My Springtime remembrance of the Dead here in Australia

Quite a long post but when I started writing, I just couldn't stop till it was all out of my system. This post is in 2 parts. First my thoughts and acquired wisdom about my ancestors, from my Ancestors, and second, an account of my experience meeting my Grandmother Elena when I was in Lithuania in the Summer of 2002. This is the first time that I have used references so I hope you find them helpful. Grab a cuppa for this one and feel free to post and comments or questions. :) I hope you find it as inspirational and revealing as it was for me to put in black and white!

In the Lithuanian calendar wheel of the year, 2 of the great festivals of year are Velines (Autumn remembrance of the Dead) and Velykos (Easter and Springtime remembrance of the dead), which are reversed for the Northern and Southern hemispheres because they are seasonal observances. It is because of this, that so I personally, celebrate these seasonal festivals as my Ancestors did, in the appropriate season and with their time honoured customs. In saying this, in order to stay in harmony with my Muggle* community, I still celebrate the sentiment of their, Northern hemisphere based, customs of Muggle Christmas, Easter and Halloween without being drawn into the commercialism. I like any season of merriment when people bless each other with happiness and good tidings and try to emulate peace on Earth. People are nicer to each other. I still celebrate privately the Pagan significance of that time in the season while still able to partake in the sentiment of the festival of my Muggle community. A feature of Lithuanian traditional Springtime customs, among many others that are incongruous to be practiced in the opposite season, is remembering the Ancestors  so, here in Australia, when Muggles celebrate Halloween with parties and dress ups, I am reminded of my own dear departed loved ones and comfort by their memory.

I am grateful for the Catholic Church for preserving the many Pagan customs by adopting them as their own, even if that wasn't their intention. Especially in Lithuania since her conversion in 1385, the Pagan customs simply have had a name change but the customs remain today. Just to clear a few things up, some people may not realise, but as Pagans, we know that:

-Christmas was the Christian appropriation of Eve of Winter Solstice celebrations when Pagans welcome the return of the Sun God/dess, now related to the return of the Son of God.

-Easter was the Christian appropriation of the Pagan Spring Equinox agricultural customs, when Pagans celebrated the miracle of new life in Nature and the resurrection of nature from the death of Winter slumber. Now, Christians interpret this magical time in Nature with the resurrection of the Son of their God.

Ancestor veneration was a common theme in the customs of many Pagan peoples in the season of dying in Nature, the season of Autumn. Lithuanians Pagans even did many ritual customs for the Dead during the months from Autumn Equinox to the end of October (as they are in the Northern hemisphere).and now the secular world has embraced a concept of this celebration and glamorised it into a Hollywood style production with all the commercial trappings of Christmas. The commercialism of anything is sad but inevitable in this day as money and materialistic consumerism, otherwise known to me, as the Devil. To me, it is the Devil, who takes you away from all that's truly important in life, and that is friends, family, community, your connection with the ancestors and the Universe. No one ever says on their death bed, "I wish I bought that new plasma TV or new car". It's always,"I wish I spent more time with my loved ones", or, "I wish I had time to fix broken relationships so I could leave on better terms with ......." I believe materialism is truly what robs our Souls so I tend to avoid the consumer crush when I can.

The Catholic Church was not happy with the long Pagan veneration of the Dead observed, and so declared that November the 1st and 2nd would be dedicated to the veneration of  All Souls and All Saints Day, respectively. Lithuanians complied to these main days but still practiced their old customs in the Churches and cemeteries, and still do, even to this day. For a long time, the Vatican refused to even accept Lithuanians as truly Christian because their customs of venerating the dead were more Pagan than Christian! Whatever that means! I have not yet been in Lithuania to experience this time personally. I understand from my families descriptions that the Church is decorated with black curtains, sculls and bones are place decoratively around the church. Light from the candles on all the graves in the cemetery can be seen from far away and the church vault is opened so people can descend and pay their respects to the 2 mummified Bishops in glass coffins. I saw these men myself when my cousin, who was a student Catholic Priest, opened up the vault to meet them. I have to say it was a bit of a macabre and sobering experience. I wasn't used to seeing the dead face to face in Australia. They each had a plaster cast of their face when alive suspended above their glass coffin so it was like I really got to meet them!

In Lithuanian language, the word "Veles" means Souls and is reflected in the etymology of many words such as:

Velykos, Springtime remembrance of Souls, also called Easter today,

Velines, Autumn remembrance of the Souls, called Halloween and Samhain today by the Neo pagan and secular communities.

Velnias, God of the Souls of the underworld, now called the Christian Devil,

Veliouna, caretaker Goddess of Souls.

