Balticg

This stack is graciousness of Yaz (yaz@phoeniz.oulu.fi) Quote from the "Baltic Holiness" article of the Index Britannica. Report conventions. I enfold hand-me-down the successive ascii lettering "the in accord write to contemplate mottled Baltic correspondence not found from ascii: earlier a vowel. Want be macron, and indicates the long vowel. E.g. "m ate" be obliged to be "buddy".. earlier an "e" is the Lithuanian e with dot concluded it. ^ earlier a write, be obliged to be v concluded it. E.g. ^Zem.epatis be obliged to be: v. Zemepatis, earlier a write be obliged to be under it. The gods. Dievs. The Baltic words Latvian dievs, Lithuanian dievas, and Old Prussian deivas are etymologically allied to the Indo-European deiuos; among others, the Greek Zeus is inferior from the identical nitty-gritty. It firstly meant the physical sky, but or in Old Indian and other religions the sky became in the flesh as an anthropomorphic deity. Dievs, the pre-Christian Baltic name for god, was hand-me-down by Christian missionaries (and in spite of this is) to smudge the Christian God. The etymology of the word indicates that the Balts preserved its oldest forms, which is in addition true of the functions and attributes of the in the flesh Baltic sky god Dievs, who lives on his sheep farm on the sky load but does not drink in the work of the persevere with. Crucially, Dievs is a bridegroom who rides together with the other gods to a sky wedding in which his bride is Saule. Dievs' ancestors is afterward development; in the ancestors, Dieva d eli (God's Sons) arrive on the scene the original function. By this means Dievs is pictured as the initiation of a ancestors of sky gods. At any rate such anthropomorphic temperament, newborn seal that gives Dievs a indiscriminate upshot may be observed: he appears as the engineer of order in the world on the one hand, and as the law and bodyguard of righteous law on the other. From time to time he trees the sky load and energetically takes part in the routine life of the farmers under. His speak in mottled twelve-monthly festivals is dramatically described. In unfriendliness of this, the Baltic Dievs is go well together to the Old Indian Dyaus, the Greek Zeus, and other personifications of the sky. Such divinities enfold a government, in section with other gods of their religions, to in the past voguish a conditional function. P erkons. In Baltic, as in other Indo-European religions, put on is, in grow to Dievs, the Thunderer (Latvian P erkons, Lithuanian Perk unas) with specifically have possession of functions. P erkons is described in the oldest records and in poetic and sonnet mythology, but, although he is a original supernatural being put on is no dynamic to fit into that he is the ready god. His detached house is in the sky, and, whim Dievs, he sometimes descends from the sky load. He has two ready temperament. To start with, he is a controlling warrior, allegorically described as the sky smith, and the pest of evil. His function as retribution of the devil and other evil spirits is of conditional use and has been formed to a vast daub under the occupy of Christian syncretism. Secondly, he is a lushness god, and he controls the rain, an chief rationale in the life of farmers. Various sacrifices were finished to him in periods of aridness as well as in epoch of condition and gorge. No other god ample a place of such use at the farmer's consider concerning festivals, remarkably in the fall at gather round time. Intend the other sky gods, he in addition has a ancestors. Regular although his daughters are mentioned occassionally, firstly he had honorable sons, and myths depicting sky weddings stage his function dramatically, as a bridegroom and as the initiation in his sons' weddings. Saule. The sun, Saule, occupies the connected place in the pantheon of Baltic gods. The supernatural being of the sun has been acknowledged all quiet the world, and the Balts were no exception. The Baltic turn up of the sun as supernatural being is so genuine and have possession of that it was one of the foremost to be studied by scholars. Of summit use is the congruence in both functions and attributes of Saule and the ancient Indian god S urya. Similarities amongst the two gods are so vast that, were not the two peoples not speaking by various thousand miles and various millennia, sequence crash amongst them would be indicated more readily of honorable a spend time at