I run into bears all the time when I’m hiking.  I saw a youngish one at the end of August, on the Appalachian Trail.  He (?) was positively scampering through the forest, bounding around, jumping up onto trees and down again, just for the joy of it.  Halfway up a tree he paused and looked at me, and we locked gazes for maybe half a minute.  I decided to just casually keep on walking…  And he dropped down from the tree and ran off.

The word bear comes from Proto Indo European bher, meaning “glossy brown”, from which is also descended brown, burnish, and beaver. However, the Indo Europeans did not call bears bher; they called them rtko (pronounced something like “URRT-ko”), the ancestor of Latin ursus (as in the constellations Ursa Major and Minor, the Great and Little Bears) and Greek arktos (as in Arctic, which in fact is named after those constellations).  However, the speakers of Proto Germanic had great respect for bears; and so instead of boldly calling them by their names, they used a euphemism, and called them “glossy browns” instead.  Bher in Proto Indo European became beron in Proto Germanic, bera in Old English, and bear today.

The word bear is a burst of powerful, elastic, enclosing energy — a natural word, in fact, to associate with a powerful hug.

In Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, the name was Maryam, and of course this is real the name of Jesus’s mother. (Jesus’s Aramaic name was Jeshua.) In Greek the name was translated as Maria or Mariam, in Latin Maria, and in English Mary.

Energetically, Mary is a name of power — specifically, powerful manifestation, balanced and evenly modulated. It’s no accident that the name is so similar in sound to marriage, more, and mirror. In many languages, the m-r combination is found in words for the sea.

Hats off to Slade for inspiring this word!

	For the spiritual searcher who feels called or connected to Nature and the Ancient World, my articles and recordings provide spiritual guidance, inspiration, and beauty, by fostering communication, openness, groundedness, and a sense of childlike awe.

Not just a word. A guided tour of a tiny piece of the human experience. These are words you already know - simple words like god and sun and home. Words that are part of the furniture of your mind, the vocabulary of your subconscious, the words in your heart. You’ll read about where they come from and what they mean, just like in a regular word-of-the-day, but you’ll also read about how their sounds contribute to their meaning in subtle ways (phonosemantics), related words, and their place in the universal subconscious.

	Have your name analyzed — DJ Word of the Day style. I believe our names reflect both our character and our purpose in life. For a donation of your choice, I’ll give you a complete etymological analysis and phonosemantic reading — a full historical and spiritual assessment. Every name means something. What about yours?

Do you like the artwork on this site? — Get some for yourself. I create each of these pictures using a powerful landscape generation program. I strive to bring out the heart’s inner world — the spiritual landscape that informs the most ancient religions, and the symbolic landscapes that speak to us today. For a donation of any amount, I will create one specifically for you. You may choose the landscape features you want, or I will meditate on your needs and create one tailored to your spiritual circumstances. Roam in places that are your own… the pasture of ardent clearness and mindfulness… your own place, your natural range. –Samyutta Nikaya

	Want to experience meditation for yourself? It’s an excellent way to communicate with guides, develop your intuition, explore inner space, and reach a state of peace. I’ve created a series of guided meditations designed to get you started on this path, available at the Druid Journal Meditation blog.

	Follow along as I experience spiritual weight loss, the unique whole-self health solution offered by Kara-Leah at her site, be Conscious Now. This approach to weight management looks primarily at the underlying spiritual-energetic reasons for the way we manifest our bodies. Your body is a reflection of your spirit; if you want to overhaul your body, fix your Soul, and the rest will follow.

But first, the historical background. The name John is ultimately from Hebrew Yohanan, meaning “Yahweh has favored”, and as it was the name of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, it became a popular Christian name all across Europe. In Greek it became Ioannes, in Latin Joannes, and in Medieval Latin Johannes. Energetically, the name John indicates a difficult decision that gives rise to narrowed, targeted Source energy. People named John are ones whose own personal, hard-fought decisions have a particularly salient effect on the spiritual energies around them.

Sidney is probably derived from the Norman name Saint-Denis, and therefore was brought to England during the invasion of William the Conqueror. It is a sinuous name, one of light, tense energy that slides through a decision and results in stamina and longevity. Intuitively, it suggests a warrior’s energy — compare the word sword – mixed with endurance through hardship. McCain’s imprisonment in Vietnam, which defines so much of his character and life, jumps to mind in this connection.

McCain itself is an Irish variant of the Scots name McKean, which comes from Gaelic Mac Ian, which means — you guessed it — “son of John”. But the Gaelic Ian has a very different spiritual energy than the English John; there is no implication of decision or difficulty, but instead a strong, enduring energy that is channeled.

