Harman family

“ You're a Harman. A Hearth-Woman. That's the most famous family of witches; they're like - they're royalty. — Winfrith Arlin to Iliana Dominick about the Harman family ”

The Harman family, originally known by the surname Hearth-Woman, are a revered matriarchal line of witches directly descended from Hellewise Hearth-Woman and her mother, Hecate Witch-Queen. The eldest of the Harmans and leader of the modern day witches was "Grandma" Edgith Harman, who held the position as Crone of All Witches.

History

Image of a woman with the Harman violet eyes and blond hair

Prehistoric Times

Hellewise and her sister Maya Dragonslayer were the twin daughters of Hecate Witch-Queen. Under Hecate, this witch clan was involved in the battle between the witches and the dragons, which resulted in the defeat and enchantment of the entire dragons species; only the youngest was spared, the progenitress of the Drache family. However, Maya sought immortality and her quest for it eventually made her the first vampire. After Maya converted her close friend Theorn into a made vampire and ruthlessly killed or forcibly changed many others, Hellewise fought her sister in the first Night War and defeated her, driving Maya and her son Red Fern from the tribe. Unfortunately Hellewise died of her wounds, but it is implied that she bore at least one daughter prior to the Night War, continuing the Hearth-Woman lineage.

Colonial Times

The blood-feud between Maya's people and Hellewise's descendants, now called the Harmans, continued into the 16th and 17th century. However, among the vampires, a predicament developed: Hunter Redfern, the current leader of Maya's descendants (the Redferns) had no male heir. Therefore, to end the Night Wars, the Redfern patriarch agreed to perform a blood-tie ceremony with the leader of the Harmans at the time, Maeve, who was tired of the bloodshed. As a result of the blood-tie, all future Harmans were considered part-vampire and regard the Redferns as relatives. The two married afterwards but, to Hunter's disappointment, they only had daughters. The first three, Garnet, Lily and Dove, were born lamia. Their youngest, Roseclear, was born a witch and was taken by Maeve to be trained formally in witchcraft when Maeve eventually separated from Hunter. Through Roseclear, the Harman line continued upon her marriage to Amroth Weland, and the birth of her child Corisande.

In Spellbinder, Thea Harman and fellow witch Dani Abforth find a book of humorous stories, in which is mentioned the story about a man named Walstan Harman who died but didn't cross over. He remained as a spirit and played jokes on the town folk. To send him to the Other Side, Nicholas Harman waited until Samhain to lure Walstan with a feast piled up of his favorite food. He cast a circle around the feast, performed a sending-back spell and sent Walstan to the Other Side. This likely took place somewhere between medieval and colonial times, showing the Harmans existing during this time span.

The Lost Harmans

The Harman family suffered a sundering during the First World War, in the mid 1910s. The current descendants at that point in time were Edgith Harman and her younger siblings, Elspeth and Emmeth. However the three were separated; as the latter children were never found, it was presumed they had been killed during the war. However, unknown to anyone, Elspeth and Emmeth were rescued and brought to England, living among humans. As a result, these two lost their connection to the Night World and forgot their true heritage as witches. They would go on to marry and have issue, some of whom came to America, also unaware of their status as Harmans; these children would later become the lost Harmans, characterized by silvery-blond hair and violet eyes, as well as having strong psychic ability (their own inherent powers, unfocused by spells). Edgith too would marry, have children, and settle in America, having descendants of her own.

Modern Day

The Harmans remained the prominent family among the witches; Edgith eventually rose to the position of Crone among the witch circles as well as their representative, and the oldest of the Harmans. They had also retained the truce with the Redferns. However, troubles began appearing for them when Thea Harman (and later other Harmans) found a soulmate among humans. When brought before the Inner Circle, in spite of Thea demonstrating great power, even being able to call on her ancestress Hellewise, Thea had no choice but to leave the Night World and her family. In light of this event, Grandma Harman had begun to ruminate on the possibility of reviving a former fourth circle: Circle Daybreak, which had once sought harmony among humans and the Night World, but was disbanded during the Burning Times.

At some point, it began to be suspected that Elspeth and Emmeth Harman had not died during World War I; this is confirmed by the existence of Gillian Lennox and her mother, both of whom are Elspeth's descendants (followed by other descendants who would also later be found). Other lost Harmans, despite being half-human, would also be found and reunited with their witch relatives.

Due to friction with the Night World during the emergence of the Wild Power, the witches, including the Harmans, seceded from the Night World and formally joined Circle Daybreak, seeking to protect humans from the apocalypse. The Harmans would unfortunately lose Edgith, their eldest member, to the Night World after this defiance; the Crone is attacked and killed by shapeshifters working for the Night World in Witchlight. To boost their strength and unite with the shapeshifter clans, the Harmans agreed to a promise ceremony between the son of the First House and the legendary Witch Child, a Harman witch and the third Wild Power. The treaty goes through but not as originally planned; the Witch Child, Iliana, instead unites the two species by conducting a blood-tie with the shapeshifter Keller, after learning her intended fiance, Galen, is Keller's soulmate. 

