Religion and Mythology
Erasmus IP “Modernisation of Europe by
Innovating Teacher Training’
4 – 7 July 2010
Vilnius
Religion and Mythology
“(…) And inasmuch as they [the Prussians] did not know
of [the Christian] God, it so happened that they
worshipped the entire creature-world instead of God,
namely: the sun, moon and stars, the thunder, birds,
even the quadruped animals including toads. They
also had holy groves, sacred fields and waters.”
(Chronicon Prussiae, by Peter Dusburg, 1326)
Religion and Mythology
 cremation rites
 the belief in reincarnation
 the veneration of holy groves, trees, fields, waters and
fire
 the belief in the existence of many gods and spirits
 sacrificial offerings and sooth-sayings
Pagan Gods
the Lithuanian Perkūnas
the Scandinavian Thor
German Donner
As a ruler of the air, he is a vigorous man with a copper beard,
holding an axe in one hand. He traverses the sky with great noise
in a fiery two-wheeled chariot, drawn by a he-goat. When
thunder is heard, a proverb says, “God is coming – the wheels
are striking fire”. His castle is on the high hill in the sky.
Perkūnas is very restless and impatient; he is a great enemy of
evil spirits, devils and unjust or evil men. He throws his axe at
evil people or tosses bolts at their dwellings.
Pagan Gods
PERKŪNAS
Pagan Gods
 In religion of the rulers and nobility, Perkūnas was the chief god.
E.g. the Lithuanian Ruler Gediminas (~1275-1341) writes about
Perkūnas in his famous letters to the Pope of Rome.
 The Lithuanian and Samogitian Chronicle reports the following:
“In Vilnius in the Valley of Šventaragis, named after the legendary
Lithuanian High Priest, Skirmantas, the ruler of Lithuania,
ordered vestals and priests to make offering to the honor of the
gods and to the Great God Perkūnas, who rules the fire, thunder
and lightning. They were to tend the eternal flame day and night
with oak wood. If the fire ever died, it was lit again with sparks
from a great boulder”
Pagan Gods
 Perkūnas became the chief Lithuanian god and protector of the
state. The introduction of Christianity did little to minimize the
power of Perkūnas.
 Lithuanians maintain to this day that if it were not for the
Christian God, their first god would be Perkūnas.
 In 1583, Jesuits visiting Lithuanian diocese discovered to their
great dismay that the Lithuanians were worshiping the storm
god Perkūnas, ancient oaks, the old communal gods and
“imaginary phantoms”, which they claimed were protecting
homes, towns and gardens.
 Even nowadays Perkūnas and his symbols are widely used in
Lithuanian creative arts.
Pagan Sun
Pagan Sun
The great Sun goddess Saulė is the Queen of Heaven and
Earth and Matriarch of the Cosmos. As many old
hymns and prayers attest, she is a beloved and popular
deity of the Lithuanians and Latvians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMpUtZoVaTo
Rasa ir Jonas Teka saulė
Pagan Gods
ŽEMYNA
The Lithuanian Earth Goddess Žemyna ceaselessly
creates and nourishes human, animal and plant life: all
life arises from her and returns to her.
As the mother of all, Žemyna not only gives birth to all
humans and feeds them, but also bolsters their ability
to create new life.
Žemyna also imparts health and prosperity.
Žemyna
Pagan Gods
GABIJA
 The worship of fire is of ancient origin. Since fire
protected our ancestors from manner of beasts and
terrors of the night, it was held in great esteem, as
something supernatural and otherworldly.
 When fire was brought into dwellings it did not lose its
sacredness, in fact it gained a new meaning as the
hearth-fire that united families, clans, tribes and later
cities.
Pagan Gods
GABIJA
Pagan Gods
LAIMA
- Laima is an all-knowing goddess.
- Her name carries the direct meaning of “happiness”.
- in old Lithuanian the word lemti (the meaning of
the word derives from “to destine”, “to know”, “to
decide”, “to determine”).
Pagan Gods
Laima can appear as a single goddess, or as a
trinity.
The three Laimos represent different
aspects of fate: at the time of birth
- one determines that the child will live,
- the other determines that it will die in
time,
- the third the length of one’s life.
Laima
Laima’s embodiments
Swan
Cuckoo
Duck
Lamb
Pagan Gods
AUSTĖJA
Austėja is a goddess of bees, and it was
believed that she like Žemyna, promotes
growth plentifulness and reproduction.
Austėja
Source: Drawings by Algirdas and Aurika
Seleniai
Pagan Gods
 the protectress of families;
 the only true mother of all other bees;
 a woman and a bee in one person.
A.J.Greimas links her name to the Lithuanian verbs austi – to
weave (linen) and austyti – to fly swiftly here and there, to shut
and open doors repeatedly. This metaphorically linked to the
gathering of honey and building of honeycombs.
 The Greek goddess Arthemid, protectress of mothers of large
families and pregnant women, was also called a bee, Melissa.
Pagan
Gods
DEVIL
Source: Museum of
Devils
Pagan Gods
VELNIAS, the DEVIL, the Demon
Velnias is the god of the underworld and the
protector of the dead.
He is also associated with agriculture, hunting,
trade and crafts.
He participates either as an assistant of Dievas or
as antagonist in the creation of the earth, its fauna
and flora.
Pagan Gods
Velnias is related to:
- the old Prussian god Patulas,
- the Hindu gods Varuna and Vritra,
- the Scandinavian Odin and the Slavic Veles.
The root of the name Velnias, that is vel- is the same as
for velė, the spirit of the departed, therefore, in ancient
Lithuanian religion and mythology Velnias was the
guardian of the dead.
Witch
Ragana
Pagan Gods
RAGANA
 The image of the Goddess as a Destroyer and Regenerator
is colourfully preserved to this day in the Baltic and Slavic
tradition.
 The name of the Baltic Ragana is related to the verb regeti –
to know, see, foresee and to the noun ragas – horn, crescent.
 The name itself reveals her essential characteristics:
- she is a seer,
- she “knows”,
- she is associated with the moon’s crescent.
A distaff decorated with symbols of
the cosmological meaning
Symbol traces in the sashes
Symbol traces in egg
ornaments
Source: Global Lithuanian Net_
COSMOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT
BALTS.mht