THE SEVEN DAUGHTERS OF EVE
BY PEGI EYERS One of the most exciting moments of my life, was when I discovered through DNA testing that I was a member of the Helena Clan, a group that existed 20,000 years ago in the cave-painting cultures of Lascaux and the Dordogne and Vezere valleys of southwest France! Thanks to population science, genetic research and links to the archaeological record, my mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), or motherline, was traced to this paleolithic hunter-gatherer society. Miraculously, I was able to connect with my maternal ancestor, who was a matriarch and Clan Mother thousands of years ago. It is mind-boggling and humbling to think of all the loving “mothers of mothers of mothers” stretching through time and place, all the way to me today! The Helena Clan is one of the world clans descended from “Mitochondrial Eve” as traced in The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes. Each DNA haplogroup has a chain of letters and numbers, and my maternal line begins with the letter “H.” Genetics professor and the founder of Oxford Ancestors, Sykes identified 7 letters overall that represent the European Clan Mothers, and he gave each a name and a story. My clan mother is Helena (Greek for light) who lived at the peak of the last Ice Age. Helena’s story begins on the shoreline and in the woodlands south of the ice sheets. With her extended family group she combed the food forest for fungi and other edible plants, and waded into the wetlands and lagoons searching for oysters. The hunters thrived in the woodlands, seeking small deer and other mammals to hunt with handmade spears. Helena hand-stitched clothes with pelts and sinew to survive the icy winters, and gave birth to her children in caves by the river during the annual reindeer migration. Sykes describes extensive tool making including knives, scrapers, spear points, spear throwers and sewing needles, and mentions the flourishing of cave art and ceremonies. At the time of Helena the Atlantic Ocean was frozen, and pack ice was found as far south as Bordeaux, France. Britain was still joined to continental Europe by dry land, and what are now the English Midlands, central Wales, and southern Ireland were buried under the ice.  The Seven Clan Mothers that Sykes identified are: The Clan of Ursula (Latin for she-bear) is the oldest of the seven native European clans. It was founded around 45,000 years ago by the first modern humans as they established themselves in Europe. Today, about 11% of modern Europeans are the direct maternal descendants of Ursula. They come from all parts of Europe, but the clan is particularly well represented in western Britain and Scandinavia. The Clan of Xenia (Greek for hospitable) is the second oldest of the seven native European clans, and also the smallest. It was founded 25,000 years ago by the second wave of modern humans who established themselves in Europe, just prior to the coldest part of the last Ice Age. Today only 6% of native Europeans are in the clan of Xenia. Within the clan, three distinct branches fan out over Europe. One is still largely confined to Eastern Europe while the other two have spread further to the West into central Europe and as far as France and Britain. About 1% of Native Americans are also in the clan of Xenia. The Clan of Helena (Greek for light) is by far the largest and most successful of the seven native clans. 47% of modern Europeans belong to one of its many branches, and are direct maternal descendents of Helena. It began 20,000 years ago with the birth of Helena somewhere in the valleys of the Dordogne and the Vezere, in south-central France. The clan is widespread throughout all parts of Europe, but reaches its highest frequency among the Basque people of northern Spain and southern France. Approximately 47 percent of modern Europeans (and those in diasporas) are descended from the Clan of Helena. The Clan of Velda (Scandinavian for ruler) is the second smallest of the seven clans containing only about 7% of native Europeans. Velda lived 17,000 years ago in the limestone hills of Cantabria in northwest Spain. Her descendants are found nowadays mainly in western and northern Europe and are surprisingly frequent among the Saami people of Finland and Northern Norway. The Clan of Tara (Gaelic for rocky hill) includes slightly fewer than 10% of modern Europeans. Its many branches are widely distributed throughout southern and western Europe with particularly high concentrations in Ireland and the west of Britain. Tara herself lived 17,000 years ago in the northwest of Italy among the hills of Tuscany and along the estuary of the river Arno. The Clan of Katrine (Greek for pure) is a medium sized clan with 10% of Europeans among its membership. Katrine herself lived 15,000 years ago in the wooded plains of northeast Italy, now flooded by the Adriatic, and among the southern foothills of the Alps. Her descendants are still there in numbers, but have also spread throughout central and northern Europe. The Clan of Jasmine (Persian for flower) is the second largest of the seven European clans after Helena and is the only one to have its origins outside Europe. Jasmine and her descendants, who now make up 12% of Europeans, were among the first farmers and brought the agricultural revolution to Europe from the Middle East around 8,500 years ago.
