Blessed Ancestry - A Little Bio

The ancient European ancestral song below is referenced in one of my favorite books, the The Four Fold Way by Angeles Arrien, in the chapter entitled The Way of the Teacher. When I first heard Angeles quoting this song in a perfect tempo it went deep into my bones.


Oh, may this be the one who
will bring forward
the good, the true and beautiful in our
family lineage;
Oh, may this be the one who will
break the harmful
family patterns or harmful nation
patterns


I feel it is time to do a little of my bio. My mother was of Lithuanian ancestry, my father of German, French & Iroquois (Seneca & Onondaga).

My mother's maternal family traces their ancestry back to Duke Gediminas in the 13th century. One of the few happy memories my maternal grandmother, Helena, shared is of walking with her sister in the Chicago Lithuanian community and having people call her princess acknowledging her heritage.

We know little of my maternal grandfather's ancestry except he was Lithuanian. He entered the United States as an illegal immigrant after defecting from conscription in the Russian army in an occupied Lithuania. He never revealed his revealed his true name to the family, lived in fear of being deported, and died young at 45. My father left home at 12, and shared little of his family history. His mother was German, his father called a half-breed French Indian.

I was born downtown Los Angeles, Ca. in the Queen of Angels hospital. So I am a Euro-American blend.

"All my ancestors live undiminished in me and will continue so live, united with me, in my descendants." Miguel de Unamuno - Basque philosopher referenced in the The Four Fold Way by Angeles Arrien in the chapter entitled The Way of the Teacher.

Blessed are all those who came before so I may be here and enjoy this beautiful world now. They do live on in me and with me. May I serve them well.