|
Jurģi
Jurģi () or Ūsiņš Day is an ancient Latvian spring festival which coincides with the Christian Church's day of feast in honor of Saint George on April 23rd. After the holidays, it signified the beginning of pieguļa and shepherding. According to a solar calendar, Jurģi day marks the midpoint between the spring solstice (Lieldienas) and summer solstice (Jāņi) and, according to a Julian calendar, it is celebrated on 6 May. After the abolition of serfdom in 19th century, Jurģi was developed in the Latvian culture on the day of termination of the contract. Origin of the Christian holiday The Christian Church celebrates this day in honor of Saint George, one of the first martyrs of Emperor Diocletian. After the Crusades, a legend describing St. George battling on horseback with a dragon, a symbol of paganism and evil, was spreading in Europe. According to this legend, he was a rider, a soldier, a weapons blacksmith, and even a patron of robbers. In Estonia, St. George is a h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ūsiņš
Ūsiņš () is a deity in Latvian mythology, the god of light and spring, symbol of fertility, guardian of horses and bees. It is one of few Latvian deities whose historical sources can be derived to be more or less genuine testimony. With Ūsiņš Day begins summer: as they bestow fields with green grass and trees with green leaves. Therefore on Ūsiņi guys drove horses to pieguļa for the first time. Ūsiņi coincidences with Jurģi on 23 April (in Gregorian calendar Ūsiņi falls on 9 May), which is the Christian Church's deposit. Ūsiņš has its own ornamental sign, which is similar to two letter E facing their backs against each other. This sign is the most common ornament for gloves. There is a belief, that such gloves grant the wearer with good luck on the road, and such gloves are called atslēgaiņi. The most important symbol of Ūsiņš Day is a foal, which can be interpreted differently. It is both the power of Dievas, human energy, and a phallic symbol because sexu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agios Georgios Icon
''Agios'' ( el, Άγιος), plural ''Agioi'' (), transcribes masculine gender Greek words meaning 'sacred' or ' saint' (for example Agios Dimitrios, Agioi Anargyroi). It is frequently shortened in colloquial language to ''Ai'' (for example Ai Stratis). In polytonic script it is written ''Hagios'' () (for example Hagios Demetrios). It is also transliterated as, inter alia, ''Haghios'', ''Ayios'', ''Aghios'' (for example Ayios Dhometios, Aghios Andreas Beach, respectively) in the singular form, and ''Haghioi'', ''Ayioi'', ''Aghioi'', ''Ayii'' in the plural (for example Ayioi Omoloyites, Nicosia, Aghioi Theodoroi, Ayii Trimithias respectively). The feminine is ''agia'', ''ayia'', ''aghia'', ''hagia'' or ''haghia'' (Greek: or in polytonic form ), for example ''Agia Varvara'' (Saint Barbara). See also * * Agia (other), the feminine form of the word in Greek * Agis (other) * Agii (other) * Agius, a surname * ''Agos'', an Armenian newspaper * Agoi, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvians
Latvians ( lv, latvieši) are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language, culture and history. History A Balto-Finnic-speaking tribe known as the Livs settled among the Latvians and modulated the name to "Latvis", meaning "forest-clearers", which is how medieval German, Teutonic settlers also referred to these peoples. The Germanic settlers referred to the natives as "Letts" and the nation to "Lettland", naming their colony Livonia or Livland. The Latin form, ''Livonia'', gradually referred to the whole territory of modern-day Latvia as well as southern Estonia, which had fallen under a minimal Germanic influence. Latvians and Lithuanians are the only surviving members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European family. Genetics Paternal haplogroups R1a and N1a1-Tat are the two most frequent, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint George
Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier in the Roman army. Saint George was a soldier of Cappadocian Greek origin and member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor Diocletian, who was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He became one of the most venerated saints and megalomartyrs in Christianity, and he has been especially venerated as a military saint since the Crusades. He is respected by Christians, Druze, as well as some Muslims as a martyr of monotheistic faith. In hagiography, as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and one of the most prominent military saints, he is immortalized in the legend of Saint George and the Dragon. His memorial, Saint George's Day, is traditionally celebrated on 23 April. Historically, the countries of England, Ukrai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pieguļa
