Calendar

Baltic festivals

I.25 - Half-winter
II.2 - Day of Perkunas
II.5 - Day of Gabija
II.28 - Shrovetide
III.21 - Spring equinox
IV.16 - Easter
IV.29-30 - Jore
V.13 - Festival of Milda
VI.23 - Festival of Rasa, Summer Solstice
VI.29 - Day of Perkunas
VII.15 - Day of Zalgiris battle
VIII.15 - Festival of Zemyna, Assumption
IX.21 - Autumn equinox, Day of Perkunas
IX.22 - Day of Balts unity
X.21 - Day of Krivis
XI.1 - Ilges, All Soul's Day
XI.2 - Velines
XII.21 - Winter solstice
XII.24 - Kucios, Christmas Eve, Festival of family
XII.25 - Kaledos, Christmas Day, Day of Praamzius

Mid-winter (I.25)
The first celebration after the holy days of Kalėdos is the Pusiaužiemis. A.J. Geimas postulated that around January 25th, the Lithuanians must have celebrated the New Year according to the lunar calendar. A set of days at the begining of February were dedicated to the to Goddess and the renewal of fire, the awakening of the homestead gods.
At the eve of the young moon, young people gather for the "Christening of Kumelukas". Kumelukas, literally - a foal, is the young moon. Girls make a festive drink, made of mashed poppy-seeds, hemp, honey and whiskey. They invite the boys and feast until late in the night.

"Day of Worms" (Kirmiu Diena)

J. Lasicki, in 1580, described such a ritual ("About Samogitian Gods," 1969, p.30). Lithuanians and Samogitians shelter grass-snakes in their homes, under the fireplace or near the vent-hole, where a table stands. They worship the snakes like gods. At a certain time of the year, a wise-man uses his prayers to invite them to the feast table. These reptiles would crawl out of the corner, slide through a clean cloth uto the table, and stay there. After tasting various dishes, they crawl back down to the floor and again hide in their corner. Future is predicted based on the behaviour or the grass-snakes on this day.

Days of Fire (Ugnies dienos):

February 2nd is the day of Perkūnas, also known as Grabnyčios Diena. Visinski wrote about the Samogitian customs on this day. They would wrap a small wax candle, "perkūninė," (candle of Perkūnas) made with a thick linen thread with wax, wrapping it about a piece of wood. This type of "wrapped candle" can be made by simply wrapping a linen thread. It symbolizes the life (the linen thread), the power of the everlasting fire. The candle of Perkūnas is lit near a dying person, during funerals, or for protection from thunderstorms and other perils.
February 5th is the day of Gabija, the keeper of fire, later transformed into the day of St. Agatha. Gabija is the guardian of the home hearth. Sacrifices of power to Gabija - bread, salt, water. To bless by fire - a "Graudulinė" candle is carried thrice around the table and around the hearth. Then each family member is blessed with fire in the shape of a cross (sign of Perkūnas) - holding it at the forehead, the back of the head, and under each ear. Such a ritual is known as strengthening by fire.

Dievas is mentioned in the calendar songs of the approaching Spring. Various signs indicate the renewal of the Goddess. It is said that at midwinter, the bear rolls over in hybernation. The Calendar song equivalent for midwinter is the harvest song type:
"Tamsioj girelėj meška (vilkas) kaukia, mergeles baido. Tenebaido, Jos nebijo, Jos bijo tamsios naktelės"
"In a dark woods a bear (wolf) roars, frightens girls. May he not frighten, for they do not fear, they only fear the dark night"

Snakes awaken and crawl from from the woods into homes. Bees start walking within their hives. "During Perkūno Day, the Holy Virgin chases wolves away into the woods with a lash, so they wouldn't slaughter the people's sheep." In Celtic tradition, the 1st of February is the Imbolc celebration, day of St. Bridgite. She appears as a girl - an embodiment of the Goddess, the reborn Fire.

