in this DNA Tribes® Europa report can be compared to more general world region match score information in Part D of my 27 Marker Kit report.

My DNA Tribes® Europa results identify the sub-regions of Europe where my DNA profile is most common. These genetic sub-regions include both geographical territories and endogamous trans-national communities who have retained unique genetic characteristics.

Celtic (0.95) 921,899.01
Belgic (0.95) 559,522.46
Germanic (0.94) 495,966.75
Norse (0.93) 419,887.28
Italian (0.94) 318,722.69
Basque (0.81) 313,736.10
Balkan (0.91) 239,382.75
Polish (0.91) 230,188.26
Russian (0.88) 190,356.19
Spanish (0.84) 122,269.92
Finnic (0.91) 92,306.35
Portuguese (0.81) 80,883.71
Thracian (0.85) 41,232.14
Urals (0.94) 32,020.30
Scythian (0.67) 30,707.03
Greek (0.84) 17,991.77
Ashkenazic (0.52) 10,512.21

My top 5 European regional genetic affiliations are Celtic, Belgic, Germanic, Norse and Italian.

Here is the European regional map (click to enlarge) the analyses are describing. The Germanic region overlaps the Ashkenazic region.