Sup X,
I've been trying to learn about Latvian mythology, magic, paganism, etc. for a while now, but I've had almost no luck finding english translations. I'll be taking Latvian lessons soon and trying to read selections from the Dainas, but until then, what am I to do!
Interested for heritage and academic reasons.
Lithuanian here, our mythology is basically identical to that of Latvia's, maybe I can help with something.
They've got some sick magic geometry that they use to weave symbolic pattern stories, but fuck if I can find what they mean!
>>17031794
Thanks!
Any book/story/ folklore collections you know of, I would love to hear about. Or any general kinda stuff you know about magic or pagan practices?
>>17031804
Also there is some magic numbers game that geometry works with and gets applied to calendar division and because I don't know how to interpret the symbols, I don't know how to 'read' it
>>17031794
Also, anything you know about the symbols that get used in weaving, their meaning, how they were developed, if there's any magic/science around their creation would be wonderful?
Or you could just link or greentext me some sweet stories?
>>17031812
>>17031812
Oh, I'm sadly not much into that kind of stuff. I know the general stuff, how ancient Balts would worship a lot of different gods and that oaks were considered sacred. Swastikas were also used often, and they usually referred to Perkons or Saule.
The best thing I could do is to translate some texts.
I'm looking into the symbols' meanings right now
1st row - a circle, wheel, the symbol of sun, or other stars. Tilted lines mean movement
2nd row - a cross, the symbol of two main ways of space joining in the point of the beggining of everything
3rd row - a swastika, a rotating cross. It means movement, energy, fire, sun, or Perkons
4th row - the symbol of moon phases, meaning the movemet of time
5th row - spirals, meaning energy, liveliness, evolution
6th row - a rectangle, the symbol of earth, stability
7th row - a triangle pointing up means the sky, a triangle pointing down means femininity
8th row - both triangles equal the galaxy, the "everything"
Sorry for the slow posting, I'm on my phone. It's pretty damn late here
>>17031841
Do you happen to know if there is a difference between Romuva and Dievasturibas (spelling?)? I know D.... roughly translates to worship of the God(s), but I don't know much about either.
Really anything you know about it is cool. Thanks!
>>17031901
Romuva is basically a Lithuanian neo-paganism movement, and Dievturiba is its' equivalent, only Latvian. I don't know of there are large differences in their ideologies, but I'd expect it to be pretty similar.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dievturība
>>17031876
That's awesome, you're a wonderful person!
If you're not too sleepy, I've been wondering about this as well
>pic related
>>17031922
I'd love to translate it, but it's in Latvian and I only speak Lithuanian. Your best bet would be visiting /int/, or even reddit and hoping that you would find a Latvian kind enough to do it, or simply using google translate. I might look for more info on these symbols tommorow, I'm getting interested myself
>>17031934
Aren't latvian and lithuanian similar enough to understand each other a bit?
Like polish/slovak or danish/norwegian?