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Žemyna

January 06, 2023

Žemyna (also Žemynėlė or Žemelė)[1] (from Lithuanian: žemė – earth) is the goddess of the earth in Lithuanian religion. She is usually regarded as mother goddess and one of the chief Lithuanian gods similar to Latvian Zemes māte. Žemyna personifies the fertile earth and nourishes all life on earth, human, plant, and animal. All that is born of earth will return to earth, thus her cult is also related to death.[2] As the cult diminished after baptism of Lithuania, Žemyna's image and functions became influenced by the cult of Virgin Mary.[3]

Žemyna
Earth
ConsortPerkūnas or Praamžius

Name

Žemyna stems from the name of Proto-Indo-European Earth-goddess *Dʰéǵʰōm.[4] It relates to Thracian Zemele ('mother earth') and Greek Semelē (Σεμέλη).[5][6][7][8]

Role

Žemyna was first mentioned by Jan Łasicki (1582). It was later also described by Mikalojus Daukša (1595), Daniel Klein (1653), Matthäus Prätorius, Jacob Brodowski (1740), and in numerous folk legends, beliefs, and prayers.[3] Prätorius described a ritual, called žemyneliauti, performed at major celebrations (e.g. weddings) or agricultural works (e.g. harvest). The head of the household would drink a cup of beer, but first, he would spill some of the drink on the ground and say a short prayer. Then he would kill a rooster or a hen, which would be cooked and eaten by the entire family. Each family member would receive a loaf of bread and say prayers, blessings, and greetings. The bones and other scraps would be sacrificed to the goddess (burned or buried).[3] Other recorded rites included burying bread baked from last crops of prior harvest in a field before new sowing and sacrifice of a black piglet.[9] People would also kiss the earth saying a short prayer thanking Žemyna for all her gifts and acknowledging that one day they will return to her.[10] People addressed Žemyna in various affectionate diminutive names and epithets.

In addition, historical sources on Baltic mythology describe the dual role of goddess Zemyna: while she was connected to the fertility of the land, she was also associated with receiving the dead and acting as their ruler and guardian.[11][a] Pieces of Lithuanian folklore also make references to Earth as mother of humans and their final abode after death.[13][b][c]

Family

The goddess is said to be married to either Perkūnas (thunder god) or Praamžius (manifestation of chief heavenly god Dievas). Thus the couple formed the typical Indo-European pair of mother-earth and father-sky.[16] It was believed that the earth needs to be fertilized by the heavens (rain and thunder). Thus it was prohibited to plow or sow before the first thunder as the earth would be barren.[10]

In modern culture

The Lithuanian folk music group Kūlgrinda in collaboration with Donis released an album in 2013 titled Giesmės Žemynai, meaning "Hymns to Žemyna".[17]

Related male deities

Other characters in Lithuanian mythology are related - etymologically or semantically - to goddess Zemyna and a cult of the earth, such as Žemėpatis[18][19] ('Earth Spouse')[20] and Žemininkas,[21] male deities associated with cattle, agriculture and the fertility of the land.[22] Their names are present in historical records of the Lithuanian non-Christian faith by foreign missionaries.[23][24]

Another male divinity with the name Zemeluks, Zamoluksei,[25] Zameluks or Ziameluks[26][27] is also said to be attested. An account tells he is a DEUS TERRAE ('earth god'),[28] while in other he is "a lord or god of earth who was buried in the earth" by the Prussians.[29]

