Romuva (church)
Encyclopedia
Romuva is a Baltic
ethnic religious organization, reviving the religious practices of the Lithuanian people
before their Christianization
. Romuva is a folk religion
community that claims to continue living Baltic pagan
traditions which survived in folklore and customs.
Romuva primarily exists in Lithuania and the former Eastern Bloc
nations, but there are adherents of the faith all over the world wherever there are significant Lithuanian communities. Practising the Romuva faith is seen by many adherents as a form of cultural pride, along with celebrating traditional forms of art, retelling Baltic folklore, practising traditional holidays, playing traditional Baltic music, singing traditional daina
s or hymns and songs as well as ecological activism and stewarding sacred places.
mentioning the pagan Baltic temple Romowe. The word may be derived from the Baltic
root ram-/rām-, meaning 'calm, serene
, quiet', stemming from the Proto-Indo-European *(e)remǝ-.
mention a missionary, Bruno of Querfurt
, who was killed along with 18 men by Yotvingians
for violating The Holy Forest and destroying statues of gods. This was the first time Lithuania
was mentioned in written sources. Lithuanians came to history as very conservative representatives of ancient European paganism. They preserved traditional religion until the 14th and 15th centuries as official state religion. They were the last non-nomadic people in Europe practicing pristine Indo-European
polytheism
.
In the 13th century pope Gregory IX declared crusades against Baltic tribes. This led to the destruction of the Baltic faith. Grand Duke Mindaugas
was Christianized with his family and warriors in 1251 to get appreciation from Christian Europe. But Mindaugas still worshiped pagan deities as the Hypatian
chronicle mentions. He sacrificed to the pagan Supreme God (*Andajus, later Dievas
), Perkūnas
, *Teliavelis (god of smiths), and *Žvorūna (goddess of forests and hunters).
Despite the baptism of Mindaugas, the whole of ethnic Lithuania
was not Christianized, so the crusades were not stopped. In 1387 the whole of Aukštaitija
was Christianized by Grand Duke Vytautas and his cousin Jogaila
. The old pagan priests' estate was annihilated along with archaic pagan Baltic culture. The same was done in 1417 in Samogitia
. After the Christianization of Lithuania the real purpose of the Christian Teutonic order was revealed. The Order was fighting against the Balts not to bring a new faith, but to conquer new territories. Another consequence of the Baltic Crusades was the extermination of pagan Old Prussians
.
epoch started in the 19th century. This led Lithuanians to turn back to their old roots. The national revival started and Lithuanian intelligentsia idealised ancient paganism and folklore. Some historians wanted to prove the beauty of ancient polytheism and even started creating new aspects of Lithuanian mythology
. One of the most famous of these was Theodor Narbutt who edited Ancient Greek myths and created new Lithuanian ones.
In the beginning of 20th century ancient pagan traditions were still continued in folklore and customs. People were celebrating ancient pagan festivals mixed with Christian traditions. Such festivals include Vėlinės
(day of death souls, common with Celt
ic Halloween
), Užgavėnės
(festival when winter ends and spring begins. People in Samogitia
burn an idol called Morė
and wear masks) and Rasos or Joninės.
conceived Romuva in his drama 'Amžina ugnis' (The Eternal Fire). Since the play was performed in 1912, Romuva has become a symbol of Lithuanian (pagan) nationalism.
Domas Šidlauskas-Visuomis (1878–1944) began to create Vaidevutybė (Baltic paganism) in 1911. At the same time the Latvian folk religion
movement Dievturi was started by E.Brastinis. The main problem was that the first movements were based on limited folklore sources and influenced by Far Eastern traditions such as Hinduism
and Buddhism
. Even so, the idea of Romuva didn't die during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania
.
forcefully annexed Lithuania in 1940 and renamed it the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
.
After Joseph Stalin
's death the cultural life became more free. Due to the nationalist nature of Romuva, the faith was suppressed during the Soviet Occupation and many practitioners were executed or deported to slave labor camps in Siberia
. A clandestine Romuva group is known to have existed within a labor camp in Inta
, Russia. After the members were released and returned to Lithuania around 1960, Jonas Trinkūnas (born 1939) formed the Vilnius Ethnological Ramuva and began organizing public celebrations of traditional Lithuanian religious holidays in 1967 (the ancient Lithuanian festival Rasos was made). In 1971 the Soviets expelled the members from the university they attended and exiled the leaders.
