Editing Mahte

{{Short description|Term for "mother" in Latvian mythology}}
{{Other uses|mate (disambiguation)}}
{{Baltic religion}}

In [[Latvian mythology]], the term '''Māte''' stands for "mother", sometimes written in English as '''Mahte'''. It was an epithet applied to some sixty-seventy [[goddess]]es. They were clearly distinct goddesses in most or all cases, so the term definitely referred to the [[mother-goddess]] of specific phenomena. According to professor [[Lotte Motz]], scholar [[Haralds Biezais]] mentioned there were at least 70 characters in Baltic religion identified with the title of ''Mate''.<ref>Mottz, Lotte. ''The Faces of the Goddess''. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1997. pp. 221-222 (footnote nr. 27). {{ISBN|0-19-508967-7}}</ref>

== Overview ==
Latvian ethnographer Pēteris Šmits noted that the Mahtes seem to be a phenomenon exclusive to Latvian mythology, with no equivalent either in its Baltic neighbours (Prussian and Lithuanian), nor in other Indo-European mythologies.<ref>Šmitas, Pėteris. ''Latvių mitologija''. Iš latvių kalbos vertė Dainius Razauskas. Vilnius: Aidai, 2004. p. 129.</ref>

Scholars (e.g., Miriam Robbins Dexter, Lotte Motz, [[David Adams Leeming]], [[Martin Litchfield West]]) note that these deities were invoked with the epithet "mate" 'mother' and individually oversaw several aspects of nature, including features of the environment (forests, fields, mushrooms, sea, the wind, etc.), animals (for instance, elks), as well as cultural aspects, such as death and interrement, or milk and cattle.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dexter |first=Miriam Robbins |title=Whence the goddesses: a source book |series=The Athene Series |location=New York and London |publisher=[[Teachers College Press]], Teachers College, Columbia University |date=1990 |page=54 |isbn=0-8077-6234-2 |quote=[The Mahtes were] goddesses or spirits responsible for the forests, for the fields, for milk, for the sea, for cattle.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mottz |first=Lotte |title=The Faces of the Goddess |location=New York & Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1997 |page=78 |isbn=0-19-508967-7 |quote=A closer look at the "mothers" shows them to belong to various categories. [...with] a striking similarity [to] those of the North Eurasian nations ... [they are] owners and guardians of nature, protective deities of dwelling places, personified objects or phenomena that might or might not receive cultic worship, personifications of abstract qualities, or the relatives of gods.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Leeming |first=David |title=From Olympus to Camelot: The World of European Mythology |location=New York, NY |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2003 |page=127 |quote=[The Mahtes] represent[ed] various aspects of nature—fields, mushrooms, elks, and so forth.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=West|first=Martin L.|title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth |date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-928075-9|author-link=Martin Litchfield West |page=141 |quote=In the Baltic lands too, especially in Latvia, we find many Mothers, ... presiding over a specific area or function. In the Latvian folk-songs they proliferate: there is the Mother of wind, the Mother of fog, of forest, of flowers, of death, of the tomb, of the sea, of silver, of bees, and so on.}}</ref>

According to scholar Elza Kokare, the authenticity of some Mahte deities is dubious, but some are firmly established due to a great number of mentions in the ''[[dainas]]'' (Latvian folksongs).<ref>Kokare, Elza. "[http://www.folklore.ee/rl/pubte/ee/bif/bif1/kokare.html A survey of the basic structures in Latvian mythology]. In: ''Journal of the Baltic Institute of Folklore'' (Tallinn), 1996, Nr.1, pp. 65-91.</ref>

=== List of ''Mahte'' ===
Following are some of the ''Mate'' characters:<ref>{{cite book |last=Mottz |first=Lotte |title=The Faces of the Goddess |location=New York & Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1997 |pages=221-222 (footnote nr. 27) |isbn=0-19-508967-7}}</ref>