Songs:

Žalioj girioj aukšti kalnai
Ant tų kalnų kalnužėlių
Auga liepužėla,
Po tu liepu liepužėlu
Kaba lapšiukėlis,
Tam lapšely gul mergela...
(Aukštaičių melodijos, V.1990, p.195)

In green woods - high mountains,
On those hills and mountains
Grows a linded dear,
Under linded, under dear one
Hangs a little cradle,
In that cradle lies a girl...


Žalio girelėj vilkeliai staugia,
Staukit nestaukit,
Mes jūs nebijom,
Ciktai mes bijom
Tumsios naktelės...
Tumsioj naktelėj, oj,
Unksti unksti,
Meška rėkavo, aš tau nebijau, oj...
(LLD. VI. Darbo dainos, V.1993, p.238)

In green woods the wolves howl
Howl as you may,
We do not fear you,
We only fear the dark night,
In the dark night, oh,
Early, early -
Bear screamed, I don't fear you, oh...

Sutartines of the Goddess:

SIS.775b - for uzgavenes or wedding
"Dobilutėli, dobilio, Susidūmojo"
"Dear clover, of clover, pondered"
SIS.I40 - for uzgavenes or harvest
"Teka upelė Duinoja"
"Flows the river of Duinojus (Danube)"

Easter (IV.16)

Spring

The first holiday (svente) in the spring is Lyge, even though the first signs of spring emerge much earlier. Spring starts with the day of Perkunas. It ends with Vieversio (lark) day. Uzgavienes, in the past, according to A.J. Greimas, was celebrated during Lyge. Lyge signals the true begining of spring. Soon to follow are Verba, Velykos and Jore - a series of festivals with similar worship, traditions and songs.

Spring Perkunas

"The day on which the first thunderclaps of spring are heard is remembered by the people for the rest of the year. They interpret its signs through their experience in life. Inhabitants of Siauliai deem the year to be a good one, if thunderstorms start on Velykos. If Perkunas is not heard at all during spring - a bad year is predicted, possibly even famine. Perkunas on Pelene(before Velykos), foretells plague. If heard on Jurgines (Jurgis day) - on Jore - there would be a good crop harvest.
On the first day that Perkunas strikes, the whole earth is shaken, awakening nature. The grass begins growing. As do the crops, the trees, and all life. Girls, desiring that their rue plants would grow luxuriant and beautiful, would plant them right after the first thunderstorm.
It is said, that if you bathe, after the first thunder, in a river, or lake, you shall be healthy and strong. Drinking water, unblessed by Perkunas, may get you sick. Before Perkunas blesses the land, it is not allowed to walk the land barefoot, lay on the Earth, nor sit upon rocks. Burning fire on an unthundered land is also forbiden. Else Perkunas will burn down your home." (B. Buracas, "Jaunasis ukininkas", 1939, nr.15)
This is just a part of the old beliefs, showing how important Perkunas is in the spring - youthful, powerful, and always a bringer of rebirth.
Old sources mention a number of spring gods, goddesses, and saints - Pergrubris, Saint Jurgis(George), Jore, Patrimpas. In actuality, the bringers of spring are Perkunas and Zemyna, known by different names.

Jore (IV.29-30)

Jorė is celebrated at the end of April (Jurginės - April 23rd). It is the last celebration of Spring, called Jorė by S. Daukantas - the holiday of the greenness of spring. The word "Jorėti" - means to flourish, to grow, to turn green, etc.. It is said "turned green like jorė", "the tree is green as jorė".

