Family Clan

One would think that my sister would know more about this than I do. After all, she’s the one who does the Highland Dance, plays bass drum in the Pipe Band…and hangs out with the bagpipers at all times. Sure, my high school was the Highlanders (pretty awesome, of course), but I wasn’t involved in any of the ultra-Scottish heritage activities. I just never had any time for them, not after all the band activities that I was already in.

Our family is Irish, but within the Irish family line, someone along the line had come from Scotland, probably moving to Ireland and marrying into an Irish family. Because we know which Scottish clan we come from. If I didn’t know this little fact, I would have no clue whatsoever about any of these little facts. So I have to here thank a cousin somewhat removed from me for doing the family research into the family history to find that little tidbit out for us.

“Ancient” – Bruce clan tartan

Our family’s Scottish tartan is from the Bruce clan. So somewhere back along the line, our family came from that clan, before moving to Ireland. That was pretty interesting to learn, since it’s a unique little thing to learn about our family. And it is a pretty cool tartan. I actually like the family tartan in the ancient tartan form, it’s pretty to look at.

My sister went to Scotland in 2011, competed in the Highland Games, and wanted to bring back some of the family tartan to sew with. But, she had no clue which clan it was before she was going to be going off to Scotland. As to that – how I’m the one who knows all this (and I’m the one who knows far more about our Eastern European heritage and family) is beyond me. But I had to be the one to tell her. Of course, my sister doesn’t like the Bruce clan tartan much, and to be fair, the modern one is a bit too bright for my taste. The orange is more bright, not an orange-brown like the “ancient” pattern is. So she wasn’t terribly thrilled. Instead of our tartan, she brought back some other one.

It’s not a huge deal, but I like knowing where our family comes from. And knowing which clan our family originated from is something nice to know. It’s one part of the complicated history of our family.

Pagan Blog Prompt: All in the Genes

Pagan Blog Prompts: All in the Genes:

Is it hereditary?
I had to think about my wording on this one… I had to leave it vague, because I wanted it to be as open to interpretation as possible.

What I’m referring to here can be magic, witchcraft, spirituality, the things you can do that others around you cannot, etc. Another way to put it might be “Do you come from a family of Witches?” but that only works if you see yourself as a witch. Get what I’m trying to say here?

What you do and who you are – did it come from your bloodline? Or is it something you discovered and nurtured on your own?

This is interesting. I’m not sure if there’s even really an answer. Because this is complicated on so many levels. It seems like there’s this whole attitude that people need to have some sort of history, or they’re lacking credibility as witches/pagans/whatever. And that just rubs me the wrong way. See, as I’ve already said – I’m the only pagan or witch in my whole family. My family is made up of lapsed Catholics and Protestants – now Agnostics or Atheists – or just plain Agnostics or Atheists who never had religion to begin with. I’m the only one who ever turned to magic, to witchcraft or to paganism. It definitely has been unusual, my family doesn’t always understand me and my beliefs, but they’ve come to at least accept that I’m going to believe this stuff and they might as well accept it.

Cologne Cathedral

The reason I chose to study in Germany is pretty much 1 city: Cologne.

Which shocks people when I tell them that. But, it’s true.

I found a piece on the Cologne Cathedral when I was younger, I don’t remember where. But I read it, was fascinated and proceeded to look up more info on the Cathedral and the city.

Cologne Cathedral from across the Rhein.

I took this on 15 October 2011, when we were in Cologne. It was only my 6th photo of the cathedral total, so I’m pretty impressed with how it came out, especially since I took this photo on the fly while running late getting to a meeting point.

This cathedral is massive. It has the largest façade of any cathedral in Europe I believe or perhaps it was the world. Well, details like that don’t matter. It’s so massive in person that it’s shocking and awe-inspiring. There’s really nothing like it in the world. I’ve seen a lot of cathedrals here in Germany, a few in Switzerland and France as well. None of them can compare with this. I don’t honestly think that anything else quite like it exists. Even other similar time-period cathedrals are different. The Duomo (Milan Cathedral) is massive, gorgeous too, but it cannot hold a candle to this in my opinion (I can admit an extreme bias based on my long-standing love of Cologne).

