Sorry for the silence. I wasn’t neglecting my blog. I just didn’t have anything worth saying. Everything I attempted to write was either overly-snarky or a jumbled mess. Since I didn’t write much in February, I thought I’d do an update.
Candlemas
This year I spent a little over a month cleaning and de-cluttering to prepare for Candlemas. By the time my family got around to doing our Candlemas ritual (we we’re a week late) the house was in great shape. We cleansed the hell out of the house and ourselves, and set the wards. I rarely do magic so raising wards was tiring. Wooo…
A week or so later everyone in the house got sick at the same time, so the house returned to chaos and disorder. C’est la vie.
My Daughter’s Birthday
My daughter turned 5 this February. We had planned to celebrate with an Afternoon Tea (because we love the tea in this house). After weeks of the weather here pretending it was Spring, the biggest snow fall since 2007 in ‘Burque occurred on my Daughter’s birthday weekend. Because the state of New Mexico apparently doesn’t know what snow plows and salt are the roads were a dangerous mess. My husband said it was like trying to drive on an ice skating rink. Being concerned with my friends’ safety, I had to postpone the party. But Grandma and Grandpa decided to risk the drive over here (they live close by), so we had a Tea Party anyways, just the five of us.
I Got One of Those Ancestry DNA Test Done. Yay!!!
Like most people with African ancestry in America, I didn’t know where in Africa I was from other than probably somewhere in West Africa, somewhere. I wanted to know, and because so much family history was lost during slavery, the only way to figure it out was through a DNA test. So I asked my husband for one as a Solstice gift. The kit came in early January, but I didn’t get the results until a little over a month later. What I found out was that I’m not as mutty as I always thought I was. I do have lots of trace DNA from all over West Africa and Europe, but I am mostly Europe West (Germany, France, and the surrounding countries, 41%), Nigerian (21%), and Cameroon/Congo (12%).
I will admit, when it comes to Africa, I am your typical ignorant American. But because I don’t know much about Africa, I had no preferences. I’m glad I finally know what type of African I am. For years when people asked about my ethnicity, I had to say “Well, my dad’s side is Black. From somewhere in Africa. I dunno, slavery.” But now I get to say that I’m Nigerian and Cameroon/Congo, and that’s pretty exciting.
I always though I was knowledgeable about my ancestry on my mother’s side. To keep it simple when describing my mother’s ethnicity, I’d usually say something like, “My mother is white American mutt. But mostly British, some German and little bits of some other stuff. “ Well, my DNA test proved that wrong. I always though my white side was mostly British. My mother’s research came up with a lot of ancestors from England, but according to my test I’m only 1% British. I know that people native to the UK are mutty themselves, but I was expecting more than 1% Great Britain. Now, I’m utterly confused. (Can someone explain to me how one could have many ancestors from England and have so little English blood?) After this test it’s looking like my mother’s side of the family is a whole lotta German, with little bits from lots of other places in Europe. That’s what I’m going with. This is all fine anyways, because when it came to my white side, I always identified with my German heritage the most. I’m so confused.
I also took the DNA to verify some family stories. Like a lot of African American families (and many white American families too) my dad’s side of the family has a “Native American Great Great Grandmother” story. In our story the Great Great Grandmother was Choctaw. This ancestor was from my father’s father’s side of the family, although my Grandma (father’s mother) was suppose to have Choctaw blood too. My mother’s family also suspected that there might be a Native ancestry in their line. There was an ancestor who claimed to be French. This lady was rather dark, and my mother suspected she was lying to cover up something not white, and probably Native American. But according to my test I have less than 1% Native American DNA. It is possible that I have a very distant Native American ancestor, but that is not enough DNA to justify the stories. All my life I though I was at least 1/16 Choctaw, but it looks like that’s not true at all. Someone on my father’s side of the family lied. And it’s possible with all the Europe West DNA I have, the “French” ancestor on my mother’s side was actually French after all.
Another family story that floats around on my father’s side is that we have Irish ancestry. My test found that I am 5% Irish (I’m actually more Irish than I am British, huh?). So, that story could be totally legit. Choctaw, no. Irish, yes. (My dad’s family is so attached to the idea that we’re part Choctaw. It’s so sad that I’m going to have to let that idea go.)
DNA Surprises. I think this is a major reason people are willing so spend so much on these DNA tests, even when they have a pretty good grip on their families history. They want to see if something weird and random pops up. In my case something did. I found out that I have trace DNA from Asia Central (what ancestry.com calls the “Stan” countries), and Asia South (India, and company), less than 1% of each. It’s not much, but it’s still nifty to know. This was new information to me, and I don’t know how this DNA got into my family line. My guess, trade routes? Is that a good guess, I dunno.
The Rose Laden Magdalene 