During the Cold War
most organized Romuva activity was largely based in North America. However, by 1988 when the power of the Soviet Union was waning and Lithuanian independence was on the horizon, Romuva groups began reorganizing in the Baltic nations and practising their religion in the open.
Under the auspices of the Law on Religious Communities and Associations which was passed in Lithuania in 1995, Romuva gained recognition as a "non-traditional" religion. Lithuanian law requires a minimum of 25 years of existence before such a religion can receive the state support reserved for "traditional" religions. Romuvans argue against this, claiming that Romuva dates back even farther than Christianity, not only in Lithuania but in the world in general.
pagan faith which asserts the sanctity
of nature
as well as the practice of ancestor veneration. Adherents of Romuva believe that the soul
s of those who die continue to exist in the afterlife
and stay with the living family and descendants, prior to reincarnation. Confession is based on preserved Lithuanian pagan customs and archaic pre-Christian folklore.
. All these feasts are based on rhythms of nature and containing ancient agrarian rituals.
Year is a circle marked by two sun solstice
s and two equinoxe
s and in such way divided into 4 periods. During these periods intermediate feasts are celebrated.
Užgavėnės is one of the most ancient Lithuanian folk feastes celebrated since prehistoric times containing worship of totem
animals and ancestors.
Ancient Užgavėnės rituals:
Important mythological figures in Užgavėnės are Bear, Heron, mythical deities and spirits of underworld or connected with death and spells: Ragana and Velnias (deities of underworld), witches, demons, animals-spirits, ethnic minorities symbolizing strangers from the other side.
The day of Pilėnai
symbolizes old Lithuanian faith against Christianity and crusaders.
aukuras or "fire altar" is a stone altar in which a fire is ritually lit. Participants wash their hands and face before approaching the aukuras, and then they sing daina
s or ritual hymns as the fire is lit. Food, drink, grasses and flowers are offered to the flame as the group sings the dainas. After the primary offering, participants offer their own verbal or silent contributions which are carried to the Gods
and ancestors with the smoke and sparks of the flame. See also Rig Veda hymns to the fire altar.
Most of ritual hymns are preserved in Lithuanian folk tradition as folk calendar ritual songs also Romuva reconstructed some hymns for rites of gods worship. Reconstruction is based on ritual texts found in written sources, like Matthäus Prätorius
and traditional archaic folk melodies. Some hymns of gods worship survived in folk tradition.
.jpg)
This was originally planned to be rebuilt on Birutė
hill in Palanga
but was not agreed by the mayor of Palanga. Instead, it was built on a hill near Šventoji
which also has 11 sculptures of Pagan Gods. There are four main festivals in a year:
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
ethnic religious organization, reviving the religious practices of the Lithuanian people
Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
before their Christianization
Christianization of Lithuania
The Christianization of Lithuania – Christianization of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that took place in 1387, initiated by the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila and his cousin Vytautas, that signified the official adoption of Christianity by Lithuanians, one of the last pagan...
. Romuva is a folk religion
Folk religion
Folk religion consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices...
community that claims to continue living Baltic pagan
Baltic mythology
Baltic mythology generally covers the pre-Christian mythology of the Latvians, Lithuanians and Old Prussians, which are thought to have at least some common roots....
traditions which survived in folklore and customs.
Romuva primarily exists in Lithuania and the former Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
nations, but there are adherents of the faith all over the world wherever there are significant Lithuanian communities. Practising the Romuva faith is seen by many adherents as a form of cultural pride, along with celebrating traditional forms of art, retelling Baltic folklore, practising traditional holidays, playing traditional Baltic music, singing traditional daina
Daina (Lithuania)
Daina is the traditional name of vocal folk music in the Baltic languages, and is preserved in Lithuania and Latvia. Lithuanian dainas are often noted not only for their mythological content, but also for relating historical events....
s or hymns and songs as well as ecological activism and stewarding sacred places.