The Cain syllable, which sounds like cane, has that same narrowing, channeling quality, but the energy is elastic and wide, and the source is some kind of containment. The sense one gets is of controlled, coiled power, like that in a taut spring. In the story of Cain, of course, one sees personal energy channeled and directed against another, but there is nothing inherently evil or misdirected within the sounds of the name Cain itself.

The first, unaccented syllable, Mc, indicates forces of manifestation, encircled and gathered up. The overall thrust of the name is of tightly controlled, narrowly focused energy, which is nevertheless flexible and far-reaching.

My sense of the name John Sidney McCain is of a life of difficult decisions, directed yet malleable energy, and controlled power. Here is a man who is both focused enough to work towards a single goal for many years, and yet flexible enough to be adaptive and creative in the way he seeks that goal.

The other John Sidney McCains. Since McCain’s father and grandfather shared his name — and his son does, as well — it’s tempting to think about whether their lives paralleled his in any significant ways. While the similarities on the surface are striking — his father and grandfather were both US Admirals, and McCain’s son is currently attending the US Naval Academy — the differences are more interesting. McCain’s father (who actually preferred to be called “Jack”) was a submarine man, not an aviator; and his postwar career was spent deep in the Pentagon, commanding the Pacific fleet, — a very different environment from the US Senate. McCain’s grandfather served in WWI and WWII, and, like his grandson, was a naval aviator. He commanded an aircraft carrier and was a vice Admiral in the latter war; but apparently the stress of his wartime service wasted him away, and he died just four days after the peace treaty with Japan was signed.

Finally, it appears that in fact John McCain’s grandfather’s father was also named John Sidney McCain; so I wonder why our presidential candidate is not John S. McCain IV? This earliest McCain was not a military man, but owned a plantation in Mississippi.

Barack’s father — also named Barack Obama — was from Kenya, and his name was Swahili, meaning “blessed”. The Swahili name is ultimately borrowed from Arabic b-r-k, a triconsonental root that is at the basis of many words dealing with blessings and good fortune. It is cognate with Hebrew baruch, also meaning “blessed”. Swahili has a large number of loan words from Arabic, so Barack’s first name has nothing to do with his father’s Muslim upbringing. Spiritually, Barack is a burst of powerful Source energy that is gathered up and contained — i.e. a blessing bestowed on someone.

The story doesn’t end there, though. Through most of his childhood, Barack went by the nickname Bar – which indicates the same explosive, powerful source energy, but lacks the direction and containment of Barack. When he grew older, he went by the name of Barry, which has a completely different energy — while it is still explosive and strong, it lacks a source connection; instead it is connective and social. Only when Barack went to college and began to seek out a deeper understanding of his roots did he decide to go by his original name. Choosing one’s name is a very important spiritual act, and marks quite a turning point in Barack’s understanding of himself.

Hussein, meanwhile, is an Arabic name of proud Muslim heritage, a diminutive of the name Hasan, meaning “good” or “handsome”. The original Hussein was a grandson of Mohammad, and Shiite Muslims regard him and his elder brother Hasan as the true successors of the Prophet. Energetically, the h-s-n root indicates a strongly directed, sinuous energy that arises from a place of safety and is grounded towards some goal or target. The u-ei vowels of the name show that the energy is well-rounded and fast-moving as it arises, and becomes elastic and far-reaching as it nears its goal. Interestingly, the English word that’s closest in meaning to Hussein is “cutie”, and the sounds of the words are not all that different — they have similar vowels (u-ei vs. u-ie), and energetically, “h” is similar to “c” and “s” is similar to “t”. Generally, the name Hussein indicates more challenges and growth than cutie does.

Lastly, Obama is a not-uncommon surname of the Luo people of east Africa. As best I can determine, it is of uncertain origin, but might be related to the root obam, meaning “bending” or “leaning”. The Obama family is tightly wound up in the politics of Kenya at present. Obama is a name of earth-source-energy, bursting out into spiritual manifestation.

Overall, it’s remarkable how much earth/source energy abounds in Obama’s names, while the repeating “b”’s indicate sudden growth. This name is an unexpected upswelling of grounded power, manifesting blessings. Hussein breaks the pattern: it modulates the growing source energy with direction, decision, and firm targets. Barack Hussein Obama is the name of a man who rises suddenly from the earth, and moves with decision and determination toward his goals.

	For the spiritual searcher who feels called or connected to Nature and the Ancient World, my articles and recordings provide spiritual guidance, inspiration, and beauty, by fostering communication, openness, groundedness, and a sense of childlike awe.