I was in Cologne for 2 days this last fall, but I didn’t get to see all the museums I wanted to. So I’m going back maybe 1st week in July, perhaps 2nd week. I’ll make a weekend of it, go there before I go home. Because, in addition to seeing the 2 or so museums I didn’t get to see, I’m going to go back here again. I climbed up the spire all the way to the top, which is really freaky if you’re claustrophobic I might add. It’s breath-taking and insane in some respects. But I want to take some photos of the bells. The St. Petersglocke in particular. It’s the one of the largest free-hanging bells in the world, I think 24 tons, though the bell it replaced was 27 tons. I didn’t get photos of the bells in October, we went straight up, and then had to come back down too quickly, because it was 5pm and they close it for safety then. So I want to go back.

And strange part. I’m no Catholic. However, this is one of the few cathedrals I actually feel comfortable in. Normally I feel uneasy in churches…almost like their God knows I’m not Christian, and it’s uncomfortable. I don’t really think/know if he’s judging me or not, but I just feel like I’m intruding on something. For some reason, in the Cologne Cathedral I don’t get that sense of unease. It’s a very Christian building, I know that. And it’s got centuries of history to speak for it. I should feel just as uncomfortable there as I do in far newer churches in the States, but I don’t. I think there’s something to the vast history, the Gothic feel…

There’s just something there that makes me feel comfortable. Perhaps there’s a chance that I feel comfortable because my family has a long history of German Catholicism. Maybe some of that has rubbed off on me and I can relate because of the long history there. Or it might be that it’s a site I’ve wanted to see for so long that I’ve blocked any mental discomfort I might usually feel. I suspect though, given the unease I’ve felt in other cathedrals, it isn’t that. For some reason, this cathedral speaks to me in a way. I can’t really explain it all too well, but I definitely felt fine there. It’s awe-inspiring on so many accounts. The size of the building, the details…how intricate it all is, just how brilliant and gorgeous it is. It’s also dark. It’s definitely Gothic.

It’s not like the Dresden Frauenkirche that is all light inside, painted walls like marble and feels alive. I mean, the Cathedral is alive in a way…with the people there. But…I feel like the Cologne Cathedral has such a long history, you cannot avoid the death that’s been marked there. It’s a heavier atmosphere, more somber and serious at the Cologne Cathedral. It feels more like an ancient place, a place with the weight of centuries on it. Somehow it seemed to me that it has seen everything that has happened to it and around it. And if walls could talk, I feel the Cathedral would have reams to say. It feels burdened with that memory, but not constrained.

14 October – 1st photo of the Cathedral.

And perhaps that’s why I felt no discomfort with the Cologne Cathedral. It is an old place, with hundreds of years of history. However, even with all that history, I didn’t feel constrained at all. It feels to me like it stays pace with the city around it. Many of the other cathedrals I’ve visited haven’t had that same thought. The Duomo in Milan felt constrained, the Frauenkirche in Dresden just feels too new (understandable considering they completely rebuilt it in the last 20 years), and the others I’ve seen just feel as though they are relics. And the Cologne Cathedral is a relic of sorts. It’s old beyond anything we have in the States, it shows that age. It’s stylized to a long-gone age. It definitely breaths that age from its pores when you’re inside. However, it also seems to breath new life in some respects, as though it will always be there, no matter how modern the rest of Cologne gets.

Even though I’m not Christian, this place called to me in a way I won’t deny. There’s more here than just an old building. It’s got an atmosphere to it that I hadn’t felt elsewhere. So I’m going back to Cologne. It’s a city you can’t visit only once, and the Cathedral is always worth a second visit.

Back in the Day…

I wonder sometimes if anyone else has the same interest in old family stories that I do. And by that I mean, people my age. Because my friends always seem shocked to learn that I enjoy hearing the “old fogeys” talk about way back when.