Through Lithuanian language, we can glean the reverence that Lithuanian Pagan people had for their deceased Ancestors and the world of the dead. In fact, this worldview was common to most, if not all Pagan tribes across the world. Lithuanian Pagans had a very strong belief in reincarnation into the world of Dausos( Paradise) and eventually back to Earth again and so did not fear death as an end to life but a continuation of the great cycle of life. It was a well known, that the Christian missionaries only managed to get converts among the Pagan peoples, when they were able instill the fear of death and eternal punishment. This fear of death was never a natural condition or belief for them. They had such a strong belief that after death they will be reunited with deceased family, loved ones and would choose death as a preference to being enslaved or live without a loved one. Suicide did not have the same stigma as it does today and history has recorded several instances when Lithuanian Pagans voluntarily killed themselves*. I know it is not be a tasteful topic and I am by no means want to romanticise the idea at all. I do personally believe in right to life or death and only if euthanasia is a well thought out, personal decision and not taken lightly. If I lived in pain 24/7, I personally, would want the choice to move on. I have always believed that society s more humane to it's animals in pain than to t's people. I believe that extending human life, regardless of pain and lack of quality of life, has become a mere money making business. These are only my opinions but I don't see much benefit to the individual, in pain, to prolong the inevitable, for the sake of money!

I feel that this attitude towards death, of my Ancestors reflect their attitude towards life. I have an opinion , whether it be informed or not, and after learning about the wonderful Sventes in Lithuania, when people sing and dance around Fires, when people carry out the numerous rituals and sing the songs, prayers to the Gods. I really believe that Old Lithuanian peoples lived every moment, in the moment, and rejoiced with such passion and enthusiasm. I love that, to this day, the Sventes are still celebrated in Lithuania with such enthusiasm.   I am proud that Samogitian* people had the courage and determination to defend their way of life when threatened by missionaries, Crusaders and invaders. Battles against Crusaders lasted for almost 300 years*, much blood was spilled and many men and women, valiantly died as proud Heroes, defending their Mother Earth and their land.

What is the understanding that I have acquired by learning Lithuanian history that I can apply in my everyday life?

As an Australian Romuvis, I am always learning from the worldview and customs of my ancestors. I have learnt to live in the moment like them, no matter where I am. I have learnt to rejoice in the cycle of seasons of my life and the life of nature with many of the same customs as my ancestors practised. I live my life with a constant sense of gratefulness  knowing that I only exist because of the toils and sacrifices of my Ancestors. I do not fear death for myself although not really a risk taker when it comes to death defying activities. I am enjoying all I have been blessed with in this life, I have much to do yet, and believe my destined time of departure is yet to come. I want to dies as a Hero. A champion of the Baltic faith who continues the wisdom with the hope of the return to community of humanity where altruism becomes the expected.

Reference

*Muggle- A person who possesses no magical skill, a term of endearment for my non magical brothers and sisters.

*In 1305 after an unsuccessful attack by Lithuanians it Estonia, 50 wives of men who did not return, hanged themselves. In the Chronicon Livoniae, author Henry of Latvia wrote,

" It is no wonder, since they believed that very soon they would live together with their husbands.”

In 1336, described as the most horrifying incident occurred in 1336 in the castle of Pilėnai on the River Nemunas. When the Lithuanians perceived they could no longer hold out against the Teuton onslaught, they kindled a huge fire, threw all their possessions and treasures into it, killed their wives and children, and then offered up their necks to their chief, the duke Margiris, for decapitation. During this same siege, an old woman decapitated with an axe 100 men who voluntarily accepted death at her hands; then, when the enemy broke in, she split in two her own head with the same axe. The annalist, Wigand von Marburg, who described this scene in his rhymed chronicle of 1393–4, characterized the spectacle as superhuman and ended with the words: 

“However, it is not amazing, since they did that according to their religion and they regarded the death much easier.

*Samogitia is called Zemaitija today and is one of the 5 provencal regions of Lithuania located it what is known as the lowlands. Samogitians had their own dialect, culture and beliefs. They are known as a proud and determined people who were courageous warriors and defended their land and freedom until 1413. Samogitians fought for almost 300 years, from the 11th century to the early 15th century. I am proud to say, they were the last of the Europeans and the last of the Lithuanians, to be christianised and still practise many of the old customs, to this day. My family are from Samogitia, which explains many of my own personal character traits.

*Crusades in Lithuania into Lithuania began at the beginning of the 11th century and was led by the Roman Catholic Church first for 200 years and then others joined in such as the Teutonic knights, and the Livonian order. The crusades lasted till a battle that happened on the 15th of July, 1410. Poles call it, The battle of Grunwald, Lithuanians, call it the Battle of Zalgiris and the Germans call it, the Battle of Tannenburg. Few in the western world know of this great Battle that was so great it had 3 names! It was a multi national fight against the German Teutonic knights by multi faith people, by Catholic Poles, Pagan Prussians, Lithuanian and Mongols. Christian and Pagan fighting side by side to send the message that they will no longer tolerate Teuton invasions into their lands to rape and pillage. Long story short, the Teutons suffered a decimating defeat, never regained power and marked the end to the Crusades into Baltic lands.

