Latvian social rituals

The country has one of the world's largest collections of traditional songs: there are around 30,000. A true folk heritage, these songs helped the national awakening. A song is called "a Daina", it is presented as a literary art form. Dainas are considered to be the people who transmit Latvian culture through centuries of servitude and occupation. These popular songs, which, in the form of quatrains, speak of daily life, gods and human feelings, were mostly composed by women.

In Latvia, dainas are traditionally sing at all popular festivals, such as the celebration of the summer solstice "Līgo svētki".

Regarding national celebration, Latvia has a lot of them :

. There are of course the 2 dates of their independence.

The first after the First World War, then occupied by German troops, Latvia declared its independence on November 18, 1918.

And the second, then occupied by the Russians, it was finally when the USSR broke up in 1991 that allowing the country to regain its independence.

. There are also Jāņi (summer solstice) and Ziemas saulgrieži (winter solstice). Two of the most popular national celebration in Latvia

- The Ligo celebration (Jāņi in Latvian), on the night of St. John's Day, celebrates the summer solstice on June 23 and 24, a very popular festival of pagan origin: farmers used to practice rituals to promote good harvests.

During Jāņi, we sing, dance, celebrate and have fun. Residents leave the cities for the forest, the lakeside or a river. On each table, you must find cheese with caraway seeds, meat cakes and beer. We light big fires that last all night, bonfires over which we jump. Women traditionally wear crowns of flowers, while men wear crowns made of oak leaves and branches.

(Jānis is also the most popular first name in Latvia.)

- Then come Ziemas Saulgrieži (Winter Solstice). It's the longest night of the year. The first Christmas tree was installed and decorated in Riga in 1510.

According to the old Latvian tradition, the rebirth of the new sun is celebrated. Many people celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas. Others prefer to spend their winter holidays in the Western style.

But in Latvia, the common point of this celebration is that it is a family celebration, no matter how it is celebrated.

The traditional Latvian meal must include twelve different dishes. One of them must be made of chickpeas. According to legend, the more you eat, the happier the year will be.

On religion, Latvia has three major denominations:

- Lutherans in the north, the largest number

- Catholics in the south and east, in the regions that Poland occupied in the past

- Orthodox wherever the Russian minority lives.

Each of these three groups represents between 20% and 25% of the population. So there is no really dominant religion. Between 6 and 7% of the population are members of other religions.

09/04/2019