Romuva (religion)

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Romuva
Flag of the Romuva religion
High priestess (krivė)Inija Trinkūnienė (2015–present)
FounderVydūnas
Origin20th century
Members~5,100 (2011)
Official websiteromuva.lt
Austras koks
, also commonly used as a symbol of Romuva.

Romuva is a

dainos (songs), as well as ecological activism and stewarding sacred places.[4]

Romuva primarily exists in Lithuania but there are also congregations of adherents in Australia, Canada, Russia, the United States,

2001 census, there were approximately 1,200 people in Lithuania identifying with Romuva. That number jumped to around 5,100 in the 2011 census.[10]

Etymology

The terms Romuva, Romovė, and Ruomuva came from medieval written sources in

Romowe.[11] The word has meanings of "temple" and "sanctuary", but, further, also "abode of inner peace".[12] The Baltic root ram-/rām-, from which Romuva derives,[13] has the meaning of 'calm, serene, quiet', stemming from the Proto-Indo-European *h₁rem-.[14]

History

Ancient and medieval Lithuanian faith

Main article: Lithuanian mythology
Romuva ceremony
Romuva ceremony

Whatever religion the original inhabitants of the Baltic region had predates recorded history.

Proto-Indo-European religion. This religion, including elements from the religious past of the region, evolved into the paganism which is attested in the Middle Ages and later.[15]

The adherents of this Baltic religion prospered relatively unhindered until the 9th century when they began to come under pressure from outside Christian forces.

The Holy Forest and destroying statues of gods.[19]

Beginning in 1199, the Roman Catholic Church declared

*Žvorūna (goddess of forests and hunters). Despite any insincerity and realpolitik in his Christian faith, some subsidiary states of Mindaugas' Grand Duchy rebelled in protest. In 1261 Mindaugas renounced his Christian faith as his official conversion failed to placate the Crusaders.[21]

Even in the face of Crusaders, by the time of Grand Duke

nomadic people in Europe practicing a European ethnic religion.[16][24] Unofficially, Lithuanians continued in their adherence to traditional paganism.[16]

Revival

The

Theodor Narbutt who edited Ancient Greek myths and created new Lithuanian ones.[26]

In the beginning of the 20th century, ancient pagan traditions were still continued in folklore and customs.

Giltine
, goddess of death.

Modern folk religion

The philosopher Vydūnas is taken as a sort of founding father of Romuva.[32] He actively promoted awareness of and participation in pagan festivals.[32] Vydūnas saw Christianity as foreign to Lithuanians, and instead he brought his attention to what he saw as the spiritual vision of the adherents of the traditional Baltic religion. He ascribed to this a sense of awe in their cosmology, as they saw the universe as a great mystery, and respect for every living being as well as the earth in their morality, as they saw the whole world and every individual as a symbol of life as a whole.[33] The Divine was represented by fire, which was as such used ritually to worship the divine and itself held sacred. Vydūnas had given special treatment to this religion of the Lithuanians in his drama Amžina ugnis (An Eternal Flame). Among this and other works, Vydūnas exalted the faith as being on the highest level of spiritual expression, along with other forms which he recognized.[34]

Domas Šidlauskas-Visuomis (1878–1944) began to create Vaidevutybė (Baltic paganism) in 1911. In the 1920s the Latvian folk religion movement Dievturība was started by Ernests Brastiņš. The main problem was that the first movements were based on limited folklore sources and influenced by Far Eastern traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Even so, the idea of Romuva did not die during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania.

Soviet suppression

The Lithuanian pagan movement was stopped by

Soviet occupation in 1940. Due to the nationalist nature of Romuva, the faith was suppressed during the Soviet occupation and many practitioners were executed or deported to forced labor camps in Siberia. After Joseph Stalin
's death the cultural life became more free.

A clandestine Romuva group is known to have existed within a labor camp in

Rasa in 1967. In 1971 the Soviets expelled the members from the university they attended and exiled the leaders.[35] By 1988, when the power of the Soviet Union was waning and Lithuanian independence was on the horizon, Romuva groups began reorganizing in the Baltic nations and practicing their religion in the open.[9]

Independence

A Romuva procession led by Jonas Vaiškūnas in 2009.

After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, Romuva was recognised as an Ancient Baltic faith community in 1992. Under the auspices of the Law on Religious Communities and Associations which was passed in Lithuania in 1995, Romuva gained recognition as a "non-traditional" religion. The law requires a minimum of 25 years of existence before such a religion can receive the state support reserved for "traditional" religions.

In 1990, Trinkūnas created

krivių krivaitis (high priest) Jonas Trinkūnas until his death in 2014. He was buried according to the old Baltic traditions.[36] His wife Inija Trinkūnienė was chosen as the new krivė (high priest) and her ordination was held on 31 May 2015, in Vilnius on the Gediminas Hill. She is the first woman to become krivė in the long pagan history.[37]

On 24 May 2018, Seimas passed a proposal for granting state recognition to Romuva and began discussing it in the parliamentary committees.[38] In June 2019, Seimas voted to reject Romuva's petition to be recognized as a "traditional" religion. The law provides that the petition could be resubmitted in ten years. The proposal was opposed mainly by the members of the Homeland Union, particularly by Žygimantas Pavilionis.[39] Romuva sued Lithuania in the European Court of Human Rights and won a unanimous decision in June 2021 that the Seimas did not remain "neutral and impartial in exercising their regulatory powers". Romuva will be allowed to reapply for recognition after three months of the ruling.[40]

Religious practices

Fire altar
or aukuras

The Baltic aukuras or "

dainos
or ritual hymns as the fire is lit. Food, drink, grasses, and flowers are offered to the flame as the group sings the dainas. After the primary offering, participants offer their own verbal or silent prayers which are carried to the Gods with the smoke and sparks of the flame.

