A Brief Overview of Baltic Faith

The Baltic languages include Old Prussian, Lithuanian, Lettish (Latvian), Curonian, Semigallian and Selian. The Balts are exceptional among Indo-European groups in that they have maintained their language, folklore, pagan druid beliefs and customs in a remarkable pure state for so long. A deliberate effort to convert the native population to Christianity was begun only after Grand Prince Jogaila accepted baptism in 1396, together with the royal crown of Poland. But for a long time the new religions retained only a superficial hold on the population, which remained "stubbornly pagan" in some regions even to this century, much to the frustration of the Catholic Church!

Romuva is the name of the most important sanctuary of the Prussians, which was destroyed by crusaders in the XIII century. The symbol of Romuva is a stylized sacred oak tree with three pairs of branches, topped by a sacred flame. Underneath, the word romove ( a cognate of Romuva, meaning a group of people who would worship at the ancient Baltic Prussian sanctuary Romuva) is written in runic letters.

The Baltic faith does not negate other religions and Gods, but emphasizes the sacredness of nature first and foremost. The core of the faith is harmony (Darna).

First, darna aspires to inner harmony: people at peace with themselves.
Second, it endeavours to create harmony at home and in the community.
Third, it pursues harmony with the ancestors.
Fourth, it quests for harmony with the universe, life and with the divinities.

The fundamental of the Baltic faith is the morality known as Dora. Romuva Dora resurrects the traditions of respecting Nature: Planting trees, maintaining natural historical landmarks called piliakalniai, alkai, etc. The Forest and the Fire are of utmost Sacredness, with the Fire as being central to every family and home. In a traditional home the entire family will stand silent as the hearth fire is lit and will not turn their backs until the prayer is said and flames are fed. The fire is aliving Spirit, and through the Sacred Fire of our Hearts, we are all one Spirit.

Sacred Star Language  

The Ancient Prussian, Latvian and Lithuanian languages are derived from a core tongue that is an original STAR LANGUAGE. The Baltic people are descendants of star seeds, from the Morning/Evening Star Peoples.  There were several ancient starseed peoples upon Earth that were each given a language that would connect them with the stars and their Divine DNA memory, the Baltic languages are part of this Sacred Language. Other examples of Star languages include ancient Hebrew and Native American Indian Languages, many of the ethnic languages had Sacred origins from their spiritual origins. English is NOT a Sacred language, and it is a language that confuses our cellular and spiritual memories, in order to truly access our memories from before we were here on Earth, we must find the keys of whatever Sacred root languages that are within our genetic and ancestral history.

The Baltic languages include Old Prussian, Lithuanian, Lettish (Latvian), Curonian, Semigallian and Selian. The Old Prussian Druid language disappeared around 1700 due to German colonization and Curonian, Semigallian and Selian became assimilated into the Lithuanian and Latvian language groups between 1400 and 1600. Thus, Lithuanian and Latvian (and their respective dialects) remain as the last living languages of the Baltic Druid family. This language family was also know as Aistian, since the Roman historian Tacitus described the peoples living on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea as the gentes Aestiorum or Aestii (people of the East) in 98 A.D.

The Romuva is the name of the most important sanctuary of the Prussians, which was destroyed by crusaders in the XIII century. The symbol of Romuva is a stylized sacred oak tree with three pairs of branches, topped by a sacred flame. Underneath, the word romove ( a cognate of Romuva, meaning a group of people who would worship at the ancient Baltic sanctuary Romuva) is written in runic letters. The Baltic faith does not negate other religions and Gods, but emphasizes the sacredness of nature first and foremost. The core of the faith is harmony (Darna). First, darna aspires to inner harmony: people at peace with themselves. Second, it endeavours to create harmony at home and in the community. Third, it pursues harmony with the ancestors. Finally, it quests for harmony with the universe, i.e. with life and with the divinities. The fundamental of the Baltic faith is the morality known as Dora. Romuva Dora resurrects the traditions of respecting Nature: Planting trees, maintaining natural historical landmarks called piliakalniai, alkai, etc. It restores natural sanctuaries and ignites sacred fires during rituals.

My Brief Family History....

Wondering why an "Angel Lady" would be interested in Baltic Druids?
I am half Baltic on my Father's side. My Grandmother and Grandfather were descendant of the old Baltic Prussians.  I have traced some of my relatives back to the VERY FIRST census ever taken in 1513 by priests who were trying to "save" the supposedly pagen and heathen population. The Baltic peoples followed a Druid spirituality of honoring the Earth, the Stars and the Sacred Spirit within all things in our Universe. This Spirituality is still alive and thriving today in that region, in spite of 500 years of christianization attempts by the church, but back to the story...

