Māra is the highest-ranking
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
in
Latvian mythology,
Mother Earth
Mother Earth may refer to:
*The Earth goddess in any of the world's mythologies
*Mother goddess
*Mother Nature, a common personification of the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life
Written media and literature
*Mother Earth ...
, a feminine counterpart to
Dievs. She takes spirits after death. She may be thought as the alternate side of Dievs (like in
Yin and Yang). Other Latvian goddesses, sometimes all of them, are considered her assistants, or alternate aspects. Māra may have been also the same goddess as
Lopu māte, Piena Māte (Mother of the Milk),
Veļu māte or Vélių motę (mother of the souls/spirits),
Zemes 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 referre ...
(Mother of the Earth), and many other "mothers", like of Wood, Water, Sea, Wind.
Names
Alternative names: Māre, Mārīte (
diminutive), Mārša, Māršava (Western Latvia).
Description
She is the patroness of all feminine duties (children, cattle), patroness of all the economic activities ("God made the table, Māra made the bread"), even money and markets. Being the alternate side of Dievs, she takes a person's body after their death while Dievs is taking the soul. She is the goddess of the land, which is called ''Māras zeme'' (''Māra's land'').
In western
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, and to a lesser degree in the rest of Latvia, she was strongly associated with
Laima, and may have been considered the same
deity.
Festivals
The festival
Māras was held in her honor every August 15. This is probably a result of
Christian influence and identification of Māra with
Mary, whose main festival (
the Assumption) has fallen on the same date since early times. Opinions are divided over whether Māra is a pre-Christian deity,
[ ] or originated as a reflection of the Christian Mary created by semi-Christian Livonian peasants.
See also
*
Morana (goddess)
*
Mara (Hindu goddess)
*
Mara (disambiguation)
Mara or MARA may refer to:
Animals
* Mara (mammal), a species of the cavy family
*Mara the Lioness, in the movie ''Born Free''
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Mara (''Doctor Who''), an evil being in two ''Doctor Who'' serials
*Mara, ...
*
Mare (folklore)
*
Marah (Bible)
Marah ( he, מָרָה meaning 'bitter') is one of the locations which the Exodus identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus.
The liberated Israelites set out on their journey in the desert, somewhere in th ...
References
External links
Māre at Krisjanis Barons folk closet Latvian Folklore
Latvia seeks common roots in Tamil Goddess Mariamma ''Times of India''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mara
Latvian goddesses
Commerce goddesses
Agricultural goddesses
Animal goddesses
Childhood goddesses
Earth goddesses
Baltic gods