indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Feminine
Other Forms FormsZemyna (Polish); Žemīna (Samogitian); Žemė, Žemelė, Žemynėlė, Žemynėlyna (Lithuanian); Zemyne, Zemyna, Zemele, Zemynele (forms recorded by Prätorius); Zemÿna (form recorded by Brodowski); Zemina (form recorded by Łasicki)
Meaning & History
Lithuanian goddess of the earth, her name deriving from Lithuanian žemė "earth".Žemyna was first documented in the form Źęmîną by Martynas Mažvydas in his Latin introduction to Catechismusa Prasty Szadei (1547). Even though the spelling of her name kept slightly changing, over the centuries many historians, ranging from Mikalojus Daukša, Daniel Klein, Jan Łasicki, Matthäus Prätorius, Philipp Ruhig to Jakob Brodowski, corroborated her existence in the Baltic pantheon and her functions.
Modern-day academics agree that Žemyna was a mother goddess personifying the fertile earth and nourishing all life on earth, human, plant, and animal. When Christianity started to gain ground in Lithuania, her cult became influenced by the cult of the Virgin Mary."Prätorius described a ritual, called žemyneliauti, performed at major celebrations (e.g. weddings) or agricultural works (e.g. harvest). The head of the household would drink a cup of beer, but first he would spill some of the drink on the ground and say a short prayer. Then he would kill a rooster or a hen, which would be cooked and eaten by the entire family. Each family member would receive a loaf of bread and say prayers, blessings, and greetings. The bones and other scraps would be sacrificed to the goddess (burned or buried). Other recorded rites included burying bread baked from last crops of prior harvest in a field before new sowing and sacrifice of black piglet. People would also kiss the earth saying a short prayer thanking Žemyna for all her gifts and acknowledging that one day they will return to her."
Modern-day academics agree that Žemyna was a mother goddess personifying the fertile earth and nourishing all life on earth, human, plant, and animal. When Christianity started to gain ground in Lithuania, her cult became influenced by the cult of the Virgin Mary."Prätorius described a ritual, called žemyneliauti, performed at major celebrations (e.g. weddings) or agricultural works (e.g. harvest). The head of the household would drink a cup of beer, but first he would spill some of the drink on the ground and say a short prayer. Then he would kill a rooster or a hen, which would be cooked and eaten by the entire family. Each family member would receive a loaf of bread and say prayers, blessings, and greetings. The bones and other scraps would be sacrificed to the goddess (burned or buried). Other recorded rites included burying bread baked from last crops of prior harvest in a field before new sowing and sacrifice of black piglet. People would also kiss the earth saying a short prayer thanking Žemyna for all her gifts and acknowledging that one day they will return to her."