Jorė or Joris - is the Spring Perkūnas, who awakens the forces of life. He is a rider, like the Vytis on the Lithuanian state emblem, like St. George. Jorė holds the keys to the Earth, wakes up all growth, opens the Earth, sends rain. Jorė protects horses, domesticated and wild animals. On this day, especially in the old times, the custom was not to work with animals at all - neither plough, nor ride.
Jurgines is a holiday of the horse. During Jurgines - eggs are painted, colored, played with, rolled, like during Velykos. Kids swing. Young people celebrate in nature - cook scrambled eggs, feast, sing, dance.
With exclusive homage to all growth, trees are planted. "During Jurgines, all shepherds would take care not to break any green branches" (Tverečius). If you needlessly break a green branch and take it home, it turns into a snake. These are signs of the Goddess' presence behind this holiday.
In the 16th century, it is written "On the day of George they sacrifice to Pergubrius, who is perceived to be the god of flowers, plants and all grasses. A priest they call virsaitis, holding a wide-base chalice in his right hand, full of beer, calls the name of this god and sings a song in his honor: 'You chace away the Winter, you return the pleasure of Spring, through you the fields and gardens bloom, through you the valleys and forests flourish green.' Having finished this chant, he drinks the beer and, holding the cup with his teeth, throws it back over his head. Afterwards, everyone else drinks. And they sing in honor of Pergubrius. And they feast all day and dance." (J. Lasicki, "About Samogitian Gods" Tr. 1969)
The morning of Jorė is the best time to plant rue - it ensures good growth. On this day, the cuckoo bird returns. Great fortune and hapiness, if you hear the singing of the cuckoo bird for the first time. It promisses a good year.
A cake or a big loaf of bread is baked for the ritual, into it - an egg is baked-in, although there can be more than one egg. The husband and wife, with the loaf, go to the side of the rye field and walk around the field. Upon returning home they say "Dear children, take care of what the rye has given." Then the children break the bread into pieces, shell the egg, and divide everything among the family. Elsewhere, peopel would burry a loaf of bread into the earth and would ask for good harvest. They would put an ear to the ground and listen to the rye speak. If the rye was silent, bad harvest was prophesized.
A number of songs and dances are dedicated to this time of Spring, especially in Eastern Lithuania. They adress Jorja, Jurgis, Jorė.

Jorja, geras vakaras
Jorja, augink žolę,
Jorja, paliej rasą
Jorja, dėl arklelių.

Jorja, a good evening
Jorja, grow the grass,
Jorja, spill the dew
Jorja, for the horses.
The songs of Jurgines are also supplemented by other folk songs of the Spring: "Oi lylia lia", "Dunojau, kalnalin dvaras" ; "Dijūta, kolnali"(S.III.1667) "Žilvitis auga" (S.II.591) "Didysie mūsų, Dievaite" (S.II.560)
Besides the green color, white is also prominent during Jorė. In ancient times, people would ride white horses on this day. They would dress in white clothes.
It was also important to walk barefoot.

Festival of Rasa, Summer Solstice (VI.23)

Towards the end of June, at the time of the summer solstice, when night is the shortest and Nature bursts with blossoms and growth, we celebrate the Holy Day or Šventė of Rasa. This day is also known as Kupolių Šventė and its Christianized name, St. John's Day.
"Both men and women associate this time of summer solstice with the fulfilment of hopes and expectations. Light, fortune, the hapiness of life - everything, it seems, steps through the orifice of life." - Vydunas

Rasa, which means dew, was regarded as a fundamental manifestation of life force in ancient times. It has divining qualities on solstice morning. The greater the amount of dew there is, the greater will be the harvest next year. Before dawn, the dew possesses great healing power. If you cleanse your face with this dew, especially off rye shoots, your skin will be clear. Around the region of Švenčioniai, young women would rise early and wash with the dew and then sleep again to dream of their future husbands. During the night, dew would be gathered on cloths which would later be used in healing rites.
S.Daukantas wrote "Before that holiday, everything under the sun went to the sacred rivers and lakes to bathe, to become young, and if one followed the rites carefully, he would become wise and clairvoyant. There was no happier holiday than Rasa, because, as they say, on that morning the sun dances."

