[Latvian] A recent Latvian religious system belonging to the group of the so-called "new religions" and neo-paganism. Established in 1925 by a group of artists and men of letters. The system is based on Latvian folklore, mainly folksong texts, using also the data of other genres and much comparative material. It is claimed that this is the actual ancient religion of Latvians, having preserved much of the original Indo-European ritual and mythology, as well as culture and worldview. It is admitted that it is re-organized for more convenience in modern situation. The main figure in the early days of dievturiba was Ernests Brastins (1892-1942), an outstanding personality. An artist by education, Brastins was interested in history and folklore. He was the leader of the archaeological fieldwork teams working for several years in all ethnographic regions of Latvia documenting the ancient settlements and castles. He prepared the Index of Mythological Notions of "Latvju Dainas". Most of his knowledge...
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