Posted by : Sherri Cornelius Friday, July 10, 2009

I feel like a new woman this morning. The migraine time is truly lifting, hallelujah. I found a couple of new things to consider in my hunt for a migraine cure: low magnesium and low estrogen. (Thanks for the article, Fal.) Also, though by tonight it may be aching again, right now my bad finger feels pretty good. The husband's mood is on the upswing, always a blessing, and I had a nice, long convo with my bro yesterday. Yep, life is good.

While taking a break from writing last night, I thought it would be interesting to look up the meaning and origin of my surname, Cornelius. I already knew that the name Cornelius is first mentioned in the Bible, maybe in chapter 10 of Acts? Somebody correct me. Anyway, that Cornelius was a Roman soldier, or centurion, who became the first Gentile to be baptised in the Christian faith. Pretty interesting.


Since that first Cornelius was Roman, the assumption is usually made that I am of Italian descent, but as far as I know I have no blood ties to Rome. In my Google travels (gravels?) last night, I found that the modern surname Cornelius probably started as a given name, when children were named after that biblical Roman dude and/or the pope named Cornelius. (This explains it better.)




[caption id="attachment_1275" align="aligncenter" width="421" caption="Cornelius Coat of Arms"]Cornelius Coat of Arms[/caption]

So this is the Cornelius Coat of Arms, and the small image at the top is the family crest. Since this image is on several unrelated websites with no credit given, I can't give credit to the original. Likewise with the following descriptions:
The Crest consists of a hand extended from a cloud of smoke, grasping a battle ax or Greek cross, and resting on a strand of rope. This signifies martyrdom.The Coat of Arms consists of a shield on which is delineated the square and three balls, surrounded by a scroll of leaves and surmounted by a Crusader's helmet with closed visor; this all rests on a scroll foundation containing the motto Verite sans peur ("truth without fear"). The square refers to artisans and the balls signify the practice of medicine. The shield and helmet refer to military service and also indicate the time of the Crusaders. The banner with the name CORNELIUS is draped over a Crusader's sword. The shield also has the ermine indated [sic], which denotes royalty.

Being unable to find the origin of the description, there's no way to tell if this is accurate, but I like it. Especially the motto, Verite sans peur, Truth without fear. That's cool. One thing I don't like is that it's tied in to the Crusades.

Almost every etymological definition of Cornelius says it comes from cornu, the Latin for "horn," but I found one that said "war horn" and a couple of others that said "horn of the lion." Probably because the "-lius" part may have come from the Latin for "lion" (leo or leon). (I so want to make a horny lion joke here.)

It's funny; on both sides I have historically powerful names. McEwin was a rich clan in Scotland about 500 years ago, and Cornelius was a name associated with power around the same time. Somehow, both of these impressive lineages converged upon me: the least impressive person in the world, in the least impressive place in the world.

Heh.

{ 15 comments... read them below or Comment }

  1. Glad to hear things are looking up for you, finally, health-wise. It's about friggin' time, I must say; you deserve some well-earned feel-better, you horny lion, you.

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  2. I take a progesterone supplement as one of my m igraine preventatives. There are some indications that progesterone, not estrogen, improves migraine suffering in women with migraine-influenced hormones. Seeing as waffling levels of estrogen in either direction were kickign mine off, we tried teh progesterone fix and it definitely helped. that and beta blockers, as well as another drug for "daily headaches" which is a different thing.

    It really just depends upon the person. Magnesium changes didn't help me but I eat bananas and tomatoes a lot to keep the magnesium up.

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  3. that should have been "hormone-influenced migraines"!

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  4. Au contraire ma ami, there is nothing that is "least impressive" about you! You are an amazing person - talented, funny, sweet, kind, generous, thoughtful, and my friend - my li'l sis.

    (you're welcome for the article - I'm glad you got more out of it. :) )

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  5. Thank you, my dear. I couldn't agree more.

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  6. Is progesterone a dr-prescribed thing, or is there a way to stimulate progesterone naturally? I've heard a lot about perimenopause lately, and I'm pretty sure my hormones are all out of whack. I don't know anything about beta blockers. Guess I have a little more research to do. Thanks!

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  7. Aw, gee, Fal. You know what? Most of the time I don't let sentiments like that sink in, but I am going to start. I find I need 'em. Thank you, big sis.

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  8. I am woman: hear me roar!

    (Seriously, that's the best I can come up with. Still pondering your last post and what being poor has meant for me!)

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  9. Did I stir something up in your cauldron, Sarah? lol Only comment if you really want to, don't feel obligated. :)

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  10. Yes, in teh form I take. But you can get natural stuff (made I think from African White Yams) and see if that works. The thing is, prescription is far cheaper!

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  11. I could have told you you're not Italian. Also, "cornelius" in the anglisized version of the name. The whole "ius" thing doesn't really appear in Italian names. And Sherri, not a very Italian first name. We name all our daughters either Rose or Mary or Rosemary.

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  12. amazing to see this...i am a Cornelius and come from a very large lineage of Cornelius. We hail from virtually everywhere..mainly because of the age of our name. We do reference back to Caesarea of the first man named Cornelius whom was a centurion of the Italian Regiment. My family comes from comes from the Caribbean (Barbados, Cuba, Virgin Islands, Dominique, and Antigua)…though we are mostly in the states now, we are still very present in the Caribbean and over in Denmark as well. The motto “Verite sans peur” is a very valid and certain movement still strong in our family.

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  13. Thanks for taking the time to comment, fellow Cornelius! Nice to meet you.

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  14. I have a family tree dating me back to 280 bc. Lucius and publish

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