Romuva (Lithuanian Pagan revival)

History/Founder: Romuva is one of the oldest of the Pagan revivalist religions. When Wilhelm Storosta, a Lithuanian playwright, inspired a nineteen twenties revival of what was until the fourteenth century the official state religion of Lithuania, it was re-christened Romuva, meaning 'Sanctuary.'

Current leader/governing body: Romuva is led in Lithuania by Jonas Trinkunas, former director of Division of Ethnic Culture of the Ministry of Culture and Education of the Lithuanian Republic.

Requirements to join: Membership is open to the general public. The Romuva organization holds yearly 'summer camps' to immerse participants in traditional Lithuanian culture.

Required observances, dietary restrictions: None

Code of conduct: unknown

The most important Lithuaniuan deities are:

• Perkunas ("thunderer"), a thunder God, who is responsible for bringing rain every spring. His symbol is a hammer, making him similar to the Norse deity Thor.
• Dievas, the creator, a sky God. He lives on a mountaintop and is similar to the Greek Zeus, or the Norse Tyr (Tiw). His symbol is an inverted mountain.
• Saule and Menulis, the Sun Goddess and Moon God.
• Laume, the weaver of fate, who may once have been triple-aspected, like the Greek Fates or the Norse Norns, and who was likely to have descended from a bird-goddess. Her symbol/form is a swan.
• Gabija, Goddess of the Hearth. The hearth fire is her domain, and is never left to go out, except prior to Rasa, the Solstic fire-festival.
• Gyvate, a snake Goddess
• Velnias, God of the dead, who became an adversarial leader of demonic forces under Christian influence.
• Patrimpas, a dying God.
• Zemyna, the Earth Mother, the personification of the earth.

Holidays: Romuva has many important festivals, incuding the equinoxes and Solstices, Kucios, a festival for the dead, and Kaledos, a Yule celebration.

Symbols: The main symbol of Romuva is a stylized oak tree with a tiny flame on top and three levels of branches, symbolizing the three worlds: the world of the dead, the world of the living, and the world of the future. (The tree itself is an ancient symbol,a world tree related to the Norse Yggdrasil.) and Other common symbols are borrowed from Lithuania's Pagan past:

For more information on this and other symbols, please see Religious symbols.

Related Links:

• Romuva Resources and organizations
• Romuva Feast Days
• Ancient Lithuanian Mythology and Religion
• Ancient Latvian Paganism
• Sacred serpent
• Romuvan Feast days
• A Lithuanian Prayer