In general, the ancestors (as one would expect) speak with many voices, but not always.

Sometimes the ancestors speak with one voice.

Who Is an Aryan?

Down the centuries, the word “Aryan” has come to mean many things, but the original Aryans—the folks who originated the term—were the Sanskrit-speakers who moved southwestward into the Indian Subcontinent. For them, “Aryan” mean “our kind of people.”

What, for them, constituted "Aryan-ness"?

That, too, is clear. For the original Aryans, an Aryan was someone who spoke our language, worshiped our gods, and held to our ways.

Those were the qualifiers. It had nothing whatsoever to do with what you looked like or where your ancestors came from.

Who Is a Hellene?

For the ancient Greeks, the world was us and them: Hellenes and barbarians.

Who was a Hellene? Guess what?

A Hellene is someone who speaks our language—Greek—worships the Greek gods, and holds to Greek culture.

Who Is a Balt?

I recently read an interview with an elder in Romuva, the contemporary revival of the ancient Lithuanian religion.

Similar movements exist in the other Baltic countries and, indeed, all over Eastern Europe, having arisen out of the identity-crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some of these movements are deeply nationalist in nature, sometimes (be it admitted) veering into overt racism.

Could a Russian-speaker be part of Romuva? the anthropologist asked the elder.

The question was a touchy one. In an attempt to quell nationalism, the Soviets moved Russian-speaking populations into all the Baltic Republics. There are now nearly as many Russian-speaking Lithuanians as Lithuanian-speakers. Needless to say, tensions between the two communities tend to burn hot.

The elder thought for a while.

“As long as they can speak Lithuanian, sure, why not?” he said.

Sometimes, as one would expect, the ancestors speak with many voices.

Sometimes, though, they speak with one.