In the Forests for a Romuvis

 

There was a time, a time when beauteous calm the forest breathed,

our hearts to soothe and charm.

For Lithuanians relish calm and ease 

as lush grass relishes a gentle breeze 

that stirs dark ripples as it passes by:

We often weep in woods, not knowing why,

for it is there we feel pain is eased,

the heart soothed and anxiety appeased;

Warm tears born of a sentiment unique,

come rolling then like pearl dew down the cheek.

 

Long afterwards our lungs breathe forest air,

our breast as gently stirs as pines do there.

Such deep tranquility pervades the soul;

it bows as wheat ears do when ripe and whole.

This is the source from which our tears and sighs,

our solace and our poetry arise.

Where are they now, those hallowed groves of yore,

long since destroyed, though no one knows wherefore?

 

Perhaps Jageillo, just baptised, cut them,

so the homeland would no longer serve the beloved Gods.

From Puntukas to leave many Oaks,

the people revered as a great sanctuary,

living in unity, with faith in the beloved Gods, 

many monuments they've left throughout the forests.

 

Such was the forest Lithuania knew;

Expanses green and shaded met the view,

the trees all merging in one vista grand,

as Lithuanian hearts in one homeland.

 

Antanas Baranausksas-1856

 

This poem expresses a little of how ingrained this love of the bush and rainforest is for me, being an Australian Lithuanian. I was 16 years old when I learnt from my grand mother, that I was, in fact, Lithuanian and that Lithuania was the last pagan European country Christianised. Močiute told me, that this is why, as a nation, Lithuanians have a deep love and respect for nature. It was at this time, something inside just went click, like a light was turned on! I realised why I loved to be in nature as a child and spend so much time watching clouds, Stars and animals as a child and also as a young man! It was then that I first realised why I was different from other kids. I was intrigued, wanted to learn more and this revelation started me on a journey towards and into the Baltic traditional faith, learning the worldview and world feeling of my ancestors. The result of living Baltic Faith has taught me to constantly strive to live harmoniously in the human communities, in the Earths ecosystems and to connect with the spirits and deities of my ancestors. 

 

I have always been drawn to nature, not knowing why, and I now have a deeper understanding of the reasons why I have always been drawn. Nature, rock and water have their own individual power and life force. A person meditating or praying at these places can feel their palpable energy that will add peace, stillness and power to any energy workings.  However, when in a place where nature, rock and water exist together, a vortex of power exists that enable attuned people, to commune with the Gods, Goddesses, Totems, Guides and Spirits of nature. Yeola in Kangaroo Valley is one such place and I now understand why I am drawn to this place. I will attempt to share a few examples of what I have learned over the years, although words are a faded comparison to real life experience of nature.

 

Over 27 years, between the ages of 16 and 43, I would regularly return to a place called Yeola (meaning,"flat rock"), which is a little pocket of rainforest in Kangaroo Valley, N.S.W. When ever I was about to pass a milestone and when I achieved a milestone, I would return. Before and after H.S.C exams, moving house, at the beginning and end of relationships, etc. This place became my second home and it was here that I received many a lesson, instruction, guidance, condolence, confirmation and encouragement that have greatly contributed in making me the person who I am today. I have done a vision quest here, many rituals, meditations, incantations, star gazing and soul searching. I have always found what I need in that pocket of rainforest. All I have ever done is wait and watch for sights and signs after meditating. It's hard to explain. I see, hear or experience something, encounter some animal and the message is clear. Somehow my inner voice interprets what I need to hear. I will try to explain with a few examples: 

 

*Sitting in the warm rock pool as a storm rolls into the valley. I was grappling with a personal issue and come here for guidance. I hear distant screeching and look up to see 2 Eagles circling far above me.Thunder rumbles and I just know what I need to do. 

*Another time, I was blessed by Fire Flies which elated me and confirmed that I was on the right path. 

*Crawling on all fours through the rainforest reminds me that I am an unequipped visitor to this world and I am the one who must adapt. 

*I was going through some issues with venomous people at my work so I returned to Yeola. While I was camped in among the trees, I hear the most beautiful bird song coming from the deep canopy. I could hear my inner voice tell me that I need to be like this bird and sing my song, hidden in the safety of the canopy or plain view. I understood the message and thanked the Gods. Later, I was down by the river and I saw a beautiful little red breasted bird fly from the safety of the canopy, into the open, across the river and then into the safety of the canopy once again. I was confused considering my first message but soon understood that it was ok to fly the gauntlet and show my colours, so to speak, but not stay too long to become a target for unkind people who chose to be predators. 

