Collection Of Baltic Folktales

Baltic mythology covers a lot of gods, goddesses, and magical beings. These stories from Lithuania and Latvia are filled with mythical creatures, mighty heroes, and heartbreaking tales and they show us glimpses into the past, the old way of life in the Baltic lands. What was life like in the farming communities, sacrificing to the gods and following the pagan wheel of the year?

Transcript

Very neat lovely people,

It is Nina,

You're watching Favourite Chamber channel.

Let's get back into Baldic Mythology and today we are going to talk about the invisible spirits in Baldic Mythology.

This is a topic you can find pretty much all over the world and also in Fenrir there are lots of invisible spirits in our mythology and it's very interesting when I did,

When I've done research on Baldic Mythology,

The invisible spirits,

They are very female oriented and if you have looked on my previous videos about Baldic Mythology,

You are aware that we are talking about extremely matriarchal mythological system,

Which is pretty cool.

So in Latvia and Lithuania the mythology is quite matriarchal and some of the most worshipped deities are goddesses,

There is Saulei,

The Sun Goddess,

And then there is the Nina,

The Earth Goddess,

Ragaana,

Who is not necessarily that worshipped,

But still very important goddess,

And Laiama,

The goddess of fate,

And so on.

So in Baldic Mythology,

When it comes to the invisible deities,

Many of them are female spirits as well,

It's very interesting.

So the Baldic Mythology itself,

It dates back all the way to this time period in Europe,

When most people worshipped so-called primordial mother,

The Earth Mother cult,

And that is where these pagan deities in Baldic Mythology have widespread,

You can see them as aspects of this primordial mother and developed to their own entities.

Anyway,

It's a very interesting area to research,

And there are different kinds of these invisible spirits.

There is Laumeis,

Which are spirits of nature,

They are usually female,

And they walk together with the goddess of destiny,

Laiama,

And you could see them as her group.

I could make a comparison to ancient Greece,

Where nymphs were groups of Aphrodite or her maiden,

So Laumeis could see them as Laiama's destiny fulfillers,

Helpers,

And very important nature spirits in Baldic Mythology.

Then there is Kaukai.

Kaukai,

They had also a god whose party they belonged to,

And this god was Puskaitis,

Who was the god of the Elder Tree or Elder Bush,

So he was one of the minor earth deities,

And the earth goddess in Baldic Mythology is Semina,

And Puskaitis,

You could see that,

See him as one part of Semina or Semina's kingdom.

So Kaukai were the people of Puskaitis,

And when he is the god of the bushes,

The god of the trees,

Kaukai naturally are the tree and bush spirits and earth spirits,

Since they are connected to mosses and mushrooms and all kinds of roots and branches and things intertwining together.

So there is lots of this symbolical meaning,

And Puskaitis himself as a god,

Sometimes he's described to be the lungs of Semina,

And what trees are for the bird?

Lungs.

So this whole idea of Kaukai being the roots or spirits of the roots,

And then being people's good luck bringers,

It kind of all makes sense,

But keeping this kind of nature connection alive all the time,

It's very interesting.

So this whole symbolism behind these deities is quite mind-blowing when you think about it,

And people created the myths to explain why things happen like they happen in nature,

Obviously.

So Puskaitis is the lungs of the forest,

And Kaukai are his connectors between people and nature,

One of the connectors.

And it is very interesting when we think about the Baltic mythology,

And it is said that the worship of this primordial mother,

That it was the starting point of the Baltic mythology,

A mother cult,

It survived all the way till the 19th century.

So it has had huge impact on Baltic folklore and mythology,

And still has.

Then we have another group of spirits,

Which is Aitvarai,

And Aitvarai is a dragon,

Or it's also an umbrella term for household spirits.

So it was believed that some people kept dragons as their pets,

Or they were like,

I don't think they were literal dragons,

But also invisible spirits,

But they were seen as dragons,

And sometimes also as snakes.

If you are familiar with the Baltic animal mythology,

Snakes were especially worshipped really in Lithuania,

And Lithuanians were called the snake people.

So Aitvarai could have been in the shape of a dragon,

Or a huge snake with a flaming head.

And it is believed that this idea of Aitvarai,

And these dragons and snakes,

It came from meteorites,

And when people saw meteorites in the skies,

They thought they were dragons,

And they thought they were Aitvaaris.