A Romuva priest is known as a vaidila (plural vaidilos), and a Romuva priestess is known as a vaidilutė (plural vaidilutės). As a recognised figure of authority in his or her community, the priest must have the proper skills and knowledge he or she needs to conduct religious ceremonies to honour the Gods.

A Romuva shrine is a field with one or several idols in front of a sacred fire where sacrifices are burned, known as an alka.

Romuva centres

Samogitian Sanctuary

Samogitian Sanctuary was originally planned to be rebuilt on Birutė hill in Palanga but was not agreed to by the mayor of Palanga. Instead, it was built on a hill near Šventoji which also has 11 sculptures of pagan gods. There are four main festivals in a year:

Relation with Hinduism

Similarities between Romuva flag (left) and Hindu Swastika symbol (right)

The Romuva religion shares similarities with Hinduism. For example, in

Hinduism's cosmic order. The linguistic similarity between darna and dharma is likely a coincidence – some scholars say the two do not necessarily share an etymology, while others point to a common indo-european connection. But for Lithuania's Romuva community, which traces its traditions back to ancient folklore, it is evidence of a connection to India, Hinduism and Sanskrit that has become a part of their Romuva identity, along with its pantheon of gods and fairly standard pagan rituals. Some believe that the connection between Hinduism and Romuva made Romuva to be more than a "primitive, shamanic religious tradition".[41]

Rajputs were the ancestors of a Romuva tribe that once ruled Lithuania for many years and some of their ancient practices are practiced today.[42]

Similarly Ašvieniai are

Vedic Ashvins. The Ašvieniai are represented as pulling a carriage of Saulė (the Sun) through the sky.[43] Ašvieniai, depicted as žirgeliai or little horses, are common motifs on Lithuanian rooftops,[43]

A Hindu priest officiating a Romuva ritual

Romuva and Hindu groups have come together on numerous occasions to share prayers and participate in dialogue. These events have taken place in Lithuania,

Boston, Massachusetts,[21] Epping, New Hampshire,[21]
and elsewhere.

See also
Historical background
Other Neopagan movements

Notes

  1. ^ Dundzila (2007), pp. 279, 296-298.
  2. ^ Dundzila and Strmiska (2005), p. 247.
  3. ^ Ignatow (2007), p. 104.
  4. ^ Dundzila and Strmiska (2005), p. 244.
  5. ^ Dundzila and Strmiska (2005), p. 278.
  6. ^ Saulėgrįža Londono Romuvoje
  7. ^ Londono Romuva kviečia
  8. ^ Rasos šventė Londone
  9. ^ a b Dundzila (2007), p. 294.
  10. ^ Naylor, Aliide (31 May 2019). "Soviet power gone, Baltic countries' historic pagan past re-emerges". Religion News Service. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  11. ^ Dundzila & Strmiska (2005), p. 246.
  12. ^ Ignatow (2007), p. 102.
  13. ISBN 9986231132
    . p. 267.
  14. ^ Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin. "*(e)remǝ-". Indo-European etymology.
  15. ^ a b Dundzila (2007), p. 280.
  16. ^ a b c d Dundzila (2007), p. 287.
  17. ^ Georg Heinrich Pertz et al. (ed.): Scriptores (in Folio) 3: Annales, chronica et historiae aevi Saxonici. Hanover, 1839, pp. 80 (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 80 digitalised)
  18. ^ Clark (2004), p. 196
  19. ^ Alfredas Bumblauskas, "Lietuvos tūkstantmetis".
  20. ^ Dundzila (2007), pp. 287–288.
  21. ^ a b c Dundzila (2007), p. 288.
  22. ^ Dundzila & Strmiska (2005), p. 242.
  23. ^ Dundzila (2004), p. 290.
  24. ^ Waldman & Mason (2006), p. 492.
  25. ^ Dundzila & Strmiska (2005), p. 244.
  26. ^ Barr (2010), p. 179.
  27. ^ Dundzila (2007), pp. 279 & 292.
  28. ^ Dundzila & Strmiska (2005), pp. 245–246 & 258.
  29. ^ a b Dundzila (2007), p. 321.
  30. ^ Dundzila & Strmiska (2005), pp. 258–270.
  31. ^ Dundzila & Strmiska (2005), pp. 258–260.
  32. ^ a b Dundzila & Strmiska (2005), p. 361.
  33. ^ Dundzila (2007), p. 292.
  34. ^ Bagdonavicius (2000), p. 96.
  35. ^ For most of the claims in this paragraph thus far, see Dundzila (2007), p. 293. For Trikūnas' involvement with Ramuva, see Dundzila & Strmiska (2005), p. 246.
  36. DELFI
    . Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  37. ^ "Pirmąsyk istorijoje Lietuvos pagonims vadovaus moteris". Ekspertai.eu. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  38. ^ "Seimas to discuss granting state recognition to Lithuanian Neopagans". Delfi. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  39. Delfi.lt
    . Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  40. ^ BNS (13 June 2021). "Neopagans could reapply for recognition in three months' time". Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  41. Ozy
    . Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  42. ^ a b Sharm, Saurabh (12 September 2013). "Lithuanian tribe traces Rajput roots". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  43. ^ a b Hamacher, Duane W. "The Sumerians and Gemini: Sumerian Astronomical Interpretations as Origins of the Divine Horse Twins and Solar Chariots in Indo-European Mythology (Unpublished manuscript)" (PDF). p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2011.
  44. ^ "Romuva movement". Lietuvos–Indijos forumas. 2011.
  45. ^ "Indo Romuva Culture Conference Announced". Hinduism Today. 12 June 2003.

References

Further reading

External links

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