THE CONNECTION OF MYTHOLOGICAL STONES TO DEITIES OF THE EARTH AND LOWER WORLD, AND THEIR PLACE IN THE SACRED LANDSCAPE

Abstract

The earth and the mythical beings of lower spheres connected with it relate to stones in the Latvian mythical landscape. These stones are connected with basic Indo-European myth, involving conflict between the celestial and chthonic deities, or with a syncretic interpretation of the myth, where pagan and Chris- tian strata have mixed. The folk-tale motifs connected with all of these are varied. Some motifs, for example, about the Devil making men sleep on the stones, are emphasized for the first time in this study. The connection between stones and the cult of dead is also identified. A stone is considered a boundary between this world and the next, and as one of the points of reference in the natural world where the souls of those who had died an untimely death found shelter. In the mythical land- scape it is possible to observe the connection between a stone and other natural objects, particularly mythical waters, as well as features of Man’s cultural space, such as hill-forts and burial sites.