Herbs and Grasses (žolynai)

At this time, most healing herbs are possessed of great strength and potency. On the eve of Rasa, young women engage in the holy gathering of herbs (kupoliauti). To this we attribute the other name for this svente - Kupolinės. The specific herbs for this day, or Kupoles, as they are called are: daisies, St. John's Wort, bilberries and any yellow blossoming herb (melampyrum nemorosum). "Kupėti" - means to grow healthily, to sprout through the earth.
The kupolė is a branched pole is placed in the center of the ritual area. The top of the pole is triple branched (which is reflected in the rune ascribed to this feast day). In eastern Lithuania it is explained that this is a miraculous growth with three branches, one of which blooms like the Sun, the other - like the Moon, and the third - like a Star. Young women who wish to wed, play a divinition game: standing with their backs to the kupolė, they throw a wreath over their heads and hope that it will land on the kupolė. The number of tries that it takes to get the wreath on the Kupolė indicates the number of years until marriage.
Prussian Lithuanians "would decorate a long pole with flowers, greenery and flowing ribbons. This kupolė would stand in the corner of the fields, not far from the rye." (A. Vilmantienė).
If the kupole is decorated with nettles and fern, it acts as a witch-repellant.

Ilges, All Soul's Day, Velines (XI.1-2)

After the fall equinox, the time of veles (the shades) begins. It lasts throughout autumn. A special holiday of Velines or Ilges is observed at the end of October or beginning of November. These are the important of the holy days for the remembrance of the dead to which even the Roman Catholic church had to addapt. During this time we not only remember those in our immediate family, but also our ancient ancestors. It is to those great ancestors that we give thanks for all that we posess today.
"According to Christian doctrine, the dead and the living are separated and do not commune. Lithuanian folk beliefs saw things differently. During the times of Kucios (Christmas Eve) and Velines, the dead would gather and feast alongside the living, tasting of the offered dishes" (E.Simkunaite)
The ancestral dead are the links between living human beings and nature's cycle of rebirth through death. The dead leave for another world - it is not far away, but near. The dead often return and meld with the forces and forms of nature. All calendar feasts include the honouring of the deported, through offerings, prayer and communal feasting.

Fire (Ugnis)
The hearth joins the family, the community and symbolizes the inextinguishable life of the group. It links the ancestors and gods, with their descendants, for it is believed that many veles live near the hearth. A home's hearth joined all family's members, both living and dead.
It was at this time that the graves were visited, decorated and honoured - especially the ancient borrial mounds or castle mounds.

Kucios, Christmas Eve, Festival of family, Kaledos, Christmas Day, Day of Praamzius(XII.24-25 )

Winter Solstice - Saulegriza
Kucios and Kaledos

Kucios and Kaledos mark the end of the year - when the world returns to darkness and nonexistence. However, as death begets birth, the two holidays also herald the rebirth of nature and the return of the sun. The Lithuanians distinguish the two subsequent days. now celebrated on 24 and 25 December with a variety of ritual customs.
Adults begin their preparation for Kucios and Kaledos by placing a cherry twig in water on the day when bears start to hibernate, which is the first day of winter according to folklore. The twigs sprout roots in time for the holiday. Children play games symbolizing the planting of crops such as the one wherein girls imitate sowing, by strewing hemp seeds, which prompts dreams about future husbands.
Indo-European cultures traditionally greet the New Year with rituals and tales that reenact and relate the creation of the world. In Lithuania, an elderly mendicant called Senelis Elgeta retells everything that has happened since the creation of the world.

Kucios

The solemn feast of Kucios, continuing the celebration of Velines, unites the living with the dead as well as all forms of life: people and animals.
The house requires special preparation. The family hangs up an iconic "grove:" birds made of wood- straw or egg shells surrounding a straw sun. This grove as well as a multitude of burning candles invokes the souls of the dead (vele) who sit at a small table with bread, salt, and Kucia on it. The Kucia contains many traditional grains which symbolize regeneration : cooked wheat, barley, peas, beans, rye, poppy seeds, hemp seeds, etc. mixed with nuts and honey water. The Kucia feeds the souls of the ancestors. as well as the living. The living sit at another table, covered with hay and a table cloth- In earlier days, hay also used to cover the floor. Symbols of the life force, which sustain the human world, decorate the main table. This includes a bundle of unthrashed rye, which the family used the next day to bind around its apple trees.
Kucios, an exclusively nocturnal celebration, begins when the evening star appears in the sky. Before gathering at the ritual table, everybody bathes in saunas, makes up with their neighbors, and forgives their enemies. In olden days, the head of the household, wearing high black boots, a large black sash (jousta), and a prominent black hat - used to circle the farmstead three times. He would approach the house door after evervbody else had entered. To the question "Who is there?", he answered "Dearest God (Dievulis) with the Kucia begs admittance".
Once the family gathers, the eldest member (man or woman) says a traditional invocation and breaks the Kucia bread, which everybody gives to each other. According to the sixteenth century historian Praetorius, every member of the family, placing a loaf of bread on the floor, prayed: "Zemepatis (God of the homestead), we thank you for the good bread you give us. Help us work the fields while blessing you, that Zemynele (Mother Earth Goddess, sister of Zemepatis ) would continue to give us your good gifts." Then everyone, raising the bread to the sky, concluded with: "Nourish us."

