The Three Kindreds

Three Kindreds Essay: 

The kindreds as a whole are the various tribes of beneficial ‘Others’ that are present in all PIE cultures.  We honor them as the Spirits of Nature, the Spirits of the Ancestors, and the Shining Ones or the Gods.  While different cultures had different relationships and conceptions of the kindreds, some form of each lived in each hearth culture.

The first, The Spirits of Nature, are perhaps the broadest.  Often this Kindred is seen in a more animist sense, the spirits being resident in trees, hills, rocks, and the actual contours of the land.  Additionally, the spirits can be broader, such as either resident in the animals we share our habitat with, or with a concept more in line with a Spirit Animal or totem type of Spirit. 

In PIE Cultures, the nature spirits were important because they related to the health and fertility of the land, and the people were dependent on the land for subsistence type agriculture and hunting.  While we in this modern age are still dependent on the land, we are separated from it in an artificial way that I believe stems from a world view that was formed and supported by monotheistic traditions.  As a pagan or a druid or a heathen, whichever label I’m claiming at any given time, my focus and practice is based on a relationship with the physical world around me, and thus with the spirits that both inhabit the land and those that keep it healthy.

Within my hearth culture, the role of the nature spirits can be both helpful and hurtful.  A lot of effort is made to keep them happy and on your good side, so that they will work to benefit you instead of actively harm you.  A slighted nature spirit could cause hardship not just to you, but to your land, your family, your herds and fields, your clan.  While in modern culture we see this as superstitious, as a heathen-druid I find it an important concept.  While I may not grow my own food, I cook it.  I store it in the house.  I shovel the drive way and rake the leaves.  And while I may notice the price of goods at the store more than I notice the wilting carrot tops in my garden, I do see an impact from the overall lack of respect humans have for our neighbors.  The plants and animals we eat give of themselves to nourish us, we, in return, must give of ourselves to nourish the environment.

The second Kindred is the Spirits of the Ancestors.  There are several different types of ancestors that fall into this category, but all of them played some role in shaping me and making me who I am today.

The first type of ancestors are those of the blood.  Those are the ancestors who directly contributed genetic material to making me.  Through the web of orlog and wyrd that binds us together, their health, their relationship to the land, shapes and frames mine.  They sacrificed for their offspring, and their sacrifices made it possible for me to be born.  I honor them with an altar and with places at the table on Mother’s Night.

The second type of ancestor are those of the heart.  They are the people who had such a strong impact on me that they shaped a part of my wyrd, my values, and my choices.  Some of them are teachers, or the parents of friends who treated me like I was one of their own children.  Some are related by blood and heart both.  My grandmother is an example of this.  She is a blood ancestor, but she is more than some misty figure from the past.  She raised me, spent her summers with me, read to me.  She’s the one who gave our bus money to the homeless man to buy food and so taught me my values.  I know she watches over me now that she’s passed on.  Another example was my swimming coach when I was ten.  She pushed me so hard, but she taught me the value of work and of a good work ethic.  If not for her, I would not be who I am today, even though I have not seen or spoken to her in twenty years.

The third type of ancestor is the cultural ancestor.  They too may be blood ancestors, but it isn’t required.  These are the people who have had an impact on my culture, shaping it and thereby shaping me.  They may be the ancient Heathens who fought against the conversion of Christianity, or they may be people like Rosa Parks who wouldn’t give up her seat and showed me what it meant to stand firm with courage.  I honor these ancestors as well.

The last of the Kindreds is the Shining Ones or the Gods.  PIE Cultures had many similarities in their deities, often traceable to the root of their names or through their functions, such as the Sky Father or the Warrior or the Earth Mother.  While that’s not to say that they are essentially the same, there are some common roots in this kindred.  Those common roots, though, were shaped by the different cultures in different ways and the gods themselves were reflected in the cultures that worshipped them.  They showed different aspects to the different peoples, and through the relationship built between the people and their gods, they became very different individuals.

I prefer to think of this Kindred as the Shining Ones, rather than the Gods.  The reason for this is that while I recognize there are many, many gods in the world and many in ADF, I personally only honor those of the Northern Hearth.  I do indulge in both Norse and Anglo-Saxon names for them, although even still there are some aspects that are stronger in one culture versus the other.  Looking at the Kindred of the Shining Ones allows me to lump into it the luminous and numinous of other hearth cultures.  I believe it was in Albertson’s book that he spoke of how we don’t know if what we call Elves are the Greek Gods, for example.  Or maybe the Etins are the Vedic gods.   Powerful beings we don’t worship, but who are still not hostile to our deities.  Regardless, looking at the kindred in this way allows me to honor those deities without worshipping them directly.