And Aitvaaris in the beginning,

It was also somewhat a good luck bringer,

But then when Christianity arrived,

And dragons got demonized,

And Aitvaaris became a very bad woman,

And it was believed that only witches and devil worshippers kept these dragons,

These invisible dragon spirits at their homes.

But in the pagan times,

People saw them as good luck bringers,

And also they used to feed them with baked cookie,

Baked meals,

And cooked meals,

And omelettes.

It's very interesting,

And it was believed that the first Aitvarai they lived in the skies,

Probably because of the meteorites,

Or in the woods.

And also that the more we come closer to Christian times,

It was believed that only wicked people kept Aitvarais,

And also some people blamed,

Especially during the witch hunt period,

That jealous people,

They sent their Aitvarai to take other people's grains,

And barns,

And destroying their crops,

And so on.

So people believed that witches would send Aitvarai to destroy their enemies.

And also Aitvarai was connected to Perkunas,

And Perkuna is the thunder god in Baltic mythology.

And this makes sense,

Because Perkunas is a sky god,

And it creates thunder,

And a dragon with flaming snake head could be seen as a thunder symbol,

So Aitvarai is also connected to Perkunas.

Conclusion for this would be that Aitvarai was seen as a prosperity bringer,

And divine creature really,

Coming from the skies,

And bringing abundance for the people who took care of them.

So thank you for watching guys,

These were some stories from Baltic mythology.

I will come back to you when I have more stories to tell.

I will see you soon.

Here at least it is new to you watching Fairy Chamber channel,

Continuing my series on Baltic mythology and Baltic folklore.

So the Baltic countries are Latvia,

Lithuania,

And Estonia.

And today I'm going to talk to you about Dilbas,

That is the Lithuanian name of this particular god,

And his Latvian name is Divs.

So all the Latvian and Lithuanian speakers who watch this,

I apologize if I am pronouncing these names wrong.

I am a native Finnish speaker myself.

However,

I think I will use the Dilbas title in this video,

Because it's easier for me to pronounce.

So Dilbas was the god of the skies in Baltic mythology,

And he was seen as the ruler of the skies.

However,

Dilbas was not a thunder god,

For that Baltic mythology has a different entity.

But Dilbas,

He was the god of the skies.

It is believed that the name Dilbas and Divs,

They are derived from Proto-Indo-European word Di,

Which means a god or heaven.

But in the Baltic sins,

Dilbas was foremost a pagan god,

And later on when Baltic countries people were trying to convert into Christianity,

That is when used the god Dilbas as counterpart for them.

A panel god for the Christian god,

That's what they tried to do.

But however,

Dilbas is really a pagan god,

And even older than the European gods,

His worship goes back to archaic times of the Baltic lands.

There isn't many description of how Dilbas looked like.

Most of the time he is described to be a handsome man,

Who dresses up in silver silks,

And he has a shiny sword.

Sometimes this sword is described to be green,

But most of the time it's just a shiny sword,

And he's described to dress up as a Baltic duke of the pagan times,

So just described as a wealthy Baltic man,

And how they dressed up in the past.

He is sometimes also seen as an old man,

Or he can transform himself into an old man,

And this is something very common with him.

Many mythologies,

At least in northern Europe,

Like in Finnish mythology,

He could also shapeshift,

And but beyond Finnish mythology,

And many of the gods in Baltic mythology,

They are also shapeshifters,

Tolkien in Nordic mythology,

And so on.

It's very common.

So Dilbas,

He could change himself into shape of an old man,

And he could visit from town to town,

Village to village,

And meet people,

And give gifts for those people who think they deserved gifts from them.

Dilbas,

He's not only a god of the skies and god of heaven,

He was also seen as someone who controlled the fate,

And he has parallel levels to the Baltic goddess Laima,

Who is the goddess of destiny,

And she has like three counterparts of herself.

Laima is very common with the three Norse and three beavers throughout Europe,

This idea of three ladies who are in charge of destiny,

But in many occasions Dilbas,

He's also connected to destiny and fate of the people,

And some stories even tell that Laima,

The goddess of fate,

She is the daughter of Dilbas,

But this is something that we don't know much about.

This is one part where mythology overlaps with everything,

And of course if you think about different countries in different parts of the different lands,

They've been telling different versions of basically the same story,

And this is how we get so many variations,

Every single tale in every single mythology.

