Veļu māte

In Latvian mythology, the term Māte stands for "mother", sometimes written in English as Mahte. It was an epithet applied to some sixty-seventy goddesses. They were clearly distinct goddesses in most or all cases, so the term definitely referred to the mother-goddess of specific phenomena. According to professor Lotte Motz, scholar mentioned there were at least 70 characters in Baltic religion identified with the title of ''Mate''.

List of ''Mahte''

According to Miriam Robbins Dexter, these deities were called upon with the epithet "mate" 'mother' and were "goddesses or spirits responsible for the forests, for the fields, for milk, for the sea, for cattle". Similarly, David Adams Leeming remarked that these goddesses "represent dvarious aspects of nature—fields, mushrooms, elks, and so forth".

According to scholar Elza Kokare, the authenticity of some Mahte deities is dubious, but some are firmly established due to a great number of mentions in the '' dainas'' (Latvian folksongs).

Following are some of the ''Mate'' characters:

#Bangu māte - Mother of Waves
#Ceļa māte - Mother of Roads
#Dārza māte - Mother of Gardens
#Dēkla māte
#Gausu māte
#Jūras māte - considered a goddess of the sea (from ''Jura'' 'sea')
#Kapu māte - 'Mother of Graves'
#Kārta māte
#Krūmu māte - Mother of Bushes
#Lapu māte - Mother of Leaves
#Lauka māte or Lauku māte - Mother of Fields
#Lazdu māte - Mother of the Hazelbush
#Lietus māte - Mother Rain
#Linu māte - Mother Flax
#Lopu māte - Mother of Livestock (Cattle)
#Mieža māte - Mother of Barley
#Meža māte - Mother of the Forest
#Miglas māte - Mother of Fog
#Pirts māte - Mother of the Bathhouse
#Rijas māte - Mother of the Threshing Place
#Sēņu māte - Mother of Mushrooms
#Smilšu māte - Mother of Sands
#Sniega māte - Mother of Snow
#Tirgus māte - Mother of Markets
#Ūdens māte - Mother of Waters
#Uguns mate - Mother of Fire
#Upes māte - Mother of Rivers
#Vēja māte - 'Mother of Winds'
#Veļu māte or Vélių motę - mother of the souls/spirits
#Zemes māte - Earth Mother (Māra)
#Ziedu māte - Mother of Flowers

Role of the Mothers

Scholarship on Baltic and Latvian folklore remarks that some of the ''Mahte'' characters comprise a complex of deities related to that phenomenon. It is also remarked that, out of this mother cult, "the main
Latvian mother deities are those of the dead, the sea, the forest, and the wind".

Death and the afterlife

For instance, goddess Zemes Mate ('earth mother') was associated with receiving the dead and acting as their ruler and guardian. In Latvian ''dainas'', Zemes Mate is associated with fellow ''Mahte'' ("Mothers") ''Velu Mate'' ('Mother of Dead Souls') and ''Kari Mate'' ('Mother of Graves'). According to researcher Elza Kokare, Zemes Mate and Kari Mate act as the resting places of the dead, guarding its body and holding the key to their graves. As an individual character, Zemes mate is invoked as a person's final resting place.

A second personage is named ''Veļu māte'' or ''Vélių motę'' (Mother of the souls/spirits of the deceased), etymologically connected to Lithuanian ''veles'' 'shades of the dead', ''velionis'' 'dead person' and Latvian ''Vels'' 'god of the underworld' (as mentioned by scholar Marija Gimbutas) and, by extension, with some relation to Slavic Veles, deity of the underworld. She is considered to be a chthonic goddess and "queen of the dead", who welcomes them at the cemetery.

Another figure named ''Nāves māte'' ("Mother Death") was presumed by scholar Nikolai Mikhailov to be connected to Slovenian word ''navje'', an etymon related to the '' Nav'' of Slavic folklore, a designation for the dead. He also cited the possibility that Naves mate is another name for Latvian Velu mate and Lithuanian Veliona. The word ''nāve'' also means 'death' in Latvian.

Other deities connected with the worship of the dead were ''Kapu māte'' ('Mother of Graves', 'Mother of the Grave' or 'Graveyard-Mother') and ''Smilšu māte'' ('Mother of Sand' or 'Mother of the Sand Hillock').

The natural world

Another set of ''Mahte'' figures relate to the natural world, such as Veju Mate ("The Mother of Winds"); ''Meža mate'' ("Mother of the Forest"; counterpart to Lithuanian ''Medeina''), protectress of wild life; ''Miglas mate'' ("Mother of the Fog") and ''Lietus mate'' ("Mother of Rain"). Veju Mate (or Veja mate) is said to be the goddess of winds and ruler of the weather.

Bodies of water

Another group is composed of several water divinities: ''Juras Mate'' ("Mother Ocean", "Mother of the Seas" or "Sea-Mother"), a goddess of waters; ''Udens Mate'' ("Mother of Waters"); ''Upes Mahte'' ("Mother of Rivers"), ''Bangu Mate'' ("Mother of Waves"; counterpart to Lithuanian '' Bangputys''). Juras Mate is said to rule the seas as a goddess.

Deity Bangu mate is considered to be a recent and more poetical appellation of the Mother of the Water and Mother of the Sea.

Household and home

Lithuanian scholar Marija Gimbutas pointed out that Latvian traditions contain a ''Uguns mate'' ('Mother of the Fire') as a counterpart to Lithuanian ''Gabija'', a deity of the hearth and protectress of house and family. Other deities associated with the household and domestic affairs are ''Mãjas gars'' ("Spirits of the House") and ''Pirts mate'' ("Mother of the Bathhouse").

Agriculture

Mahte deities related to fields and agriculture include ''Lauka mate'' ("Mother of the Plough-Land"), a deity said to be worshipped at ploughing time.Jordan, Michael. ''Dictionary of gods and goddesses''. 2nd Edition. New York: Facts On File. 2004. p. 172. .

Footnotes

References

{{Reflist

Further reading

* Beldavs, Aija Veldre. "GODDESSES IN A MAN'S WORLD: LATVIAN MATRICENTRICITY IN CULTURE AND SPHERES OF INFLUENCE IN SOCIETY". In: ''Journal of Baltic Studies'' 8, no. 2 (1977): 105–29. Accessed April 21, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43210827.

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