Auseklis Auseklis (ausma, "dawn"; aust "to dawn") is a Latvian stellar (masculine) god. In astronomic interpretations usually understood as planet Venus (there is proof that Venus was called Lielais Auseklis - the Great Auseklis). He is connected with Meness (the moon), but also with Saule (the sun). In the myth of the heavenly wedding, he is one of the suitors of Saules meitas (along with Dieva deli, Meness, and other gods), but in some versions he is just one of the bride's party. He might also be the only suitor, the mythic material is not clear enough because there is also a great number of texts with an obscure hint to Auseklis as the original bridegroom of Sun's daughter, which is later stolen by Meness (Moon), in turn being punished by Saule or Perkons. There are other motives in which Auseklis has disappeared and the Moon, counting the stars, discovers this. The structure itself is the same as that of the motif of the youngest daughter who is discovered being lost by the mother, counting her children late in the evening. In this motif the girl enters the otherworld through death. Whether this is a contaminated motif of some solar myth (where the sun passes the underworld by night to rise fresh and alive in the morning) is not clear. It could also be a hint to a different original gender of Auseklis (there are also some feminine forms of the name) cannot be stated, but there are signs that some gender shift due to linguistic or other causes might also have taken place in the case of other deities like Saule and Meness (some 18th century dictionaries - Lange 1773, Stender 1761 - indicate Meness as feminine; this is allowed by the grammatical structure of Latvian). Still Auseklis in these cases maybe found making a dress for the sun or going to vsit his bride.
Cerklicing The Latvian god of fields and corn. Mentioned by a little known Jesuit under the name of Joannis Stribingius in his mission journey to Eastern Latvia in 1606. Describing the territory as having returned to paganism due to the lack of attention from the Christian church during the Livonian War, he lists the deities worshipped by these pagans under the leadership of "Pop" (curiously enough - a name used in Russian to designate an orthodox priest). The list comprises a god of sky/heavens (Latin "qui habet curam coeli"), then those of the earth, fertility and different particular animals. Dewing Cereklicing along with Dewing Uschinge and deo Moschel are the only names mentioned. There are several other spelling forms of the particular name, apparently coming from misreading of the original manuscript, namely Cerekling, Cercklicing, Greklicing, Cerekticing. There is another document mentioning a deity to whom the first bit of all food and first drop of any drink was offered. The name of this deity is given as Ceroklis/Cerroklis. Three centuries later Ernests Brastins will choose a similar name for the title of catechism of a national religion of his own making, namely cerokslis. Interesting, that this deity belongs to the so called house spirits, so it is invoked in the mundane course of life, thus better known than the proper gods like those of the sky and the earth.
Darzamate The goddess of gardens. One of 'the mothers', mentioned in Paul Einhorn's 17th century texts describing Latvians and their life (e.g., Historia Lettica, 1649). After listing the nameless gods the Latvians are said to have worshipped "in the past" comes another list of deities presiding over more or less practical aspects of everyday life, mostly in form of "the mothers" of particular objects and places. Proves the theoretical assertion that the minor deities are invoked in everyday life, while the supreme god - only in case of some serious misfortune
Dekla by Aldis Putelis Dekla is a deity of fortune and destiny. One of the first mentioning of her is found in Paul Einhorn's "Historia Lettica..." (1649), spelled Daekla. She functions together with Laima but in general she is less mentioned and described. Her functions are not as clear and they double those of Laima. If Laima has more general power influencing human life and destiny, Dekla seems to be the goddess of beginning as it is etymologized through the verb deht having meaning "to make; to create". Still also this interpretation is hypothetical. Dekla is found in very few folklore texts, mostly those from the western part of Latvia. There have been some attempts to establish a trinity of Latvian deities of destiny - Laima, Karta and Dekla - but this is more due to the existence of such in Greek and Roman mythologies, than according the actual material given in the texts as there are no texts mentioning all of them together. Still there are texts mentioning three Laimas. Whether this is sufficient ground for the further hypothesis cannot be proven with any remarkable reliability.
Dewing Uschinge The Latvian god of horses. One of the deities called by name by Joannis Stribingius in his account of travel to forgotten lands of eastern Latvia. A somewhat corrupted form of better known Usins. Stribingius describes him as a god of horses exclusively, while there have been attempts to explain Usins as a deity of bees or light
Dewing A name added to the proper names of different deities mentioned in writings of the Jesuit Joannis Stribingius alias Jochann Stribing in 1606. The word itself appears to be derived from Latvian diminutive from "dievs" - 'god', namely dievini, "dievins", so it can be understood as meaning a minor deity.
