Latvian WITCH tradition + Halloween costume ideas | IRREGULAR LATVIAN LESSON

[@farhanbatch]

Hello, you reminded me of the Tautumeitas and their Raganu Nakts song

[@Raventooth]

Great band

[@farhanbatch]

@@Raventooth True

[@gisawslonim9716]

Wow and thank you for explaining the word "ragane" and therein hangs a tale. I left Riga with my parents when I was 9 years old. I was born in Riga and visited every summer (grandparents' datcha in Meluzi) but of course the war and then the occupation put paid to all of that...my grandmother had a cat (a nasty one) and I loved cats and would sneak into the kitchen to try to pet her. She would scratch me. At which point my grandmother's housekeeper would call out "Minka! Tu ragane" and I would retreat from the ever annoyed cat. I never knew what the word "ragane" meant until just now when I put the computer on. So now over 80 years later I have my answer.

[@Sveiksmobile]

Thanks to these videos, I am converting my Toronto friends to Latvian culture 🇱🇻

[@Борис-е7ч]

Hello, Anete, thanks for the nice video! This reminds me of an evening many years ago, when I actually saw a little gnome (гномик). Me and my at this time 6 year old daughter were at our summer-house, while my wife was working in town. It was late September, so the evenings had started to get dark. We were sitting watching TV when I felt an urge to relieve myself of the coffee I had been drinking. Night was falling, but it wasn't completely dark yet. I told my daughter that I would get out for a couple of minutes, and went to a nearby tree, as our summer-house is quite primitive and doesn't have a toilet inside. About 30 meters up in the forest we have some sheds and an outhouse toilet. My daughter was quite scared of the darkness, so she liked to stay in the lit and cosy house. As I was standing by the tree, I saw, in the corner of my eye, something move up near the sheds. It was nothing unusual, since there are many wild animals, such as deers, foxes and badgers in the forest. I turned my head to get a better look. As I said, it was not completely dark, but at this time far from daylight. The creature was now approaching one of the sheds. I tried to figure out what kind of animal it was. Strange... It appeared to walk upright, on two legs, like a human. I tried harder to look and to figure out what it was, as it went past the sheds. I saw that it walked on its hindlegs, and not at all like a deer or fox would do. Now I actually felt a chill run down my spine. Was it an intruder on my property? But then I realised that the creature was much smaller than a human. It was somewhat around one meter in height, as I could judge from the distance and the darkness. The hairs in my neck were standing on end. I am a modern man, with a rather good education, but now all the stories I had heard about gnomes, witches and other creatures of the forest came to life.Was I actually seeing a living gnome?! Next time you upload a video, I will tell the rest of the story. So till then, Anete... See you soon... Maybe!

[@johngilson3500]

Thank You, Anete!!! ❤

[@mainlineto5988]

Paldies, Anete! These videos are always funny and interesting, though whenever you say '...but more about that later' - it just gives me flashbacks to your declensions videos :)

[@vladimirzunic9152]

1:13 In Serbian we have "baba ROGA", and ROG means HORN, so it's basically the same etymology.

[@justsantyuy]

love every video u upload is super interesting knows about other countries atleast for me

[@esotericulmanist8331]

Labāk jau būtu to helovīnu pavisam mest malā un prioritāti lai ņem veļu laiks un ķekatas, ne kā "seni izmiruši svētki un rotaļas", bet gan kā tautas norma. Kaut vai kaut kādu sinkrētismu, bet lai tautiskais, kam mūsu senā dievestība un folklora ir pamatos, ņem priekšroku :D Labs video un izcils kanāls! Varbūt kādu dienu svešzemnieki mūs labāk sapratīs haha

[@joyaljohn1342]

Great, this was an interesting video😄 I have been living in Latvia for 4 years and I never heard anybody talking about this😄

[@amandahunter9186]

I have a way to save money by making a homemade kinds of costumes because I know it comes from the heart what love you put towards the costumes you wear full of magic that you want on it

[@larisajeffrey2312]

Excellent

[@GK-op4oc]

awesome

[@pranavhinduja1182]

Hi! Hope you're well! Thanks for the cool video, any idea if Halloween's popularity is on the up or on the down in Latvia? By the way, I heard about increased infection rates across Central Europe, here's a tip to protect yourself - Perfume yourself before you leave home, perfume yourself after you return from outside too, it needs to contain alcohol though (your perfume) That'll protect you to an extent, plus keep a pair of boots for outdoor use and don't use them anywhere else, plus follow all the normal rules like the mask and all that too! And vaccinate yourself too if possible, hopefully all this ends soon

[@jeandeboishault6380]

Great video ! Are there a lot of latvian tales with witches ?

[@irregularLatvian]

I guess the answer is relative, the witch tales were more wide spread in 2 out of 4 regions in Latvia. And there are a lot of variations on certain types of tails. But there are enough to make a nice analysis and compare how ideas about witches change from place to place. I also love that people used to explain any stupidity on their pet by witches. Like… got lost home riding your horse while drunk and going through a swamp? Not your fault, the witches misled you. :)

[@jeandeboishault6380]

@@irregularLatvian Thanks for your response. And now I understand I probably live in a nest of witches... But I won't ever leave it ! Have a nice day/week/month !

[@larisajeffrey2312]

You are soo funny…..🤣🤣🤣🇨🇦🇱🇻

[@heikowisper650]

Happy Halloween ;)

[@walterl322]

Būtu vērts arī pieminēt Laumu, kas kādreiz bija zemes dieviete, bet līdz ar kristietības ienākšanu Latvijā, Lauma latviešu mitoloģijā pātrapa par raganu, līdzīgi kā "Баба Яга" slāvu pagānu reliģijā, bet godīgi sakot es nevaru sūdzēties jo no šiem video es vienmēr iemācos kaut ko jaunu

[@irregularLatvian]

Hmm. Man likās, ka Māra bija zemes dieviete. Tagad apmulsu.. bet pēc visa lasītā spriežot, varētu arī būt - dažādos novados dievību funkcija atšķīrās. :) paldies par komentāru!

[@walterl322]

@@irregularLatvian Māra noteikti bija zemes dievite, es iespējams kaut ko jaucu, bet var būt viņas abas bija zemes dievietes, tikai nedaudz savādākos veidos, līdzīgi kā grieķiem Atēna bija zināšanu dieviete, bet tika asociēta arī ar karu, bet kara dievs bija Arejs... tautai kura ļoti paļaujas uz zemi pēc iztikas tas nebūtu ļoti savādi... bet es pats nedaudz apjuku...

[@zigurdsteikmanis]

I was waiting for a screamer at the end. :D

[@irregularLatvian]

Oh noooo! There awful :D

[@madanbhandari1113]

Are you on insta?

[@dpaicav3233]

Me encantan los videos por más que no estudie letón

[@sylviaalger4917]

Well , all those who normally love big breasts will now be more scared of them❣️

[@dielauwen]

Ragan upeed man runci!

[@thefemalecaptain]

Well, I had everything until the breasts. Guess I can’t be a witch now 😭😭😂

[@Takosaga]

Not sure what I to do for Halloween here in Riga, probably will do the same as I did in states of dressing up and having a couple of drinks

[@esotericulmanist8331]

How about you honor one of the local traditions instead of commerce-based foreign drivel :)

[@declup]

No, no, shoot two rabbits with one bullet.

[@ruthbuzaite220]

Wichraft it's abomination to the God, the way to the hell. Wake up and smell the coffee!