Of course, the Clan Mothers had ancestors themselves, and their genealogies have also been charted. Amazingly, everyone alive on the planet today can trace their maternal ancestry back to just one woman - “Mitochondrial Eve” who lived in Africa 150,000 – 200,000 years ago. From the First Mother, each human has in their lineage approximately six billion ancestors. These ancestors are still present in our blood and bones, helping to shape our own physical and spiritual descendants. To remember all who came before, is to remember that we belong to a vast web of humanity. Through the mists of cyclic time and antidiluvian earth changes, I am the recipient of a wealth of blessings from my ancestors. Their resilience has empowered me to self-identify with my own haplogroup and claim my tribe. Being a descendant of Helena is very grounding, and gives me deep roots within a long lineage of women, all who carry her essence and agency. It may take much imagination and dedication to express these connections, but at least there is no argument that I am not Indigenous to Old Europe! I am finally at home, with my primordial belonging, my Clan Mothers, and my kinship to Earth Community. LINKS >Learning of Europe's Past: The Seven Daughters of Eve< >International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki: The Seven Daughters of Eve< The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science that Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry on Amazon  mothers of the west Mothers of the West: The Forgotten Matriarchs Who Forged the Bloodlines of Europe By Zane History Buff For thousands of years, the history of Europe has been told through the deeds of warriors, emperors, and conquerors. But behind every crown, every conquest, and every civilization stood the women who shaped destiny not through the sword — but through survival, continuity, and creation. These were the mothers of the West: the farmers who brought agriculture to the continent, the priestesses who led ancient rituals, the queens who united kingdoms, and the explorers who crossed oceans and tundra. Their stories are written not just in ancient texts or myths — but in the DNA of modern Europeans. I. The First Mothers — Founders of European Civilization (7000–3000 BC) Before empires and kings, Europe was ruled by the rhythm of the Earth — and by the women who nurtured it. Around 7000 BC, waves of Neolithic women from Anatolia and the Near East migrated into Europe, bringing with them the knowledge of farming, pottery, weaving, and animal domestication. They merged with Europe’s indigenous hunter-gatherers — descendants of Ice Age survivors — creating the first settled communities in what would become the heart of Western civilization. These women belonged to the earliest European cultures: • The Linearbandkeramik (LBK) people of Central Europe, who lived in longhouses and spread agriculture along the Danube. • The Cardial Ware culture of the Mediterranean, whose women introduced farming to Iberia, France, and Italy. • The Megalithic builders of Atlantic Europe, who erected stone circles and tombs across Ireland, Brittany, and the British Isles. They were the mothers of stability and ritual. They established seasonal calendars, baked the first bread, and built megalithic temples aligned with the stars. Their maternal lineages — mitochondrial haplogroups H, J, K, and T — became the genetic backbone of Europe, still dominant today from Portugal to Poland. It was they who transformed Europe from a continent of hunters to one of builders, farmers, and dreamers. II. The Women of the Steppe — Daughters of the Wind (3300–2500 BC) Then came the Indo-Europeans, the horse-borne tribes from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. They brought bronze, wagons, and sky gods — but they also found the matrilineal wisdom of Europe’s farmers and adapted it. Archaeogenetics shows that these nomadic men married Neolithic women from cultures like Cucuteni–Trypillia, Varna, and Tripolye. Their fusion gave birth to new peoples — the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker cultures, the ancestors of most Indo-European speakers today. The women of this age — skilled in textiles, pottery, and healing — became the first mothers of Europe’s great tribal families: • The Proto-Celts, who settled across Gaul, Iberia, and the Isles. • The Proto-Germans, who spread across the North Sea plain. • The Proto-Italics and Proto-Greeks, who shaped southern Europe. Through them, the languages of Europe were born — and with them, the myths of earth mothers and sky fathers that still echo in European folklore. These women carried the bloodlines that would later emerge as Celtic queens, Greek goddesses, and Norse matriarchs — symbols of both fertility and sovereignty. III. The Celtic Matrons — Mothers of Iron and Myth (1200–100 BC) By the Iron Age, Celtic women ruled from the Atlantic coast to the Carpathians. In their world, womanhood was sacred — tied to land, ancestry, and divinity. Their tribes — the Aedui, Arverni, Belgae, Brigantes, and Iceni — followed complex kinship systems where women could inherit property, lead warriors, and preside over rituals. They worshipped goddesses who