Natural rythms and calendar
Relics of the lunar calendar are quite abundant in the Lithuanian and Latvian etnography. A custom remains to our day: upon seeing the new crescent Moon, one addresses it as kunigaikØtis (a duke) or dievaitis (a young god) and begs for good health [18]. The four phases of the Moon are considered important for beginning of most farm work, especially, sowing and planting [31].
The magic numerals 3, 7, 9, 18 and 27, so frequent in the Lithuanian folklore, may be related to the archaic lunar calendar. It is quite probable that the oldest numeration in the history of mankind was trecimal. Strokes or dots which make the ornaments of the Neolithic ceramic artifacts are often grouped in triades. Number three and its multiples are found in many Lithuanian folk songs and legends. And even ritual formulas acquire their magic power only when repeated thrice. A drink boiled from a mixture of herbs gathered on an early morning of the Midsummer Day (summer solstice) from 3 fields in bunches of 9 different herbs, has particular magic properties. Historical records give evidence that the week of ancient Balts was 9 days long. Thus, the siderical month must have been divided into three parts. It is quite probable that a similar week is represented by a deer with nine horns, a popular character of the Lithuanian Advent songs. Trecimal numbers and crescent-shaped pendants have been found on a bronze necklace excavated in a 2000 years-old Baltic grave [32]. (Fig. 13). On each side of the artifact there are repeated groups of 3 and 9.
The solar calendar appeared on the Baltic territories with the introduction of an agricultural economy, i.e. in the third millennium B.C. Flat amber discs divided to quarters by sequences of pits, found in the Nida and other settlements, are considered to be the first amulets of the solar magic, the rudiments of the annual solar calendar (division of a year into the seasonal quarters) [6], [13]. The texts of Lithuanian folk songs suggest a possible existence of a ten-month (300 days) calendar which might have embraced only the warm period of the year when all farm work was in progress. With the evolution of calendar, the lunar cycle was included into the solar year, which resulted in calendars of the solar-lunar type.
The oldest Baltic cosmological schemes, calendars, found on the burial urns dated 600-200 B.C., are in custody of the Gdansk archaeological museum in Poland [33]. The splendid 12-month calendars engraved on pottery have been found near the borders of the Baltic area, in the present territory of the Ukraine which date back to the beginning A.D. [34]. In the 14th century the Grand Duchy of Lithuania used a solar-lunar calendar. The structure of this calendar was understood with the help of the so-called Gediminas Sceptre discovered in 1680 [35]. (Fig. 14). The sceptre indicates that the year started in April and normally had 12 months varying from 29 to 31 days. Every month started with the new moon. The months have unique Lithuanian names, expressed in symbols, which reflect natural phenomena and agricultural activities.
The Balts were familiar with the moments of equinox and solstice and marked them with festivals [36]. Summer solstice was celebrated as Rasos or Dew (Midsummer Day), which later on, with the introduction of Christianity, turned into St. John's day. Winter solstice almost coincides with Christmas. Spring equinox festival Gavenia, under the Christian influence, turned into Uøgavenes (Shrove-tide), farewell ceremonies for the long winter. The autumn equinox festival Ilges, marking the end of harvest, merged later on with the Christian All Saints' Day and became Velines (The Day of Souls).
Three hundred years ago Praetorius [37] recorded the Lithuanian names for the parts of day and night which can be considered a type of folk clock. Day and night were divided into 16 parts, starting with the early morning and ending late in the night. Later on, Daukantas [38] listed the names of 24 parts of day and night. Most of these names are still in use, although their practical significance is long lost. In Lithuanian there also exist separate terms to denote day (diena), night (naktis) and day & night (para).
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COSMOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT BALTS
Vytautas Straiøys and Libertas Klimka
Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Gostauto 12, Vilnius 2600, Lithuania
Vilnius Pedagogical University Studentu 39, Vilnius 2600, Lithuania
The Lithuanian Calendar
Lithuanians always felt a close relationship to nature, its influence on them and its cyclic recurrence. All farm work was done at the same time every year. The main reference points of the national calendar are determined by beginning and end of all work, spring and autumn, winter and summer solstice.A calendar is a summarizing regulation of practical activity, work distribution and sequence. The beginning and ending of a larger, more important job was designated by a festival. Festivals were a form of rest after heavy, daily toil, a time of concentration and preparation for other labors. During these festivals, inherited ancestral traditions of rebirth of nature, earth awakening, ancestor commemoration were maintained. One of them is a belief that the souls of the dead return home to their family during these annual holidays. That is why people waited and prepared for them. Everything in the house was cleaned, everyone bathed and dressed in holiday garb. Women prepared traditional foods that their mothers and grandmothers used to.
Improper preparations for the festival or shortage of help to the souls of the dead, would bring out the souls' wrath. Angry ancestors could harm the fields, crop capacity, animals' fertility and peoples' health. For these reasons people sought the dead souls' benevolence. The dead were still considered members of the family and while partaking of food together would accede to common family problems. The holiday foods prepared from the year's harvest, predetermined a good harvest, fertility, good health and success for everyone. The tradition to distribute left over food to beggars continued, for it was believed that they have a mysterious relationship with the dead, they are the go- betweens between the living and the dead. It was imperative to share food with them for the same purposes – good harvest, health and peace for the dead.
On the basis of calendar festivals, Lithuanians created rich ceremonies and myths connected with the cults of earth, water, wind, sun, moon, stars, etc., the meaning of which was embodied by goddesses and mythical beings.
Renewal of time and beginning of new year, Lithuanians linked traditionally with the return of the sun. These festivals began around December 20-24 and ended after two weeks, when the days were longer by a rooster's step. The celebration of New Year on January 1 was begun in the 19th century. Christianity came to Lithuania in the year 1387 and Lithuanians accepted the Christian rituals and new feast days distrustfully. When the country became totally Christian, Lithuanians continued their inherited, ancestral celebrations. The ancient and new Christian rituals took several centuries to combine. At the end of the 19th century and even in the first decades of the 20th century, holidays had double names, ancient and Christian. Some of them have remained till now. For example, the 24th of June, the feast of St. John – the Dews [ a.k.a. Rasos ], the 15th of August, Virgin Mary's going to heaven – Herbal Holiday [ a.k.a. Žolinė ], 8th of September, Virgin Mary's birthday – Pine Forest Holiday [ a.k.a.Šilinė ] and so on.
The Moon calendar was used in ancient Lithuania. The Sun calendar took root with the development of agriculture. From the middle of the 13th century, till the end of the 16th century, the Julian calendar became official in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Gregorian calendar was introduced in the year 1586. This counting of time was abolished in 1800 when Lithuania was divided for the last time and fell under Russian rule. Russia used the old Julian calendar and reintroduced it in Lithuania. In 1918, when Lithuania became independent, Lithuanians began to use the new countings of time. Changes of official calendars caused many disorders and misunderstandings in calendar traditions.
The names of months in Lithuania are connected with phenomena in nature, seasonal works, holidays, flora and fauna. The days of the week are called according to their place in the week;
Pirmadienis, first day,
Antradienis, second day,
Trečiadienis, third day,
Ketvirtadienis, fourth day,
Penktadienis, fifth day,
Seštadienis, sixth day,
Sekmadienis, seventh day.
Traditions and ceremonies of calendar holidays were constantly in the flow of centuries. Some disappeared, others changed beyond recognition, new ones appeared. All these processes occurred slowly and imperceptibly.
source: http://ausis.gf.vu.lt/eka/customs/calen.html
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