FROM THE ELDER GROVE:
DISCOVERING YOUR ANCESTRAL
OR CLAN TOTEMS ©
by Tira Brandon-Evans

Ancestral or clan totems are those animals, trees, and plants that guided and protected your ancestors and the folk of your ancestral clans. Most indigenous folk today remember their clan totems but we Euro descendants have, for the most part, forgotten ours. The only remaining vestige of totemism among those of Western European descent is found in heraldry. Before you can begin to discover your ancestral or clan totems, you must learn who you are by discovering your ancestors.

The way of the shaman is the way of the ancestors. We walk among the Great Dead who have passed along the way before us and it is important to acknowledge these and to learn our place in that company. It is a sad fact that many people do not know the names of their own grandparents. As a note of caution, I must point out that there can be a great deal of snobbery among Celtic Reconstructionists. Those of us who are not of ‘pure’ Celtic descent and/or those who do not know their bloodlines may feel left out. This is a great pity. For one thing no one is a ‘pure’ anything. We are all of ‘mixed-blood’. My own family tree contains individuals who were Scots, Irish, English, Welsh, and Belge but one has only to look at me to know that there is a Viking somewhere in my family. Bear in mind that the Celts were never a distinct racial or ethnic group. Celts were people who shared in a common culture. They had a common stock of stories, beliefs, and crafts and they spoke languages that shared many common features. Anyone who tells you that you cannot be a ‘real’ Faery Shaman because you aren’t ‘really’ Celtic is being very silly and displaying their own lack of common sense.

Before we go any further in our discovery of our ancestors, those who are adopted and do not know their ‘natural’ parents or their biological bloodlines should consider this: We are all citizens of the Shining Country. When we wish to experience a great adventure we voluntarily immigrate from the Shining Realms and incarnate in this world. We are not flung will-nilly from that world into this. In order to ensure we will be given the opportunities to encounter the adventures we wish to experience, we take great care in choosing when and where and to whom we will be born. Some of us may choose to be born to a woman who is not able to care for us at the time we are born. We know this when we choose to be born to her. We also know that we would be placed for adoption and that a certain family will become our adoptive family. Whether or not you are aware of it, you chose to be born to your biological mother so that you would end up being adopted by your adoptive family. Given this it is clear that if you are adopted you have two sets of ancestors — your biological ancestors and your adoptive or chosen ancestors. If you do not know who your biological ancestors are and you have no desire to discover who they are or, alternatively, no way to discover who they are you must not allow that to prevent you from learning all you can about the ancestors you chose. When you were adopted, you were grafted onto that family tree and your adoptive ancestors are for all intents and purposes your ‘real’ ancestors. Do the exercises ... with this in mind.

We must also consider the fact that fosterage was an integral part of Celtic culture. It was quite as common to accomplish family alliances through fosterage as through marriage. The fostered child established ties with her/his foster brothers, sisters and foster-parents as strong as, and in some cases stronger than, the natural ties to the biological family. Parents sought to place their young children, girls as well as boys, with a foster family of higher standing in the community than they themselves enjoyed. A fostered child was not viewed as either a nuisance or a means of income. It was an honor to be asked to foster a child. Foster placement would have been a major decision and the entire extended family, the clan, would have had a voice in the matter. Celtic lore is full of stories of foster-brothers fighting to the death for one another and of foster-sons and daughters going to great lengths to show their respect and affection for foster parents.

According to ancient sources, the first level of training in the Druid colleges was the Bardic Grade. The bard in training was obliged to learn the genealogies of all the families and clans. They did this by learning hundreds of stories with contained the lore and lineage of the clans. This was a very important body of knowledge for many reasons. Firstly, all of the families and clans traced their lines directly back to one or more of the Goddesses and/or Gods. Secondly, all of the lore, legend and myth were connected to the genealogies. By memorizing them, the traditional wisdom of all the people was preserved. Thirdly, knowing who was related to whom and in what way they were related was very important when families were making decisions in regards to who their children should and should not marry.

