Žemyna - Earth and Goddess

Keliama problema, ar žodžiu „žemyna" reiškiama sąvoka tradicinės visuomenės žmogaus sąmonėje galėjo asocijuotis ne tik su „žeme“, bet ir su „dievybe“. Kitaip tariant, svarstoma, ar „žemyna" galėjo turėti šias dvi reikšmes. Aiškinama, kuo remiantis „žemyna" siejama su dievybės samprata. Pasitelkiant ir nagrinėjant XVI–XVIII amžiaus baltų religijos ir mitologijos šaltinius, atskleidžiama juose atsispindinti Žemynos kaip žemės ir javus globojusios, jų vegetaciją lėmusios dievybės koncepcija.The word "žemyna" (‘earth’) is frequently used as a common noun, but at the same time it can perform the functions of a theonym. True, in the "Dictionary of Lithuanian Language", the meaning of "žemyna" as goddess is not indicated at all. Here, only the meaning of this word as "earth" is given, thus one may doubt if "žemyna" could have denoted the deity at all. The most famous researchers of Lithuanian mythology (Jonas Balys, Marija Gimbutienė, Algirdas Julius Greimas, Vladimir Toporov, Pranė Dundulienė, and Gintaras Beresnevičius) have unhesitatingly qualified "Žemyna" as a goddess, most commonly describing her as goddess of earth and connecting her with fertility. She used to be similarly introduced by some historians and linguists of the 16th-18th century (Jan Łasicki, Matthäus Prätorius, Daniel Klein, Friedrich Praetorius the Senior, Jacob Brodowski, and Philipp Ruhig). In folklore and spoken language "žemyna" is commonly used in the sense of "earth", without calling her goddess, but still in numerous texts of such kind, the concept of "žemyna" as a sacred reality or a cult object is revealed, allowing for considering her a being of divine origins. Here, the question is raised regarding ways of elucidating the usage of "žemyna" as a common noun. Has the common noun "žemyna" acquired the sense of a mythic reality, or, vice versa, is this the result of desacralization of "Žemyna"? Both processes could have taken place during different periods of time. According to the data of Lithuanian language and mythology, there are other similar cases too. The earth, having once upon a time raised numerous inconceivable questions to our distant ancestors, under the influence of religious experiences has perhaps eventually been related to a certain idea, or a whole system of them, becoming a reality of special quality in axiological terms, that acquired the status of a deity. Therefore the evolution of thought from the common noun "žemyna" to the name of goddess "Žemyna" can be acknowledged as truly possible. Yet during the period of disintegration of the ancient religion, an opposite development could have also been possible: from the concept of "Žemyna" as goddess to the secularized, devoid of sacral quality "žemyna" (‘earth’)