Dēkla

by Aldis Pūtelis

Dēkla is a deity of fortune and destiny. One of the first mentions of her is in Paul Einhorn's Historia Lettica (1649), where her name is spelled as Daekla. Dēkla is found in very few folklore texts, mostly those from the western part of Latvia.

She functions together with Laima, but is inferior and generally less mentioned and described. Her functions are not as clear and they double those of Laima. If Laima has more general power influencing human life and destiny, Dēkla seems to be the goddess of beginning as it is etymologized through the verb deht, meaning "to make; to create." Still, this interpretation is hypothetical.

There have been some attempts to establish a trinity of Latvian deities of destiny — Laima, Kārta and Dēkla — but this is more due to the influence of Greek and Roman mythologies than according to actual material, since no text mentions all three together in this context. However, some texts do mention three Laimas, but whether this is sufficient ground for further hypothesis remains to be seen.

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