#Bangu māte - Mother of Waves
#Ceļa māte - Mother of Roads
#Dārza māte - Mother of Gardens
#Dēkla māte
#Gausu māte
#Jūras māte - considered a goddess of the sea (from ''Jura'' 'sea')<ref>Lurker, Manfred. ''The Routledge Dictionary Of Gods Goddesses Devils And Demons''. Routledge. 2004. p. 96. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}</ref>
#Kapu māte - 'Mother of Graves'
#Kārta māte
#Krūmu māte - Mother of Bushes
#Lapu māte - Mother of Leaves
#Lauka māte or Lauku māte - Mother of Fields
#Lazdu māte - Mother of the Hazelbush
#Lietus māte - Mother Rain
#Linu māte - Mother Flax
#Lopu māte - Mother of Livestock (Cattle)
#Mieža māte - Mother of Barley
#Meža māte - Mother of the Forest
#Miglas māte - Mother of Fog
#Pirts māte - Mother of the Bathhouse
#Rijas māte - Mother of the Threshing Place
#Sēņu māte - Mother of Mushrooms
#Smilšu māte - Mother of Sands{{efn|In Latvian folksongs there are references of a "hill of white sand" (Latv ''Balta smilksu kalnina'') or to "a sandhill" (Latv ''smiltaja'') as the destination of the deceased in this world before they depart to "The Other Sun" (the afterlife).<ref>Vaira Vīķis-Freibergs (1980). "A structural analysis of lexical and contextual semantics-Latvian Balts ‘white’ in sun-songs". In: ''Journal of Baltic Studies'', 11:3, pp. 226. {{doi|10.1080/01629778000000241}}</ref>}}{{efn|In another ''daina'', the deceased asks to be brought to the sand ("Vediet mani smiltainē") and that he will remain in his grave, by the white sand ("Es palikšu kapsētāi,/ Baltas smiltis rušināt").<ref>''Vija: Dziesmu Krajums''. Sakopojis Ed. Alainis. Trešais izdevāms. Riga: "Laikmets" Izdevums. 1935. p. 175.</ref>}}
#Sniega māte - Mother of Snow
#Tirgus māte - Mother of Markets
#Ūdens māte - Mother of Waters
#Uguns mate - Mother of Fire
#Upes māte - Mother of Rivers
#Vēja māte - 'Mother of Winds'
#Veļu māte or Vélių motę - mother of the souls/spirits<ref>Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "Požemio ir mirusiųjų karalystės deivė" [Goddesses of the Kingdom of the Dead and the Underworld]. In: ''Metai'' n. 1 2010. p. 121.</ref>
#Zemes māte - Earth Mother ([[Māra]])
#Ziedu māte - Mother of Flowers

==Role of the Mothers==
Scholarship on Baltic and Latvian folklore remarks that some of the ''Mahte'' characters comprise a complex of deities related to that phenomenon.<ref>Mottz, Lotte. ''The Faces of the Goddess''. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1997. p. 78. {{ISBN|0-19-508967-7}}</ref> It is also remarked that, out of this mother cult, "the main
Latvian mother deities are those of the dead, the sea, the forest, and the wind".<ref>Antanaitis, Indre R. "Interpreting the Meaning of East Baltic Neolithic Symbols". In: ''Cambridge Archaeological Journal'' 8, no. 1 (1998): 64. {{doi|10.1017/S095977430000130X}}.</ref>

