Image: 'Old King Cole' Project Gutenberg etext 18546; by William Wallace Denslow; illustrator of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'
February 14, 2022
Could This Be the Genealogy and Astrology of An Ancient Great Grandfather?
by Jude Cowell
With a surname like 'Cowell' and its multitude of alternate spellings, my years-long search for information concerning my father's family lineage had yielded no clues as to whether or not a family connection to the nursery rhyme legend of 'Old King Cole' - and to the historical figure - existed and would ever materialize. Until early this morning.
For way back in the annals of Welsh genealogy there reigned one Coel Hen ap Tegfan who was killed during battle with Fergus near Coilsfield, Tarbolton, England on November 19, 0420 when he was trapped in a bog and drowned. (Curiously, during my childhood, I came close to drowning and was rescued - twice.) Coel Hen's burial mound, a tumulus, still remains; see archaelogical details at Canmore.org for his tumulus was opened in May 1837 to find urns filled with bones and "warlike implements" although some of the urns disintegrated upon contact with air. Apparently, Coilsfield was once part of the Eglinton Castle area.
Meanwhile, a page on the Kyle Society site displays a photo of the Caprington Horn (as in, Capricorn, the sign of four of my natal planets) which was also found, and we can note that in Coel Hen's time, smoking pipes were not yet invented so if he called for his "pipes" then they must have been of the musical variety - to add to his "fiddlers three". My father (1908 - 2002) remembered that his older relatives played fiddles and were said to have immigrated from Ireland.
And yes, 'Kile' and 'Kyle' are only some of the variations of the Coel/Coil/Cole name. Additionally, you'll find curious legends, myths, and facts about Coel Hen on his Wikimili page.
When Genealogy Research Reveals a Date of Death
So! A date of death makes calculating an astrological horoscope possible and, if what I've heard is true, a date of death can be used to glean information about a person's life when their birth date is unknown. Born circa 340 in England, and said to be the King of Northern Britain or 'King of the Britons' in his day, Coel Hen ('Hen' means 'old') ap Tegfan may have been the king (there were at least three--grandfather-son-grandson, some sources say) that the nursery rhyme was based upon. But be that as it may or may not be, he apparently was a historical figure and, as the geni dot com site informs me, he is my 48th great grandfather. However, other figures named 'Coel Hen' may have existed and one was associated with the town of Colchester, UK (was he 'King of Colchester'?), plus, there was a Coilus/Coelius Roman gens as well. So many threads to follow so perhaps you see my research dilemma these last few years! Interesting that Coel Hen ap Tegfan is said to have grown up in Rome and was apparently the last of the Roman kings of Britain at the tail-end of their occupation - so maybe he actually was a member of the Coilus gens.
Now as you can probably tell, my family-tie sleuthings are limited and must be built upon the genealogical research of strangers! And what I particularly like are the historical details that necessarily tag along with any type of genealogical research, whether well-documented by yours truly or not. Yet with family ties as ancient as these, there's no way of determining how many hours or years have gone into figuring out such a long line of connections. Obviously, there's no need for me to even attempt to duplicate such research for it would be a waste of time.
Neptune-Pluto: Mysticism and The Supernatural Such as Astrology
Being born with a midpoint picture of Ascendant = Neptune-Pluto surrounding me with an 'air of mysticism' (R. Ebertin), I was chuffed to the see the mystical, supernatural planetary pair active in the chart and at the battle. And here is one particularly intriguing mystery: was Coel Hen ap Tegfan the father of Saint Helena and thus the grandfather of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great? Perhaps. However, sources do disagree. So if you're curious, follow the link to Coel Hen's Wikipedia page for more details, dubious and otherwise. There's even a whispered rumor that he was what we today call, an astrologer! (As in, 'Coeli Medium/Immum chart angles). Pages I located years back but cannot locate online now suggested that he was an early astrologer which is why I wrote "Uranus - the Sky God (Coelus?)" on the horoscope, below.
As for pertinent locations, you might sashay over to YouTube where Roger Griffeth has posted a brief video King Coel (Old King Cole), The King's Steps, Water of Coyle, Ayrshire. Among historical details, Roger notes that Coel Hen's final battle with Fergus took place at Failford near what became the legendary king's burial site at Coilsfield. But no mention of his drowning in a bog!
So now without further ado, below is the Astrology Horoscope set for the speculative hour of 'noon' on November 19, 0420 Tarbolton, United Kingdom intended to suffice for biographical information concerning my 48th great grandfather, Coel Hen ap Tegfan. Yes, the chart is way overloaded with scribbled details, I agree.
And are there planetary links to my own natal planets? Yep. One such that involves DNA and genetic inheritance is the Nodal Axis and here the Moon @28Libra cosmically links to my South Node of the Moon (inherited traits). Plus, warrior planet Mars in mid-Virgo conjuncts my natal Ascendant, if this tells us anything. And although I have no theme information concerning the two ancient solar eclipses, one in Gemini, the other in the opposite sign of Sagittarius, you'll find a few eclipse notes penned on the bottom left corner:
Now as you see, highlighted in green, is yet another 'mystical' or 'mysticism' indicator of supernatural involvement for those who don't mind using Mystic Rectangle patterns in their charts: here between Sun-MC-Uranus-Pluto-Saturn, and Chiron although the long-ago position of Chiron is not evident (doesn't show in my software). And of course, Uranus, Pluto (and Neptune) were unknown in the year 0420 but I like to include them since they existed and reveal hidden details. The Saturn-Uranus pairing, here in opposition, relates to Astrology as does centaur Chiron, The Wounded Healer. See bottom right corner for a few notes on the Neptune-Pluto = North Node (NN) midpoint picture, with Neptune, planet of water, loss, and drowning, Pluto = death, and North Node = a destined meeting.
Naturally, Sun-Venus (a beloved leader?) opposed by powerful Pluto denotes a transformative struggle for power and control, which is easy to imagine was the case on this, a fateful day.
........
No comments:
Post a Comment