What Can You Learn From Your Family Tree?

The first use of the family tree was to keep information about the family origin. Previously, this was a practice performed only by high lineage families in order to prove the purity of their rank or the greatness of their past.

Currently, things are different. The family tree has become a tool that allows people to get to know each other. Unfortunately, few families retain traces of their past and pass them on to subsequent generations. It is for this reason that it is not always easy to obtain information about these family roots.

The family tree offers us a large amount of data which is extremely valuable in understanding who we are and why we are like this. The information it brings us is integral, that is to say, it allows us to establish the links that unite the past with the present and the future. We all come from a story that has been built over the centuries. We are also a link to the future. The family tree helps us shed some light on all of this.

The genealogical tree and the family

The family is not another factor in the life of the human being. It constitutes the essence of who we are and it does not matter what type of connection we have with it. It was there before we were born and it will be there after we die. We all carry his mark, even in cases where the family has disappeared or abandoned us. In fact, this absence can be precisely one of the biggest marks of our life.

The family tree helps us build what is called emotional memory. It is an accumulation of past experiences that are present in our different behaviors. Much of this memory is not expressed through conscious terms. Sometimes, it is only a question of impressions, of ways of seeing, of attitudes… Traces which are visible because of their manifestations but whose origin is unknown.

Families pass on, consciously or unconsciously, their guilt, their fears, their taboos, their successes. Family history is like a novel and we ourselves are a chapter of it. But how to understand or give meaning to this chapter without having read the others?

Important data in the family tree

The family tree sometimes brings us unexpected data. Other times the stories aren’t that spectacular, but that’s not why they are less important. The main thing is not to develop this family tree but to interpret it. To achieve this, here are some data that we must pay particular attention to:

• The place we occupy among the brothers and sisters. There are no formulas, but it is true that the place one occupies is decisive in the creation of the psychological structure. Basically, it determines the relationship we have with money, possessions and land (physical and emotional).

• The double lineage. Our parents are the confluence of two great family traditions, but one of them always has a greater influence on us. Why? This is important data. As is the lack of information on the parents of our parents or their grandparents. These gaps often hide important elements. It is also essential to know if anyone else in the family has our first name. If so, we may be part of an unresolved narcissistic conflict.
• Elements that repeat themselves. This includes ages at which our ancestors married or had children, jobs, or any other fact that appears more than once. Usually, these repeat chains indicate an unconscious scenario. We can only move forward by abandoning this repetition.

• The way family members died. It is important to establish how our ancestors died. Should accidents or suicides be discovered, this information should be studied in detail. Deaths caused by heart, respiratory or immunological problems tell us of a strong emotional component.

In a novel, there are facts that are told and others that are hidden. Words that are said and others that are silent. The same thing happens within families. The family tree is an opportunity to rewrite history. The main thing is to give it a meaning for the one who develops it. To discover and describe the traces of his lineage. To find information that allows this person to better understand and explain himself.

Our thoughts

A family tree is more than a drawing and an accumulation of data, dates and family histories.