Not just a word. A guided tour of a tiny piece of the human experience. These are words you already know - simple words like god and sun and home. Words that are part of the furniture of your mind, the vocabulary of your subconscious, the words in your heart. You’ll read about where they come from and what they mean, just like in a regular word-of-the-day, but you’ll also read about how their sounds contribute to their meaning in subtle ways (phonosemantics), related words, and their place in the universal subconscious.

	Have your name analyzed — DJ Word of the Day style. I believe our names reflect both our character and our purpose in life. For a donation of your choice, I’ll give you a complete etymological analysis and phonosemantic reading — a full historical and spiritual assessment. Every name means something. What about yours?

Do you like the artwork on this site? — Get some for yourself. I create each of these pictures using a powerful landscape generation program. I strive to bring out the heart’s inner world — the spiritual landscape that informs the most ancient religions, and the symbolic landscapes that speak to us today. For a donation of any amount, I will create one specifically for you. You may choose the landscape features you want, or I will meditate on your needs and create one tailored to your spiritual circumstances. Roam in places that are your own… the pasture of ardent clearness and mindfulness… your own place, your natural range. –Samyutta Nikaya

	Want to experience meditation for yourself? It’s an excellent way to communicate with guides, develop your intuition, explore inner space, and reach a state of peace. I’ve created a series of guided meditations designed to get you started on this path, available at the Druid Journal Meditation blog.

	Follow along as I experience spiritual weight loss, the unique whole-self health solution offered by Kara-Leah at her site, be Conscious Now. This approach to weight management looks primarily at the underlying spiritual-energetic reasons for the way we manifest our bodies. Your body is a reflection of your spirit; if you want to overhaul your body, fix your Soul, and the rest will follow.

Odin (or Woden)’s name comes from Proto Indo European wet, meaning “carried away” — either with anger, insanity, or inspiration. Wet also referred to “breath”, reflecting the ancient Indo European belief in the breath as a source of inspiration and spiritual connection (still reflected in Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, etc.). His name was Wodenaz in Proto Germanic, “he who brings wod; the Inspirer”.

The energy of Wednesday is one similar to that of the word win: a willful strength that initiates a rising, tight power, narrowed and targeted. In Wednesday, the result of that targeting is a flourish of directed power.

	For the spiritual searcher who feels called or connected to Nature and the Ancient World, my articles and recordings provide spiritual guidance, inspiration, and beauty, by fostering communication, openness, groundedness, and a sense of childlike awe.

Not just a word. A guided tour of a tiny piece of the human experience. These are words you already know - simple words like god and sun and home. Words that are part of the furniture of your mind, the vocabulary of your subconscious, the words in your heart. You’ll read about where they come from and what they mean, just like in a regular word-of-the-day, but you’ll also read about how their sounds contribute to their meaning in subtle ways (phonosemantics), related words, and their place in the universal subconscious.

	Have your name analyzed — DJ Word of the Day style. I believe our names reflect both our character and our purpose in life. For a donation of your choice, I’ll give you a complete etymological analysis and phonosemantic reading — a full historical and spiritual assessment. Every name means something. What about yours?

Do you like the artwork on this site? — Get some for yourself. I create each of these pictures using a powerful landscape generation program. I strive to bring out the heart’s inner world — the spiritual landscape that informs the most ancient religions, and the symbolic landscapes that speak to us today. For a donation of any amount, I will create one specifically for you. You may choose the landscape features you want, or I will meditate on your needs and create one tailored to your spiritual circumstances. Roam in places that are your own… the pasture of ardent clearness and mindfulness… your own place, your natural range. –Samyutta Nikaya

	Want to experience meditation for yourself? It’s an excellent way to communicate with guides, develop your intuition, explore inner space, and reach a state of peace. I’ve created a series of guided meditations designed to get you started on this path, available at the Druid Journal Meditation blog.

	Follow along as I experience spiritual weight loss, the unique whole-self health solution offered by Kara-Leah at her site, be Conscious Now. This approach to weight management looks primarily at the underlying spiritual-energetic reasons for the way we manifest our bodies. Your body is a reflection of your spirit; if you want to overhaul your body, fix your Soul, and the rest will follow.

The word tomato comes ultimately from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word tomatl, literally “the swollen fruit”. It entered Spanish as tomate, and English as tomate in about 1600. By 1750, it had become tomato, perhaps by analogy with the closely related potato.

The central syllable of tomato is a manifestation of expansive, elastic energy, fitting its plump shape. The manifestation arises from a movement of earthy energy, and the result of the manifestation is more movement of earthy energy.

	For the spiritual searcher who feels called or connected to Nature and the Ancient World, my articles and recordings provide spiritual guidance, inspiration, and beauty, by fostering communication, openness, groundedness, and a sense of childlike awe.