embodied the essence of the land itself: • Danu, mother of the gods, whose name lives on in rivers like the Danube and Don. • Epona, protector of horses and fertility, revered across Gaul and Rome. • Brigid, goddess of poetry, wisdom, and flame — later reborn as Saint Brigid of Ireland. Celtic women appear in both legend and history as leaders and liberators: • Boudica, queen of the Iceni, who led one of the greatest rebellions against Rome in AD 60, commanding tens of thousands in battle. • Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes, who ruled through diplomacy and loyalty to Rome. • Onomaris, the Gaulish leader who led her tribe across the Alps to new lands. Their culture prized balance between masculine and feminine — between sword and hearth, earth and sky. In their bloodlines flowed the mitochondrial haplogroups H1 and H3, still strongest today in Ireland, Scotland, France, and Spain. IV. The Roman Matrons — Wombs of Empire (500 BC–476 AD) As the Roman Republic grew into empire, its women became both guardians of virtue and silent architects of power. While excluded from direct politics, they wielded immense influence through marriage, property, and lineage. They were mothers of statesmen, philosophers, and emperors — women whose legacy outlasted legions: • Cornelia Africana, mother of the Gracchi brothers, praised as the ideal Roman woman: educated, dignified, and powerful. • Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus, the first empress of Rome, who shaped dynastic succession for generations. • Agrippina the Younger, the brilliant and ruthless mother of Nero. • Helena Augusta, the Christian mother of Constantine the Great, credited with finding the True Cross and turning Rome toward Christianity. Through them, Roman culture and law absorbed Celtic, Iberian, Illyrian, and Etruscan women into its vast body politic. Their descendants blended with conquered peoples — giving birth to the Latin nations of Europe: Spain, France, and Italy. Every Roman villa, every provincial city, held the unseen hand of women — tending households, managing estates, teaching children, and preserving the Roman way even after the empire’s fall. V. The Germanic and Gothic Matriarchs — Mothers of the Medieval World (400–800 AD) After Rome collapsed, the tribes of the north — Franks, Goths, Vandals, and Lombards — swept into its lands, carrying with them a new wave of matriarchs. These women were queens, diplomats, and warriors — bridges between pagan pasts and Christian futures. • Clotilde of Burgundy, queen of the Franks, converted her husband Clovis to Christianity, uniting Gaul under one faith and founding the Merovingian dynasty. • Brunhilda of Austrasia, a Visigothic princess, ruled as regent for decades, building roads, churches, and laws while battling rivals across Gaul. • Amalasuntha, queen of the Ostrogoths, preserved Roman education and culture in a world collapsing into chaos. These queens turned tribal kingdoms into nations — France, Spain, Italy — all descended from their lineages. Their daughters and granddaughters married into the emerging Carolingian and Capetian dynasties, uniting Frankish, Gothic, and Roman blood into the genetic tapestry of medieval Europe. Through them, Europe was reborn — a new world built on ancient blood. VI. The Norse and Anglo-Saxon Women — Mothers of the North (800–1100 AD) In the frozen fjords and misty isles of the North, women were not hidden — they were partners in survival. Norse society, though warrior-driven, gave women property rights, divorce privileges, and influence in law and trade. Archaeology has shattered myths of male-only conquest: • In Birka, Sweden, a Viking warrior’s grave containing weapons and horses was proven to belong to a woman — a commanding officer. • Across the North Sea, Anglo-Saxon burial sites reveal noblewomen buried with brooches, books, and crosses — symbols of faith and power. Legend preserves their spirit: • Freydís Eiríksdóttir, sister of Leif Erikson, who led Norse explorers to North America. • Lagertha, the shieldmaiden of Danish sagas, who fought alongside Ragnar Lothbrok. • Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, daughter of Alfred the Great, who ruled central England and defended it from Danish invasion. These women spread the genetic and cultural influence of the Norse across the North Atlantic — to Scotland, Ireland, Normandy, Iceland, and beyond. Their mitochondrial DNA — U5, H1, K1, and T2 — remains dominant in Scandinavia and the British Isles. They were the mothers of seafarers, settlers, and storytellers, carrying the flame of independence into the heart of medieval Europe. VII. The Medieval Queens — The Matrilineal Architects of Christendom (1000–1600 AD) By the High Middle Ages, Europe’s fate rested in the hands of queens and noblewomen who controlled dynastic marriages and diplomacy. • Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most powerful woman of her age, was queen of both France and England, patron of troubadours, and mother to kings Richard the Lionheart and John. • Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, shaped the Norman legacy that transformed England. • Blanche of Castile, the queen-mother of France, ruled