Dieva deli The sons of the supreme god Dievs and the suitors of Saules meitas. They are described as working in the household of their father. Their number is not clear - there are mostly two of them, sometimes three, sometimes no number is indicated, thus leaving just the concept. There is also a tendency to refer to some deities as Dieva deli (such as Janis and Jumis), because this is not a stable phenomenon although there are texts attributing this name especially to Janis. Also the relations with Christianity are not clear enough, because it is indiscernible whether there were such concepts before Christianity came to Latvia. Besides, despite the motif of the heavenly wedding, the mother of Dieva deli is not known. The pattern of masculine deities having sons seems to be general in Latvian material as Perkons, Meness and even Auseklis have sons; whether it has started with son(s) of god cannot be established with clarity. Biezais puts forward a theory of this being Genitivus apellativus meaning that the word dels (or meita) refers only to the virginity of the deity.
Dievini Dievini (diminutive plural from dievs) is a collective name for the group of minor gods of the Latvian pantheon. Mostly, the Dievini act as protecting and household gods. The word itself seems to be a more recent construction. Although being less described in the classical folklore, these could be the deities honored more in day-to-day life as the actual rulers of the household fortune and therefore of more influence. Eliade suggests that such deities could be the ones honored more usually than the higher gods, who were invoked only in case of greater necessity or some emergency.
Dievs Dievs ("god") is the supreme deity of the Latvians, with the same position Zeus has in Greek religion. The word was later also used to denote the highest Christian deity and the main question is that of Christian influences included in Dievs' image. The Finno-Ugric (Finnish and Estonian) loan words derived from the Baltic mean "sky" or "heaven" (compare: Finnish and Estonian taivas, taevas and Old Prussian deiwas). For the first time as a Latvian (i.e. non-Christian) deity Dievs is mentioned in Stenders' Lexicon (1783). It is likely that the previous authors simply overlooked this deity not willing to contaminate the Christian notion. Dievs is the most frequently mentioned Latvian deity (counting all the usage of the word), and a sky and fertility god. In some cases he is the suitor of Saule. There is no explicit hint to his wife, only his sons -- Dieva deli -- are mentioned frequently (they in fact are the most frequent counterparts of Saules meitas). The main concept of Dievs's appearance is that of a plain-looking wise old man with a white beard, who appears in everyday-life situations. This concept is more poetic than that to be found in the song texts and it comes mostly from fairy-tales. In song texts God is more militant and harsh, giving orders and even using his sword to maintain the order in the world. Therefore it is possible to speak about several independent concepts of Dievs. Either because of predominance of Christianity or any other reason in accounts of Latvian religion in the Middle Ages, the leading position is given to Perkons ("thunder"). Latvian mythology students of the mid-war period have opposed it at great lengths, sometimes even overlooking the fact that the sky-god is very much connected with thunder, allowing the name to be substituted. Whether this attitude can be related to some ideas of Dievturiba remains inexplicable.
Dievturiba A recent Latvian religious system belonging to the group of the so-called "new religions" and neo-paganism. Established in 1925 by a group of artists and men of letters. The system is based on Latvian folklore, mainly folksong texts, using also the data of other genres and much comparative material. It is claimed that this is the actual ancient religion of Latvians, having preserved much of the original Indo-European ritual and mythology, as well as culture and worldview. It is admitted that it is re-organized for more convenience in modern situation. The main figure in the early days of dievturiba was Ernests Brastins (1892-1942), an outstanding personality. An artist by education, Brastins was interested in history and folklore. He was the leader of the archaeological fieldwork teams working for several years in all ethnographic regions of Latvia documenting the ancient settlements and castles. He prepared the Index of Mythological Notions of "Latvju Dainas". Most of his knowledge was autodidactic, acquired during amateur research, but still it was quite vast. The historical situation of Latvians, existing as a nation but having had no national state until very recent - the second decade of the XX century - suggested that the national identity of Latvians should be strengthened by any means accessible. Having strong national feeling Brastins came to the conclusion that there is a necessity for some "national religion" to preserve the nations identity in more or less hostile circumstances. Therefore the national idea plays an important role in the system of dievturiba. The very structure of the Catechismus Teoforii - the catechism of dievturiba - is determined by the permanent comparison to Christianity, denying the latter as a religion of an other nation unsuitable for the Latvians because of many factors.
Janis Janis is a problematic deity, as he is mentioned only in close relation with the festival of Midsummer's Night and therefore the name could be an adaptation of the Christian John the Baptist. Still, the festival is completely non-Christian, including ritual bonfires, as known in many cultures, some traces of the cult of phallus can be found as well. Janis is one of deities to whom the description ?Dieva dels? is attributed, still it is an marginal phenomenon. The main action of Janis is coming once a year to grant fertility and fortune, he must be treated properly therefore. There are attempts to explain the image astronomically - as a constellation seen mainly around the summer solstice. Generally all the customs show the features of a passage rite, the threshold event between two cycles, when the original chaos must be turned into cosmos again, therefore the magic activities to prevent the evil entering the house and causing permanent damage. The ritual fires must shine their light as far as possible (therefore to be made on the top of some mountain, on a pole; by the sea made of old boats on the very shore) to ensure fertility, while (especially the young) people shouldn't sleep the night to be good-looking and capable.