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The following is an extract of my journal of when I first visited Lithuania in 2002.

GrandMother Elena with Aunt Adele and Aunt Laima

Lithuanians still talk of the deceased in the present tense and when I was told I was going to meet Grand Mother Elena, I was excited to meet her, she was my Grandmothers Sister. I had a DOH moment when they took me to her grave in the cemetery. I had forgotten that she had passed away earlier that year but to my Lithuanian family, Elena was still very much with them! We spent the rest of the day tending her grave. Old flowers were pulled out and the top soil removed and carted out of the cemetery. We did 3 drives into the forest to dig up fresh soil to bring back to the cemetery, it was quite hard work! We carted the fresh soil to the grave where the women were waiting to plant their fresh flowers. I even tried to help planting the flowers with the ladies but was told no by one of the men because women planted flowers and men planted fruit and veges. A man who plants flowers is seen to be effeminate in Lithuanian culture so I quietly agreed to stand by and watch the women plant the flowers. Being Australian Lithuanian, I was respectful of this custom even if I am used to a more liberal equality of the sexes, I was there to learn the ways of my Ancestors in the sacred land of Lithuania.

Men stood around while the women planted the flowers.

I realised that they did not have these gender identified roles to dis empower,denigrate, or dominate the women. Quite the contrary, A working profitable and fortuitous farmstead depends on the Woman's resourcefulness. Her skills off spinning and weaving, cooking and preserving food, providing nourishment for the family throughout the year. Even in the cold snowy Winter when nothing grows, the woman has preserved foods that make such delicious meals! Chivalry towards women is an expected courtesy even today in Lithuania, where men open doors for women and offer to carry anything heavier than a hand bag,They did a good job! The grave looked very beautiful! What happened next, took me a little by surprise. The Women took a turn to talk to Elena, telling her news and explaining how beautiful her resting place looked now and hoping she was happy with it. My Aunt Laima introduced me to Elena by saying, this is Steve, he's your Sisters grandson, he's come all the way from Australia to meet you and here he is. I was nudged to stand in front of the grave and told, "now you talk". I was having a bit of a silent prayer to Elena, telling her how nice it was to meet her when I was nudged again and told,"talk,talk!". I heard someone say that they do it like that in their country and I felt a little awkward, like I was a real foreigner.

I said hello to Elena and told her that I have come from far away, all the way from Australia to meet her and my long lost family who were being so hospitable. You must be proud of them! I said that I was sorry I had just missed meeting her when she was alive and her sister, my Nanna, sends her love and misses you. Nanna is well and happy in Australia and unfortunately can't return.
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Visit to the Ancestors of my Grandfather

Kryzius family burial plot 

While I was visiting Lithuania in 2002, my wonderful Kumza family took me to a small village in Zemaitija called Alsedziai. We visited with Jadze in the birth home of my grandfather. The roof had caved in the middle, there was dirt floors, one room for the animals and one room for living and a loft for sleeping. No plumbing but a well from a Spring that flows with living waters. I was moved to tears that my family is still living in what I considered to be, poverty. She spoke to me in the dialect of Zemaitija called Zemaitiskai and was translated by my cousin, Egidijus into a mixture of Lithuanian, English and Italian and Aunt Natalija replied to her in Zemaitiskai. In all this, I was able to communicate with her and she told me that my great grandfather, was a bad man because he never acknowledged her as his daughter. I also learnt that he was murdered in the house and they suspect one of his sons.

It was a very emotional day and I felt emotionally drained and exhausted by everything with all the crying and difficult translations. To top it all, I was taken to the Kryzius burial plot in a cemetery, deep in a forest. I would never have found it without help! 

Everyone paid their respects and talked to them as though they were standing infront of them. I noticed the name of Aunt Adele carved into the headstone, with no death date. I found her buried elsewhere in another cemetery, on the outskirts of Varnai. I introduced myself and felt greatly honoured to meet my Ancestors this way. So far from my home in Australia, yet in a place that feels  so familiar, almost like home! I feel like I have returned to the home where I lived, in past lives, long ago. I was a little disappointed that the grave did not look tended to, like I had seen when I met Grandmother Elena in her cemetery. I was happy though that Aunt Stefa had taken up the duty of tending the burial plot when I returned in  2013. 

GrandMother Jadze at her home which was where my grandfather was born.