Talk for Zolines (Festival of Meadow Grass) - Australias first Lithuanian Pagan gathering 14/2/10

Welcome to Australias very first gathering of Pagans to celebrate Baltic Sacred Days. I'm so happy to see so many of you here today on this special day. All of us come from such a diverse range of paths mostly European represented by Old European and the Indo European .Some in the group also have their faith in the Asian pagan paths as well. We all have some understanding that we share common beliefs as Pagans. To put it simply many  pagans across this Earth share a belief in the sacredness of Nature where every Earth born objects ,animate and inanimate, from plants and animals to the Waters and Rocks is full to the brim with lifes strength granted by Mother Earth. They are all full of Earths power, although in each the power is of various shape and form. All that is alive is a sign of the Earths kindness.
Another shared belief is belief that it is necessary even advisable to give honour to the Ancestors who paved the way for us today. 


Today, you have shown me that this Pagan community on the Central Coast, has the ability to transcend the semantics and terminologies of religion and become one global community of Pagans. Mother Earth is still our Earth Mother no matter which name we use for her. Father Sky is still Father Sky no matter what name we use. I do believe that certain names that have been in use for such a long time do embody a special power that we can draw upon and for this reason they will be used in our giesmes(prayers) and daina(songs) during these gatherings but I do not impose you to use these names and it may be some time before you feel comfortable to speak them if ever. There is no pressure either way. As you all know the Gods and Goddesses are universal, so whatever name you identify with is fine. There is no compulsion, in the Lithuanian Faith(ROmuva), for people to convert to any Faith, foreign or native. 


When we gather for a Lithuanian svente (festival/gathering) we will be adhering to Lithuanian customs and traditions concerning the celebration. ie we don't caste circles, call quarters or chant in the same way and for the same reason as other ethnic traditions. In Lithuanian tradition, the gathering is centered around the Fire Rite. The Gods and Goddesses are prayed to as somewhat equals. There is no need to beg or plead in prayer but simple requests with promises to honour (in word and actions) the particular God, is sufficient to gain favour. It is through songs, dances and living in a right way which is believed to appease the Gods but care is taken because each and every God can also be vengeful if disrespected. Long flowery prayers are not necessary. Short quick, memorised prayers (normally said in one breath) is believed to be more powerful and focused as the prayer doesn't get diluted with wandering thoughts. Prayer is said through Fire.


Today I see a bight future for our community through the transcending the limitations of seperatism and embracing a universal understanding that will reveal to us, the divine forces of the cosmos. These forces are still just as relevant today, only in a different way.  As we all know, many people are returning to Pagan ways and many simply have concerns with ecology and water preservation. The same concerns as for us pagans. 


On this special day, we look forward to the coming Autumn and the time of dying. It is a time necessary for the regeneration of nature and the continuation of the cycle of life.
Today you will perhaps learn some new Names for the Gods and Goddesses that you may hold dear in your own life. The names are not as important as it is to know the Energies that represent the various Gods and Goddesses. These celebrations may reveal new aspects of these Gods and Goddesses that hopefully will enrich your own understanding and relationship with them. You may also be introduced to some new Gods or Goddesses that may shine a relevant new light in your own life.

Firstly in Baltic tradition we commence with the Rite of Fire and honour the "Guardian Goddess of home hearth of Fire, grains and women. We call her "Gabija". Through Fire we can commune with the Ancestors,  all Gods and Goddesses. 


Today we will be honouring the Goddess of Earth. Mother Earth is so called because she is Mother of all all the Earthly goddesses and man included. In Lithuanian language the term for man/humans is derived from earth and literally translates as Earthling. Goddess of Earth has many names in many languages but for today we call her  "Zemyna" which simply means earth in the lithuanian language.

The next Goddess that we will honour in our gathering is the original Great Mother of all,she is the Great cosmic Mother who represents great fertility and abundance through the issuing and regulating the rhythm of all life. Known in ancient times as Queen of the Goddesses of  Heaven, Earth, Water, Air and Fire. "Lada" represents the cosmic egg from which the universe was born. Today we will address her as  "Lada" as is done in the baltic Lithuanian Faith.


Bees and honey had special role in pagan religion. People were amazed by organization of bees, which was a lot like human society. In Ancient times, Bees provided wax for the first candles,sweet dishes and mead was made with the honey. In Lithuania Bees were considered on the same level of importance as people. If a dead bee was found, it was buried in the Earth, not left unburied. Neither bees nor honey could be bought or sold, because they were gifts, not products. Bees were considered exceptional, holy, and  workers of the Queen Bee known as Goddess "Austeja". Trees settled by bees were considered holy.  Zemyna, Mother Earth has many daughters and Austeja,Goddess of Bees is but one that we will. This Goddess teaches us the true model of community just as the well organised Beehive is in constant and harmonius activity,all working for the common good of society and the diverse world in which they live..