Members

Prehistoric Hearth-Women

• Hellewise Hearth-Woman †
• Iluna Hearth-Woman †
• Eileithyia Hearth-Woman †
• Felina Hearth-Woman †
• Senaida Hearth-Woman †
• Alida Hearth-Woman †

Ancient Hearth-Women

• Britomartis Hearth-Woman †
• Hestia Hearth-Woman †
• Acca Larentia Hearth-Woman †

Medieval/Renaissance/American Harmans

• Maeve Harman †
• Roseclear Harman †
• Corisande Harman †
• Fianna Harman †
• Damia Harman †
• Nicholas Harman †
• Walstan Harman †
• Moriath Harman †

Modern Harmans

• Sybil Harman †
• Edgith Harman †
• Selena Harman
• Sophia Harman †
• Thea Harman
• Nissa Harman †
• Blaise Harman
• Dorcas Harman †
• Dorian Harman
• Cybele Harman
• Ursula Harman
• Circe Harman
• Elspeth Harman †
• Beth Kennedy
• Grandin Harman
• Grandin's mother
• Grandin's grandmother
• Jane Kennedy
• Gwen Lennox
• Gillian Lennox
• Mary Kennedy †
• Anna Dominick
• Iliana Dominick
• Alex Dominick
• Emmeth Harman †
• Rosemary Harman
• Mal Harman

Relative Families

• Maya Dragonslayer (twin sister of Hellewise; the first made vampire)
• Thierry Descouedres (the second made vampire; paternal uncle of Iluna Hearth-Woman)
• Conlan Spearthrower (stated to be the father of Iluna Hearth-Woman and mate to Hellewise)
• The Redfern Family (related by a blood-tie ceremony and marriage between Hunter Redfern and Maeve Harman)
• Aradia Crowley (stated on the family tree as being adopted into the family, but oddly has the last name of her father/foster father, which makes her status as a Harman unknown)
• Gary Fargeon (descendant of Emmeth Harman; survived for some time as a spirit after death. Not counted as a Harman due to his ancestor Emmeth being male)
• Sylvia Weald (not counted as a Harman due to her mother being from the Weald clan instead of the Harman clan)
• Raksha Keller (connected to the family by a blood-tie ceremony with Iliana Dominick)
• Mal Harman (despite his father being a Redfern, he has his mother's surname, a highly unusual occurrence among lamia families. Mal is also stated to be a hybrid, like Jez Redfern)
• Jesse North (stated on the family tree as being the grandson of Emmeth Harman; not counted as a Harman due to being descended from a male Harman)
• Poppy North (daughter of Jesse North; not counted as a Harman due to being descended from a male Harman)
• Phillip North (son of Jesse North; not counted as a Harman due to being descended from a male Harman)

Possible Members

• Daniel Avery (husband of Sophia Harman and father of Thea. Unknown if he was counted as being a member by marriage)
• Draco Saros (husband of Nissa Harman and father of Blaise. Unknown if he was counted as being a member by marriage)
• Aunt Gerdeth (a relative of Thea and Blaise; unspecified if she is a Harman)
• Uncle Galen (a relative of Thea and Blaise; unspecified if he is a Harman)
• Celestyn (a cousin of Thea's; unspecified if she is a Harman)

Trivia

• Like most witch families, Harman originates from the original name of the family: Hearth-Woman. The surname Hearth-Woman might have been influenced by the myth of the Greek goddess Hestia (Vesta), who was the goddess of the hearth, fire and the household, and the protectress of families. 
• In contrast with the Redfern Family who are patriarchal, the Harmans are a matriarchal family, with children gaining their surnames and inheriting through the mother's bloodline rather than the father's. However, as a result in some cases, children born to a Harman father don't count as part of the Harman family, despite sharing characteristics typical of Hellewise's bloodline. 
• Members of the Harman family, as well as the Redfern Family, seem to be the main targets of The Soulmate Principle. This is presumably to make the Night World aware of the rising Old Powers.
• Physical traits common within the Harman family are silvery-blond hair and violet eyes, even though their progenitors, Hellewise, had golden blond hair and brown eyes.
• Hellewise's sister, Maya, was said to have the name Dragonslayer on L.J. Smith's family tree. However, according to Galen Drache, her surname was Hearth-Woman, which would have made her a Harman as well. This is a currently unsolved paradox, although it is possible that it is a mistake either on the author's part or the character's part.
• Thea mentions a cousin Celestyn in Spellbinder. It is unknown whether she is a Harman, though it is not explicitly stated whether she is a cousin of Blaise as well, implying that Celestyn could possibly be Thea's cousin from her father's side.
  • In the same novel, Blaise and Thea mention an 'Uncle Galen' and 'Aunt Gerdeth'. It is not known if they are Harmans too, or related to Thea and Blaise through one of their fathers.