Today much of this traditional knowledge has been lost. Most of us do not even know our grandmothers’ maiden names.[18] We do not know the family stories. Think about this and what it means to you and your children. There is a difference between living in a society and in being part of a culture. This difference is particularly evident in North America where most folks of Western European descent live in a society but do not possess any culture at all unless we wish to regard the “Mall culture” as our own. This is why so many of us feel so empty. We suffer from depression. We feel that our lives are pointless quite simply because they have no point, no focus. We are, for the most part, born into a cultural void and continue in that sad estate until we die. We pay our taxes, consume goods, produce goods or provide services, reproduce ourselves so that the society can continue and then, when we have performed our tasks for that society, we reach retirement age and are shuffled off to one side because we are no longer of use to our society. No wonder we are depressed, angry, lost and confused.

We no longer encourage our children to grow up to be heroines and heroes. Instead, we teach them to make good grades so they can get into good schools so they can get good jobs so they can make lots of money and buy many things. But we are all born wanting adventure. We are all born to be heroes and heroines. How sad that so many of us lose that enthusiastic desire to demonstrate the heroic in our lives. Some of us, of course, never lose the dream but we do not know which road to walk. We have no feet. We have been cut off from the roots that connect us to our ancestral culture.

We give in to the pressures of our society. We become consumers and forget we are heroines. We become ‘successful’ and forget we are heroes. Some of us continue to search for meaning beyond the material world and turn to the spiritual traditions of cultures that are still intact. We study Yoga or Zen or Tai Chi. We attend weekend workshops led by folks from the Amazon Jungle or the Australian Outback to learn the traditions of their ancestors. This does not fill that longing within our souls to reconnect with our own ancestral traditions. We read books that tell us our ancestors were primitive barbarians whose greatest monuments were actually built by folks from outer space. We read more books that tell us how to get in touch with these enlightened beings from the distant stars. We attend lectures and conferences to learn how we can become more than human and avoid physical death. We earnestly seek to discover some meaning — any meaning — beyond our mere material existence and still we are empty and unfulfilled. It is time to stop, retrace our steps, and discover what our ancestors wish to share with us. Our ancestors know us. We are them and they are us. Let us return to the deep wisdom they wish to share.

To begin this adventure into your own past you will need your journal and your pen/pencil, access to the Oxford English Dictionary and to either a library or the Internet. You will need to use the Oxford English Dictionary because it contains information on the roots and original meanings of English words. Most desk or office dictionaries do not. These are useless for your research.

If any of your relatives from your parents and/or grandparents generation are still alive, you must make them your allies in this quest. One word of caution here: family members may not want to share the family stories. This may be because they have experienced trauma within the context of their own family groups. This is very common today and is a direct result of the breakdown of our traditional culture. Be patient. Be kind. If they are not willing to share the actual stories they may be willing to give you the names along with some idea of dates and/or places and this information can lead you to the stories. Remember, if you are adopted you should regard your adoptive family’s ancestors as your own but you may wish to investigate you biological family also. If you are the child of combined families, those families in which there have been divorces and remarriages, you may also wish to investigate your non-biological families and how their traditions can enrich your reconstruction.

Your quest begins with names. You want to discover the surname or last names of those from whom you are directly descended. In other words, you want to learn the last names of your mothers, fathers, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. You do not need the names of Great-aunt Tilly or Uncle John’s first cousin once removed. Your only interest is in direct lines. Get your journal and go visit your mother and/or father or your grandparents. If this is not possible, you may wish to visit an aunt and/or uncle or a great-aunt or great-uncle. If no one from these generations survives, get together with siblings and cousins. Someone will probably have knowledge of family names that you may not have. If you cannot visit in person, or if you would prefer not to, telephone visits are just as effective at this point. All you want are names. If your relatives wish to give you dates and places of birth and/or death make a note of these. If you are lucky, someone you contact will be the keeper of the family stories. If she or he wishes to share these stories with you listen — and take extensive notes. You are being given one of the greatest gifts you will ever receive — understanding of who you are.

