Lithuanian Out Loud

Hi there, I’m Jack.  Hi there I’m  Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language.  We’re not teachers, but we do the best we can. What do you think about that?  It’s good to try to do the best, I think! Recently, we talked about Saulė, the Lithuanian sun goddess of life, nature and fertility.  You might be surprised to know her most sacred animal is žaltys, a small harmless green grass snake.  The Lithuanian word for green is žalias.  So, žalias – green, žaltys – green grass snake. The žaltys spirit lives by the stove but to ensure fertility and wealth for the family a living žaltys snake was kept in a special corner of the home and at times the entire family would not only recite prayers to it, they would invite the green grass snake to share a meal at the dinner table. That would be a lot of fun! Elena Bradūnas has written a wonderful story for the magazine Lituanus named, If You Kill A Snake – The Sun Will Cry.  You can find a link to the article on the Li