My Prima Donna Swamp Princess: 34. ANTIQUITY

[icymist]

I don’t know much about Baltic paganism. Naturally, I came across many pagan terms and demi-god names during my linguistic research, but I never really considered either their ancient meaning or the contemporary relevance. I’m not one for religion and its requisite rituals, whether it involves the body and blood of Christ or a raging bonfire within a ring of stones. Still, by virtue of my career I couldn’t avoid perusing various papers on the subject, including one by Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga on Latvian and Finnish folk poems.

Arva wanted to change my outlook. I didn’t know it at the time, but the princess had plans to immerse me in the world of post-communist neo-paganism and its battalion of faithful proponents throughout the Baltics. At first, I didn’t know why I let her do it. I suppose I wanted to save her from herself – to prevent her from burning down any Catholic churches – but later I realized that I was just along for the ride. The whole concept of re-emerging antiquity appealed to me, and I figured there might be a paper or two for the academic journals at home. Why not see what it’s all about?

“You’ll like it,” Arva told me. “I can sense the believer in you.”
“What’s that supposed to me?”
“Or should I say – the hippie in you,” she said with a smirk.
“Me? Hippie? I’m wearing Levis and an oxford shirt, and you look like the goddess Laima. Who’s the hippie here?”
“Whatever, professor,” she said. “If I had all the weed you smoked back in the ’60s I could fill a train car.”
She had me there.

Anyhow, the Baltic people were Europe’s last pagans. And quite ardent at that. Attempts by lone German missionaries to convert them to Christianity during the Dark Ages usually resulted in failure, if not tragedy. In 997, Adalbert, a bishop of Prague, was killed while proselytizing to the Prussians. Allegedly he went about his mission by desecrating holy oak trees and sacred alkos, or groves. Typical crusader bullying. After he refused to go quietly, the Prussians simply chopped his head in half with an ax. (For his efforts Adalbert was later canonized.)
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