as regent and raised one of its saint-kings. • Isabella of Castile, alongside Ferdinand of Aragon, unified Spain and sponsored Columbus — altering global history. These women carried ancient bloodlines — Celtic, Roman, Germanic, and Norse — into the royal houses of Europe, intertwining the entire continent’s heritage. From them descended the dynasties that still define Europe today: the Plantagenets, Capetians, Habsburgs, Bourbons, and Windsors. Their marriages were not mere politics — they were acts of genetic and cultural fusion, weaving together the many tribes of Europe into one civilization. VIII. The Unbroken Line — The Genetic Legacy of Europe’s Mothers Through centuries of invasion, migration, and empire, the mitochondrial DNA of Europe’s women remained remarkably stable. From the first Anatolian farmers to the queens of Christendom, the same maternal lineages persisted — passed unbroken from mother to daughter for over 8,000 years. No army, plague, or revolution could erase them. Even today, nearly half of all Europeans descend from the H haplogroup — the same mothers who farmed the valleys of the Balkans and raised the stones of Brittany. They were the invisible architects of resilience — the constant heartbeat beneath the chaos of history. IX. Legacy — The Eternal Matriarchy of Europe Europe was never truly forged by iron or conquest. It was woven together by women — by mothers who carried memory, lineage, and life through centuries of darkness and renewal. They preserved culture in silence, guarded heritage through song and story, and birthed the thinkers, warriors, and rulers who shaped the world. The queens, priestesses, farmers, and nomads of ancient Europe were not supporting characters — they were the authors of continuity, the unbroken line that binds prehistory to the present. Their blood runs in every European heart — from the mountains of Iberia to the fjords of Norway. ⸻ by Zane History Buff Sources & References • Jean Manco, Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First Venturers to the Vikings (Thames & Hudson, 2013) • Bryan Sykes, The Seven Daughters of Eve (2001) • Barry Cunliffe, Europe Between the Oceans (Yale University Press, 2008) • Alice Roberts, The Incredible Human Journey (BBC, 2010) • Neil Price, The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia (2019) • Alison Weir, Queens of the Conquest (2017) • Peter Heather, Empires and Barbarians (2009) • Nancy Demand, The Birth of the Gods: The Cult of the Mother in Ancient Europe (1988) From the women who built megaliths to those who wore crowns, the mothers of Europe were the silent architects of the West — the keepers of its memory, its faith, and its blood. HOLDING THE RIM
we are remembering
SUMMONS
A TINY BELL IS RINGING
PRIMORDIAL MOTHER Art by Daniel Cox She is the creatress of the universe, older than time, vaster than space. She is the cause and Mother of the world, the One Primordial Being. She is “pure Being-Consciousness-Bliss,” the power existing in the form of time and space, and everything they contain, the “radiant Illuminatrix in all beings.” She is the Great Cause, the Primordial Energy, the Great Effulgence, more subtle than the subtlest elements. The gods themselves said to her, “Thou art the Original of all manifestations; Thou art the birthplace of even Us; Thou knowest the whole world, yet none know Thee. Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress.” All gods were born of her body, and “at the time of dissolution” (doomsday) they would again disappear into her. She is the “material cause of all change, manifestation and destruction.” The whole Universe rests upon Her, rises out of Her and melts away into Her. From Her are crystallized the original elements and qualities which construct the apparent worlds. She is both mother and grave.” She is so vast that “the series of universes appear and disappear with the opening and shutting of her eyes.” Obviously, there is more to this Goddess than meets the Western eye; a description of her as only a “destroying demon” is woefully inadequate. A few decades ago, Vivekananda wrote of her: “One vision I see clear as life before me, that the Ancient Mother has awakened once more, sitting on her throne rejuvenated, more glorious than ever. Proclaim her to all the world with the voice of peace and benediction.” Barbara G. Walker, The Crone: Women of Age, Wisdom and Power Social Media by Girl God Books DREAM - CAVE MOTHER Art by Reda Rackley The women, girls, grandmothers, great-grandmothers were standing at the mouth of the cave singing to to Her. They were singing their goodbyes; they were mourning, keening, tears falling upon the red earth. Cave Mother was groaning, moaning, "Oh my daughters, oh my daughters, who am I without you! I am breathing because of your breath. I am mourning the sound of your footsteps walking away from me. I have your handprints, your red ochre markings upon my womb. I have your songs recorded in my stone. I have your ancestors bones buried deep in my womb. I must close the gate to the outer world and I will wait for your return." The women barely able to walk, grieving, keening, mourning, leaving everything they had ever known. All the while, the