Jorė is one of the spring rites in the Baltic tradition that is usually celebrated at the end of April after the first thunderstorm. It is believed that Perkūnas (the God of thunder) blesses and fertilizes the mother earth Žemyna that has already thawed after the winter stagnation. Jorė is also depicted as a young maiden running through the barren fields and woods barefoot and painting them bright green. Some would even say that Jorė is the maiden aspect of Žemyna as she is reborn young each spring and ages with the wheel of the year. Etymologically, the word jorė has been borrowed from the Slavic language ярь that means bright spring greenery that appears just after the buds have sprouted. The words яровой, ярый meaning “sown in spring” points out that this was a key date in agriculture. After Jorė’s first thunderstorm the fields were ready for sowing the cattle was blessed with water and herbs.
Interestingly, that this celebration falls right in the middle between Vernal equinox / Ostara and Walpurgisnacht / Beltane and has features of both of those celebrations: eggs, maidens, wreaths of green, ribbons and evident sex energy that brings the new life into the world.
The symbol or bindrune for Jorė is a wheel – everything has to be in balance and do their equal parts in order to bring life and light and move forward. It is a celebration of “darna” which is the key aspect of Baltic paganism. The word darna means harmony and coherence, and for Baltic pagans, that’s a religious tenet as well — the balance of the world.