origin. The kind of Saule is dualistic in that she is depicted as a mother on one hand, and a immature person on the other. Her attributes are described according to the function she drama. As a immature person she is mentioned honorable subsequently she is a bride to the other sky gods. But as her daughters mostly are in the identical function, it is grumpy to isolate bteween them. As a mother, nonetheless, she is depicted widely luxury far away and all right. Her sheep farm on the sky load borders that of Dievs, and both Dieva d eli and Saules meitas (Daughters of the Sun) arrive on the scene and work together. Sometimes Dievs and Saule become incensed at each other because of their respective children, as, for plan, subsequently Dieva d eli break the rings of Saules meitas or subsequently Saules meitas yell the swords of Dieva d eli. Their ill will lasts three days, which some scholars performance swallow natural phenomena; i.e., the three days earlier the new moon subsequently Dievs, a substitute for the moon, is not audible. That Saule, comfortably described in mythology, in addition had a cult loving to her is not compulsory by numerous hymns in her honour. They bear either vocabulary of acknowledgment for her copiousness or prayers seeking her aid, not honorable in equal finish to promotion but to life in predominant. In promotion Saule is a sanctifier of the lushness of the fields; in the life of the diverse she is a be around sky goddess, nosy in her omniscience. She has secular righteous temperament and punishes the abandoned and aids the examine. Whereas the question of while Saule's sitting room of commend were located is not solved, the occassions for rituals pertaining to Saule enfold been indisputably locate, the upper limit chief of which was the summer solstice. At any rate flavor, recitative, and change, a connected place in the ceremonies was ample by a ritual banquet, at which cheese and a design brewed with be fond of (afterward snifter) were deceased. M eness. M eness, the moon, in addition belongs to the sky pantheon. Complete itemization honorable now has outmoded that he has a function as a war god in Baltic religion. Such a function is indicated not honorable by his dress and accoutrements but remarkably by his armaments and vocabulary hand-me-down in epoch of war. The occupy of syncretism, nonetheless, has erased the outlines of his temperament so far as to make a turn up of his function and any cult he may enfold had very grumpy. The sky wedding myths make available a moderately luxury genuine picture in which he is represented as a conflict-creating hostile suitor of Auseklis (the Morning Star). Auseklis, his sons, Dieva d eli, and Saules meitas form a side group of divinities. Regardless of they are mentioned in the sky myths, they enfold remained honorable as personifications of natural phenomena, characterized by the upper limit okay imagery. It is enormous that a spend time at seal of the sky gods, and, in fact, of all Baltic divinites, is the communicate government for each to enfold a ancestors. All the divinities mentioned concluded are neatly associate with horses: they either move or are deep-set in chariots across the sky load and materialize on earth in the identical comfort. The list of domestic animals is uncertain but largely varies from two to five or luxury. This part in addition confirms the assumption ties amongst Baltic and Indo-Iranian religions. Regardless of males form the largest part of the sky gods, the chthonic (underworld) divinities are when all's said and done female. In both Latvian and Lithuanian religions the earth is in the flesh and called Hole Close relative (Latvian Zemes m ate, Lithuanian ^Zemyna). But the Lithuanians in addition enfold ^Zem.epatis, Hole Master. Latvians in predominant deliver to mothers, Lithuanians to masters. Zemes m ate is the honorable deity in grow to Dievs who is firstly mature for secular happiness. Based on the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, it has been asserted that she is the mother of the other gods, but put on is no shelf for this view in other sources. Beneath the occupy of Christian-pagan syncretism, the Virgin Mary has unspecified some of the functions of Zemes m ate. What's more, some of these functions enfold been acquired and differentiated by mottled other afterward divinities, who, nonetheless, enfold not lost their crisp chthonic temper. By this means, a deity of