Etymology
The terms Romuva, Romovė and Ruomuva came from medieval written sources in East PrussiaEast Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
mentioning the pagan Baltic temple Romowe. The word may be derived from the Baltic
Baltic languages
The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...
root ram-/rām-, meaning 'calm, serene
Serene
Serene may refer to:*Serene , a telephone jointly developed by Samsung and Bang & Olufsen*Serene, Colorado, a company town in Colorado*Jaunjelgava or Serene, a city in Latvia*Serene, a heroine in Riviera: The Promised Land-See also:...
, quiet', stemming from the Proto-Indo-European *(e)remǝ-.
Medieval Lithuanian faith
The Annals of QuedlinburgAnnals of Quedlinburg
The Annals of Quedlinburg were written between 1008 and 1030 in the convent of Quedlinburg Abbey. In recent years a consensus has emerged that the annalist was a woman.The annals are mostly dedicated to the history of the Holy Roman Empire; they also contain the first written mention of the name...
mention a missionary, Bruno of Querfurt
Bruno of Querfurt
Saint Bruno of Querfurt , also known as Brun and Boniface, is a sainted missionary bishop and martyr, who was beheaded near the border of Kievan Rus and Lithuania while trying to spread Christianity in Eastern Europe...
, who was killed along with 18 men by Yotvingians
Yotvingians
Yotvingians or Sudovians were a Baltic people with close cultural ties to the Lithuanians and Prussians...
for violating The Holy Forest and destroying statues of gods. This was the first time Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
was mentioned in written sources. Lithuanians came to history as very conservative representatives of ancient European paganism. They preserved traditional religion until the 14th and 15th centuries as official state religion. They were the last non-nomadic people in Europe practicing pristine Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European religion
Proto-Indo-European religion is the hypothesized religion of the Proto-Indo-European peoples based on the existence of similarities among the deities, religious practices and mythologies of the Indo-European peoples. Reconstruction of the hypotheses below is based on linguistic evidence using the...
polytheism
Polytheism
Polytheism is the belief of multiple deities also usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own mythologies and rituals....
.
In the 13th century pope Gregory IX declared crusades against Baltic tribes. This led to the destruction of the Baltic faith. Grand Duke Mindaugas
Mindaugas
Mindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians...
was Christianized with his family and warriors in 1251 to get appreciation from Christian Europe. But Mindaugas still worshiped pagan deities as the Hypatian
Hypatian Codex
The Hypatian Codex is a compendium of three chronicles: the Primary Chronicle, Kiev Chronicle, and Galician-Volhynian Chronicle. It is the most important source of historical data for southern Rus'...
chronicle mentions. He sacrificed to the pagan Supreme God (*Andajus, later Dievas
Dievas
Lithuanian Dievas, Latvian Dievs, Prussian Deywis, Yotvingian Deivas was the supreme god in the Baltic mythology and one of the most important deities together with Perkūnas. Dievas is a direct successor of the Proto-Indo-European supreme god *Dyēus of the root *deiwo-...
), Perkūnas
Perkunas
Perkūnas was the common Baltic god of thunder, one of the most important deities in the Baltic pantheon. In both Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, he is documented as the god of thunder, rain, mountains, oak trees and the sky.-Etymology:...
, *Teliavelis (god of smiths), and *Žvorūna (goddess of forests and hunters).
Despite the baptism of Mindaugas, the whole of ethnic Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
was not Christianized, so the crusades were not stopped. In 1387 the whole of Aukštaitija
Aukštaitija
Aukštaitija is the name of one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. The name comes from the relatively high elevation of the region, particularly the eastern parts.-Geography:...
was Christianized by Grand Duke Vytautas and his cousin Jogaila
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...
. The old pagan priests' estate was annihilated along with archaic pagan Baltic culture. The same was done in 1417 in Samogitia
Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...
. After the Christianization of Lithuania the real purpose of the Christian Teutonic order was revealed. The Order was fighting against the Balts not to bring a new faith, but to conquer new territories. Another consequence of the Baltic Crusades was the extermination of pagan Old Prussians
Old Prussians
The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...
.
Revival
The RomanticRomanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
epoch started in the 19th century. This led Lithuanians to turn back to their old roots. The national revival started and Lithuanian intelligentsia idealised ancient paganism and folklore. Some historians wanted to prove the beauty of ancient polytheism and even started creating new aspects of Lithuanian mythology
Lithuanian mythology
Lithuanian mythology is an example of Baltic mythology, developed by Lithuanians throughout the centuries.-History of scholarship:Surviving information about Baltic paganism in general is very sketchy and incomplete. As with most ancient Indo-European cultures Lithuanian mythology is an example of...