Jumis A Latvian field and fertility god. Sometimes compared with the Roman Janus. He may have originated from a fetish. His attribute is any double-fruit, for instance two corn stalks that have grown together on the same trunk. In order to preserve Jumis' growth in the winter months, during the harvesting a few ears are bent to the ground and secured there with stones. A characteristic ritual - Jumja kersana (?chase of Jumis?), when, e.g. some ears are brought home in a ritual procession as the 'caught' Jumis to ensure the fertility of the next year to be at least of the same level. This tradition is very similar to those known among different Germanic tribes. There are etymologies connecting Jumis to Yama and double-faced Janus.
Juras mate Juras mate ("sea mother") is the goddess of the sea. She is one of the numerous mothers (see: Mates). She is said to be worshipped by fishermen and sailors, plays an important role in healing by magic, especially to stop bleeding. She is an obscure goddess and rarely mentioned in song texts. Still she is among the Mothers mentioned in 17th century texts. Whether the ritual demand of keeping the details in secret has led to these details being gradually lost along with the rituals of worship is just a speculation, but might be a reasonable one. One well known among the Livs
Karta The goddess of fate and destiny, similar to Laima and Dekla. Much less mentioned in the song texts (just 17 texts in Latvju Dainas), still used to build the "three fates" concept. May be of local origin, known mostly in just some western districts of Latvia.
Laima Laima is the deity of fate, the personification of it, whether as luck or as bad luck. The name is similar to laime - "luck", with both grammatical variants traceable in the folklore material. The name of this deity also differs in different sources. She assists childbirth, therefore is honored by both maidens and married wives, controls the most important events of a person's life, such as birth, marriage and death. As a person may mention or even condemn the respective Laime, it may be understood that the concept 1) was in stage of turning into a synonym for liktenis - 'fate', 2) this deity is understood as opposable, although the judgment cannot be affected in any way. One of the first appearances of Laima in a document is again Paul Einhorn's Historia Lettica (1649). She is also the deity of pregnant women and can ensure a good pregnancy as long as she is in the house. Frequently mentioned together in the song texts with Dievs, in some cases God's horses are outside her door (meaning suitors arriving at a maiden's house), but it is a very weak motif among those of the heavenly wedding. She is the central one of the alleged trinity of Laimas or destiny deities, together with her sisters Karta and Dekla. There are texts mentioning 'three Laimas', although not giving their particular names.
Lauku mate The goddess of fields and fertility to whom farmers sacrificed to secure an abundant harvest. One of 'the mothers', may be compared to dievini - the minor gods, who still are the immediate rulers of human life. One of the few "mothers" listed in Paul Einhorn's texts in the first half of the 17th century.
Majas gars The Latvian household spirit that protects the inhabitants against the forces of evil. It also brings prosperity and good fortune to the family. There are also some individual names for such spirits, sometimes called Majas kungs - the Lord of the House. One of the lower deities, like dievini
Mara In certain ethnographic regions (Western Latvia) Mara has the same functions as Laima in most of Latvia. In a derived form of her name (Marsava), a protective deity of cattle. Stribingius mentions a "cow deity" by the name Moschel which appears to be just a corrupted form of Marsava. In the dievturiba she is made the highest female deity - a ruler of the material world, a feminine counterpart of Dievs as the highest concept; one of the heavenly trinity (Dievs, Mara, Laima), with all the 'Mothers' being just her synonyms. Still, it is believed (as expressed by several scholars) that this deity is to a great extent a result of Christian syncretism, as proven by older dictionaries giving Mara as a translation for Maria.
mate The Latvian word for "mother" and used to form the names of some sixty (some sources give the number seventy) Latvian deities. They are different and the ease with what they have been created lead to a conclusion that it has been a pattern at some time, assuming that there is a Mother for every thing and activity. Some of them have quite clear descriptions and functions (as Veja mate - Mother of Winds, Zemes mate - Mother of Soil/Land, Velu mate - Mother of the Dead Souls (veli), etc.), the others are mentioned just a couple of times or even just once
Meza mate Meza mate ("mother of the forest") is the Latvian protecting goddess of the forest and the creatures who dwell in it. Contrarily, she is also worshipped by hunters and woodcutters.
