Velnias is initially the god of death and the underworld in the Baltic cosmology. He's a malevolent trickster of Latvian and Lithuanian mythology, and portrayed as the antithesis of Storm God Perkūnas, the Thunderer.
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The Balts dwelt in the region of today's Latvia and Lithuania, and dwell there still. Baltic culture is rooted in deep spiritual nature-centric beliefs. They exchange influences with nearby Slavic cultures and later Germans. The devil is often depicted as a German landlord.
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Velnias can be a chaotic force of destruction or an imp playing pranks. He can start wars and whirlwinds, or ride through the skies with a raging host of the dead. As the epitome of evil and chaos, Velns is always plotting against humans or the Sky Gods.
In tales and mythology, the Baltic devil is not very bright. He can be tricked. He causes trouble, steals cows and wrecks buildings and boats. Perkūnas the Storm and Thunder God is obliged to hunt him down, no matter what devious way Velnias finds to hide himself.
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He can creep into stone, hide in a tree or change form. With shape-shifting powers, he may appear as a black cat, a dog, bear, goat, pig, lamb, cow, pike or person. Among his symbols is fire.
In the 16th century he's portrayed as an old man with white beard and white headdress like a a turban. He's a fearsome merciless god of death and the dead. Velns torments the living who disobey the pagan priests or bury the dead without proper sacrifices to the gods.
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In Baltic tradition, as in other European cultures, the dead don't entirely depart the world of the living. They live on as good or bad spirits. The good are invisible. The evil return as haters and deceivers.
The etymology of the name Satan is associated with the ancient Egyptian chaos god Seth or Set. It relates to Sumerian and modern Arab Shaitan (שיטאן) and Hebrew (שָׂטָן - ha-satan).
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Sātan can refer to a devil, in singular or plural sātans, similar to Hebrew religion. Sātan or sātans are often angels doing the work of Yahweh, and the term relates to a supernatural being rather than an evil creature.
Also in Hebrew lore, Ha-Sātan is defined as the bad Devil, the evildoer. In Latvia the first Jewish colony is established in Piltene in 1571 CE. In Lithuania Hebrew presence dates to 1388 in Trakei. The word may transfer to Baltic nomenclature around this time.
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Another evil being is the Latvian Vilkacis, Lithuanian Vilkatas, who corresponds to the werewolf. The werewolf is created purposefully. Several methods include removing all one's clothes and crawling under a log, through a crooked tree root or other natural portal.
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The person becomes a wolf, but if someone takes that person's clothes, there's no way to turn back to a human. Some magic workers have the power to transform others to lupine form.
"In ancient times, there were such evil people, who could turn others into wolves. Such wolves ran around the fence and yowled. If there happened to be a good person, who would give bread to such a wolf, then they could shed the wolf’s skin and be human again."
A. Gari-Jone, Domopole
Evidence of fire funeral rites appear, including human and animal bones, metal jewelry, and weapons found at funeral pyres. In funeral rites the deceased is laid out at home for a time. A meal lasting several days is held for friends and relatives of the deceased.
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During funerary festivities people take part in fights and competitions on horseback. As the corpse is taken to the pyre, lamentations, praises and wishes for a safe journey to the world of the dead are intoned. The tradition of lamentation lasts into modern times.
Baltic funeral rites may mimic wedding ceremonies. The corpse and a living partner are dressed in elaborate wedding costumes. People sing wedding songs and dance.
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The rites are based on belief the dead look forward to a new companion with joy, as the living do a new in-law. The corpse’s living partner is a symbolical substitute for the new companions of the deceased. The people strongly believe in life after death.
Voluntary suicide is recorded among Lithuanians after defeat in a battle, with the participants in a celebratory mood. Widows whose husbands are lost at sea may also commit ritual suicide, believing they will rejoin their husbands.