Ūsiņš () is a
deity in
Latvian mythology
Latvian mythology is the collection of myths that have emerged throughout the history of Latvia, sometimes being elaborated upon by successive generations, and at other times being rejected and replaced by other explanatory narratives. These myth ...
, 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.
[Latvian folklore: Ūsiņš]
/ref> With Ūsiņš Day begins summer:[Who is Ūsiņš]
/ref> as they bestow fields with green grass and trees with green leaves. Therefore on Ūsiņi guys drove horses to pieguļa Pieguļa (; in Latvia) or naktigonė (in Lithuania) was an ancient tradition of grazing common types of horses during night, that existed about until the early 20th century. After winter, the grazing horses were released on their own for the first t ...
for the first time. Ūsiņi coincidences with 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. Accordi ...
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
Lithuanian Dievas, Latvian Dievs, Latgalian Dīvs, Old Prussian Dìews, Yotvingian Deivas was the primordial supreme god in the Baltic mythology and one of the most important deities together with Perkūnas and he was brother of Potrimpo. H ...
, human energy, and a phallic symbol because sexual power is equal to the creative energy. Yellow foal symbolizes energy from the Sun. With Ūsiņš it is also linked to someone else's image – the golden grass snake
The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian non-venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians.
Subspecies
Many subspecies are recognized ...
, which in turn, a snake is a symbol of energy flow.[
]
Etymology
The word "ūsiņš" offers several explanations. Gotthard Friedrich Stender linked that name with ''ūzām'' – 'trousers', which are of a yellow color. Stender also called Ūsiņš a bee god. However, there is conflicting data on Ūsiņš being a bee god. 19th century folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
materials called Ūziņš a bee god, while a horse god – Ūsiņš.[
In late 19th century R. Auniņš called Ūsiņš the god of light, by explaining with the sound "us", which can also be found in the word ''aust'' ('day'). Also, in his study on Latvian deity Ūsiņš, concluded that Ūsiņš typologically belongs to the realm of heavenly deities, and the specific features allowed him to be considered as the god of light. If this interpretation is correct, he is therefore an ]astral deity
Astrotheology, astral mysticism, astral religion, astral or stellar theology (also referred to as astral or star worship) is the worship of the stars (individually or together as the night sky), the planets, and other heavenly bodies as deities, ...
connected to the morning and the evening star.[Jordan, Michael. ''Dictionary of gods and goddesses''. 2nd Edition. New York: Facts On File. 2004. p. 330. .]
On the other hand, Jānis Endzelīns
Jānis Endzelīns (22 February 1873 – 1 July 1961) was a Latvian linguist.
He graduated from the University of Tartu. In 1908, he and Kārlis Mīlenbahs developed the modern Latvian alphabet, which slowly replaced the old orthography used befo ...
felt that the word ''ūsiņš'' has no Latvian origin, but was borrowed from the Germanic word ''husing'' ('home spirit'). After some time, Endzelīns reflected on and considered that the word ''ūsiņš'' derives from a Russian word ''усень'' or ''овсень'' and that the same deity was borrowed from Russian people. Lastly, Vladimir Toporov
Vladimir Nikolayevich Toporov (russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Топоро́в; 5 July 1928 in Moscow5 December 2005 in Moscow) was a leading Russian philologist associated with the Tartu-Moscow semiotic school. His wife was ...
, in his studies concluded that Ūsiņš was an ancient and mythical deity of several nations.[
]
Parallels
Folk songs expressed a visible merging process of Ūsiņš and Jurģi (Saint George).Ashvini
Ashvini (अश्विनी ''aśvinī'') is the first nakshatra ( lunar mansion) in Hindu astronomy having a spread from 0°-0'-0" to 13°-20', corresponding to the head of Aries, including the stars β and γ Arietis. The name ''aśv ...
and is therefore also comparable with Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
'' Dioskouri'' or "Sons of Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
", who like Ūsiņš transport the Sun. A further parallel is that Ūsiņš is also known as ''Son of Dievs'', and both Asvins are described as ''Divo napata'' ("Sons of Dyaus").[ Leeming, David. ''From Olympus to Camelot: The World of European Mythology''. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2003. pp. 125-126.]
Ūsiņš Day celebration
Farmers fully entrust their horses to Ūsiņš, handing them over under his guardianship. Folk songs mention, that Ūsiņš himself belongs to horses, moreover, they are very well cared for. Since Ūsiņš is the god of light, it was horses that transported the sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
.[Ūsiņš]
/ref> An important place in descriptions of traditions is paid to a sacrifice. A black cock with nine crests and red legs is sacrificed to Ūsiņš. Rooster's blood was drained in horse's manger directly on oats
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human co ...
. There was a belief, that blood, which is given to Ūsiņš, blessed the beast's home. Later during pieguļa the rooster is cooked and eaten by pieguļnieki. During pieguļa eggs are boiled and cooked into a special Ūsiņi dish – 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 ...
. Ūsiņš Day was held on horse market day when they were bought and sold.[ Ūsiņš Day was met with a rumble and great noisiness, which ties in with spring thunder nature.][Ūsiņš leads the Sun uphill]
/ref>
Ūsiņš in Latvian dainas
References
External links
Jurģi – Ūsiņi
Juris, Jurģis and Ūsiņš
Ūsiņš rode to pieguļa
Latvian folk songs
How Ūsiņš developed into Jurģis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usins
Latvian gods
Light gods
Nature gods
Spring (season)
Baltic gods