the dead has mature from Zemes m ate, called in Latvian Smil^su m ate (Close relative of the Sands), Kapu m ate (Close relative of the Graves), and Ve,lu m ate (Close relative of the Ghosts). Libations and sacrifices were on hand to Zemes m ate. Such rituals were in addition performed in association with the other divinities at a afterward point of view of increase. The lushness of the fields is in addition guaranteed by Jumis, who is symbolized by a back head of grain, and by mottled mothers, such as Lauka m ate (Close relative of the Fields), Linu m ate (Close relative of the Flax), and Mie^za m ate (Close relative of the Barley). Lumber and rural deities. A forest supernatural being, spend time at to all Baltic peoples, is called in Latvian Me^za m ate (Close relative of the Lumber, Lithuanian Medein.e). She another time has been just starting out differentiated voguish other divinities, or somewhat she was resolution over-elaborate appellations with no mythological upshot, such as Kr umu m ate (Close relative of the Scour), Lazdu m ate (Close relative of the Hazels), Lapu m ate (Close relative of the Vegetation), Ziedu m ate (Close relative of the Blossoms), and even S e,nu m ate (Close relative of the Mushrooms). Lumber flora and fauna are ruled by the Lithuanian Zv.erin.e contrary to the Latvian Me^za m ate. The guarantee and happiness of the farmer's cling on to is cared for by the Latvian M ajas gars (Poise of the House; Lithuanian Kaukas), which lives in the fashion. Regularly, other persevere with buildings enfold their own customers - Latvian Pirts m ate (Close relative of the Shelter), Rijas m ate (Close relative of the Threshing Carry on); Lithuanian Gabjauja. At the same time as natural phenomena and processes enfold consistently been raised to the level of divinities, put on is a airy list of beautifully described junior mythological beings whose functions are either very opt for or all right denoted by their names. Marine deities are Latvian J uras m ate (Close relative of the Sea)" m ate (Close relative of the Waters), Upes m ate (Close relative of the Rivers), and Bangu m ate (Close relative of the waves; Lithuanian Bangp ut ys), what atmospheric deities are Latvian V eja m ate (Close relative of the Adorn), Lithuanian V.ejopatis (Master of the Adorn), Latvian Lietus m ate (Close relative of the Rain), Miglas m ate (Close relative of the Fog), and Sniega m ate (Close relative of the Blizzard). Regular bigger is the list of fill beings allied to secular goings-on, but honorable their names are in spite of this to be found, for plan Miega m ate (Close relative of Snooze) and Tirgus m ate (Close relative of the Sell). Divine being of grouping. At the same time as of peculiarities of the so riches, it is grumpy to give your opinion whether the goddess of grouping, Laima (from the nitty-gritty word laime, meaning "enjoyment" and "luck"), firstly had the identical use in Baltic religion as afterward, or whether her build is due to have possession of gone go beyond of each of the Baltic peoples. In any shelter, a towering regular of squeeze something like Laima is impossible. The real absolute of secular luck, she is mentioned mostly together with Dievs in association with the multiply of tradition. Regardless of Laima determines a man's stable grouping at the next of his emergence, he can in spite of this lead his life well or badly within the precincts prim and proper by her. She in addition determines the next of a person's death, sometimes even arguing about it with Dievs. The devil. The devil, Velns, has a clear-cut function, which is once in a while standard so well in the mythology of other peoples. At any rate the inborn external features, various temperament are remarkably emphasized. Velns, for situation, is a useless devil. In grow, the Balts are the honorable colonialized civilization in Europe who enfold preserved a airy totting up of mythology that in unequal variations and situations stage the devil as a German possessor. New-found evil physical is the Latvian Vilkacis, Lithuanian Vilkatas, who corresponds to the werewolf in the traditions of other peoples. The belief that the dead do not leave this world all right is the reason for both good and evil spirits. As good spirits the dead return to the living as invisible beings (Latvian velis, Lithuanian v.el.es), but as evil ones they return as persecutors and misleaders (Latvian vad at ajs, Lithuanian vaidilas).