HOLA MAGAZINE and SPANISH ROYALTY AND ARISTOCRATS : AMERICAN CITIZENS GIVE UP RIGHTS TO ARMS !

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who comes from Costa Rica, and is of a heritage that would be considered "Mixed" ; Spanish, German, Chinese, Native American.  We were talking about Hola Magazine, which I look through when I'm at certain libraries that subscribe to it, and which seems to me to be very focused on Spanish Royalty and Aristocrats.  Of course this makes perfect sense since it is a magazine that covers the Spanish world, the country and culture that brought Europeans to the New World of Central and South America.  This is also THE CATHOLIC WORLD.

American History and genealogy tends to be very oriented towards England - Great Britain - and the Protestant.  It's almost as if the French and Spanish were never here, as if they had no influence, though of course they did.  You have to live in California to learn about the Spanish in these parts, and even tour guides at some of the Missions have an anti-Catholic bias.

My friend holds the snobby people of Costa Rica who claim to only be "Spanish" in contempt.  He thinks in reality everyone is "Mixed."  (I think DNA is proving that!)

I was telling him that sales of products with family crests are strong in the United States, even though WHEN A PERSON BECOMES AN AMERICAN CITIZEN THEY GIVE UP ALL RIGHTS TO TITLES, CRESTS, and all that.   But does it hurt to wear your tartan for fun?  Of course not!

The European systems of inheriting titles and regalia was generally very focused on these going between father and first son.  Daughters had to marry someone else with a title to have one and in some countries if a daughter married a commoner she lost her birth status.  Second sons almost fled to the Virginia Colony to have a chance.  Second and subsequent sons, looking for an opportunity they wouldn't inherit, had to become self made.  Many of them joined armies.  Some of them became Knights through military or other service to the Crown and thus earned their own titles to use and pass on.

In Germany, it was the youngest son who stayed with the parents and eventually earned the family farm.   In Hungary only men of the upper classes could vote, though higher class didn't necessarily mean the family was also rich.

This emphasis and preference for sons and first sons seems sexist to (most of) us now in the West but is still the way in so many countries, India, China, the Middle East.  Women even get ultrasounds to detect female fetus and have them aborted to begin their families with a male.

So family history research is always also HISTORICAL and CULTURAL research!

ANCESTOR WORSHIP and HALLOWEEN OR SAMHAIN

Here is a video that retells a tale about Stingy Jack and the Devil by a Pagan Witch Collective!

ANCESTOR WORSHIP and HALLOWEEN

The Halloween that is celebrated in the United States is rooted in Celtic traditions and is associated with the cycle of life and death.  The carved Jack O' Lantern pumpkin we are familiar with now had its roots in Celtic Ireland where a turnip was carved to hold a candle and held in hand.  The turnip was probably a practical idea since a turnip was  simply available.  I'm not sure how or when pumpkins were used and then turned into laughing Jack-O-lanterns, but maybe it was as simple as that pumpkins grew in the Americas.

In the South-West, and that includes California and wherever Mexican immigrants have settled, a Halloween-like celebration is called The Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead is a day - even a week - for family to gather at the graves of loved ones, to celebrate with food and drink (and offer them some).  With humor many creations of sugary skeletons include skeletons participating in all aspects of life, singing, dancing, and simply performing their earthy professions, and are sold in special bakeries.

While Halloween has taken on horrific, even evil, connotations, that many of us do not involve ourselves in and it has even turned into an "anything goes" weekend, to those who are more interested in the spiritual tradition, Halloween is a time when the"veil" between this world and the world of the afterlife is especially thin and so communication with those who had passed on before us.  Some people do rituals to contact these ancestors, others simply light a candle, do special prayers (All Souls Day of the Catholic Church), or mantras to release any soul that is in Purgatory to Heaven.

The belief of ancestor contact has roots in the Pagan or Country or Folk beliefs and is tied in with the agricultural cycle of the year, which is also coordinated with the seasonal weather cycle.  Fall is the time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, the European countries, when the harvest takes place.  The pumpkins and gourds are about to be harvested.  Some plant and tree life is only resting and will grow again after dormancy in the spring.  Soon the earth will cool, snow will come, and people will spend more time indoors.  To our ancestors who lived generations ago in caves and other dwellings, staying close to the burning fire, busy themselves with crafts, and resting was essential, as was relying on many foods that had been stored. 

From watching the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of life, a great many early cultures decided that reincarnation makes a lot of sense. 

ALL SOULS... HALLOWEEN... THE ANCESTORS

This blog is called ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY because I think that genealogy IS a form of ancestor worship... And Halloween is the time when they say that the "veil between the worlds" is the thinnest. Be it the Catholic celebration of All Souls in early November, or the Mexican tradition of THE DAY OF THE DEAD, remembering those who have passed on is tradition in many cultures...