Once you have the names, go to the Oxford English Dictionary. Most of us do not have this huge double volume set in our own homes but you will almost certainly find it at your library. Look the names up in the Oxford dictionary and make notes.[19] You are going to be amazed at what you find. All names have meaning. Because we have lost our roots, we have lost the very meanings at the roots of our family names. When our ancestors acquired a name, that name described something about them: who they were, what they did, where they lived, what they looked like, who their father or mother or grandfather or grandmother was. We chose to be born into the families into which we are born and our ancestors also made that choice. Given this, it becomes clear how important our family names are. These names are the repository of your family’s history. They describe who your ancestors are. They describe the wisdom and special abilities that are available to you in this life.

When you have finished looking up the family names, you will have a list of notes that will look something like this:[20]

NAMES ON MOTHER’S SIDE OF FAMILY:
Cross — the point at which two or more lines meet
Brandon — (Welsh) torch, firebrand
Elder — older, elder tree
Sharkey — (Irish)O’Searcaigh, loving
Marshall — (Old Teutonic) marko skalko — horse servant
Craig — cliff
Dear — (Old English) a deer; brave, bold, strenuous, hardy
Joy — gladness delight
Maddox — a mattock, agricultural tool for turning earth

NAMES ON FATHER’S SIDE OF FAMILY:
Dozier — (French) D’ossier the willow, (Belge) Dauge
Garrett — watch tower
Leech — doctor
Truss — to bind together
Ross — a marsh
Catlett — from “cate” a provisioner or caterer
Buckner — male deer, near or close to the buck
Ousley — blackbird (from ouzel)
Webster — a weaver
Gilles — gill, a deep glen
Ware — to bind, to be on guard
Cook — to cook, one who cooks

Once you have all of the names and their meanings you can start to look for connections, for ways that those definitions relate to one another. For instance, you will notice that many of the names in this family relate to geographical features such as Craig/cliff; Cross/a crossroads; Garrett/a watchtower; Ross/a marsh; and Gilles/a deep glen. Some of the names are related to animals: Marshall/horse servant, Dear/a deer, Buckner/a male deer; Ousley/a blackbird. Several describe occupations: Cook, Webster, Catlett, Leech and Marshall. Dozier may indicate a person who raises osiers, a type of willow used in making baskets and wicker. As a matter of interest, on the father’s side of this family there is one name that means ‘watchtower’ and another that means ‘to be on guard’: Garrett and Ware. In addition, Ware can also have the same meaning as Truss, while Catelett and Cook have similar meanings.

Once you have your list of names and definitions, and you have begun to see how these names may be connected to your family’s destiny and to your own life path, you may wish to begin your search for your ancestral totems. You may be fortunate to find family names that reflect your animal totems. Names such as Bull, Wolf, Dear, and Hawke are obviously totemic in nature. If you discover some Scots or Irish clan in your family, you may discover that you are among those who are entitled to claim the Cat or Lion as your ancestral totem. On the other hand, you may find that none of your family names is obviously totemic. If that is the case, you must begin your search for totemic connections. There are three main sources of such connections. The first is the Ogham, the sacred alphabet of the Celts. The second is the literature, the stories and poems of the Celts. The third is to journey Inworld to discover you Clan Totems from your ancestors. The first and second means should be exhausted before relying entirely on the third. Once you have discovered a totem, however, you must confirm your conjecture with your ancestors Inworld. Alternatively, if you journey Inworld and are given information regarding a totem by your ancestors, you must do your homework with the books and confirm that totem through Ogham or through the stories and legends. Please do not expect this search for your totems to be brief or easy. Some of the totemic connections will appear almost at once — others may take many years to reveal themselves. This is to be expected. Deep wisdom is just that — deep. You cannot expect to discover the deep wisdom of your ancestors in a day or two.