And Dilbas,

He was also seen as a god who in cosmological order is a creator god,

But he's not really that kind of beginner god alone,

There were several different beginner gods in Baltic mythology,

But when it comes to human studies and Dilbas is seen as a beginner god,

He gave humans their cultural gifts,

So Dilbas is a god,

He's related to human culture and human relationships,

And protecting humans in this sense.

He's also the god of law,

God of order and stability,

And he is the one that people asked advice when it came to legal matters and such things,

And it is believed that Dilbas,

Because well he was depicted to be like a Baltic dude,

Basically in a spiritual form,

People believed that within heavens he had a farmstead where he lived under a mountain,

In the top of a mountain,

A Ceylon mountain,

And he had a house there with different gardens and pertis,

Which is like a Baltic name for a sauna,

And new servants and all kinds of things like that,

So he was really a duke who lived in the skies.

And Dilbas,

His farm was very rich and earthy farm,

Say we're in a Baltic country,

It's quite rich and earthy,

So I think there is reflection from that,

And also Dilbas as the god of heavens,

He's also connected to the sun and the sole,

The sun goddess,

And some stories tell that Sole and Dilbas were a couple,

But this is where the mythology overlaps,

Because Sole,

She's the much-loved goddess of the whole Baltic pantheon,

She's connected to Perkunas,

The god of thunder,

Dilbas,

And also Menoli is the god of moon,

So you don't really know what's going on there,

But Dilbas' mythology is also connected to the sun,

And bringing the sun to the earth,

He has also a wagon,

Or sometimes a sleigh,

Especially in wintertime,

He rides with a sleigh,

And this is a wagon,

He's pulled by two magnificent steeples,

And they're called Djevo Tirkai,

I hope I pronounced it right,

And sometimes he's also pulled by two black dogs,

Or black ravens,

And the whole idea of wagon,

You can find that from several different mythologies,

From Finnish,

Nordic,

Genetic,

And Gaelic,

Pretty much all over,

That is very common.

Dilbas,

He's very much connected to the solar circle,

And the sun,

And different sources,

And especially Dilbas,

He was called during pretty much every pagan Baltic festival,

But especially around summer,

The festivals that were related to summer,

That is when we bodied special rites for Dilbas,

And these rituals emphasize human sexuality,

Animal insemination,

And beekeeping,

So bees are holy animals connected to Dilbas,

As well with horses.

Horses were the main animal of Dilbas,

The holy animal sacred to Dilbas,

And people saw horses as gifts straight from Dilbas,

They were gifts from the god of heaven,

So when you hear these myths about Dilbas,

You can hear that there is many similarities to Christianity,

There's the shape-shifting from young man to an old man,

And the fact that people really were very devoted to Dilbas,

And that he was very loved god by Baltic people,

And he was the god of the skies,

And very important to humans,

That is when Baltic countries,

When the invaders wanted to Christianize them,

Dilbas became the god that was a presentation of the Christian god,

And in Prussian,

Dilbas is called Rokopyromas,

Which means the god who came first,

And well,

Within Finnish mythology,

I think parallel god for for Dilbas would be Ukko,

And then Ternys in Teutonic mythology,

And Thor,

You know,

But Sarveni more close to Perkunos,

But then I think Ukko within Finnish mythology,

He is like a mixed of Dilbas and Perkunos spheres,

And that's a part of them,

But this is the way mythology overlaps throughout the world,

But anyway,

Because Dilbas was such beloved god by the Baltic people of the pagan times,

That is why Dilbas,

He became the Christian god when the Christian invaders came,

Still today Lithuania and Estonia,

They are probably the most atheistic countries in the world,

And there's lots of pagan activity,

So apparently the Christianization didn't work out that well in those countries,

So this was the story of Dilbas,

Thank you for watching guys,

If you have,

If you are just as much passionate about mythologies as I am,

Feel free to subscribe to my channel,

And if you enjoyed this video,

Please consider leaving big thumbs up for the god of the heavens within Baltic mythology,

So thank you for watching guys,

But I will see you on my next video,

Stalker,

Bye.

Merry meet,

Fairy souls,

It is Nina and you are watching Fairy Chamber channel,

I promised you videos from Baltic pagan holidays,

And this video is going to be about Belinens,

Which is a Lithuanian version of Halloween,

Or San Main,

Ikri,

Or day of the dead.

Belinens,

It lasted from the end of October to the beginning of November,

And it was the time to remember the Beles,

The passed away people,

The spirits of the dead.