 

I hope you enjoyed discovering what the forest/bush/rainforest means to me and I could write much more! I moved to Surf Coast in Victoria last year and have yet to find my next sacred place in the bush and I will know when I find it. My wish is for all my readers to find yours in 2016 (or whenever you read this) and reap the rewards of being better connected to the nature of our Earth.

Lithuanian Folk tale: Why the Sun shines in the day and the Moon shines at night-compiled and edited by Stepas Zobarskas

 

In olden times, when no human beings existed in the world, the Moon and the Sun lived in a pretty little house. They fell in love with each other and got married. When a daughter was born to them they named her Earth.

For many years the Moon and the Sun lived happily and in peace, but one day they began to quarrel.

"If you're so hot, I shall leave you forever," said the Moon.

"And if you remain as cold as you are now, I will not live with you any longer", answered the Sun.

"Alright. Let us seperate. But the daughter shall remain with me", said the Moon.

"No. I'm not going to leave my daughter with you. What, do you want my daughter to freeze to death with you?", Argued the Sun.

As they could not reach an agreement on who should keep the daughter, they went to the great God Thunder and asked him to be their judge. Thunder listened to both of them, then he reached a decision:

"Let it be this way: the Sun takes care of her daughter from morning till evening, and the Moon during the night."

To this day they obey Thunder's decision. The Sun takes care of the Earth from morning till evening and the Moon looks after it from evening till morning. Once in a great while, when the Moon has no time, her sisters, the Stars, give light to the earth.

Velnias- the Lithuanian Devil and God of the Underworld

 It's a bit of a taboo subject but I'd like to introduce an important Baltic Lithuanian deity named "Velnias" or "Velinas" who is the Lithuanian Devil but not to be confused with the the Christian Devil or Satan.

Lithuanians and other earth centred/Indigenous cultures of the world have been long accused by the Christian church as "Devil worshippers" and this assumption is partly correct.

The Lithuanian Devil was never worshipped. I don't believe that any Lithuanian Deity was traditionally worshipped" in the Christian sense of the word but veneration through sacrifice, honour in celebrations and respect was a general attitude towards the deities amongst Lithuanian peoples of the past. It is true though that the Devil God does feature in Lithuanian mythology and worldview as he does with other Earth centred/Indigenous cultures of the world so the Christian belief of the Devil does exist in the Indigenous cultures of the world but is not perceived as in the Christian mythology.

So let me introduce you to the Lithuanian Velnias (Devil)!

As VELnias name suggests, he is believed to be the caretaker and guardian of the "Vėlės"(Souls of the dead). Velnias is believed to protect the living from the dead.

Velnias is depicted in Lithuanian folklore aš

*A co creator of the world alongside Dievas the Sky God.

*a shapeshifter (could appear as a bird, animal or even a man)

*Clever but not too bright. Easily fooled.

* Adversary of Perkūnas the thunder God. Easy to escape him by saying, "look! There's Perkūnas!" and run away when he's not looking!

*Velnias is a Cthonic (earthly) Deity but loves swamps and bogs.

*Velnias is depicted as appearing as a horned giant with a tale and cloven feet which is the same image of the Devil character in the Christian mythology but not the same.

*Can be a helper or a hindrance to people.

*Sexually promiscuous and loves fornicating with women

*Loves music and loves to dance.

So you see the character of the Lithuanian Devil God is very different from the image portrayed by the Christian church and made even scarier by Holywood. Velnias is a God who is very important in the Lithuanian Pantheon and todays post only gives a brief glimpse into his character.

There is so much more to explore about Velnias and his connection with the necrocult in Lithuania!

Lithuanian myth: The Sovijus myth

 The Lithuanian myth of Sovijus is said to have established cremation as a funerary practice in the 13th Century in Lithuania. Previously, Earth burials were more common.

"Sovijus was a man who caught a wild boar and ripped out its nine spleens, which he gave to his sons to fry up. The sons ate them all and he became angry with them.

He then descended through the nine gates of hell, only finally making it through the ninth gate with the help of his youngest son.