===Death and the afterlife===
For instance, goddess Zemes Mate ('earth mother') was associated with receiving the dead and acting as their ruler and guardian.<ref>Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "Požemio ir mirusiųjų karalystės deivė" [Goddesses of the Kingdom of the Dead and the Underworld]. In: ''Metai'' n. 1 2010. pp. 116-127.</ref> In Latvian ''dainas'', Zemes Mate is associated with fellow ''Mahte'' ("Mothers") ''Velu Mate'' ('Mother of Dead Souls') and ''Kapu Mate'' ('Mother of Graves'). According to researcher Elza Kokare, Zemes Mate and Kapu Mate act as the resting places of the dead, guarding its body and holding the key to their graves.<ref>Kokare, Elza. "[http://www.folklore.ee/rl/pubte/ee/bif/bif1/kokare.html A survey of the basic structures in Latvian mythology]. In: ''Journal of the Baltic Institute of Folklore'' (Tallinn), 1996, Nr.1, pp. 65-91.</ref> As an individual character, Zemes mate is invoked as a person's final resting place.{{efn|Best exemplified by mythologist [[Lotte Motz]]: "The chthonic goddess ''zemes mate'' (Mother Earth) receives the dead within her realm. In ''dainas'' addressed to her, she provides the eternal resting place: "Rock me mother, hold me mother! / Short is the time spent at your breast. / Mother Earth will hold me longer, / beneath her turf, a welcome guest." (J1209)".<ref>Mottz, Lotte. ''The Faces of the Goddess''. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1997. pp. 72-73. {{ISBN|0-19-508967-7}}</ref> She also stated that "In Latvian society ... Mother Earth - ''zemes mate'' - is chiefly the resting place of the departed, ..."<ref>Mottz, Lotte. ''The Faces of the Goddess''. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1997. p. 83. {{ISBN|0-19-508967-7}}</ref>}}{{efn|"In the next quatrain folksong it concerns about death, the sleeping (slumbering) in the grave. The Mother Earth is the goddess, from whom are coming all living beings and to whom after death they go back: (25) Ar Dieviņu, mâmulïte, / Labvakar, zemes mate!/ Labvakar, zemes mate, / Vai büs laba dusesanal [Good bye, Mother, / Good evening, Mother Earth! / Good evening, Mother Earth, / Shall I slumber well?]".<ref>Eckert, Rainer. "A Tendency of Nominalization in the Language of Latvian Folksong". In: ''Zeitschrift für Slawistik'' 45, no. 3 (2000): 324 https://doi.org/10.1524/slaw.2000.45.3.318</ref>}}{{efn|"Ar Dieviņu, tēvs, māmiņa,/ Labvakaru, Zemes māte (x2)/ Glabā manu augumiņu". [Farewell, father and mother, / Good evening, Earth mother (x2) / Take my body in your keeping].<ref>VĪĶE-FREIBERGA, Vaira (1980). "[https://jaunagaita.net/jg127/JG127-128_VVF.htm Dzejiskā iztēle latvju dainās]" [The poetic imagination of the Latvian dainas]. In: ''Jaunā Gaita'' (Hamilton, Ont), 25, Nr. 127, 7-11; Nr. 128 (continued), 15-18.</ref><ref>Vikis-Freibergs, Vaira. "The Poetic Imagination of the Latvian "dainas"". In: ''Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature'' 6, no. 4 (1973): 209-21. Accessed May 4, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24776924.</ref>}}

A second personage is named ''Veļu māte'' or ''Vélių motę'' (Mother of the souls/spirits of the deceased),<ref>Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "Požemio ir mirusiųjų karalystės deivė" [Goddesses of the Kingdom of the Dead and the Underworld]. In: ''Metai'' n. 1 2010. p. 121.</ref> etymologically connected to Lithuanian ''veles'' 'shades of the dead', ''velionis'' 'dead person'<ref>Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 197. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}.</ref> and Latvian ''Vels'' 'god of the underworld' (as mentioned by scholar [[Marija Gimbutas]]) and, by extension, with some relation to Slavic [[Veles (god)|Veles]], deity of the underworld.<ref>Gimbutas, Marija. "ANCIENT SLAVIC RELIGION: A SYNOPSIS". In: ''To honor Roman Jakobson: essays on the occasion of his 70. birthday, 11. October 1966''. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2018. p. 746. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111604763-064</ref> She is considered to be a chthonic goddess and "queen of the dead", who welcomes them at the cemetery.<ref>Jordan, Michael. ''Dictionary of gods and goddesses''. 2nd Edition. New York: Facts On File. 2004. pp. 339. {{ISBN|0-8160-5923-3}}.</ref><ref>Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 197. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}.</ref>

Another figure named ''Nāves māte'' ("Mother Death")<ref>Mottz, Lotte. ''The Faces of the Goddess''. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1997. pp. 221-222 (footnote nr. 27). {{ISBN|0-19-508967-7}}</ref> was presumed by scholar Nikolai Mikhailov to be connected to [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]] word ''navje'', an etymon related to the ''[[Nav (Slavic folklore)|Nav]]'' of [[Slavic folklore]], a designation for the dead.<ref>Konickaja, Jelena. "Николай Михайлов: славист, словенист, балтист (11.06.1967–25.05.2010)". In: ''SLAVISTICA VILNENSIS'' 2010 Kalbotyra 55 (2). p. 174.</ref> He also cited the possibility that Naves mate is another name for Latvian Velu mate and Lithuanian Veliona.<ref>Mikhailov N. "[http://resbalticae.fileli.unipi.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/151-178.pdf Baltico-slovenica. Alcuni paralleli mitologici]". In: ''Res Balticae'' Nr. 02, 1996. pp. 166-167.</ref> The word ''nāve'' also means 'death' in [[Latvian language|Latvian]].<ref>Valentsova, Marina. "К ИССЛЕДОВАНИЮ БАЛТО-СЛАВЯНСКОЙ ДЕМОНОЛОГИИ". In: ''RES HUMANITARIAE'' XX, 2016. p. 71. {{ISSN|1822-7708}}</ref>

