In the symbolism of alchemy a swan was the emblem of mercury, being of the same color. It was thought to express the union of opposites (fire and water), and therefore an archetype of hermaphroditism. The Kabbalah associates swans with the Hebrew letter ר (resh), the 20th letter of Hebrew alphabet. Resh has a numerical…
Month: January 2000
Haplogroup R
Haplogroup R1a This lineage is believed to have originated in the Eurasian steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas, perhaps in a population of the Kurgan culture. The Kurgans were known for the domestication of the horse (approximately 3000 BCE). They are believed to have been the first speakers of an Indo-European language. This…
Famous Studies
There have been many studies using yDNA analysis to answer historical questions. Here are a three of the most famous. Sykes Study Dr. Bryan Sykes, a geneticist at Oxford University tested men all over England who have the surname Sykes and variants. Genealogists had theorized that the surname Sykes was used by dozens of unrelated…
The only sonnet I know by heart
Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,Foul’d by these rebel powers that thee array,Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,Painting thy outward walls so costly gay? Why so large cost, having so short a lease,Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body’s…
Slavic Lore
In a Sclavonian legend, a youth was reposing in a forest. The wind sighed through the trees, filling him with a tender melancholy which could find no expression in words. Presently there fluttered through the branches a snowy swan, which alighted on his breast. The youth clasped the beautiful bird to his heart, and resisted…