This is the first of three short videos (hmm, there was kind of a 4th!) for this year's Time of Spirits- the Latvian season between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. Like All Hallows Eve or Samhain, this is a time when the separation between the world of the living and the dead or spirits weakens. It is not just a day or two, though, it is a whole season (one of eight through the year). This season Veļu laiks (Time of Spirits) ends with the Cross-quarter Day (actually November 5-7, often in modern Latvian marked on Nov 10; this is the same astronomical date simplified to October 31, or Nov 1 in traditions like Halloween, Samhain, Day of the Dead etc).
In Latvia this date is called Mārtiņi or Mārtiņdiena -Martin's Day- which has both Christian and pagan implications- more about that in the other video.
In this one, I've chose to focus on another deity with importance for the coming season of Ledus laiks (Time of Ice): Ragana, goddess of witches, of wild places, of death, rebirth, regeneration. I think she predates the Indo-European pantheon in Latvia, which of course has strong overlap with its sister pantheons of Scandinavia, Slavic cultures, Greece etc. Possibly one of the most ancient Europen deities of nature, both the Indo-Europeans and later Christians attempted to diminish her and other nature deities with negative associations. I talk more about these issues on my blog- link in bio.
Music excerpt:
Allemande by Wahneta Meixsell YouTube Audio Library