Not just a word. A guided tour of a tiny piece of the human experience. These are words you already know - simple words like god and sun and home. Words that are part of the furniture of your mind, the vocabulary of your subconscious, the words in your heart. You’ll read about where they come from and what they mean, just like in a regular word-of-the-day, but you’ll also read about how their sounds contribute to their meaning in subtle ways (phonosemantics), related words, and their place in the universal subconscious.

	Have your name analyzed — DJ Word of the Day style. I believe our names reflect both our character and our purpose in life. For a donation of your choice, I’ll give you a complete etymological analysis and phonosemantic reading — a full historical and spiritual assessment. Every name means something. What about yours?

Do you like the artwork on this site? — Get some for yourself. I create each of these pictures using a powerful landscape generation program. I strive to bring out the heart’s inner world — the spiritual landscape that informs the most ancient religions, and the symbolic landscapes that speak to us today. For a donation of any amount, I will create one specifically for you. You may choose the landscape features you want, or I will meditate on your needs and create one tailored to your spiritual circumstances. Roam in places that are your own… the pasture of ardent clearness and mindfulness… your own place, your natural range. –Samyutta Nikaya

	Want to experience meditation for yourself? It’s an excellent way to communicate with guides, develop your intuition, explore inner space, and reach a state of peace. I’ve created a series of guided meditations designed to get you started on this path, available at the Druid Journal Meditation blog.

	Follow along as I experience spiritual weight loss, the unique whole-self health solution offered by Kara-Leah at her site, be Conscious Now. This approach to weight management looks primarily at the underlying spiritual-energetic reasons for the way we manifest our bodies. Your body is a reflection of your spirit; if you want to overhaul your body, fix your Soul, and the rest will follow.

Energetically, blue is much like a fountain of water — a burst of liquid energy, flowing, fast-moving. Compare it to its homophone blew, and remember the music named after it, the Blues – these words have the same energy.

	For the spiritual searcher who feels called or connected to Nature and the Ancient World, my articles and recordings provide spiritual guidance, inspiration, and beauty, by fostering communication, openness, groundedness, and a sense of childlike awe.

Not just a word. A guided tour of a tiny piece of the human experience. These are words you already know - simple words like god and sun and home. Words that are part of the furniture of your mind, the vocabulary of your subconscious, the words in your heart. You’ll read about where they come from and what they mean, just like in a regular word-of-the-day, but you’ll also read about how their sounds contribute to their meaning in subtle ways (phonosemantics), related words, and their place in the universal subconscious.

	Have your name analyzed — DJ Word of the Day style. I believe our names reflect both our character and our purpose in life. For a donation of your choice, I’ll give you a complete etymological analysis and phonosemantic reading — a full historical and spiritual assessment. Every name means something. What about yours?

Do you like the artwork on this site? — Get some for yourself. I create each of these pictures using a powerful landscape generation program. I strive to bring out the heart’s inner world — the spiritual landscape that informs the most ancient religions, and the symbolic landscapes that speak to us today. For a donation of any amount, I will create one specifically for you. You may choose the landscape features you want, or I will meditate on your needs and create one tailored to your spiritual circumstances. Roam in places that are your own… the pasture of ardent clearness and mindfulness… your own place, your natural range. –Samyutta Nikaya

	Want to experience meditation for yourself? It’s an excellent way to communicate with guides, develop your intuition, explore inner space, and reach a state of peace. I’ve created a series of guided meditations designed to get you started on this path, available at the Druid Journal Meditation blog.

	Follow along as I experience spiritual weight loss, the unique whole-self health solution offered by Kara-Leah at her site, be Conscious Now. This approach to weight management looks primarily at the underlying spiritual-energetic reasons for the way we manifest our bodies. Your body is a reflection of your spirit; if you want to overhaul your body, fix your Soul, and the rest will follow.

Thursday was named after the Norse thunderer because, in the minds of the Anglo-Saxons and many other learned people of the late first millennium, Thor was equated with Jupiter, the Roman thunderer. The Roman name for Thursday was Jovis deis, “Day of Jupiter”, so when the Anglo-Saxons adopted the Roman (and Christian) seven-day week, Þurresdæg (Thor’s Day) was a logical choice — even though Thor and Jupiter have almost nothing in common beyond their knack for lightning.

Thor’s name may originally have been imitative of thunder (originally Proto-Germanic thunraz), and energetically it indicates a rounded, earthy strength surging along a difficult path. The “Thur” in Thursday is more relaxed, roomy, and expansive, but still powerfully channeled.

