Veļu māte

by Aldis Pūtelis

"Mother of veli", "Mother of death." The goddess of death and ruler of the realm of the dead. She receives the dead, but the living always try to deceive her in order to stay in this world for longer. The veli are supposed to be her children, although they are more likely the souls of the dead.

Veļu māte might be taken as a synonym for the sun (šī saule, "this sun, this world" and viņsaule, or aizsaule, "that world, the (world) beyond," which is the realm of Veļu māte).

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