. One of the most famous of these was Theodor Narbutt who edited Ancient Greek myths and created new Lithuanian ones.
In the beginning of 20th century ancient pagan traditions were still continued in folklore and customs. People were celebrating ancient pagan festivals mixed with Christian traditions. Such festivals include Vėlinės
Vélines
Vélines is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
(day of death souls, common with Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
), Užgavėnės
Užgavenes
Užgavėnės is a Lithuanian festival that takes place during the seventh week before Easter . Its name in English means "the time before Lent"...
(festival when winter ends and spring begins. People in Samogitia
Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...
burn an idol called Morė
More
More or Mores may refer to:* More , a family name, including a list of people with the surname-Computers:* MORE , a Mac OS outliner application* more , a shell command* MORE protocol, a routing protocol-Film:...
and wear masks) and Rasos or Joninės.
Modern folk religion
In 1900 VydūnasVydunas
Wilhelm Storost, artistic name Vilius Storostas-Vydūnas , mostly known as Vydūnas, was a Prussian-Lithuania teacher, poet, humanist, philosopher and Lithuanian...
conceived Romuva in his drama 'Amžina ugnis' (The Eternal Fire). Since the play was performed in 1912, Romuva has become a symbol of Lithuanian (pagan) nationalism.
Domas Šidlauskas-Visuomis (1878–1944) began to create Vaidevutybė (Baltic paganism) in 1911. At the same time the Latvian folk religion
Folk religion
Folk religion consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices...
movement Dievturi was started by E.Brastinis. The main problem was that the first movements were based on limited folklore sources and influenced by Far Eastern traditions such as Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Even so, the idea of Romuva didn't die during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania
History of Lithuania
The history of Lithuania dates back to at least 1009, the first recorded written use of the term. Lithuanians, a branch of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands, establishing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in the 13th century the short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania. The Grand Duchy...
.
Soviet suppression of Romuva
The Lithuanian pagan movement was stopped by Soviet occupation in 1940. The Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
forcefully annexed Lithuania in 1940 and renamed it the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
.
After Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's death the cultural life became more free. Due to the nationalist nature of Romuva, the faith was suppressed during the Soviet Occupation and many practitioners were executed or deported to slave labor camps in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. A clandestine Romuva group is known to have existed within a labor camp in Inta
Inta
Inta is a town in the Komi Republic, Russia. During the Soviet era a "corrective labor camp" was located here. Population: It is served by Inta Airport....
, Russia. After the members were released and returned to Lithuania around 1960, Jonas Trinkūnas (born 1939) formed the Vilnius Ethnological Ramuva and began organizing public celebrations of traditional Lithuanian religious holidays in 1967 (the ancient Lithuanian festival Rasos was made). In 1971 the Soviets expelled the members from the university they attended and exiled the leaders.
During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
most organized Romuva activity was largely based in North America. However, by 1988 when the power of the Soviet Union was waning and Lithuanian independence was on the horizon, Romuva groups began reorganizing in the Baltic nations and practising their religion in the open.
Independence
Romuva was recorded as an Ancient Baltic faith community in 1992 after independence in 1990.Under the auspices of the Law on Religious Communities and Associations which was passed in Lithuania in 1995, Romuva gained recognition as a "non-traditional" religion. Lithuanian law requires a minimum of 25 years of existence before such a religion can receive the state support reserved for "traditional" religions. Romuvans argue against this, claiming that Romuva dates back even farther than Christianity, not only in Lithuania but in the world in general.
Beliefs
Romuva is a polytheisticPolytheism
Polytheism is the belief of multiple deities also usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own mythologies and rituals....
pagan faith which asserts the sanctity
Sacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
of nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
as well as the practice of ancestor veneration. Adherents of Romuva believe that the soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
s of those who die continue to exist in the afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
and stay with the living family and descendants, prior to reincarnation. Confession is based on preserved Lithuanian pagan customs and archaic pre-Christian folklore.
