Žolinės is Baltic pagan holiday marking the end of summer and the first harvest of the season. Also, in earlier times called Rugių šventė – the Rye Fest – when the first harvest of rye was celebrated and Gods were thanked and worshiped. The main hostess of the house would cut the first batch of rye from the field(around 3 handfuls), turn to the Sun, and bow several times. Then the rye would be tied with the string that it formed a figure, placed in the house, and treated as a guest. It would be kept in the house till spring for protection from famine, sickness, and misfortune during the dark time of year. As a sacrifice to Gods, nine ears of rye would be burned for Perkunas (Thor). the Sun was also worshiped as it set for the day with song and chants. The Earth was thanked with the first bread loaf buried by the rye field.
In later times, when most of the households stopped growing their own rye, the blessing was placed onto the handful of herbs/greens (žolės – greens- hence the name Žolinės) that you would keep in your house for protection over the winter. Greens with protective qualities are intermixed in the bouquet with flowers, especially popular are rowan and oak branches.
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Getting ready for Lughnasadh, the first harvest. This is from Avalon Grove’s altar last year. Grain offerings each representing the Quarter, clockwise from top: pearl barley for the East, red hard spring wheat for the South, whole oat grains for the West and dark northern rye for the North. It’s not easy to burn candles in the windy August afternoon so grains served well as tower pointers and also as offerings.
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