It was not just to remember your close relatives who had passed away,

But in general,

All people who had passed away,

And the spirits of the dead ancestors,

Were really big part of celebrating the Belinens.

All the Lithuanian viewers who watch this,

And if I pronounce these words wrong,

I apologize.

In pagan Lithuania,

There was this very strong belief that during Belinens,

And during Kutus,

Which was Christmas or midwinter solstice,

All the passed away relatives and the spirits of the dead would join the living to celebrate together.

The ancestors and the spirits,

They were people's links to the past and to the idea of rebirth in nature.

Because of the virtue of the people,

It was rather animistic and shamanic,

So the spirits,

They could live in the stones,

In the rocks,

In the trees,

In the air.

The invisible spirits,

They're always part of the living as well.

Some of the traditions of Belinens were fires,

Or the hard fires,

And the hard fires,

They were lit,

Because it was believed that the spirits of the dead were drawn to the fires,

And they would stay near the fires,

And then they would also stay near the living people,

At the same time,

Their descendants.

It's also custom to throw food for the fire,

For the gods,

And different Lithuanian deities,

And as well for the ancestors,

Because it's believed that the smoke would rise into the skies,

And into the invisible worlds,

For the deities and the spirits.

The whole time period of Belinens,

It was a great big festival,

And people made lots of food,

Ate lots of food,

And drank lots of drinks,

And they were also taken to the cemetery,

Some food,

And the drinks at the graves of the ancestors,

Who decorated with wreaths,

And maybe even handcrafts.

Grain and beer would also be poured into the fire,

And they would magically go to the spirit world,

And also grain,

And also drops of beer were poured into the corner of the houses.

It was believed that the ancestors,

Or the spirits,

In Finland we would call them tonttu,

Or some kind of house spirits,

They lived usually in the corner of the house,

So that's why people poured ale and some grain to the corners of the house.

All that was done during the ceremony,

So people would chant ceremonial songs during the ritual.

After visiting the grains,

There was the family dinner,

And there was tradition for the head of the house to give a toast called kausas.

The head of the house would put some salt there,

Some grains,

And some flour into the cup,

And then he would raise the cup and say,

For all our dear friends,

Meaning not just the living people,

But also the passed away people.

Kausas was an offering cup.

Sometimes it was a home that would pass around to each person in the dinner table,

And they would all need to take a sip from it.

Some of the traditions was to sing harvest songs,

And was to sing songs that were part of the linens,

And there was also tradition that is also very common in Finno-Ukrainian cultures,

And in Estonia,

That is,

In the dinner table people would leave empty seats for some ancestors who had passed away,

And who were really respected,

And they would put a plate for them,

And food for them,

And drinks for them,

So the ancestor did join the meal as well.

Obviously,

When the linens was celebrated in the pagan times,

There was no electric lights,

Or people ate by the candlelight,

Or they burned as small torches.

There was something really interesting that I found from celebration of the linens.

In Lithuania,

There was custom to make these small tables for the dead,

So there were small tables put next to the graves,

And people would take little foods,

Or drinks,

And gifts to those tables,

So that the spirit of the ancestors might arise from the grave,

And have their own little party there in the cemetery.

I think it is really a universal thing,

The way we as humans need to have a certain connection to the past,

And passed away relatives,

Passed away ancestors.

I think all these pagan holidays that take place in October,

November,

Around Europe,

And around the world,

In a way they all have the same hard core.

People's need to understand dead,

Really.

People's need to accept dead as part of the natural world,

And this is something that many other religions despite,

Because there is fate that people go somewhere else,

And not that it is a constant cycle,

And it is a natural part of life.

Many of these October,

November festivals that were really about dead,

And harvest,

Not just dead of people,

But dead in nature,

Celebrating the harvest,

And end of the harvest.

There's this idea that we as human beings,

We do not leave our families or friends after we pass away.

We always come back to those people who we care about,

And also that we are part of the nature,

So we don't really go anywhere from nature,

We just reborn again into the nature,

Or part of us is reborn again to the nature,

And I think that is profoundly beautiful.

Thank you so much for watching guys,

And if you want to hear more about Baltic pagan holidays,

Just let me know,

And I will continue my research,

Because I found them really interesting,

And be sure to check my videos about Finnish pagan holidays,

All of you who celebrate Bellinus,

Very happy Bellinus,

I hope you have a lovely time wherever you are,

Take care,

Moin moin!