The Family Tree Circle of Life
- Leslie Ryan
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Celtic Tree of Life, or Crann Bethadh, symbolizes the phases we go through as humans and those of Mother Nature; birth, death, and rebirth. Every Fall, the leaves become gloriously colored then drop to the ground, the tree goes dormant in the Winter, only to start new growth again in the Spring, dropping seeds to start new lives. The tree's roots go deeper into the ground, to draw nourishment, and it grows stronger and adapts to changes just like we humans do, and finally succumbs, bringing new sources of nourishment to the earth.
As family historians, we strive to gather our own "nourishment" from digging to find our own deepest roots. What can we learn about where those first seeds were planted? What dangers and perils did those first seedlings survive? How did the new seeds get spread?
The life history of trees is not recorded in any language we know, but, if we are lucky and diligent, we can learn about the life cycles of our own family trees.
Obituaries are a great source for learning about the roots of your family tree. The first death notices were published almost 2,000 years ago in Rome when the deaths of important people were posted in public squares. After the invention of the printing press in the 1400's, they became more accessible to the "commoners," but the practice exploded with the Civil War in the US.
Obituary Sections in newspapers became popular in the 20th century, but now in the age of the internet, extensive life and family histories can be shared with the world relatively inexpensively at sites such as Legacy.com. FamilySearch.org is a great place to find collections of obituaries not originally published online for FREE!
Obituaries can also be found at FindAGrave.com, which requires a subscription(which can often be bundled with your family tree software provider)or at BillionGraves.com which does have FREE ACCESS to cemetery information including GPS locations. Other options are available by subscription.
Now, while the autumn leaves are falling we are enjoying the fruits and vegetables of the annual farm harvests, and planning our Thanksgiving only a couple of weeks away. I hope you will have some time to gather and share the history of your own Family Tree, and find more nourishment for its roots.
Wishing you the strength, wisdom, and resilience symbolized by the Celtic Tree of Life! If you need some help with your Family Tree, send me an email for a free, no obligation evaluation of what you have!
With gratitude,
Leslie Ryan
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