The other brothers were angry with that son and they then resolved to bring their father back. As the youngest son was responsible, he agreed to go down to hell to find his father and bring him back for burial. He found his father and had dinner with him.

That night the son made a bed for his father underground, but Sovijus slept terribly because the next day he moaned that he had been eaten by worms all night.

On the second night a bed was prepared in the trunk of a tree, but Sovijus complained the next day that he was stung by bees and mosquitoes all night.

On the third night the son prepared a bed of fire and put his father in it. (Cremation)

The next morning he asked his father how he had slept; to which Sovijus’ reply was

“I slept like a log.”

Lithuanian folk tale: A musician at the Velnias' party- recorded in 1906 From Lithuanian mythological tales, compiled by Norbertas Veliius

 NB:Velnias= a devil and not as depicted as the embodiment of evil as portrayed in Christian mythology.

In olden times, when Velniases were still seen roaming the world, a musician was walking home at dusk. Night fell darkly. As he walked, he got lost and had no idea which way to go. He did not walk very far before he met a landlord in a carriage. The landlord said, "not far from here stands my manor. Tonight I am giving a feast, but I have no musician. Could you play for us?" The musician said, "why not, that's how I make my living." The landlord said, "then climb into my carriage. After he climbed in, he thought he hadn't gone very far when they drove up to a manor. When they arrived, no guests had come yet, but soon plenty of carriages with all sorts of nobles, ladies and maidens appeared. Presently the dancing began. After each dance they would pay him silver rubles. He noticed, however, that those dancing would take something from a little bowl and rub their eyes from time to time. He thought to himself, "what is that they keep rubbing their eyes with? And what for?" He took a chance to rub one eye. At once he saw with that eye that it was not at all a manor where he was playing, but a swamp. He was at a Velnias party and not sitting on a chair, but on a mound. He was seized with such fear, that he couldn't bear to look through that eye! They danced until the roosters crowed. Then they all disappeared and he remained sitting in that swamp until dawn. When day broke, he looked into his pockets to find white Birch bark there. He was sitting in a swamp. He could barely drag himself out that day. The Velnias had taken him so far away that he had to walk three days until he finally reached his home. In those days, musicians used to be great drunkards. So was this one- no sooner was he at home than he went straight to the tavern to pour his heart out about his adventures. As he approached the tavern, he heard a loud cry. Walking in, he found several men fighting. Among them he saw a Velnias whispering something into one man's ear and stepping on another's foot. As a result, the men were fighting furiously, their wounds bled and the roof tiles shook. Seeing the Velnias' dirty tricks, the musician took a stick and struck him on the head so hard that he rolled out of the tavern. As soon as the Velnias was gone, the men made up with each other. Some time later that Velnias cane to see the musician, and asked,. "which eye did you see me with?" He answered, " the right one." As soon as he spoke this, the Velnias put that eye out and disappeared. . From that time on, the musician never saw the Velnias again

Lithuanian folk tale: Twigs- recorded in 1898 from Lithuanian mythological tales by Norbertas Velius

Once a midwife and a mother, who had just given birth to a son were lighting a fire in the bathhouse, when they heard a voice exclaim, "until the twigs are burnt up!" The mother understood what this meant. She put out the fire and put the twigs in her wooden chest right away.

The son grew up. His mother died and left him her chest. He soon married. One time, his wife's mother came to visit. Mother and daughter opened the chest to rummage through the clothes and they found the twigs underneath at the very bottom. "What use are these?" They thought and put them in the fire. As the fire was dying, the man came home. They asked him, "Why were those twigs in the chest?" He told them and died.

Lithuanian folk tale: Werewolves in the drying barn-recorded in 1948

 

In olden times, they would tell stories of wedding parties on the road and how they were turned into werewolves. Back then they would heat the drying barn to dry the grain. Once a farmer went there,made a fire, and lay there. Just then, Werewolves came in. He thought, "what could that mean?" There were as many as 7. One of them took of his fur-he saw that it was a bridegroom with a flower. Another disrobed- it was the bride. Then he saw the bridesmaids take of their clothing and enjoyed the warmth. They talked like people too. Then that man asked, "what kind of people are you?" They said, "a wedding party." Then he said, "what do you mean, a wedding party with furs too?" "Oh", they said, "we've been turned into werewolves." Then they said, "We'll have to wear those furs for a long time to come." Then they put of those furs and ran away as werewolves. #lithuanianfolktales