In the 1st century BCE Julius Caesar writes about the tribes of Germania, noting they have no druids or organized religion. Nor, he continues, do they partake in ritual sacrifice with the same enthusiasm as the Romans.
Caesar mentions the sparsity of the Germanic pantheon, saying they worship only the Sun, Moon and Fire God Vulkan (Roman: Vulcanus). Vulkan is the German word for volcano, which came into use from the Latin.
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While Caesar's observation is limited it's also telling. In keeping with the German animist tradition the tribes did not create a complex religion and cosmology. Until Christianity they also took a dim view of the afterlife, having enough of the Undead to worry about in real time.
In another perspective Caesar notes the pan-tribal recognition of a Mother Goddess or Earth Goddess. The German gods and goddesses are part of nature all around them, and the temples are the trees and rocks and waters. In Germanic culture the Sun is female unlike others such as Egyptian where he's male.
Die Sonne or Sonne is the Sun goddess and also the physical manifestation of the Sun. She drives a golden chariot across the sky. Der Mond is the masculine Moon, who reflects her light when she rests at night.
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The Fire God came into existence later in the history of the Germanic people but possibly as early as the 6th century BCE. Vulkan is cognate with Roman Vulcan, whose feast is August 23, and Greek Hephaestus. By the 1st century BCE the Romans are marching all around Germania. They may have been repelled but did leave some mythological influence behind.
A strong, fiery, masculine God, connected with the mysteries of the Earth and the forge of creation, Vulcan would have called to the German warrior spirit. He embodies the primal male. Apart from Zui the distant Sky Father, the pantheon was low on males. Vulcan connects with the powers of Earth and the realm of humankind.
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In Rome, the earliest temple to Vulcan, the Vulcanal, goes back to the 8th century BCE. The Vulcanal stood in the place of the later Roman Forum. The Vulcanalia sacrifice was offered to Vulcan at the temple August 23.
Bonfires are lit and sacrificial small animals and fish are tossed into the flames alive. The festival comes at the hottest time of year when fire was likely to break out in fields and buildings, and offerings ask the favor of the Fire God.
The Roman Vulcan is often equated with Greek Hephaestus, who has a prevalent place as smith of the Olympian Gods. A member of the Twelve Olympians, Hephaestus is God of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, artisans, metallurgy, carpenters, forges, sculpting, and blacksmiths.
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A few hundred years later, the Norse bring the Fire elemental Loge or Logi into Scandinavian mythology. He's the son of a Jötunn who gives him dominion over fire, and his two brothers rule air and water. However, he's not recorded until the 13th century CE Prose Edda, and has little effect on the people of Germania overall.
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