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Zemyna (otherwise Zemlja or Perkunatelé) is the earth-goddess and psychopomp of the dead."[12]
  2. ^ "Archeological findings witness that the most ancient phase of Lithuanian culture was definitely Zemyna's culture. The distinguishing factor in these findings was the burial rites. In the oldest cultural phase, the dead were buried - given back to Zemyna, Mother Earth."[14]
  3. ^ Researcher Nijole Laurinkiene, at the end of her book on Zemyna, writes thus: "Žemyna was also imagined as the giver and supporter of human life, because like flora and fauna, humanity is a part of nature. (...) The newborn would immediately be laid down on Mother Earth as if she were its biological mother, so that she could ‘accept’ and ‘embrace’ the infant as her own earthly creation and give it vegetative power and vitality on a cosmic plane. (...)".[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Laurinkiene, Nijole. "Gyvatė, Žemė, Žemyna: vaizdinių koreliacija nominavimo ir semantikos lygmenyje". In: Lituanistika šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2004. pp. 285–286.
  2. ^ Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "Požemio ir mirusiųjų karalystės deivė" [Goddesses of the Kingdom of the Dead and the Underworld]. In: Metai n. 1. 2010. pp. 116-127.
  3. ^ a b c Balsys, Rimantas (2010). Lietuvių ir prūsų dievai, deivės, dvasios: nuo apeigos iki prietaro (in Lithuanian). Klaipėdos universitetas. pp. 103–114. ISBN 978-9955-18-462-1.
  4. ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
  5. ^ Dundulienė 2018, p. 111.
  6. ^ Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "Motina Žemyna baltų deivių kontekste: 1 d.: Tacito mater deum, trakų-frigų Σεμέλη, latvių Zemes māte, Māra, lietuvių bei latvių Laima, Laumė ir lietuvių Austėja" [Mother-Goddess Žemyna in the context of Baltic deities]. In: Liaudies kultūra Nr. 2 (2007). p. 12. ISSN 0236-0551 https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/7871
  7. ^ Duridanov, Ivan (1985). Die Sprache der Thraker. Bulgarische Sammlung (in German). Vol. 5. Hieronymus Verlag. p. 69. ISBN 3-88893-031-6.
  8. ^ "[Zemyna's] name is the linguistic equivalent of that of Semele, mother of Dionysos, in the Greek and Thracian traditions." Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-136-14172-0.
  9. ^ Gimbutas, Marija; Miriam Robbins Dexter (2001). The living goddesses. University of California Press. pp. 208–209. ISBN 978-0-520-22915-0.
  10. ^ a b Dundulienė, Pranė (2018). Pagonybė Lietuvoje. Moteriškosios dievybės (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Mokslo in enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. pp. 111–115. ISBN 978-5-420-01638-1.
  11. ^ Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "Požemio ir mirusiųjų karalystės deivė" [Goddesses of the Kingdom of the Dead and the Underworld]. In: Metai n. 1 2010. pp. 116-127.
  12. ^ Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-136-14172-0.
  13. ^ Ūsaitytė, Jurgita. "Motina Žemė: Moteriškumo reprezentacija" [Mother Earth: representation of femininity]. In: Tautosakos darbai [Folklore Studies]. 2002, 23,. p. 148. ISSN 1392-2831 [1]
  14. ^ Vycinas, Vincent. Search for Gods. Springer, Dordrecht. 1972. p. 32. ISBN 978-94-010-2816-5
  15. ^ Laurinkienė, Nijolė. Žemyna ir jos mitinis pasaulis [Žemyna and her mythical world]. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2013. p. 494.ISBN 9786094251092
  16. ^ Sirutis, Dainius (1999). "Žemyna". In Jonas Trinkūnas (ed.). Of Gods & Holidays. The Baltic Heritage. Vilnius: Tvermė. pp. 80–83. ISBN 9986-476-27-5.
  17. ^ Kūlgrinda Ir Donis – Giesmės Žemynai. Discogs.
  18. ^ Laurinkienė, Nijolė (2008). "Lietuvių žemės deivės vardai" [The Lithuanian names of the Goddess of the Earth]. In: Tautosakos darbai, XXXVI, pp. 77-78. ISSN 1392-2831
  19. ^ Eckert, Rainer (1999). “Eine Slawische Une Baltische Erdgottheit". Studia Mythologica Slavica 2 (May/1999). Ljubljana, Slovenija. pp. 214, 217. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v2i0.1850.
  20. ^ Borissoff, Constantine L. (2014). “Non-Iranian Origin of the Eastern-Slavonic God Xŭrsŭ/Xors" [Neiranskoe proishoždenie vostočnoslavjanskogo Boga Hrsa/Horsa]. In: Studia Mythologica Slavica 17 (October). Ljubljana, Slovenija. p. 22. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v17i0.1491.
  21. ^ Laurinkiene, Nijole. "Gyvatė, Žemė, Žemyna: vaizdinių koreliacija nominavimo ir semantikos lygmenyje". In: Lituanistika šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2004. p. 285.
  22. ^ Doniger, Wendy. Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 1999. p. 1161. ISBN 0-87779-044-2
  23. ^ Vaitkevičienė, Daiva. "Nuliejimas žemei: gėrimo apeigos adresato klausimu" [Libation to earth: regarding an addressee of the drinking ritual]. In: Tautosakos darbai [Folklore Studies]. 2004, 28. pp. 104-117. ISSN 1392-2831 [2]
  24. ^ Ališauskas, Vytautas. "Apie nemokslinį žalčio ir gyvatės skirtumą: Jono Lasickio knygelės paraštėje". In: Naujasis Židinys–Aidai, 2003, Nr. 11–12, pp. 612–615.
  25. ^ Beresnevičius, Gintaras. "Aisčių mater deum klausimu". In: Liaudies kultūra 2006, Nr. 2, pp. 8-9. ISSN 0236-0551 https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/4244
  26. ^ Paliga, Sorin. "La divinité suprême des Thraco-Daces". In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 20, n°2, 1994. pp. 143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/dha.1994.2182; www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_1994_num_20_2_2182
  27. ^ Trynkowski, Jan. "Problemy religii Getów w korespondencji Godfryda Ernesta Groddecka i Joachima Lelewela". In: Przegląd Historyczny 71/2 (1980): 325-331.
  28. ^ Trynkowski, Jan. "Problemy religii Getów w korespondencji Godfryda Ernesta Groddecka i Joachima Lelewela". In: Przegląd Historyczny 71/2 (1980): 328.
  29. ^ W. M. Flinders Petrie. "104. Links of North and South". In: Man 17 (1917): 158-62. Accessed February 1, 2021. doi:10.2307/2788049.

