PRUSSIA
719
PRUSSIA
Heiligenbeil, with a circumference of forty feet and a diameter of nineteen, was the most celebrated. Some mountains enjoyed the same honors. The best-known of them was near Brandenburg, at a short distance from the Frische Haff. Near the holy woods and trees there were, as a rule, holy fields, which never were touched by the plough. We also find holy springs, from which no one could take water unless he previously offered a sac- rifice : their water was believed to be a sure medicine against certain diseases. There were also holy lakes, either in a separate place or connected with the sanct- uaries and forests : no one was allowed to fish in their waters.
The gods adored in those consecrated places were, besides those already named : Okopirn, the god of the air and of tempests; Swaixtix, the god of the stars — a most important god in the North, with its long win- ter nights ; Banhputtis, the god of the sea ; .-1 ntrimpos, the angry god, who excites the waves; Wurskeite and Szwambxaite, the protectors of cattle and poultry, wor- shipped extensively in the whole country; Gardebis and Jantiubobis, the protectors of oxen and sheep; Pei- doitos, the god of trade, who made the sea propitious to the mariner, and was specially honored on the sea-coast ; Puskaitis, the god of woods and trees, who lived under the foliage, and whose dwelling-places were held partic- ularly holy. This god had, throughout the country, a number of sanctuaries, where he was attended by a mul- titude of strange, dwarf-like beings, which the imagi- nation of the people had fitted out and ornamented in the most fantastical manner. Pergubrius gave fertili- ty to the fields; Zemberis strewed the earth with seeds, and covered it with flowers and herbs; Peltcitte filled with riches the houses and the barns; Ausweikis was the god of health, resorted to by the sick and invalid. To these must be added quite a number of female de- ities. Jawirma watched over the germination and growth of corn; Melletele covered the meadows and gardens with herbs and grass; Strutis was the goddess of the flowers; Gobjanja was the goddess of riches and opulence ; Guze led the wanderers through deserts and gloomy forests; Swaigsdunoka, the bride of the star- god, directed the heavenly bodies on their path ; Laima was the obstetric goddess, and fixed the destinies of the new-born. The bad goddesses were, the sanguinary Gittine,w\\o brought painful death; Magila, the wrath- ful deity, who visited cruel misfortunes upon those she disliked; Laune, who intervened in human affairs — now sportively. now malignantly, leading the wanderer astray by will-o'-the-wisps, seizing upon helpless children, etc. Besides these gods and goddesses, there were tutelary spirits — spirits of the woods, of the waters, of the earth, most of them servants of the god Puskaitis— men of the woods, dwarfs, elf's, called barsiucs, or perstiks. Similar to these were the nightly spectres, who at twilight left their dark recesses to seek food. They were appeased by putting sacrificial meat in lonesome spots; thus they became guardians of house and barn, and the childish fancy shaped and ornamented them in the quaintest manner. The animal kingdom, also, held many objects for worship. The snake was the object of particular veneration, being the favorite of Pot rimpos. Snakes were believed to be a blessing for the house and household, to be immortal, and to gain renewed youth with each change of skin. They were dutifully fed in the holes of old oak-trees, and gladly admitted into buildings and chambers. Barren women fed them with milk, implor- ing at the same time the blessings of Laima. Care- lessness towards them was attended with misfortunes of all kinds. This regard for the snake continued in Prussia and in the neighboring countries till long after the introduction of Christianity. The horse, especially the white horse, was in great honor among all Northern peoples, as well as among the Germans, as a spirit of prophecy was said to dwell in him. All white horses were consecrated to the gods, and no one would have dared to mount a steed of that color. To beat or dam-
age it was a capital crime. Among the birds, the owl enjoyed special regard, because it was believed that she predicted to her friends the coining mishaps.
The gods being so numerous, it was but natural that the priests should form a very large body. At their head stood the Griwe, almost a god himself, so great was the veneration in which he was held among all the nations of the North. The waidlotes, griwaites, sig- gones, wurskaiti, pustones, saitones, burtones, and swa- kones were the members of a powerful hierarchy, and exercised an unlimited influence upon those supersti- tious tribes. There was no lack of female priests either ; and it would seem that female deities were attended ex- clusively by female priests, as male gods were worship- ped only by male priests. Yet it is not likely that sac- erdotal women were admitted into the Romowe. as the Griwe, as well as all other priests, had to remain in sin- gle blessedness. A transgression of this law was visit- ed with capital punishment, the culprit being dragged away from the holy ground and burned alive. There is some contradiction between this stern enforcement of the law of virginity and the way in which the body of female waidlotes was recruited. If a woman had been sterile in marriage, and became, after the death of her husband, the mother of a son or of a daughter by an unmarried man, she was considered as holy, and was admitted to the number of the female priests. As far as the institutions of the ancient Prussians are known, they exacted from their priests a pure, pious, and holy life. Those only could be admitted among the supe- rior priests, the griwaites, who, during many years, had shone by an exemplary life; and even the relations whom the Griwe wished to be received into the sacer- dotal body had to prove that their conduct had been unblemished, or they were rejected. The priests were supported entirely by the people, for we do not find any mention of their being addicted to agriculture or any art or trade. The sacrifices and offerings were their principal income. They received beer, milk, fruits, animals, tissues for sacerdotal garments, etc. Libations were offered to the gods, and the liquid offering was drunk by the priest. Sometimes this sacrifice was at- tended with quaint ceremonies. At the great spring- festival, the priest filled a cup with beer, took it be- tween his teeth without touching it with his hands, drained it, and then threw it over his head. Those behind him caught it, filled it with beer, and brought it back to him a second and a third time. The act of emptying three times the cup was intended in honor of the three great gods; the throwing of the cup was the sacrifice brought to them, which human hands durst not touch. After this ceremony the cup cir- culated from mouth to mouth. Each worshipper took it between his teeth, emptied it, and with his teeth the neighbor took it from him. Finally, the benediction was given to the people; a banquet ensued, in which intoxicating beverages were so plentifully tasted that the solemnity generally ended in bloody work, as is the case, even in our days, with Poles, Lithuanians, and oth- er nations. — Yollmer. Worterb. d. Mythol. s.v.