To begin you will need a good book on the Ogham alphabet. The Ogham (oh-am) is the sacred alphabet of the Celts. It is very ancient and was used to impart secret wisdom. ... A book that merely teaches you how to tell fortunes with the Ogham is not good enough. You have probably heard of the Tree Ogham which is the most popular and well known of the Ogham alphabets. The Tree Ogham assigns a tree to each of the twenty-five letters of the Ogham. However, the Tree Ogham is merely one of the ancient Oghams devised by our Celtic ancestors. During their training, the bards had to learn at least one hundred fifty such alphabets. There were Bird Oghams, Fortress Oghams, Color Oghams, God Oghams, Goddess Oghams, Hero Oghams, Sow Oghams, Bird Oghams and many others that have been lost for so long we do not even know what they were.

At the same time the bards studied the Oghams they also learned the stories that contained the genealogies of all the tribes, clans and families. This was no coincidence. Some scholars believe that the study of the many Oghams was directly related to the memorization of the stories. You will be greatly aided in discovering the meaning of your family names if you have thoroughly studied the ancient stories of your people. Three books that are essential and easily obtained are: The Mabinogion, the Tain Bo Culigne, and Lady Gregory’s Complete Irish Mythology. The Mabinogion is the great cycle of Welsh myth. There are many good translations. The Tain Bo Cuailgne tells the story of the Cattle Raid of Cooley and is the Irish Iliad. Lady Gregory’s Complete Irish Mythology includes a great deal of material from various ancient Irish texts including materials from the Invasions,[21] the Dindsenchas,[22] and the Fianna.[23] These three books will give you a good start but as time goes on you may wish to learn more. Do remember, translations of ancient texts are better than books that just talk about those texts.

The easiest way to learn how to discover your ancestral totems is to examine how one Faery Shaman did it. Here is her maternal line[24] in genealogical order:

I am Name the daughter of Cross the daughter of Brandon the daughter of Elder the daughter of Sharkey the daughter of Marshall. That is a quite straightforward way to state this maternal line. Let us see how one may dig deeper to get at the meanings behind the names and discover the totems. We begin with the easiest and most obvious.

Elder — Tree Ogham: Ruis, R, Elder. Word Ogham[25] of Morainn: most intense of blushings, reddening of face with Elderberry juice. Word Ogham of Cuchulain, arduous anger, punishment. Word Ogham of Aonghus, redness of faces. Bird Ogham: Small Rook. Color Ogham: Red. This is a very easy connection to make as Elder is a tree of the Tree Ogham. The other names are more difficult.

Investigating the name Marshall we learn that in the Word Ogham of Morainn the letter Onn or “O” is referred to as Congnamagh echraid which means helper of horses and this can easily be connected to Marshall which means horse servant in Old Teutonic.

Marshall — Tree Ogham: Onn, O, Furze. Word Ogham of Morainn: helper of horses. Word Ogham of Cuchulain: fierceness or strength of warriors. Word Ogham of Aonghus: smoothest of work. Bird Ogham: scrat. Color Ogham: dun.

Brandon is an interesting name. It is Welsh and brandon means torch or firebrand. In Scandinavian Runes the name Ken, the torch, would represent Brandon. In addition to its actual definition, Brandon contains the name of the Welsh God Bran the Blessed and bran is the Welsh word for raven. The Ogham letter that most nearly corresponds to Brandon is Rowan, Luis, the letter “L” because in the Word of Ogham of Morainn one of its meanings is flame.

Brandon — Tree Ogham: Luis, L, Rowan.[26] Word Ogham of Morainn: delight of the eye, quicken tree, flame. Word Ogham of Cuchulain: strength of cattle. Word Ogham of Aonghus: friend of cattle. Bird Ogham: duck. Color Ogham: gray.

To discover the totems connected to the other names one must go further a field. Craig means cliff. “I am a hawk on a cliff,” is one of the lines from the Song of Amergin from the Invasions of Ireland. In the Bird Ogham hawk is the letter “S” or Sail, which is the Tree Ogham of Willow. Therefore, one may assign the “S” Ogham to the name Craig.

