Religious experiences in Lithuanian folklore narratives

Straipsnyje analizuojamos lietuvių žodinėje kūryboje atsiskleidžiančios asmens religinės patirtys. Tyrimo tikslas - išryškinti religinių patirčių raišką lietuvių folklore. Detalesnei religinių patirčių analizei pasitelkiami naratyvai apie sapnus, regėjimus, patirtus stebuklus, kuriuose vaizduojamas žmogaus ir šventojo asmens susitikimas. Regėti sapnai, privatūs apsireiškimai ir stebuklo patirtis, atsiskleidžianti žodinėje kūryboje, yra liaudies pamaldumo sritis, kurioje vyrauja asmeniškas žmogaus dialogas su Dievybe, o per žmogaus bendravimą su antgamtiniu pasauliu išryškėja subjektyvios religinės patirties interpretacijos ir žmogaus religinis identitetas. Naratyvuose perteiktos religinės patirtys leidžia geriau suprasti ne tik liaudiškąjį religijos suvokimą, bet ir religijos vietą šiandieniame pasaulyje.Article discusses personal religious experiences in Lithuanian folklore narratives. Personal religious experiences are primarily revealed through human emotions, feelings, and various sufferings. However, in Lithuanian folklore it is not common to express direct feelings, especially describe them in detail. Thus, religious experiences are disclosed in other ways, i.e. through human behaviour, his/her actions, symbols and/or archetypes. The main question of the discussion is: in what forms religious experiences are most commonly expressed and what are the key-moments of a meeting between a human and transcendence in folklore narratives? The author uses interpretation as the main method to analyse folklore narratives. This methodological approach allows clarifying and explaining main events of the story, their connections, and narrative heroes' reactions. The card-catalogue of Lithuanian narrative folklore in the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore and sources of published material were used for the research. For a more detailed analysis narratives that portray a meeting between a human and the saint were brought in. In Lithuanian folklore religious experiences are often revealed in dreams. Human encounters Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and many other saints. In dreams person is encouraged to return to the faith and the loyalty to the holy person. The hero of the dream experiences a miraculous cure. Sometimes, places where the Virgin Mary appeared are dreamed. On one hand, storytellers perceive these dreams as prophetic. But on the other hand, holy person's appearance is not always clear and sometimes even seems purposeless, but it is pointed out that those dreams remain in the memory for a lifetime. The content of dreams in many cases is related to strengthening and promoting the Catholic faith. If the person carries out the will of the Mother of God or other holy person he has a great possibility to prevent the danger, cure illnesses and preserve his or her family member's life. Lithuanian folklore narratives of human encounter with the supernatural world reveal the fundamental religious values. The meeting between a human and the Deity radically changes religious feelings and religious beliefs: a godless person becomes religious, a non-believer begins to believe, and religiousness of a doubting person increases. Religious experiences can be revealed not only in dream stories, but also in stories of visions and occurred miracles. The experience of visions and miracles is a mysterious, extraordinary and unusual event. Personal contact with the holy man gives a special status to that person in the whole community. The oral folk art of dreams, revelations and miracles is an area of folk piety, which discloses a very individual and personal human dialogue with the Divinity. This kind of narrative analysis of religious experience leads to a better understanding of traditional folk religion, as well as its place in the contemporary world