I have already revealed certain things about my ancestry in other posts. In this one, I will bring it together in order to have a record of it in the same place. I recommend that all people do it since it is one of the main ways that we heal ancestral traumas. This is very important for Europeans, especially Southern Europeans, for it is our bloodlines and homelands that were first interfered with and this continues to the present day (learn more here & here). In my experience, it is better to garner your history from your relatives.
I will modify this article as I continue to learn more about my ancestry. From time to time, I may repost this piece in order to share my new findings.
My Mother’s Bloodlines
My mother is a Spartan woman – specifically from the area called Laconia (from a small village in Mani). I recently discovered that the English word “laconic” is derived from the name for the region Laconia: it means “using very few words” and is synonymous with “concise, terse, succinct”.
Here is more about the meaning of this word from Merriam-Webster:
We’ll keep it brief. Laconia was an ancient country in southern Greece. Its capital city was Sparta, and the Spartans were famous for their terseness of speech. Laconic comes to us by way of Latin from Greek Lakōnikos, meaning “native of Laconia.” In current use, laconic means “terse” or “concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious,” and thus recalls the Spartans’ taciturnity.
I must say that we can communicate in this way. However, with this form of expression, there is honesty. If you have been reading my material for a while, you know it’s true only that now you know why it is so…
My mama is also one quarter Cretan – her maternal grandfather was born on the island. I do not know how he ended up in the Spartan part of Hellas but I may find out some day. Her mother was very tough – for some time I thought that she was a full-blooded Spartan but it may also have been her Cretan genes that made her so strong.
My Father’s Bloodlines
My father’s parents were of Pontian origin: it is a region of Hellas that is now ‘owned’ by Turkey. His maternal grandparents were victims of the Pontian genocide that occurred around one hundred years ago (I have written about this here, in the second part of that article). Other Hellenes in that region of the country were also massacred during that time. I mourn the unjustified loss of all Hellenes anywhere at anytime.
Normally, Pontian last names end in δης : ‘dis’, or ‘des’ in English. My paternal grandmother’s maiden name was a Pontian one. However, my father’s last name being one ending in poulos (bird) (Papadopoulos – the most common Hellenic surname in existence), makes it likely that on his father’s side, his roots were Peloponnesian. This is because many Peloponnesians moved to Pontos centuries ago. And, because the poulos names tend to originate in that part of the country.
The name Papadopoulos is also tied to priestly lineages (it means priest bird; learn more here) – my father did have several relatives that were priests. I do recall meeting one of his priest cousins when we were in Hellas in the 1970s. As far as I know, there is no one from my generation, or younger, from our bloodlines who has continued this tradition. However, I have discovered that the true Hellenic priesthood was headed by women even though both men and women could be priests. And, that the Bible is of Hellenic origin.
It is interesting that my brother who is named after Christ (Christos/Χριστóς), was not the one to make this discovery. This is because it’s all in the blood baby, my DNA, more specifically the X (female) chromosome, the first letter for Christ in Hellenic script. (Learn more here.) (As a woman, I have two X chromosomes – one from each parent. The X that came from my father contains genetic material related to his matrilineal lines. For more information, read this article which contains a fairly straightforward explanation for this phenomenon.)
Also, Papadopoulos being the most common last name for my ethnic group, means that many Hellenes are descended from priestly lines. It is possible that priesthood originated in Hellas but it was totally different back in the day. Priests were teachers and healers, primarily the former. We did not have organized religion, only knowledge, truth and freedom: we were autonomous (self-governed). Any form of ‘religion’ that existed was purely an individual thing (learn more here).
Helen
I am adding a couple of music videos here that are two versions of the same song entitled Nightingale – the first is the official video, and the second, is another interpretation which I simply adore. They speak of the situation in Hellas past and present.