Further reading

  • Dundulienė, Pranė (1976). "Žemė lietuvių tikėjimuose ir liaudies mene. In: Istorija 16.1: 129-153.
  • Laurinkienė, Nijolė. Žemyna ir jos mitinis pasaulis [Žemyna and her mythical world]. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2013. ISBN 9786094251092

January 06, 2023
Žemyna, also, Žemynėlė, Žemelė, from, lithuanian, žemė, earth, goddess, earth, lithuanian, religion, usually, regarded, mother, goddess, chief, lithuanian, gods, similar, latvian, zemes, māte, personifies, fertile, earth, nourishes, life, earth, human, plant, . Zemyna also Zemynele or Zemele 1 from Lithuanian zeme earth is the goddess of the earth in Lithuanian religion She is usually regarded as mother goddess and one of the chief Lithuanian gods similar to Latvian Zemes mate Zemyna personifies the fertile earth and nourishes all life on earth human plant and animal All that is born of earth will return to earth thus her cult is also related to death 2 As the cult diminished after baptism of Lithuania Zemyna s image and functions became influenced by the cult of Virgin Mary 3 ZemynaEarthConsortPerkunas or Praamzius Contents 1 Name 2 Role 2 1 Family 3 In modern culture 4 Related male deities 5 Footnotes 6 See also 7 References 8 Further readingName EditZemyna stems from the name of Proto Indo European Earth goddess Dʰeǵʰōm 4 It relates to Thracian Zemele mother earth and Greek Semele Semelh 5 6 7 8 Role EditZemyna was first mentioned by Jan Lasicki 1582 It was later also described by Mikalojus Dauksa 1595 Daniel Klein 1653 Matthaus Pratorius Jacob Brodowski 1740 and in numerous folk legends beliefs and prayers 3 Pratorius described a ritual called zemyneliauti performed at major celebrations e g weddings or agricultural works e g harvest The head of the household would drink a cup of beer but first he would spill some of the drink on the ground and say a short prayer Then he would kill a rooster or a hen which would be cooked and eaten by the entire family Each family member would receive a loaf of bread and say prayers blessings and greetings The bones and other scraps would be sacrificed to the goddess burned or buried 3 Other recorded rites included burying bread baked from last crops of prior harvest in a field before new sowing and sacrifice of a black piglet 9 People would also kiss the earth saying a short prayer thanking Zemyna for all her gifts and acknowledging that one day they will return to her 10 People addressed Zemyna in various affectionate diminutive names and epithets In addition historical sources on Baltic mythology describe the dual role of goddess Zemyna while she was connected to the fertility of the land she was also associated with receiving the dead and acting as their ruler and guardian 11 a Pieces of Lithuanian folklore also make references to Earth as mother of humans and their final abode after death 13 b c Family Edit The goddess is said to be married to either Perkunas thunder god or Praamzius manifestation of chief heavenly god Dievas Thus the couple formed the typical Indo European pair of mother earth and father sky 16 It was believed that the earth needs to be fertilized by the heavens rain and thunder Thus it was prohibited to plow or sow before the first thunder as the earth would be barren 10 In modern culture EditThe Lithuanian