original mother weaves the world and stirs the cauldron of creation waiting, waiting for her daughters to come home. I wake from this dream, I am sobbing, I have an ache in my soul that leaves a hole in my heart. I long to return and yet, I know not where this place is but I know it exist. It exist because it lives in my bones and lived in the bones of my ancestors. I am a daughter born from those that forgot, but I did not forget and I will never forget. What was wild, uncontrollable, and untamable terrified my ancestors and they begin to domestic the wild. They destroyed the wild, dark forbidden forest, they killed the witches because they knew the secrets of the plant beings, the moon, the stars, the blood mysteries. They knew the secrets of reading the bones, stones, shells; they knew how to give life and take life. The sacred wells and the priestesses that tended to these holy waters were destroyed. Once upon a time we made offerings to the water spirits and danced for the rain spirits and chanted to the thunder and lighting beings. We knew all of creation was woven together. When one strand of eternity is cut, all strands are left hanging by a thin fragile line to life and death. We are living in these times of severed threads, and we long to return to the wholeness that we know deep in our heart and bones. Once upon a time, men knew that the powers of life and death belonged to a woman, and they had great reverence and respect. And then one day, a waring god rode up on his black stallion and demanded all women be locked away, all secrets be stolen from the temples, from the priestesses, from the Goddess, and then written down in scrolls that denied women, the feminine, their rightful place in the story of creation. Since this time, women have suffered at the hands of men - rape, abuse - all because they wrote the story of Eve as the fallen woman. You see, all the stories were stolen and then re-written, so that just a few of the men could have power. Not much has changed, but I know the truth. I know you know the truth. This story placed women against women, this story denied women coming together in the moon huts, and sharing wisdom with each other that would be passed down to their daughters, daughters, daughters……For how can there be a God the Father without the first original mother giving birth to him…...? We were spoon-fed lies the day we were born. We were born into a world that did not welcome a girl child because a male child was more valuable. We were born into a world that taught us women were evil and must be controlled and contained. We were born into a world that held no stories of powerful strong women. We were given that our bodies were shameful and they must be covered up, keep your legs closed, and stay a virgin for your husband. And do not get pregnant before you are married or you become the fallen woman. Babies were stolen from young pregnant girls, babies were sold away from their birth mothers, all because these women did not obey God the Father. So much loss, so much to grieve. Because we forgot we all came from the Original Mother, we have cut her into a billion pieces, we have dug deeper into her womb, extracting - taking and taking and taking. We have raped and pillaged her. She is revolting, she is rumbling, she is shaking, she is quaking, she will not tolerate much more. We are in the time of another great migration. Some of us will leave more beauty that we were born into, some of us will leave more scars. I have been on this journey a long long time. Forty years, I begin the leaving, the leaving of the lies, the leaving of what culture told me I should be and do. I started excavating the old stories, the old myths, I started reading the markings on the cave walls, I made pilgrimages back to Mama Africa to pick up my birth rite - to learn how to read the rhythm of the wind, to learn how to read the swirling waters, to learn how to read the cracks in the cave walls, to learn how to listen to invisibles, and to walk back to the Original Mother waiting for me with open arms. I am home in my skin and bones. I am a Warrior Woman willing to fight for those that have forgotten. I am a Warrior Women for the Indigenous Soul. I am a Warrior Woman for my sisters and brothers of color. I am a Warrior Woman for the old crone. And I am a Warrior Woman for you. We are the new dream of creation, which of course is a very ancient dream. We are the return of the WILD and we need each other in these times we are living. What I need from you is your beauty, your medicine, your wisdom, your Warrior voice, your strength and your vulnerability, and we will reweave the world, because we were born for these times! We said “YES” before we were birthed into these skins and bones! The daughters have return to the mysteries hidden in the belly of the caves, and the Great Mother rejoices because her daughters have returned. Bonewoman / Reda Rackley, social media, April 2026 two million year old woman
do you know her?
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 The Westray Goddess, the
oldest human form found in Scotland. (Orkney Archipelago)
(eik) eUROPEAN iNDIGENOUS kNOWLEDGE
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