This time period,
When the nature was dying,
Was also the time of rebirth,
Which is why it was considered to be the start of a new year.
In Lithuania this holiday was called Melines,
The time of the dead.
We can find similar holidays from other cultures as well.
In Finland the festival was called Kekri,
Kallankeif in Wales and Zemain in Ireland.
During this time the wheel between the dead and the living was at its thinnest and spirits were able to enter to the world of the living.
Veles means a spirit,
A ghost or an ancestor.
Melines,
The holiday of the dead,
Began in the end of October and lasted to the end of November.
This was the time to remember the ancestors and pay homage to them.
Melines was not only time to remember close family members,
But distant ancestors that existed before us.
For they were reason why people had thanks to give.
Most people now do not believe that the dead and the living can communicate.
The ancient Lithuanians saw things a little differently.
The dead were not gone.
Some of them were invisible spirits that lived among the living.
During Melines and Kutsios the dead would celebrate together with the living,
Partaking to the festivities.
The belief for the ancestors also meant belief for the natural cycle of nature.
The dead were the link between the eternal cycle,
Between the living and rebirth in nature.
There was something that linked everyone,
The living,
The ancestors and the gods to one and the same universe.
Both the living and the dead gathered together next to the hard fire.
Another tradition was to visit graves during Melines.
Graves were decorated with candles and food that was left for the ancestors.
Sometimes little tables were prepared for the graves and to the crows in the woods.
These tables were called veljustaleelis.
These tables were beautifully decorated with candles and food was placed to them for the ancestors to enjoy.
In the 15th century the celebration of Veles took place in the woods.
This was before modern cemeteries,
When people were buried into mound graves to the woodlands.
The families would set up camps,
Bring food with them,
Light up fires and enjoy the festivities for several days in the wooden groves.
Each family would have their own bonfire,
Where they would offer sacrifices to the gods and the ancestors.
Celebrations at home were not that different.
In the farming culture,
Straw was the symbol of life and the sun.
The family would place straws to the table,
Cover the table with white cloth and place several loaves of bread and ale pitcher to the corner.
Then other foods were placed and it was time for the offerings.
One family member would throw some ale to the hard fire and sprinkle it to the corners of the house.
The corners were most common places for the spirits to reside.
There was a comparative custom that was practiced in Finland.
During Kekri celebration,
The master of the house would wake up the ancestors by dropping ale to the road and then he would lead the ancestors to the house to have dinner together with the family.
When it comes to the Baltic cultures,
There are some customs that might originate from Vikings and Scandinavians.
For example,
During the Bronze Age,
After visiting the graves,
The head of the family would hold up a kaukole,
A cup made of human skull,
And place inside it flour,
Salt and grains.
The content was thrown to the hard fire with the master of the house saying the following words,
For all our dear friends.
Then a drinking horn was passed to each person with appropriate toasts and the feast would begin.
This dinner was traditionally enjoyed in a candlelight or small torches were burned.
After the feast,
The family would perform dinos for the ancestors.
If there were ancestors who were particularly missed or honored,
An empty place was set for them to the dinner table,
Completed with a cup,
Plate and towels.
Morsels of each dish were symbolically offered to the ancestors and placed to the plate.
The oldest person would pray.
Shades of the dead,
Who still remember this house,
Honored ancestors,
Grandfather,
Grandmother,
Sister,
Father and mother,
The dead were named,
Who are worthy of our eternal remembrance and all our relatives and children,
Whom death has taken from us,
We invite you to this annual feast.
May it be pleasant for you,
Honored ancestors,
As our sweet are memories of you.
There was not one correct way to celebrate Velinez,
As it was a holiday celebrated within a family and each family had their own customs and traditions.
In Baltic mythology,
The goddess who is connected with winter is Ragana.
She is the goddess of witches.
Her name comes from the verb rageti,
Which means to know and foresee,
And the nouns raakas meaning horn and crescent.
And her name implies that she knows and she sees.
And she is connected to the crescent moon,
A common symbol of witches.
It is generally believed that there is one goddess,
Ragana,
But she has a vast entourage of common witches,
Who are referred as raganas.
Hence,
Ragana is the goddess who governs all of her kind.
In Baltic folklore,
Raganas are not more to a woman with magic.
They are more similar to fairies and spirits.
Ragana is a shapeshifter.
She can appear as a beautiful woman or as a nightmarish hag.
She can transform herself into various different animals,
Such as a toad,
A hedgehog or a fish.
She can also be a bird and prefers flying over walking.
She does not fly with a broomstick,
But a tree stump that symbolizes the cyclic death of nature.
This leads us to another essential aspect of Ragana's mythology.
In the beginning of time,
It is possible that she was a goddess who represented dying nature and the passing of seasons,
Summer turning to winter,
As life turns to death and then begins again.
Ragana is closely associated with winter.
On the winter solstice,
Ragana and all of the lesser raganas fly to hilltop meeting places where they dance and perform secret rituals through the night.
During winter,
These mysterious beings cut holes in icy lakes and rivers where they bathe.
They sit on tree limbs and comb their hair.
Like winter,
Ragana reminds us that nature is mortal,
There is no life without death.
Early sources tell that Ragana's first iconic statues were made of stone.
She was portrayed holding a broad sword in one hand and a chalice or a goblet in another.
The goblet represents the womb,
A symbol of regeneration and healing,
While the sword is the symbol of destruction.
Offerings to her included the first eggs of spring,
Animal flesh,
Sheep wool,
Woman's hair,
Cheese,
Butter.
Ragana appears to be a pre-Indo-European deity and her worship dates back to the Neolithic times.
She was first worshipped in wooded groves by hunters who gave the first offerings of the hunt to her.
Ragana is a lunar goddess,
Connected to the cyclical nature of waning,
The moon as well as the seasons,
Winter,
Night time,
Death and regeneration.
She can heal and she can destroy.
Ragana can control the weather.
She can create storms and strong winds with her red wand.
She affects the fertility of the land,
People and animals.
She can make women barren and men impotent.
Just as she drives up the milk of cattle,
People invoke her for both positive and malevolent magic,
Crafting spells and incantations to either harness or redirect her legendary destructive powers against their enemies.
Of course,
Ragana can never be fully stopped,
Because she is part of nature and as a bringer of death,
She also creates new life.
Many spells and incantations involve deflecting her powers in the hopes of redirecting Ragana's destructive forces elsewhere.
The ancient celebrations such as Kuchios,
Kaledos and Velines are yet another testament to the deep and enduring power of Ragana.
Red is merely a phase of life.
Winter is magical time.
The symbols associated with Ragana are the moon and the stars.
Perhaps you would like to decorate your home with these images or bake moon-shaped cookies.
Ragana is a goddess who represents sparkling energy and at the same time she encourages us to rest and gather our powers for the coming year.
