[Latvian] Dekla is a deity of fortune and destiny. One of the first mentioning of her is found in Paul Einhorn's "Historia Lettica..." (1649), spelled Daekla. She functions together with Laima but in general she is 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, Dekla seems to be the goddess of beginning as it is etymologized through the verb deht having meaning "to make; to create". Still also this interpretation is hypothetical. Dekla is found in very few folklore texts, mostly those from the western part of Latvia. There have been some attempts to establish a trinity of Latvian deities of destiny - Laima, Karta and Dekla - but this is more due to the existence of such in Greek and Roman mythologies, than according the actual material given in the texts as there are no texts mentioning all of them together. Still there are texts mentioning three Laimas. Whether this is sufficient...
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