Craig — Tree Ogham: Sail, S, Willow. Word Ogham of Morainn: hue of the lifeless. Word Ogham of Cuchulain: beginning of loss. Word Ogham of Aonghus: strength of bees. Bird Ogham: hawk. Color: Sodath, which is fine colored.[27]

We may assign the Ogham “E” to the name Sharkey. Sharkey was originally O’Searcaigh in Gaelic and means loving. If one is loving, one has a loving heart and is a true friend. The Word Ogham of Aonghus for Eadhadh or “E” is “synonym for a friend”

Sharkey — Tree Ogham: Eadhadh, E, White Poplar or Aspen. Word Ogham of Morainn: distinguished wood. Word Ogham of Cuchulain: kin of the birch, aspen. Word Ogham of Aonghus: synonym for a friend. Bird Ogham: swan. Color Ogham: red.

Finally, the name Cross has many meanings. It can mean a crossroads or it can refer to the sacred symbol of the cross. The Celtic cross, the equal armed cross enclosed in a circle, is a very ancient symbol and pre-dates Christianity by many thousands of years. The Celtic cross is a symbol that depicts the totality of creation. The four arms of the cross represent the four directions and four elements: North/Earth, East/Air, South/Fire, West/Water. The point at which the four arms meet represents the fifth direction and the fifth element: Center/Spirit. The center point is the meeting of all ways and all things. The surrounding circle shows us that all is one. Which of the Ogham letters most nearly represents this concept?

One would do well to consider Ash, Nuin, the letter “N”. The Ash is one of the great trees of the Ireland. Five of these great trees, all Ash Oak, or Yew, are listed in the Dindsenchas and they seem to have been the Totem Trees for each of the kingdoms of Ireland. The Great Ash of Uisneach was felled along with all the others early in the Christian era. The Druids felled the trees and this seems to have been done to prevent the Christians from committing some profanation against the guardian trees. The Ash is the World Tree of the Scandinavian and Germanic religions and it was on the Ash, Yggdrasil, which Odin hung on to gain the knowledge of the Runes. As this tree symbolizes all creation and the meeting of all worlds it may be appropriate to assign the name Cross to it.

Cross — Tree Ogham: Nuin, N, Ash. Word Ogham of Morainn: checking of peace. Word Ogham of Cuchulain: flight of beauty, a weaver’s beam. Word Ogham of Aonghus: flight of women. Bird Ogham: snipe. Color Ogham: clear.

Here is the list we have created:

Cross — Totem Bird: Snipe, Totem Tree: Ash[28]
Brandon — Totem Bird: Raven, Totem Tree: Rowan
Elder — Totem Bird: Rook, Totem Tree: Elder
Sharkey — Totem Bird: Swan, Totem Tree: White Poplar
Marshall — Totem Animal: Horse, Totem Tree: Furze
Craig — Totem Bird: Hawk, Totem Insect: Bee, Totem Tree:
Willow

As you can see, some of the names have more depth of symbolism associated with them than others. But from the list we have developed this person could state their ancestry in this way: I am Name the daughter of the Ash, daughter of the Rook, daughter of the Swan, daughter of the Horse, who was the wife of the son of the Bee. Only another bard or Ogham master would be able to decipher this riddling genealogy. We know from the ancient texts that this sort of riddling talk was common and that those who could engage in this kind of conversation were respected for their mastery of the Ogham language. It was called the Dark Speech because the meaning of the words was dark to those who did not understand it.

We have an example of this in the Colloquy of the Sages, a story in verse of a duel of riddling words between the two fili[29] Ferchertne and Nede over which of them should inherit a splendid cloak of office. When Ferchertne asks Nede his name the young man replies with riddling allusions. He states that his name is “Very small, Very great, Very bright, Very hard. Angriness of fire, Fire of speech, Noise of knowledge, Well of wealth, Sword of song.”[30] We no longer have the ability to interpret the meaning of this riddle but Ferchertne understands it. Ferchertne is equally clever in revealing his name and lineage in the Dark Speech. At last, both poets engage in praising one another and each tries to cede the cloak to the other.