Meza Virs The Latvian god of forests. Rather obscure and little used. Mentioned by Paul Einhorn, may be a substitute for the word "wolf" - vilks used to avoid invoking the beast
Pukis In Latvian myth, Pukis is a flying household spirit bringing its master the goods stolen somewhere else. You can buy or breed it. There are also spells to "tie it down", so you can take it over from its master. Pukis is very much of a fetish, one must treat it right otherwise it will either leave the master, die or do the master some harm. It can be compared with the Finnish Para and the Lithuanian Aitvaras. The description of its appearance - flying fiery ball, something flying fast - in many cases resembles some of that attributed to a UFO.
Ragana Ragana ("witch") is a seeress who reveals the future and knows how to control supernatural powers. Later she is degraded to a witch bringing misfortune to humans and animals, very likely by Christian diazotization. At the same time the semantic attitude in the word is not entirely negative. Etymology comes from redzet - 'to see'.
Saule Saule ("the sun") is the most powerful of Latvian heavenly goddesses. She is the goddess of the sun and of fertility, the patroness of all unfortunate people, especially orphans (as the only one to substitute the mother, to warm the child; mother is compared to Saule speaking of kindness, and bride as speaking of beauty). She is the mother of Saules meitas or meita (plural or singular). She is said to live on the top of the heavenly mountain (some model of world), where she rides during the day in her chariot. At night she sails with her boat on the world sea. The motif of permanent motion is apparent in this image, as well as the idea of the sun shining somewhere else during the night. Of course, the diachronic aspect is to be taken into account. In several cases she appears as the ruler in heaven, especially in relations with Meness.
Saules meitas Saules meitas or meita are the daughters of the sun, Saule. Sometimes it is argued that the notion is used to speak about the sun itself (Biezais opinion of it being just Genitivus apellativus meaning "the Virgin/Maiden Sun"). Most of the appearances are in some connection with Dieva deli, their lovers, or some other suitor(s), with the heavenly wedding being the main myth for them to appear in. This myth, from the perspective of some scholars, could be the Latvian myth showing the course of time in general and the year in particular. Some astronomers tend to explain the names of the deities as meant to denote constellations.
Vadatajs Demons who are responsible for making people lose their way in forests. They also send a traveler in the wrong direction on crossroads, so that this person's soul loses its way as well. The Vadatajs ("leading to nowhere") often assume the shape of an animal, but also that of a human being. They belong to the same lower level of deities as Dievini, Pukis and Ragana.
Veja mate Veja mate ("mother of the winds") guards over the wood and the birds in the forests. When she travels over the land, it is said that she 'blows on her whistle' (referring to the sound the wind makes). She is also mentioned in song texts as being pleaded to by sailors.
Veli The dead souls, no adequate translation available. The Veli are sometimes connected with the appearance of rolling grey clouds, although some scholars tend to connect it with velns - "the devil". They are the living dead, continuing their lives in the realm of Velu mate - some kind of a parallel world, an underworld. Sometimes differentiated from the souls (dveseles), sometimes not, they mingle with the living at important events. There is a period in autumn, when Veli are expected to revisit their homes. Ritual meals are prepared for them then. In dievturiba there is a theory of a trinity within a human being, consisting of miesa ("the flesh"), dvesele ("the soul") and velis ("the astral body"). Still, there is no text mentioning all these three together, velis and dvesele mutually substitute each other. Velis and Vels are sometimes mixed, allowing again the explanation of Velns as a form of Veli, or a deity of the dead
Velu mate Velu mate ("mother of veli") is the goddess of death and ruler of the realm of the dead. She receives the dead, but the living always try to deceive her in order to stay in this world for longer. The veli are supposed to be her children, although they are more likely the souls of the dead. She might be taken as a synonym to the Sun in this world (the parallels are between "si saule" - 'this sun, this world' and "vinsaule" or "aizsaule" - 'that world, the world behind', which is the realm of Velu Mate).
Vilkacis Vilkacis (to be translated literally as "wolf's eyes"; 'werewolf'> is usually a malicious creature; a scary being people can turn into. There are particular ways how the people with this curse turn into the wolves and then get their human appearance back. There are particular places, where this is said to have happened. Although mostly malevolent, on occasion it would bring treasures. It belongs to the same lower level of mythological beings as Dievini, Ragana, Pukis and Vadatajs. It is not clear whether Vilkacis it is human flesh or just the soul that transforms, as their are accounts of moving an apparently asleep person whose soul is out "running as a werewolf", after what the person turns out to be dead, as the soul couldn't enter the flesh to return.
Zemes mate Zemes mate ("mother of the soil") is concerned with the welfare of the people and makes the fields fertile. She is also sometimes identified with Velu mate, for she too rules over the dead in the underworld. Einhorn giving the first description does not say anything regarding the latter
Source The Land Beyond Sight
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