	For the spiritual searcher who feels called or connected to Nature and the Ancient World, my articles and recordings provide spiritual guidance, inspiration, and beauty, by fostering communication, openness, groundedness, and a sense of childlike awe.

Not just a word. A guided tour of a tiny piece of the human experience. These are words you already know - simple words like god and sun and home. Words that are part of the furniture of your mind, the vocabulary of your subconscious, the words in your heart. You’ll read about where they come from and what they mean, just like in a regular word-of-the-day, but you’ll also read about how their sounds contribute to their meaning in subtle ways (phonosemantics), related words, and their place in the universal subconscious.

	Have your name analyzed — DJ Word of the Day style. I believe our names reflect both our character and our purpose in life. For a donation of your choice, I’ll give you a complete etymological analysis and phonosemantic reading — a full historical and spiritual assessment. Every name means something. What about yours?

Do you like the artwork on this site? — Get some for yourself. I create each of these pictures using a powerful landscape generation program. I strive to bring out the heart’s inner world — the spiritual landscape that informs the most ancient religions, and the symbolic landscapes that speak to us today. For a donation of any amount, I will create one specifically for you. You may choose the landscape features you want, or I will meditate on your needs and create one tailored to your spiritual circumstances. Roam in places that are your own… the pasture of ardent clearness and mindfulness… your own place, your natural range. –Samyutta Nikaya

	Want to experience meditation for yourself? It’s an excellent way to communicate with guides, develop your intuition, explore inner space, and reach a state of peace. I’ve created a series of guided meditations designed to get you started on this path, available at the Druid Journal Meditation blog.

	Follow along as I experience spiritual weight loss, the unique whole-self health solution offered by Kara-Leah at her site, be Conscious Now. This approach to weight management looks primarily at the underlying spiritual-energetic reasons for the way we manifest our bodies. Your body is a reflection of your spirit; if you want to overhaul your body, fix your Soul, and the rest will follow.

Tree is from Proto Indo European deru or doru, which meant “oak tree”. The oak tree was so central and sacred to the ancient Indo Europeans that in many of the daughter languages, including English, the word for “oak” was simply extended to mean all trees everywhere. It’s also the root of true, truce, betroth, truth, trust, dryad, rhododendron, and of course druid. The oak tree itself may have been too holy to have its name spoken; in any case, its name oak has an unknown origin — see oak.

Meanwhile, deru/doru became trewan in Proto Indo European, and treo in Old English; it was simplified to tree in Modern English.

The word tree seems to be concerned with growth and endurance: powerful energy moving along a path, with stamina and determination.

Thanks to Nio for suggesting this word of the day!

	For the spiritual searcher who feels called or connected to Nature and the Ancient World, my articles and recordings provide spiritual guidance, inspiration, and beauty, by fostering communication, openness, groundedness, and a sense of childlike awe.

Not just a word. A guided tour of a tiny piece of the human experience. These are words you already know - simple words like god and sun and home. Words that are part of the furniture of your mind, the vocabulary of your subconscious, the words in your heart. You’ll read about where they come from and what they mean, just like in a regular word-of-the-day, but you’ll also read about how their sounds contribute to their meaning in subtle ways (phonosemantics), related words, and their place in the universal subconscious.

	Have your name analyzed — DJ Word of the Day style. I believe our names reflect both our character and our purpose in life. For a donation of your choice, I’ll give you a complete etymological analysis and phonosemantic reading — a full historical and spiritual assessment. Every name means something. What about yours?

Do you like the artwork on this site? — Get some for yourself. I create each of these pictures using a powerful landscape generation program. I strive to bring out the heart’s inner world — the spiritual landscape that informs the most ancient religions, and the symbolic landscapes that speak to us today. For a donation of any amount, I will create one specifically for you. You may choose the landscape features you want, or I will meditate on your needs and create one tailored to your spiritual circumstances. Roam in places that are your own… the pasture of ardent clearness and mindfulness… your own place, your natural range. –Samyutta Nikaya

	Want to experience meditation for yourself? It’s an excellent way to communicate with guides, develop your intuition, explore inner space, and reach a state of peace. I’ve created a series of guided meditations designed to get you started on this path, available at the Druid Journal Meditation blog.

	Follow along as I experience spiritual weight loss, the unique whole-self health solution offered by Kara-Leah at her site, be Conscious Now. This approach to weight management looks primarily at the underlying spiritual-energetic reasons for the way we manifest our bodies. Your body is a reflection of your spirit; if you want to overhaul your body, fix your Soul, and the rest will follow.

Apollo’s name indicates Source energy that expands from a point to fill volume, like light; the result is a grounded, wholesome power.

Thanks to Mahud for the beautiful illustration!