How It All Began (My Story)
Napoleon, the Corsicans and a DNA test.
Hi, I’m Elissa, the creator of the ‘Our Merry Folk’ publication.
I am a 70s child aka a Gen Xer so part of the cool crew that raised ourselves and made rude gestures from the backseat of our parents’ car to the driver behind!
Originally from Dorset, England, at the age of eighteen I landed myself a position as an au pair in St Tropez (my father was born further up the coast on the French Riviera) where I met my husband. Fast forward to today and we have been together for thirty two years with two amazing children who have taught us so much more than we could ever teach them.
My passion for European history and folklore stems from my father’s weird and wonderful tales of the second world war, Napoleon and what the Corsicans hid in their cellars. Obviously, I am unable to tell you what that was as I value my life too much! A school trip to Maiden Castle when I was nine years old became another cementing factor. Running round and round this ancient hillfort with my classmates awoke something deep inside of me. Later as a teenager I wanted to become a journalist but instead became a home educating mum which of course was much more fulfilling.
If I remember rightly it was about 2012 when I came across a BBC documentary presented by the historian Neil Oliver in which he took a DNA test to discover his ancestry. At the time it was a blood test and cost more than £300. I was mesmerised but also gutted that the test was way out of my price range so I had to let that dream go. Not long after, Ancestry arrived on the scene with a DNA test that was much more affordable so I jumped at the chance. Of course, Google has now acquired the company so I am not too thrilled to imagine my clone walking around their headquarters! Growing up with two nationalities was not easy for me. I neither felt truly French nor truly English. While living in France I was seen as English and living in England had similar struggles, but a piece of paper with a bunch of percentages on, which sounds ridiculous I know, helped me to feel more grounded than I had ever been despite my ancestors hailing from all corners of Europe, from the lands of the southern Slavs to the Picts of the Highlands of Scotland.
At around the same time, I decided to start sharing with others my love of European prehistory, myth, folklore and spirituality, as well as my personal musings on what we once were and what we have lost along the way. It has been a breath of fresh air to connect and build long lasting friendships with people from all over the world who feel exactly the same way as I do.
For the past decade I have slowly been collecting book after book on ancient European history, folklore, natural history, pre-Christian religions, human physiology and more. I now have enough research material for the rest of my life! Although one can never have too many books! Our history is continually being rewritten to fit the narrative of the current time and we do need to be discerning when it comes to purchasing trustworthy sources.
My confidence as a writer and researcher has definitely grown over this past decade especially recently all thanks to the many beautiful messages and pledges readers have given me here on Substack. I am deeply touched and feel blessed to have found you, folk like myself, our merry folk, folk who want to safeguard our traditions, our lands and live an ancestrally appropriate life that is not dictated by the sickness that is today’s society, driving us further and further away from our natural state of being.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read my articles as I know that there is already so much vying for your attention. In a world full of Tiktoks my articles must seem like university textbooks! But I will say that I am always thrilled to hear that you get as much enjoyment out of reading my articles as I do researching them.
When I am not writing or researching I am hunting down locations of sacred wells, crafting folk charms and meditating to binaural beats at 432 hz.
Right, I have gone on for long enough. How about you? How has life been? If you would like to have a chat about life, your interests, whatever, then please do, I would love to hear from you.
Take care and please hang around for all things ancestrally unwoke!
Brightest blessings, Elissa
I'm so glad to have found your wonderful writing. I have worked in public service for 27 years but I now find the noise, pace, technology and not least the anger and abuse overwhelming. I have loved history since childhood and like you wanted to be a freelance journalist. As you can tell that didn't work out. Since lockdown (when I continued to go to work) I have been more deeply drawn to our history, folklore and nature than ever. I would value your recommendation for good books on traditions and folklore as well as our seasonal customs.
I have also just signed up to learn to teach online (at 60!!) so that I can work at home and connect on a one to one basis. By this time next year I hope to be free of the rat race. Thank You for your fascinating posts.
Hi Elissa - it's so lovely to "meet" you in more depth and learn more about the roots of your passionate journey! I'm always thankful for your thorough posts...I'm one of those who finds longer, researched posts to be a breath of fresh air among all the reels and tiktoks and whatever else is out there these days!