Feasts
Romuva feasts are based on traditional archaic Lithuanian customs preserved in authenthic form, folkloreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. All these feasts are based on rhythms of nature and containing ancient agrarian rituals.
Year is a circle marked by two sun solstice
Solstice
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
s and two equinoxe
Equinoxe
Équinoxe was the second major-label album release by French musician Jean Michel Jarre, released on Disques Dreyfus in late 1978....
s and in such way divided into 4 periods. During these periods intermediate feasts are celebrated.
- Pusiaužiemis (celebrated in January) is change of nature (cosmos) in winter. All the hibernating creatures wake up and declare about possible climatic conditions. Grass-snake is important mythological creature which crawls on festive table and hallows food. This means a good yield and luck coming new year. Romuva officiates rites to thank Gods and dances traditional grass-snake dance preserved in folklore.
- In February Romuva celebrates The day of Gabija (family and household goddess), The day of Perkūnas (Thunder-god), UžgavėnėsUžgavenesUžgavėnės is a Lithuanian festival that takes place during the seventh week before Easter . Its name in English means "the time before Lent"...
and The day of Pilėnai.
Užgavėnės is one of the most ancient Lithuanian folk feastes celebrated since prehistoric times containing worship of totem
Totem
A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
animals and ancestors.
Ancient Užgavėnės rituals:
- Eat of festive fat food and masquerade.
- Horse race
- Destruction of feminine or masculine kind of idol symbolizing bad winter spirits
- Fight of two spirits Lašininis and Kanapinis simbolizing fight of winter and spring. Kanapinis always wins.
- Play of funeral and wedding.
- Various folk magic practices
Important mythological figures in Užgavėnės are Bear, Heron, mythical deities and spirits of underworld or connected with death and spells: Ragana and Velnias (deities of underworld), witches, demons, animals-spirits, ethnic minorities symbolizing strangers from the other side.
The day of Pilėnai
Pilenai
Pilėnai was a fortress in medieval Lithuania. It is well known in the Lithuanian history due to the heroic defense of the castle.-Defence:The defence, led by the Duke Margiris, took place on February 25, 1336, when the castle was besieged by the army of the Teutonic Knights...
symbolizes old Lithuanian faith against Christianity and crusaders.
- In March Spring equinox is celebrated.
- In April Jorė is celebrated. Jore is festival of spring Thundergod PerkūnasPerkunasPerkūnas was the common Baltic god of thunder, one of the most important deities in the Baltic pantheon. In both Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, he is documented as the god of thunder, rain, mountains, oak trees and the sky.-Etymology:...
who awakes nature and fertility. - In May Milda festival is celebrated. Milda is probably in 19th century invented Lithuanian love goddess, anyway traditional may feasts are connected with love, delight and youth. In villages Gegužines are celebrated during the whole month. Important mythological creature during May feasts and Milda is Cuckoo. She is zoomorphic shape or symbol of LaimaLaimaLaima was the personification of fate and luck in the Latvian and Lithuanian mythologies. She was associated with childbirth, marriage, and death; she was also the patron of pregnant women...
, goddess of birth and destiny. She is one of the most important deities in Lithuanian folklore, similar to ancient Greek Ananke (mythology)Ananke (mythology)In Greek mythology, Ananke, also spelled Anangke, Anance, or Anagke , was the personification of destiny, necessity and fate, depicted as holding a spindle. She marks the beginning of the cosmos, along with Chronos...
and moiraeMoiraeThe Moirae, Moerae or Moirai , in Greek mythology, were the white-robed incarnations of destiny . Their number became fixed at three...
when Laima appears in trinity. - In June Summer solsticeSummer solsticeThe summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also...
(Rasos, Kupolinės) is celebrated. - In July The day of MindaugasMindaugasMindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians...
crown is celebrated. - In August Žolinė (The day of Grass) is celebrated. This feast was adopted in Christianity and marked as Mary assumption. In Lithuanian tradition Žolinė was the day of natural vegetation and Mother Earth – ŽemynaŽemynaŽemyna is the goddess of the earth in Lithuanian mythology. She is usually regarded as mother goddess and one of the chief Lithuanian gods similar to Latvian Zemes māte. Žemyna personifies the fertile earth and nourishes all life on earth, human, plant, and animal. All that is born of earth will...
