Velinas
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Velnias; Velas; Velns
ORIGIN:
Baltic
Velinas, one-eyed patron of seers and prophets, is lord of the dead. He rides through the night leading a host of ghosts and ancestral spirits. (These ancestral spirits are known as Veles.) He also has dominion over cattle and livestock. Velinas is the most popular figure of Lithuanian folklore and allegedly has over two hundred names. In modern Lithuanian, Velnias may be translated as “devil.”
Velinas has a complicated relationship with people. He blesses and protects but also tricks and seduces. He can be extremely friendly and gregarious, seeking close relationships, alliances, even love. Velinas has a reputation as a Lothario. He’s very fond of human women and may engage them in sacred marriage. He loves musicians and will ask them to play for him and entertain him. He can be very helpful, too, serving as a guardian spirit who protects against enemies. But he can be hostile, too, in a tricky, indirect way that can sneak up on someone. Velinas sometimes plays with people, tempting them toward destructive behavior.
FAVOURED PEOPLE:
Women, psychics, clairvoyants, fortune-tellers, seers, shamans, mediums, musicians, smiths, hunters
MANIFESTATION:
Velinas is a master shape-shifter who takes the form of animals, birds and reptiles as well as people.
ATTRIBUTES:
Noose, lance
Consort: Veliona
COLOUR:
Black
Creatures: Black birds and animals
Trees: Coniferous trees, alders; Velinas was worshipped in groves.
Feast: Velinas presides over Velines, the traditional Lithuanian feast of the dead, which now corresponds to All Souls’ Day (2 November) and the preceding eve but was once a substantially longer holiday. (
SEE ALSO:
Veliona.) He also presides over a spring festival of the dead celebrated on the first full moon Sunday after the spring equinox.
Sacred site:
Velinas presides over the Golbe spring near Insterburg (now part of modern Germany but once Prussia). Allegedly bathing one eye with Velinas’ water bestowed the gift of clairvoyance.
OFFERINGS:
Libations of beer and ale, cooked pork and grains, candles, decorated eggs
SEE ALSO:
Odin; Veliona; Volos
The names Velinas, Veliona, and the Veles derive from the same root as Valkyrie and Valhalla, hall of dead warriors. Vila may or may not derive from the same root word. (Vila lack the battle associations of Veliona and the Valkyries.) Another related word is the Old English Wael, meaning a corpse left on the battlefield.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses – Written by : Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.