folk music group Kulgrinda in collaboration with Donis released an album in 2013 titled Giesmes Zemynai meaning Hymns to Zemyna 17 Related male deities EditOther characters in Lithuanian mythology are related etymologically or semantically to goddess Zemyna and a cult of the earth such as Zemepatis 18 19 Earth Spouse 20 and Zemininkas 21 male deities associated with cattle agriculture and the fertility of the land 22 Their names are present in historical records of the Lithuanian non Christian faith by foreign missionaries 23 24 Another male divinity with the name Zemeluks Zamoluksei 25 Zameluks or Ziameluks 26 27 is also said to be attested An account tells he is a DEUS TERRAE earth god 28 while in other he is a lord or god of earth who was buried in the earth by the Prussians 29 Footnotes Edit Zemyna otherwise Zemlja or Perkunatele is the earth goddess and psychopomp of the dead 12 Archeological findings witness that the most ancient phase of Lithuanian culture was definitely Zemyna s culture The distinguishing factor in these findings was the burial rites In the oldest cultural phase the dead were buried given back to Zemyna Mother Earth 14 Researcher Nijole Laurinkiene at the end of her book on Zemyna writes thus Zemyna was also imagined as the giver and supporter of human life because like flora and fauna humanity is a part of nature The newborn would immediately be laid down on Mother Earth as if she were its biological mother so that she could accept and embrace the infant as her own earthly creation and give it vegetative power and vitality on a cosmic plane 15 See also EditZam Proto Indo European mythology Indo European cosmogony Baltic mythology Prussian mythology Lithuanian mythology SemeleReferences Edit Laurinkiene Nijole Gyvate Zeme Zemyna vaizdiniu koreliacija nominavimo ir semantikos lygmenyje In Lituanistika siuolaikiniame pasaulyje Vilnius Lietuviu literaturos ir tautosakos institutas 2004 pp 285 286 Laurinkiene Nijole Pozemio ir mirusiuju karalystes deive Goddesses of the Kingdom of the Dead and the Underworld In Metai n 1 2010 pp 116 127 a b c Balsys Rimantas 2010 Lietuviu ir prusu dievai deives dvasios nuo apeigos iki prietaro in Lithuanian Klaipedos universitetas pp 103 114 ISBN 978 9955 18 462 1 Mallory J P Adams Douglas Q 1997 Encyclopedia of Indo European Culture Taylor amp Francis p 174 ISBN 978 1 884964 98 5 Dunduliene 2018 p 111 Laurinkiene Nijole Motina Zemyna baltu deiviu kontekste 1 d Tacito mater deum traku frigu Semelh latviu Zemes mate Mara lietuviu bei latviu Laima Laume ir lietuviu Austeja Mother Goddess Zemyna in the context of Baltic deities In Liaudies kultura Nr 2 2007 p 12 ISSN 0236 0551 https www lituanistika lt content 7871 Duridanov Ivan 1985 Die Sprache der Thraker Bulgarische Sammlung in German Vol 5 Hieronymus Verlag p 69 ISBN 3 88893 031 6 Zemyna s name is the linguistic equivalent of that of Semele mother of Dionysos in the Greek and Thracian traditions Jones Prudence Pennick Nigel 1995 A History of Pagan Europe Routledge p 175 ISBN 978 1 136 14172 0 Gimbutas Marija Miriam Robbins Dexter 2001 The living goddesses University of California Press pp 208 209 ISBN 978 0 520 22915 0 a b Dunduliene Prane 2018 Pagonybe Lietuvoje Moteriskosios dievybes in Lithuanian Vilnius Mokslo in enciklopediju leidybos institutas pp 111 115 