. - In September the autumn equinox and The day of PerkūnasPerkunasPerkūnas was the common Baltic god of thunder, one of the most important deities in the Baltic pantheon. In both Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, he is documented as the god of thunder, rain, mountains, oak trees and the sky.-Etymology:...
is celebrated. In Lithuania the autumn equinox is marked as day of Baltic solidarity. - In October the day of Krivis (Lithuanian pagan supreme priest) is celebrated.
- In November the Day of all souls is celebrated. Its ancient Lithuanian winter feast containing worship of the ancestors' spirits.
- In December KūčiosKuciosKūčios is the traditional Christmas Eve dinner in Lithuania, held on the twenty fourth of December. The meal is a family occasion which includes many traditions of both pagan and Christian origin...
and Kalėdos is celebrated, also The day of Praamžius (God Of The Beginning) during the winter solsticeWinter solsticeWinter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
.
Rituals
The BalticBalts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
aukuras or "fire altar" is a stone altar in which a fire is ritually lit. Participants wash their hands and face before approaching the aukuras, and then they sing daina
Daina (Lithuania)
Daina is the traditional name of vocal folk music in the Baltic languages, and is preserved in Lithuania and Latvia. Lithuanian dainas are often noted not only for their mythological content, but also for relating historical events....
s or ritual hymns as the fire is lit. Food, drink, grasses and flowers are offered to the flame as the group sings the dainas. After the primary offering, participants offer their own verbal or silent contributions which are carried to the Gods
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
and ancestors with the smoke and sparks of the flame. See also Rig Veda hymns to the fire altar.
Most of ritual hymns are preserved in Lithuanian folk tradition as folk calendar ritual songs also Romuva reconstructed some hymns for rites of gods worship. Reconstruction is based on ritual texts found in written sources, like Matthäus Prätorius
Matthäus Prätorius
Matthäus Prätorius was a Protestant pastor, later a Roman Catholic priest, a historian and ethnographer....
and traditional archaic folk melodies. Some hymns of gods worship survived in folk tradition.
Romuva deities
- LaimaLaimaLaima was the personification of fate and luck in the Latvian and Lithuanian mythologies. She was associated with childbirth, marriage, and death; she was also the patron of pregnant women...
- Žemyna
- PerkūnasPerkunasPerkūnas was the common Baltic god of thunder, one of the most important deities in the Baltic pantheon. In both Lithuanian and Latvian mythology, he is documented as the god of thunder, rain, mountains, oak trees and the sky.-Etymology:...
- Dievas
- Velnias
Žemaičių Alka
Birute
Birutė was the second wife of Kęstutis, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and mother of Vytautas the Great. There is very little known about Birutė's life but after her death a strong cult developed among Lithuanians, especially in Samogitia.-Marriage:...
hill in Palanga
Palanga
Palanga and beautiful sand dunes. Officially Palanga has the status of a city municipality and includes Šventoji, Nemirseta, Būtingė and other settlements, which are considered as part of the city of Palanga.-Legend:...
but was not agreed by the mayor of Palanga. Instead, it was built on a hill near Šventoji
Šventoji, Lithuania
Šventoji is a small resort town on the coast of the Baltic Sea in Lithuania. Administratively it is part of Palanga city. The town is located about 10 km north of Palanga and close to the border with Latvia. Further north of the town is Būtingė and its oil terminal...
which also has 11 sculptures of Pagan Gods. There are four main festivals in a year:
- 23 March – Vernal equinox
- 22 June – Summer solsticeSolsticeA solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
- 21 September – Autumnal equinox
- 20 December – Winter solsticeWinter solsticeWinter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
See also
- Lithuanian MythologyLithuanian mythologyLithuanian mythology is an example of Baltic mythology, developed by Lithuanians throughout the centuries.-History of scholarship:Surviving information about Baltic paganism in general is very sketchy and incomplete. As with most ancient Indo-European cultures Lithuanian mythology is an example of...
- List of Lithuanian gods
- History of LithuaniaHistory of LithuaniaThe history of Lithuania dates back to at least 1009, the first recorded written use of the term. Lithuanians, a branch of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands, establishing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in the 13th century the short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania. The Grand Duchy...