During WW2, the indigenous peoples of the Baltics including what was Prussia, Latvia and Lithuania were forced from their homes and land, some of them by the German Nazi armies from the west, and some of them from the advancing Russian Armies from the East. They were essentially caught in the middle of the battlefields. As the armies advanced they were slaughtering the local peoples, and forcing the men to join the armies to fight, if the men did not fight they were executed. My father was only a toddler during this time, when my Grandmother and her parents and extended family were forced to flee their homes as the two armies advanced towards one another. Their only line of escape was the Baltic Sea, where boats were waiting to take women and children refugees.

My Grandmother told me once of how they had almost reached the port when her parents turned back to get important family photos and papers they had forgotten and left her and the children at the port to wait for their return. She told of how she hid behind large crates and barrells, and watched as the boat they were supposed to have taken left, with still no sign of her family. As it turned out, she found out later that the boat she missed had been hit in a German Submarine attack and a number of the women and children refugees aboard perished. With still no sign of her family, she headed out on foot under the cover of darkness. She said that she strapped my father onto her back with a leather strap and had my uncle run beside her as they moved through the forests at night, and during the day she hid them under piles of leaves. She said they dug potatoes and turnips to eat and tried to travel only under the cover of darkness. Once she has moved through the advancing Nazi lines she found work as a housekeeper and tended the land in exhange for room and board.  They were immigrated to the United States through the Lutheran Church, which brought thousands of Ethnic Baltic people to North America. They had nothing to return to after the war, the Russians had overtaken all the privately owned Baltic lands and businesses and so many Baltic people looked to America for hope at a new start.

My father was in Junior High by the time they were able to immigrate. My Grandfather's health never fully recovered from his imprisonment and he died when I was very young. I don't remember much about him except that he loved to play the accordian. After the BerlinWall fell, a lot of Baltic families felt safe enough to travel homeward for the first time since the war. My Grandmother was able to return to her family land and home again for a visit she spent years trying to regain ownership of her ancestral home, the Russians and the Nazi's had burned many of the records as they over ran the towns, so it was hard to prove she was the rightful heir. My Grandmother passed away two years ago. Now that I have been learning about the Baltic spirituality, a lot of my Grandmother superstitions and unusual doings around the house make sense. She would grow certain things, and eat certain things, and have her dream interpretations, she always was the one everyone in our family knew to call for dream interpretations. Now as I have learned about the meanings of the fish, the snake and birds etc... with Druidic and Romuva spirituality, I see where her ethnic beliefs were still there, even though she was converted Lutheran.. So that is why I have spent a lot of time trying to put together a history and resource guide for Baltic Spirituality and Druidism/Romuva. I want to understand my Spiritual roots from this side of the family, for the memory of that is within my DNA and a part of who I am today.

LINKS

http://www.lexiline.com/lexiline/lexi48.htm WHO WERE THE BALTS???? Did you know that Baltic Druid textile and spiritual designs are VERY similar to the MAYAN and AZTEC? It is my belief that this is from the Star Nation connections and original DNA star lineage and memories.

http://www.suduva.com/prussian/reconstructions.htm A site that puts together the ancient Prussian language, which is a root language of latvian, lithuanian, and is an ancient Druidic Star Language.

http://vinland.org/heathen/pagancee/prusa.html A brief overview of Prussian and Baltic History

http://www.romuva.lt/ The Baltic Spiritual Site- This is the Ancient Earth-Based spirituality of the Baltic peoples and ancient Prussian and Druidic. This site has the ceremonial songs and festivals of the equinoxes and solstices, the star ceremonies and many spiritual traditions.

www.balticheirlooms.com An online store of Baltic imports.

http://www.peopleteams.com/latvians/About%20Latvians.htm An excellent overview of Baltic Latvians

http://www.alausa.org/E21_Museums.htm The American Latvian Association, for Lativan/Baltic people who immigrated to the US, mostly after WW2

http://www.pesudovs.com/costumes/background.html An excellent overview of Latvian Baltic traditional dress, the shawls and woolen skirts were often decorated with bits of metal, often in the Morning Star design. The would be PRE-19th CENTURY.

http://www.latvians.com/Exile/darz_thumbs-1of3.htm Baltic Traditional Folk Costume: These are drawings of MODERN Folk costume, after the 19th century.

http://www.newmedia.ndtc.org/students/gunda/gl.htm Some Latvian Spiritual symbols

http://www.ambersea.lv/index.php?AmberseaSession=867462c53654579d6ecf94814b79feb1 Amber Sea makes Baltic Traditional Costumes, shirts etc....

http://www.pesudovs.com/costumes/start.html A history of one Womans family and her Traditional Folk photos, it is very interesting!

http://www.mystic-caravan.com/CCtorcs.htm This is a site for Celtic Torcs, however they are very similar in design to the traditional Baltic Druid necklace as well.

http://postilla.mch.mii.lt/Paprociai/kostiumai.en.htm Some good references to Folk costuming for Baltic peoples of Lithuania. Mostly 19th century.

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