Meal

After the exchange of the Kucia bread, each person sips some beer, spilling few drops onto the floor for the vele, the souls of the dead. Dinner follows. Kucios traditionally required 13 different foods, which echoed the 13 lunar months of the year. Under the influence of the solar calendar, the number changed to 12. The foods may not contain any meat or milk. The meal consists of Kucia (mixed grain dish described above), Kisielius (a type of cranberry jello), hot beet soup, mushroom dumplings, cabbage, fish, and seafood. Desert includes Slizikai (sweet poppy seed cookies), poppy seed milk, apples, nuts and other sweets which evoke wishes for a sweet new year.
Animals partake in the ceremony by eating the same food that people eat. When people and animals used to live under one roof, everybody fed their household and farm animals from the table. On farms. families still feed their animals with the leftovers from Kucios. The families also share the food with bees and fruit trees.
After dinner, while everyone remains at the table, the children and young people pull straws of hay out from underneath the tablecloth. A long straw represents a long and prosperous life. The adults too would tell their own fortunes im a variety of ways.
After dinner, participants exchange wishes for each other by pouring grains into the hearth fire. The hearth becomes the sacred fire of the home. Each single grain sown in the fire grows and prospers. The family also ritually burns a birch wreath, stump, or log in the hearth, representing the old year The participants can also destroy evil by burning splinters they invest with meaning.

Kaledos

The merry rituals of Kaledos celebrate the rebirth of the sun, called Saule, Motule (Mother Sun). In folklore, Kaleda symbolically represents the sun, returning home with a crown of pearls:

Look, holy Kaleda returns
The great Kaleda,
For it is the day of Kaleda
Iron wheels - silk lashes
The great Kaleda,
For it is the day of Kaleda.

The nine-horned reindeer also symbolizes the sun, in addition to embodying the unity of the three worlds.
People carry images of the sun through the fields and the towns, wishing everybody prosperity. Greetings and wishes, expressed during Kaledos, posses a potency which guarantees their fulfillment. Metamorphized beings such as the old man of Kaleda (Santa Claus) or humans dressed as animals, especially goats, cranes, bulls, steeds and bears, also wander about . A Juodas Kudlotas (black and furry), representing the power of harvest prosperity and richness, accompanied these wanderers. People going around during Kaledos, called Kaledotojai sing Kaleda songs to every person they meet and every house they visit: "We go to sing Kaleda - Kaleda."
The traditional meal includes pork and other meats, cakes, and ashberry juices. During the day, a special group of wandering Kaledotojai known as the Blukininkai - men and womem, young and old, drag a log called a Kaleda or a Blukis from house to house around the entire town. The Blukis symbolizes the old year . They sing, dance - play music, and play tricks under way. In the evening the Blukininkai gather together to burn the log. In Latvia, this tradition took place Kucios evening- which the Latvians call "Bluka vakars".
According to the renowned Lithuanian scholar of mythology A.J. Greimas, Lithuanian Kucios and Kaledos do not have anything in common with Christianity, which usurped or destroyed all aspects of the traditiomal Lithuanian celebrations - Both feasts, in all of their aspects, celebrate solidarity, encompassing not only the nuclear and extended families, but also the entire community of the living and the dead, and all of life and nature.

Info from: www.romuva.lt