Romuva: respect for live tradition in XXIst century
This post is also available in: Lithuanian
They are reserved, but very sincere and frank people. They have swastikas on their necks and calm in their eyes. They belong to the community called Romuva.
The wheel of time has turned again. Very soon winter will meet spring and then we will all eagerly wait for the awakening, the new cycle of work and festivities. Midwinter is celebrated in January. Our elders still tell tales of how a beaver crawls out of his hole on that day and watches the air. If the day happens to be sunny the beaver gets scared of its shadow and runs back to his home. This means that the winter will be very long. If the day is overcast, the beaver goes for a stroll. After the walk he peacefully returns to his cave - this means that spring is just around the corner.
The month of January heralds the coming of spring. On January 26th 2008 the members of Romuva gathered to celebrate Midwinter. Romuva is a community of the old Lithuanian religion, continuing the traditions of ancient Baltic beliefs. The faith of the Balts honours nature, which is the home of the gods. The Gods are the highest essence. The relationship between man and nature is very strong. It is imperative to preserve the harmony between man and nature.
Baltic symbols are related to folk ornaments and archeology. Each of the people coming to the Midwinter celebration wore clothes in the style of ancient Balts or at least wore a traditional necklace with elements of the swastika, a piece of amber jewelery or a copper brooch. In all countries of the world the swastika is a sign of fire, light and happiness. In Baltic culture the meaning of the swastika depends on the direction of its spin – it may mean the fire of the sun, heavenly fire or the fire of the stars.
The gathered members of Romuva paid their respects to Gabija – the goddess of fire, remembered their ancestors and danced the dance of the serpent. All of this happened very simply: in the centre stood a table, covered with a linen tablecloth on top of it lay several pine branches and a burning candle. Everyone stood in a circle, performed religious rights and sung. The high priest (krivis) blessed each person and confirmed their participation in the ritual with a burning candle. Everyone was concentrated, quiet and participated with all their heart in the celebration. In this way the harmony with God, the gods, ancestors, nature and other participants is preserved.
As Jonas Trinkūnas the krivis himself recalls, the ancestors who practiced these beliefs never had any holy scriptures. The modern practitioners of the ancient beliefs turn to mythology, folklore and ethnological findings. Traditionally the members of Romuva do not blindly repeat the past – after all that is not the most important. The most important thing is the connection between the man, nature and god.Slowly but surely Romuva became a school for those with interest in folklore and ethnography. The krivis mentioned that young people are the most active, especially the high school and university students. Around 200 young people participate in summer camps organized by Romuva. In these camps they familiarize themselves with Baltic beliefs, traditions, they visit ancient holy places and sing traditional folk songs.
In a certain sense traditions are passed on. Today the fol ensemble “Kūlgrinda” has around 50 young singers. According to J. Trinkūnas, in “Kūlgrinda” they not only learn to sing, but also learn about the symbolism of the songs. This way the youths learn the things that have been unduly forgotten and swept away. They learn to respect their ancients. For a young member of “Romuva” such values as justice, industriousness, moderation and harmony, i.e. the ability to coexist with other people, are the most important. According to the krivis all these things are infused into and transferred over to the young members of Romuva.
To sum up I will cite the words of a middle aged man, who participated in such a celebration for the first time: “These are true and honorable people, who deserve attention and respect”. One of the principal benefits of this community is that they value the traditions of the past and do not let them be forgotten. This is why we should be thankful to them.Asta Grigalavičiūtė
Photos: Donatas Babenskas Fotogalerija
Translation: Vytautas Povilas Jurgaitis
on 11-02-2008 By Indre - Community affairs
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Comments
'In all countries of the world the swastika is a sign of fire, light and happiness'
I'm not sure that this would apply to Israel, or Germany these days.
I would have expected some comment relating to current day use of swastikas.
According to Jonas Trinkūnas, swastika is an Indian tradition word and a swastika as a symbol is very popular in India. It means fortune, happiness. It was known in all cultures and in very old ones too.