In Lithuanian Baltic tradition, the Goddess of Bees, Austeja is the Goddess who always guides us to strengthen our community bonds. So with a joyous heart I welcome everyone gathered here today. I am excited to be able to share a little Baltic tradition with any Australian Pagans. I believe we share a common thread that should be celebrated. no matter. These gatherings will from now on will be called Pagan Celebrations with a Baltic Flavour and welcomes all pagans from every path.

A reading of a hymn of ROmuva

A poplar stood by the roadside,

Oh glorious plant of rye (refr.)

From below the roots – the ringing kankles,

In the middle – the buzzing bees,

At the summit – the falcon's children,

A group of brothers rides by,

Please stop, young brothers,

Behold the falcon's children,

Listen to the buzzing bees,

Listen to the ringing kankles,

The kankles rings for our dear father

The bees they buzz for our dear mother

The falcon's children – for our brother

This is the main hymn of the Old Baltic Religion community. It is sung about the mythological world-tree and its three most important parts, which symbolise the three levels of the world. 


The Roots –symbol of the underworld, death, the past, water – the beginning and spring of life. The ringing of kankles at the roots – represents the world of the old, the wise, and the dead. 


The buzzing bees in the middle –represent the world of working, toiling people. 


The falcon's children at the summit –represent the heavens, the world of warriors and heroes. 


Death and life is an uninterrupted cycle of evolution. A tree, even though it drops its leaves in the Autumn, goes into sleep in Winter, but its life goes on and its soul remains alive. Such is man's path as they journey through birth, death and rebirth. The central meaning of this hymn is the equal importance and harmony of these three levels.


Honoring of ancestors – is a link with dead family members and relatives, remembering them on special days. Family, kinfolk, tribe – without contrasting the living and dead, has a perpetual, indivisible connection. Language, songs, customs, feelings, thoughts, are all just a part of this connection. After death, the deceased finds himself among his dead relatives, and during religious and traditional rites, the living and the dead meet. It is a strong field of unity, and oneness, for which the link with earth and native land is very important. In Lithuania it is said "the souls of the dead are the guardians of their living relatives, or their close ones, especially dead parents, who are guardians of their orphan children". 
Ancestors are important; whom in honoring we refer to them as the original mother, forefather and others. The Lithuanians believed that  the living and the dead interrelate and unite through nature and earth. The dead become caretakers of fields and farmsteads. Funerals always used to take place in nature. It was only in later years they moved funerals indoors. 


Just as the Australian Aboriginals, the land is sacred and Emigrants, who left their native land, feel that they need to return to it and in doing so they will rebuild the most important connection. It is believed that the life and death cycle of a family turns in such manner that the roads of both living and deceased create one, single path.
 
Prayers
Kissing the Earth and saying:
Goddess of Earth,Zemyna we honour you as our Mother. From you all earthly life born and to you we shall return. You provide for us a home. You nourish and sustain us with your harvest.
Bread,salt,flowers are offered to the Goddess through the Fire on the Aukuras.
.
We call to you Cosmic Mother Goddess Lada. Mother of all Gods.
You are the universal egg from which life sprang with such great fertility. 
Lada we are grateful to you for our plentiful harvest this year. 
You are help mate and Grand mother to Mother Earth. 
To maintain your harmony of nature we must bid you farewell as you start dying. 
We await your return next springtime when you are reborn as the young maiden once again, to give us your vital gifts. 
You keep order in Nature with your willingness to sacrifice yourself each year for which we are grateful.
 To you we give an offering of the harvest with the hope that you return to us next summer.
  
We call to you Perkunas, God of Thunder Lightning and rain. 

We thank you for waking Nature after the winter slumber.
You send the rains to make the leaves grow on the trees to make the blossoms grow into fruit and to bless us with your harvest.
We are so grateful to you because you gave the wondrous gift of Fire to man from the heavens. You gave us warmth in the cold winter days and light in the dark nights. 
We learnt to cook food  to help nourish us. Without your gifts of Fire and Rain, we would not be what we are today.
Beer offering into the fire after walking three times around Alkas.

We call to Austeja, Goddess of Bees,
Austeja we give thanks for the sweet gift of honey. 
Your Bees Gather pollen from so many of Mother Earths flowers helping the plants reproduce and supplying sweet gift of honey for us and other animals. 
You teach us to live as a loving community, working together both for the benefit their own community and  all other life. 
We ask that you may strengthen our relationships with each other so that we may become a community of bee buddies.