My maternal ancestors

I have two very strong, very distinct ancestral lines that I work with.  Today I'm going to talk to you about my mother's line. On that side, I trace (mostly, but not exclusively though women):
my mother, Ellen Halbert Mastros (1949-2012)

early 2012

her father, Michael Halbert, (1926-2012)

circa 2011

his mother, Sarah Bricklin Halbert (1898-1991) 

Feb of 1978.  I'm the baby in this photo.

her mother, Sophie Brohnstein Bricklin.

provenance unknown

I know very little about Sophie Bricklin.  All I know for certain is that, in 1906, she fled Ukraine for Philadephia, accompanied by her husband, Baruch, and their 5 children, including my then eight-year-old Nan Sara.  However, here is what Sophie's spirit "told" me of her ancestry, which I choose to believe.  

Sophie's mother's name was Sarah, but she died giving birth to Sophie.  Sophie's father was drunk and distant; he beat her sometimes, and may have also abused her sexually.  He never remarried, and Sophie had no siblings.  Sophie's father had a brother, David, with whom he was close.  David's wife, Anna, had just given birth when Sophie was born, and so Sophie sometimes drank from Anna's breast as a child with her cousin, Lev.  Lev and Sophie remained close until Sophie married Baruch, and they moved away.   I think that there was bad blood between Baruch and Lev.  Soon after the marriage, Lev moved to the big city (Kiev?) to study mathematics.  That was the last Sophie heard from him. However, I know what happened to him.  At university, he quickly became disenchanted with math and became a political activist.   He later changed his name to Leon Trotsky.  You might have heard of him.  He was an important figure in the Russian revolution.From Sophie, I continue to trace my ancestry back through Eastern European Jewery, through Sarah, the protagonist of my novel, and her daughter Sarah:

through the Jews of the classic Mediterranean

through a whole assortment of tribal ancestors, Mary Theotokos

Solomon,

Ruth, 

Rachael,

and Sarah & Abraham.  

From Sarai, I trace through Ishtar-Shaddai, through the rise of civilization,
From there, I trace to First Woman, 

and from there through our evolutionary ancestors, whom I work with as I would other animal spirits; 
Hominid,

 Primate, 

Mammal,

 Tetrapod,

 Chordate, 

First Animal, 

and thence back, back, back to First Life, 

and from there through Primium Mobile.