This symbol was very common in Lithuania till Christianity. In Kernave (historical capital of Lithuania) archaeologists have found some rings which had swastikas in their eyes. What did they symbolize? This is a sign of fire and Perkūnas - God of Thunder. Lithuanians worshiped fire and Perkūnas, so this sign is also a symbol of idle religion.
Community of Romuva doesn't use square swastika as it was used by upholders of Hitler. Romuva uses a symbol, which is only similar to swastika. It's intercrossed grass-snakes, which is a symbol of fire. The symbol of Romuva means union of fire and water, which in mythology means life. So the symbol of Romuva should be called a symbol of life and happiness.
that's all very well, and I know about the Indian connection. But in Lithuania it means that anyone can go and tattoo themselves with a swastika on their nexts, say 'Oh, I'm a member of the Romuva' ...
and then go and make monkey noises to, say, black people, attack them, call them names or laugh at them.
Lithuania is not exactly known for tolerance to those who are different. I know because I live there and my dark-skinned relatives have been thus treated in my presence.
If it were up to me, and especially given the history of Lithuania during WW2 - not a proud moment - I would make the swastika illegal in Lithuania, so-called mythology or not.
First of all I would like to say that I am incredibly sorry that your relatives received that sort of treatment. I suppose it is only natural that non-whites are looked upon with suspicious eyes here in Lithuania. After all the locals are not used to seeing such people. Just ask my grandmother what she thinks should be done with non-whites... I won't continue, but you can imagine what her suggestions are. Incidentally she has always lived in big cities and is an educated woman... With grandparents like that it's not hard to see why present day Lithuanians act the way they do.
In any case the swastika is an ancient symbol and is not used by Lithuanian nationalists. Furthermore, the swastika the members or Romuva wear points leftward (i.e. counterclockwise) whereas the Nazi swastika points to the right. The leftward swastika is perfectly legal in all countries including Germany and the U.S.A.
Incidentally, Lithuanian Nazis use other ancestral Lithuanian symbols - the cross of Vytis (or more often two intersecting crosses) and the columns of Gediminas. Does this mean that we should ban our national symbols, because Nazis use them?
Far more peoples and cultures have suffered genocide under the cross of Christ worldwide. Terrible irony, by measure of Christ's own words, clearly never his intent. But it happened. Evangelicals are on missions to convert (and destroy indigenous religions) to this very day. Perhaps if we start banning the standard bearers of death, a little bit of perspective would be useful. The swastika is a world wide symbol that was around in Asia, Africa, N & S America, Australia and Europe long before it was co-opted by the Nazis or Christians. I respect all religions that mind their own business, and human rights in general to those whose beliefs I do not agree with. Genocide happened to the Jews, and most Europeans, Africans, Asians, Indigenous Australians and Indigenous N & S. Americans at the hands of different intolerant phases of Christianity, Islam, Mercantile and other forms of Capitalism and State Communism. Maybe the fact that most of the world is stripped from it's roots and it's connection to the earth is part of the reason the world is so screwed up with hate.
I have to agree with you, ismac76. Being stripped of the respect for nature, the animals, and other people left an emptiness that is filled with hate. Without a sense of belonging to, and being a sacred part of all that surrounds us left us wide open to greed, judgement and selfishness.
I respect the countries that held fast to the earth religions. We are all truly one. What we do to one, we do to all. It is sad that most people no longer see this.
Goodmorning
With reference on above article,You know if there Romuva 'in Italy ?
Pls cnct lordsteve76@interfree.it
I respect the countries that held fast to the earth religions. Does this mean that we should ban our national symbols, because Nazis use them.
I just want to make one comment here, so that we don’t get off the *rails* here about issues that are specifically germane here.
I just listened to a great podcast from the Gillmor Gang.
love this show! what are you guys using to call in and record?
Listen to the show here. A transcript will be up shortly. CrunchBase Information Blaine Cook Information provided by CrunchBase
I suppose it is only natural that non-whites are looked upon with suspicious eyes here in Lithuania.