After you have discovered all you can about each of your family names, you will need to travel into the Inworlds in order to confirm your conjectures. It is best to concentrate on one name at a time. If you are a woman, you may wish to investigate your maternal line first. If you are a man, you might first investigate your paternal line. Begin with the most recent names — your mother’s maiden name or your father’s surname.
Tira Brandon-Evans is the Founder and Moderator of the Society of Celtic Shamans, editor of Earthsongs: Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans, and is, herself, a Faery Shaman. Her books, The Green and Burning Tree: A Faery Shaman's Handbook, Portals of the Seasons: A Celtic Wheel of the Year, Through the Unremembered Gate: Journeys of Initiation, The Labyrinthine Way: Walking Ancient Paths in a Modern World, and Healing Waters, are all published by Elder Grove Press. She is presently writing a book about the Ogham. You may contact Tira by email at info@faeryshaman.org.
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Earthsongs: International Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans copyright © 2008 by Elder Grove Press and content providers. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means whatsoever, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permissions of the copyright holders. We retain legal counsel to protect our copyrights.

ENDNOTES:

18. It is both sad and humorous to encounter a person who claims to be the inheritor of an unbroken line of Druid or Wiccan tradition but who cannot trace their own ancestry back beyond the middle of the 19th Cent. An ancient family tradition is an easy claim to make. Most who make it claim that their unbroken tradition has been kept secret within their family for a thousand years or more and that their gods or guides have now instructed them to reveal their tradition to the world. If one were to contact a member of the family who denied such claims the claimant could always answer, “Well, of course, they won’t admit it, they want to keep it a secret.” When confronted with such a claim one would be wise to consider why a person would wish to make such a claim. Do they merely wish to appear special or do they seek to benefit in some material way from promoting such claims? If their claim is true, they should be able to produce a valid unbroken genealogy that goes back to the pre-Christian era. Do bear in mind that almost everyone from Ireland and Scotland can claim descent from Bards, Druids, Kings and Gods. [Return to Article]

19. If your family names are not English, you will need to track down a good dictionary in that language. A translation dictionary will not do. It must be a proper dictionary with detailed definitions. Of course you will need a translation dictionary so that you can read the definitions or if you are on line you may write down the definitions and use the Bablefish translation utility that is provided free at ca.babelfish.yahoo.com. [Return to Article]

20. These are all names from an actual family. [Return to Article]

21. Stories that tell of the various peoples who invaded and then came to live in Ireland. [Return to Article]

22. Stories that tell how the mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, bays and other geographical features of Ireland received their names. [Return to Article]

23. Stories of the hero Finn and his warrior band, the Fianna. [Return to Article]

24. A maternal line consists of the family names from your mother’s side of the family. A paternal line contains the names from your father’s side of the family. [Return to Article]

25. The Word Oghams are poetic renderings of the meanings of the Ogham letters. [Return to Article]

26. Rowan is called Mountain Ash in North America. [Return to Article]

27. From this we see that Craig is connected with two totem animals — the hawk and the bee. [Return to Article]

28. Because of the Ash’s association with Odin, one may also add the Raven, Odin’s bird, to the list. [Return to Article]

29. The Fili were an order or grade of Irish Bards. [Return to Article]

30. Colloquy of the Two Sages, from the Book of Leinster, trans. Whitley Stokes, Paris, Librairie Emile Bouillion, 1905. Verses 40-45. [Return to Article]

Excerpted from: The Green and Burning Tree: A Faery Shamans Handbook, Copyright (c) 2001 by Tira Brandon-Evans, Elder Grove Press, B.C., Canada, All rights reserved. Used with permission. Top of Page

Back to Samhain 2008 Archive Index

Earthsongs: International Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans copyright © 2008 by Elder Grove Press and content providers. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means whatsoever, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permissions of the copyright holders. We retain legal counsel to protect our copyrights.