Senieji papročiai

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Papročiai; Panerio kaimai; Šventės; Neries regioninis parkas; Customs; Panerys villages; Holidays; Neris regional park.

ENIn the Neris Regional Park, inhabitants of the established villages surprise strangers not only with the more survived archaic environment here than in other places of Lithuania, but also with obvious relics of the ancient outlook. The people of this region, living close to the city of Vilnius, have been able to retain a special relation with nature, its magic manifestations, and with syncretic beliefs so far. And most attention in the essay is devoted to beliefs, miraculous experiences, and to the relations with the world beyond. Authentic stories about devils, pixies and other bogeymen that lived (or maybe still live) in marsh hassocks are quoted. It is told about tamed kites, visions related to the death (Lithuanian: Giltinė, the personified creature), and about returning souls. Not long ago, every village had its magician capable of taking away milk from cows, of enchanting people, so that they would become unhappy, and making them ill. There were enchanters, who made curses go away, cured people of illnesses, snakebites. There are a lot of stories about grass snakes-there were plenty of them in the past. They lived close to people, and they did people good for a good work and did people bad for bad things. Once a year (sometimes once per nine years), the king of snakes showed, from the bite of which horses fell. All these mythological tales are an integral part of the world of the villagers living here, expressing their subjective attitude to life. In the second part of the essay, the customs, rituals, and beliefs concerning the calendar festivals that kept archaic elements here longer than in other Lithuanian regions are described. Christmas Eve distinguishes with the abundance of beliefs. Marital divinations were often performed in saunas, lofts, and between lakes - in places, which are linked with the chthonic world.On Ash Wednesday, one of the teenagers of a village carried dried fish at home. Later he or she threw it onto the loft, calling "a woman". This custom is associated with an offering for home patron, spirits. March 25 is related to the return of a stork. A bun is put onto a fence pole, as a stork's present to children. This custom originates from the time of a bird totem. Easter period is full of meaningful rituals. I would like to draw the attention to an Easter tree, which is much older than a Christmas tree. A spruce ora juniper is hung over a table or put in the good corner of a house; windows are decorated with spruce branches. All this is linked with waiting for special guests, with the belief that on the occasion of the great festival, fellow men's souls return home. [From the publication]