I know lots of stories from my great-grandparents’ times, and their parents as well. For me it’s all fascinating. I mean, how often can one say they know strange little stories from that far back. Now to be fair, in my family, great-grandparents were all born in around 1920′s, my grandparents all around mid 1940′s. Which I know makes my family extremely young. My great-great-grandparents were all born round about early 1900′s, to the last one around 1910 or so I think. Which always engenders shock from my friends, because a lot of my friends’ grandparents were born during/just before the Great Depression, a few just after. So I had some of my great-grandparents until I was about 13/14. Actually, 1 great-grandma is still with us. Which I’m the only one of my friends who can say that. But it does mean that with great-great-aunts and great-grandma’s, I heard lots of fun stories.

A cousin of mine got married back when I was 12, so it was kind of a “family reunion” of sorts as well. Whole extended family got together, well over 100+ people. So I got to hear stories from my great-grandma’s, great-great-aunt and my grandma too. My family has a fascinatingly crazy history too, from the stories. I know what Scottish clan we hail from, way way back thanks to this. I also know what my grandma’s grandmother’s maiden-name was: Koehler as Americanized, her family was from Germany. Sadly, no one knows where in Germany they came from, no one can remember, because the woman was adopted as a like 2-year-old, and no one ever bothered to tell her where her family came from (Which is a pet peeve of mine, because everyone here in Germany is excited to learn I’m German, but I have no clue where my family comes from). But while we were at the wedding, I got to hear loads of old family stories.

• Part of our family might be illegitimate. Not a huge deal for today, but for great-grandmas, great-great-aunt and so it is. See, couple had 2 or 3 kids before they got married, then 2 or 3 afterwards. Our branch of the family is either the last illegitimate kid, or the 1st legitimate one, and no one can remember. So, old-timey scandal for my family.
• Then we had a whole other couple somewhere along the line that their families hated each other. Some kind of business feud going. So son from family A and daughter from family B went and eloped. Huge scandal with that I guess, and both families disowned them for a while. Family story is, once they had a kid everyone kind of just dropped it and tried to get along from that point on.
• Supposedly my great-great-great-grandparents on one side ran a hotel, where my great-great-grandma worked as a kid. One story goes that the first story was a restaurant, laundry in the back, lounge/bar all that kind of stuff. Second story was the hotel. Rumor is that third story was a brothel. And I’ve seen photos of the great-great-great-grandparents. They look like they belong in the Chicago Mob, just….oh about 50-60ish years too soon.

So my family has really interesting stuff happen. It’s just so much fun to hear all these old stories. And, since I hear them, I know lots of little things about my great-grandparents and even some things about their parents that none of my friends have a clue about. I even know stuff about my grandparents that my friends don’t know about theirs. Obviously not everything, but I do learn a lot from listening.

One of the first things I’m doing when I get back home is going to my grandma’s old company’s “Old Fogey’s Barbecue”. Not really a barbecue, but a huge get together. They all used to work together way back, when my mom was a kid. They do this every September, just get together, chat, have a great time and relax and enjoy the (hopefully) good weather on a Saturday. My sister finds it boring, as do my cousins and my aunt. My mom loves to go though, and I find it fascinating. I get to hear all sorts of old stories, hang out, get free food (always a bonus), and just enjoy the day. Plus, it’s always fun to hear about how other people went through life.

This time though, I’ll actually get to speak German. One of the old guys hails from southern Germany, right on the Austrian border. So his family speaks Sueddeutsch mixed with Oesterreichisch Deutsch (southern German with Austrian German). It’s fascinating to hear. Strange too. Especially since in school they only teach us Hochdeutsch, which is academic German that they use at the colleges. But…he speaks German, so I have someone to chat to in German for at least part of the afternoon. This makes me very happy, because I’m going to miss speaking German. Plus, I can hear all sorts of fun stories about growing up in Germany way back, and family stories from the region too.

So all in all, my “strange” fascination with old stories is good. I know lots more than quite a few friends. But, it’s also just neat to know where your family comes from. Which I definitely learn a lot of.

Related articles

• Heritage (witchsjourney.wordpress.com)