You don’t need to speak Etruscan to believe in Etruscan gods. Their language and culture were eventually absorbed by the Romans, but their gods are eternal. The Etruscans didn’t invent these gods; they were told of them by visionary seers. These gods were not remote, living above and below volcanos; the gods of the Etruscans lived with the Etruscans. Household altars and constant invocations kept them near, even if they were difficult to hear. We look for signs and portents in our daily lives. Everything in the world around us manifests the power of the gods. The world is full of sacred spaces. We try to interpret the beautiful and complex patterns of nature. We are always asking, then we are doing the best we can. We have books of rites and divination. We watch smoke from incense rise; we listen to the frogs singing to us. We leave out the less attractive aspects of Etruscan practices, such as divination from animal entrails. Like the Etruscans, we know the gods must have had a plan when they created us, so we ask why they make it so hard for us to discover how to align our lives with their wills.
Unknown religions