I just wanted to know if any of your families have magical roots? Like, did your great-grandmother start a coven in a newly developed town or something. And how did you find out about it if your family didn't tell you? I'm doing research on one of my family members and I wanted to know what everyone else's family was like.[grin]

That all depends on who you consider your family to be.

Literally speaking, I know of no recorded evidence in my family's history linking me to the magical, pagan, earthen, or otherwise spiritually significant "bloodlines" save perhaps some Native American genes somewhere along the timeline. However, I don't consider my actual ancestry to be the sole providers of my own namesake; while they are all very important to me, I usually hold my spiritual ancestry to be my biggest influence.

What I mean by this is that my spiritual endeavors stem from an interest in global pagan culture and lifestyle heightened by my respect and reverence for them. To make a comparison, a white man can be assimilated into the Native American culture and adopt their beliefs, and he is just as much a part of that lifestyle as were the Natives' ancestors, because the white man holds those beliefs close to him, they have personal meaning and spiritual significance to his growth and experiences.

Me, I revere many pagan cultures and practices as my own, because they are all a part of me, regardless of my actual heritage. Spiritually, they fill me, and I am one of the family of our Mother Earth.

Besides, if I only went with what my physical bloodline suggested, I'd be on a very different path and I probably wouldn't be enjoying it in the least. So my "magical roots" are tangled with many trees', some only in memory, but it is the same Earth.

Adhamh, I love you, you're so articulate.

I don't really have magickal roots that I know of either, although I am Irish, German, and Native American, so you never do know; I could be the descendant of a Celtic village wisewoman, a maker of Dutch hex signs, or a tribal Shaman. But probably not, lol.

My mother was trained and initiated in a coven in the 1970's. There were a few occult shops around NYC, most notably Magickal Childe, and it was through these groups that she came to her education in Witchcraft. She was part of the social circles of people like Phyllis Curott, Carol Bulzone, Herman Slater, and Lady Rhea. I don't know if she worked with the Minoan Sisterhood in ritual per se, but she was part of that "graduating class" you could say, lol. I also know that her coven was based in British Traditional Witchcraft, and that she left before reaching 3rd Degree, due to some kind of disagreement. But that's all she'll say; she still honors her vows of secrecy to this day, so I have to respect that.

She didn't tell me this until I was about fifteen, and even then I think she only told me because she found out I was practicing Wicca, and wanted to make sure I was on an okay track. She only ever gave me limited magickal training, telling me that the rest would have to come from within, but it was awesome just the same. We celebrated a half a year's worth of Sabbats together, and then I was on my own. I plan on continuing the line, raising my children Pagan, and so far, my partner has no objections.

Keep us updated on your research!

I agree that your heritage is only partly from your actual geneology, mostly I think it comes from your family of choice, friends, mentors, and so on.

It is fun to research your personal geneology though, especially if there's few nuts in your family tree(and who doesn't?).

I don't know if any one in my family was a Pow Wow but my mother's mother came from Pennsylvania Dutch stock who were Mennonites(like Amish but a bit more practical, they drive cars for instance but only black ones w/ no chrome).

The Lemans came from Germany, through Holland and then on the USA, but it was still a colony then(I could get in the DAR if I was so inclined, lol, I'M SO NOT). They settled in Southwestern PA and then trickled down into Western Maryland, where I'm from. They did paint Hex signs on their barns and planted crops by the moon but I don't know any further details of any magical practices per se. My grandmother did give me profound respect for the homey chores of housekeeping and cooking but she never taught me any 'secrets'.

My father's family are a mystery to me because he passed when I was just turning two and my mother never wanted to talk about him. She won't to this day without much pain and trouble so I eventually stopped asking. I did gather some info from other relatives but have never met any of my father's people. He came from West Virginia Coal miners and from pictures I can see he had Native American Stock though his last name was Felix, which my mother told me was probably German with Roman influence.

His mother was Oberhauser, Dutch, I think and my mother's father's mother was Bailey, which is English. No stories of weird doings made it to my generation from any of these lines but I know that I have served the Goddess in many lifetimes so I am my own ancestor in that respect.

I look forward to hearing others' family stories.

I come from a clan of COAL MINERS! WHOOHO!~does a dance of almighty victory~
XD least thats what my aunt and uncle think, they got someone to research the last name. ( Not the through kind though, cause I did a search on my own on the internet and came up with different results, but its hard to know...

On my moms side her grandparents were low german mennonites, my grandpa purposely burst his ear drums so he wouldn't be enlisted to the nazi's or somthing like that...

After looking at everyone else's wonderful answers... I have almost nothing to say! [lol]

I know that my mom's side has had witches, and I have Irish and Scottish ancestry on both sides of my lineage so I suppose my family has magickal roots, but I really don't believe that that means anything. It's about what you do now, right?

Ayeee... be advised, I am no Young Witch... but, My Mother was Witch, as was her mother before.. as far as I can tell, it is a trait that goes far back. My mothers Maiden Name was Johnston;she was born in middle Tennessee... if you know the story of the "Bell Witch" , they came into play in that story. My Fathers mother was a "Banks" - a fine family from Alabama (back in the Day) that was also involved with CraftWork. It was a "Planned Marriage", so they tell me. The "gift" as my Grandmother used to call it, is usually passed to the Female of the family - my sister totally rejected the teachings after falling in with a "cult" (Southern Baptists).... so it seems to have been passed to me. I have already noticed that one of my young sons seems to be a person of considerable power... the wheel keeps turning. [wink]

Linn~ Did we talk about the bell witch.. lol.. I live 10 min. from the site and cave, My childred love it there!
Anyway~ I cannot trace in writing, but, I hear many stories in my family that tell me the magik has been there for awhile, my mother died when I was young, but, they all act like its normal but they are mostly catholics and christians, so, they chalk it up to something different or just dont speak of spells... when you are looking into your family, look at the situations they were in, and where they lived, you sometimes can find more that what is written[wink]

Man, I need to do my research. I live in Tennessee and although I've heard of the Bell witch, I couldn't tell you anything about the stories.[oops]
I'm not getting very far with my family, so I might have to put that on the back burner. Thank you for all of your replies, it's really cool that ya'll know all of that!

Nope, I'm the first in my biological family to be a witch, but I plan on raising my children in the spiritual traditions I identify most with, Wicca and buddhism. I'll give them magickal training, but their eventual spiritual path is up to them.