We would like to share with our community and all those interested in ancient faith communities that Vyturiai Romuva has joined Via Electri! Back in December 2023, Vyturiai Romuva took part in a common ritual and solidified the newly found partnership. By joining this international network, Vyturiai Romuva hopes to add our strength and knowledge in all works concerning the practice and diffusion of traditional European Paganism.
From now on, Vyturiai Romuva's publications of the organisation's news, articles and statements will also be found on Via Electri's website and on common media channels. In addition, the members of the Council of Via Electri and Vyturiai Romuva are reciprocally each other's organisations' honorary members, being able to participate in each other's rituals in the respective territories, according to their own customs. As such, Vyturiai Romuva will also represent the traditional Lithuanian religion in the network of Via Electri.
May Concordia be with us!
Vyturiai Romuva
Vyturiai Romuva is a community of like-minded people on the path of discovering, rebuilding and actively practicing the traditional Lithuanian faith. Having come together from all sorts of different backgrounds we value community and our connection with nature above all else. As practitioners of the Romuva tradition we have been celebrating calendar festivals since 2017. We have participated or have helped to organise the Summer Solstice festival in Kernavė, the Jorė festival in Kulionys, the Winter Solstice festival in Vilnius, and various other festivals and events. Also, an important part of our spiritual expression is through patriotism and support of various historical initiatives – camps, hikes, lectures, cleanup of historic mounds, holy springs, stones, and the like.
Each of us individually and at our own speed followed a feeling - a pull - to learn about the history, rituals, and philosophy of the old faith, and so began to look for like-minded people and places or events to quench our thirst for knowledge. We found each other and purpose in our shared path. Eventually we started to drift from large community festivals to smaller gatherings where we could explore various questions and ideas of the old faith amongst ourselves and with the help of the leaders of Romuva community. This is how we came to find a need for regularly occurring lectures, for the wider society and ourselves, on the themes of the old faith. This is why we started to gather for the All-Souls' Day hike in the forest of Labanoras, and for the Spring Equinox on the White Hill in Kernavė. Slowly, but somehow - also suddenly, we found ourselves immersed in the yearly cycle living that much closer to the pulse of nature and our ancestors.
We have chosen our name with great deliberation. Vyturys – a lark, a spring bird. In Lithuanian folklore, the lark is depicted as the herald of spring, calling the ploughman to the fields and awakening nature with its chirping. It is a symbol of rebirth and youthfulness. Each of us is a lark. We each want and believe that we can blow new winds into the Romuva gathering, contribute to the growth of the old Lithuanian faith community and to the dissemination of knowledge about it in Lithuania and abroad.