Written by Dyami Millarson
Ætt-Theism, a concept rooted in Germanic religion, delves into the ancestral idea of viewing divinity as a vast kinship clan or family. In this ancestral perspective, the Divine is not a solitary entity but part of a larger species-like group. The term Ætt encompasses a range of meanings, such as “family, lineage, dynasty, clan related by blood, kinship clan, tribe, and race.” In the context of Ætt-Theism, it becomes a crucial element in understanding the nature of the Gods. Unlike other religious belief systems that depict Gods as singular beings, ætt-theism asserts that divinity is a collective concept. Just as species require multiple individuals to thrive and endure, Gods are believed to multiply and increase their numbers akin to humankind (originally also found in nature), animals, and plants. So this notion of divine multiplicity stems from the biological or natural observation that species, races, and families consist of multiple members. Moreover, being an integral part of nature entails existing under the pervasive influence of fate or destiny; the reproduction or multiplication of members within a species is inherently governed by the forces of fate. In the realm of nature, the perpetuation of life or the proliferation of species is guided by the moving wheel of destiny; it is evolution. Germanic religion is a nature religion in the sense that it accepts the biological multiplicity of categories of beings that occur in nature; whilst the Divine occurs in nature, its multiplicity is no different from that of plants, animals, and humans. Nature religion encompasses fate religion in the Germanic context; for fate, destiny or evolution is an inherent aspect of nature in the Germanic tradition. Observing multiplicity to be essential in nature or determined by the destiny or evolution of species, the natural belief follows that the multiplicity of the divine clan or dynasty is essential for the stability and continuity of Asgarth, Mithgarth, and Alfheim.
Viking Religion 