Other deities connected with the worship of the dead were ''Kapu māte'' ('Mother of Graves', 'Mother of the Grave' or 'Graveyard-Mother')<ref>Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 197. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}.</ref> and ''Smilšu māte'' ('Mother of Sand' or 'Mother of the Sand Hillock').<ref>[[Marija Gimbutas|Gimbutas, Marija]]. "The Earth Fertility of old Europe". In: ''Dialogues d'histoire ancienne'', vol. 13, 1987. pp. 22. {{doi|10.3406/dha.1987.1750}}; www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_1987_num_13_1_1750</ref>

===The natural world===
Another set of ''Mahte'' figures relate to the natural world, such as Veju Mate ("The Mother of Winds");<ref>Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 197. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}.</ref> ''Meža mate'' ("Mother of the Forest"; counterpart to Lithuanian ''[[Medeina]]''), protectress of wild life;<ref>Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 124. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}.</ref> ''Miglas mate'' ("Mother of the Fog") and ''Lietus mate'' ("Mother of Rain").<ref>Doniger, Wendy. ''Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 1999. p. 109. {{ISBN|0-87779-044-2}}</ref> Veju Mate (or Veja mate) is said to be the goddess of winds and ruler of the weather.<ref>Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 197. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}.</ref>

==== Bodies of water ====
Another group is composed of several water divinities: ''Juras Mate'' ("Mother Ocean",<ref>Mottz, Lotte. ''The Faces of the Goddess''. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1997. p. 78. {{ISBN|0-19-508967-7}}</ref> "Mother of the Seas"<ref>Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). ''Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 141. {{ISBN|9781576070635}}.</ref> or "Sea-Mother"), a goddess of waters;<ref>Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 96. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}.</ref> ''Udens Mate'' ("Mother of Waters"); ''Upes Mahte'' ("Mother of Rivers"), ''Bangu Mate'' ("Mother of Waves"; counterpart to Lithuanian ''[[Bangputys]]'').<ref>Doniger, Wendy. ''Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 1999. p. 109. {{ISBN|0-87779-044-2}}</ref> Juras Mate is said to rule the seas as a goddess.<ref>Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). ''A History of Pagan Europe''. Routledge. p. 174. {{ISBN|978-1-136-14172-0}}.</ref><ref>Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). ''Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 141. {{ISBN|9781576070635}}.</ref>

Deity Bangu mate is considered to be a recent and more poetical appellation of the Mother of the Water and Mother of the Sea.<ref>Běťáková, Marta Eva; [[Václav Blažek|Blažek, Václav]]. ''Encyklopedie baltské mytologie''. Praha: Libri. 2012. p. 39. {{ISBN|978-80-7277-505-7}}.</ref>

===Household and home===
Lithuanian scholar [[Marija Gimbutas]] pointed out that Latvian traditions contain a ''Uguns mate'' ('Mother of the Fire') as a counterpart to Lithuanian ''[[Gabija]]'', a [[Household deity|deity of the hearth]] and protectress of house and family.<ref>[[Marija Gimbutas|Gimbutas, Marija]]; Miriam Robbins Dexter (1999). ''The Living Goddesses''. University of California Press. p. 203. {{ISBN|0-520-22915-0}}.</ref> Other deities associated with the household and domestic affairs are ''Mãjas gars'' ("Spirits of the House") and ''Pirts mate'' ("Mother of the Bathhouse").<ref>Doniger, Wendy. ''Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 1999. pp. 108-109. {{ISBN|0-87779-044-2}}</ref>

===Agriculture===
Mahte deities related to fields and agriculture include ''Lauka mate'' ("Mother of the Plough-Land"),<ref>Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 110. {{ISBN|978-04-15340-18-2}}.</ref> a deity said to be worshipped at ploughing time.<ref>Jordan, Michael. ''Dictionary of gods and goddesses''. 2nd Edition. New York: Facts On File. 2004. p. 172. {{ISBN|0-8160-5923-3}}.</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Beldavs, Aija Veldre. "GODDESSES IN A MAN'S WORLD: LATVIAN MATRICENTRICITY IN CULTURE AND SPHERES OF INFLUENCE IN SOCIETY". In: ''Journal of Baltic Studies'' 8, no. 2 (1977): 105–29. Accessed April 21, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43210827.

[[Category:Latvian goddesses| ]]

[[de:Mātes]]