The Cult of the Balts: Mythological Impulses and Neo-Pagan Practices in the Touristic Clubs of the Lithuanian SSR of the 1960s and 1970s

Abstract

In the 1960s, Soviet Lithuania witnessed the rise of an intensified interest in paganism. Aiming to diminish the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, the Communist Party promoted Lithuanian pre-Christian customs and rituals that, in turn, not only became a successful instrument against Catholicism but also an effective stimulus of nationalism. Arising within the framework of academic touristic clubs, this interest turned into a deep study of the proto-Balts, their mythology, and their way of life, soon becoming the basis for an entire system of values based upon the superiority of Lithuanian ancestors. The biography and works of Vilhelmas Storostas (German: Wilhelm Storost), a.k.a. Vydūnas, a writer, theosophist, and nationalistic activist in the late 19th and early 20th century in Eastern Prussia, played a central role in the development of their world views. The newfound popularity of Vydūnas’s thinking as well as the influential writings on the proto-Balts and their Indo-European links by the American scholar Marija Gimbutas (Lithuanian: Gimbutienė) were essential in the creation of a new, primordialist concept of Lithuanianhood. The influence of their work was felt not only in the self-reflection of the movement but also in the construction of their religious neo-pagan practices.