ISBN 978 5 420 01638 1 Laurinkiene Nijole Pozemio ir mirusiuju karalystes deive Goddesses of the Kingdom of the Dead and the Underworld In Metai n 1 2010 pp 116 127 Jones Prudence Pennick Nigel 1995 A History of Pagan Europe Routledge p 175 ISBN 978 1 136 14172 0 usaityte Jurgita Motina Zeme Moteriskumo reprezentacija Mother Earth representation of femininity In Tautosakos darbai Folklore Studies 2002 23 p 148 ISSN 1392 2831 1 Vycinas Vincent Search for Gods Springer Dordrecht 1972 p 32 ISBN 978 94 010 2816 5 Laurinkiene Nijole Zemyna ir jos mitinis pasaulis Zemyna and her mythical world Vilnius Lietuviu literaturos ir tautosakos institutas 2013 p 494 ISBN 9786094251092 Sirutis Dainius 1999 Zemyna In Jonas Trinkunas ed Of Gods amp Holidays The Baltic Heritage Vilnius Tverme pp 80 83 ISBN 9986 476 27 5 Kulgrinda Ir Donis Giesmes Zemynai Discogs Laurinkiene Nijole 2008 Lietuviu zemes deives vardai The Lithuanian names of the Goddess of the Earth In Tautosakos darbai XXXVI pp 77 78 ISSN 1392 2831 Eckert Rainer 1999 Eine Slawische Une Baltische Erdgottheit Studia Mythologica Slavica 2 May 1999 Ljubljana Slovenija pp 214 217 https doi org 10 3986 sms v2i0 1850 Borissoff Constantine L 2014 Non Iranian Origin of the Eastern Slavonic God Xŭrsŭ Xors Neiranskoe proishozdenie vostocnoslavjanskogo Boga Hrsa Horsa In Studia Mythologica Slavica 17 October Ljubljana Slovenija p 22 https doi org 10 3986 sms v17i0 1491 Laurinkiene Nijole Gyvate Zeme Zemyna vaizdiniu koreliacija nominavimo ir semantikos lygmenyje In Lituanistika siuolaikiniame pasaulyje Vilnius Lietuviu literaturos ir tautosakos institutas 2004 p 285 Doniger Wendy Merriam Webster s Encyclopedia of World Religions Springfield Massachusetts Merriam Webster Incorporated 1999 p 1161 ISBN 0 87779 044 2 Vaitkeviciene Daiva Nuliejimas zemei gerimo apeigos adresato klausimu Libation to earth regarding an addressee of the drinking ritual In Tautosakos darbai Folklore Studies 2004 28 pp 104 117 ISSN 1392 2831 2 Alisauskas Vytautas Apie nemokslinį zalcio ir gyvates skirtuma Jono Lasickio knygeles parasteje In Naujasis Zidinys Aidai 2003 Nr 11 12 pp 612 615 Beresnevicius Gintaras Aisciu mater deum klausimu In Liaudies kultura 2006 Nr 2 pp 8 9 ISSN 0236 0551 https www lituanistika lt content 4244 Paliga Sorin La divinite supreme des Thraco Daces In Dialogues d histoire ancienne vol 20 n 2 1994 pp 143 DOI https doi org 10 3406 dha 1994 2182 www persee fr doc dha 0755 7256 1994 num 20 2 2182 Trynkowski Jan Problemy religii Getow w korespondencji Godfryda Ernesta Groddecka i Joachima Lelewela In Przeglad Historyczny 71 2 1980 325 331 Trynkowski Jan Problemy religii Getow w korespondencji Godfryda Ernesta Groddecka i Joachima Lelewela In Przeglad Historyczny 71 2 1980 328 W M Flinders Petrie 104 Links of North and South In Man 17 1917 158 62 Accessed February 1 2021 doi 10 2307 2788049 Further reading EditDunduliene Prane 1976 Zeme lietuviu tikejimuose ir liaudies mene In Istorija 16 1 129 153 Laurinkiene Nijole Zemyna ir jos mitinis pasaulis Zemyna and her mythical world Vilnius Lietuviu literaturos ir tautosakos institutas 2013 ISBN 9786094251092 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Zemyna amp oldid 1114021006, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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