Pieguļa (; in Latvia) or naktigonė (in Lithuania) was an ancient tradition of grazing common types of Equidae, horses during night, that existed about until the early 20th century. After winter, the grazing horses were released on their own for the first time, while under the shepherds (pieguļnieki) supervision. Several khutor guys often rode to pieguļa together, who stayed overnight at grazing along with their horses. This was necessary because horses were threatened by wolves and thieves. Pieguļnieki lit and fueled bonfires and sang a lot. They slept right beside the bonfire on needles, twigs, or brought their own straw sacks. During rainy periods they often brought twig huts. In Latvia first pieguļa usually coincidences with Ūsiņš Day and people ate a special food called Pantāga (Pantāgs) by the bonfire, but people could ride to pieguļa until Mārtiņi. In Latvia pieguļa started to disappear in the second half of the 19th century, starting with Courland and Vidzeme, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lieldienas
The Christian festival of Easter is celebrated in Latvia as Lieldienas (). Lieldienas enters Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, but Sunday will mark first Lieldienas. Second Lieldienas is on Monday of the following week. Each day has a special significance. Also, many pagan elements of celebrating Lieldienas have become a tradition.kids Lieldienas dates Nowadays, the common date of Lieldienas is the first Sunday after the first full moon, after or during the vernal equinox. Thus, the Western Christian Church Lieldienas falls on a date between 22 March and 25 April. In Eastern Orthodox Churches, which used the Julian calendar, Lieldienas falls on a date between 4 April and 8 May in Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jāņi
Jāņi () is an annual Latvian festival celebrating the summer solstice. Although astronomically the solstice falls on 21 or 22 June, the public holidays—Līgo Day and Jāņi Day—are on 23 and 24 June. The day before Jāņi is known as Līgosvētki, Līgovakars or simply Līgo. On Jāņi, people travel from the city into the countryside to gather and eat, drink, sing and celebrate the solstice by observing the ancient folk traditions relating to renewal and fertility. It is celebrated both in Latvia and in many areas where the Latvian diaspora lives such as the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Australia. Title The name "Līgosvētki" was first used and introduced in 1900 in his Jāņi songs collection by Emilis Melngailis, who back in 1928 wrote in the newspaper "Jaunākās Ziņas": Traditions Use of plants Plant material, collected and used for decorative, therapeutic and other symbolic purposes, is important in the celebration of Jāņi. Most herbaceous plant, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serfdom
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed during the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages in Europe and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century. Unlike slaves, serfs could not be bought, sold, or traded individually though they could, depending on the area, be sold together with land. The kholops in Russia, by contrast, could be traded like regular slaves, could be abused with no rights over their own bodies, could not leave the land they were bound to, and could marry only with their lord's permission. Serfs who occupied a plot of land were required to work for the lord of the manor who owned that land. In return, they were entitled to protection, justice, and the right to cultivate certain fields within the manor to maintain their own subsistence. Serfs were ofte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia. Diocles rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, eventually becoming a cavalry commander for the army of Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on a campaign in Persia, Diocles was proclaimed emperor by the troops, taking the name Diocletianus. The title was also claimed by Carus's surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus. Diocletian's reign stabilized the empire and ended the Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer Maximian as ''Augustus'', co-emperor, in 286. Diocletian reigned in the Eastern Empire, and Maximian reigned in the Western Empire. Diocletian delegated further on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were intended to recover Holy Land, Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim conquests, Islamic rule. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the recovery of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of Crusades were fought, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. In 1095, Pope Pope Urban II, Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, AlexiosI against the Seljuk Empire, Seljuk Turks and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in western Europe, there was an enthusiastic response. The first Crusaders had a variety of motivations, including religious salvation, satisfying feud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantāga
Pantāga (pantāgs, pentogs) is a traditional Latvian dish, containing eggs and spices. It symbolically represents the sun as is prepared during Ūsiņš Day, and often at Easter. Occasionally pantāgs was also used for sacrifice rituals and holy sites in Latvian pre-Christian rituals. It is often baked on an open flame outdoor fireplace or fire, usually in a round cast iron long stem pan. The egg whites and yolks are beaten in a pan with spices, producing a form of scrambled egg. However, it is also common to place it in a microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran .... References Latvian cuisine Egg dishes {{Latvia-cuisine-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
