Romuva camp & Black Horned Moon

In the middle of August I went to Romuva, old Baltic religion and culture camp for the sixth time. The word Romuva has meanings of “temple” and “sanctuary”, but also “abode of inner peace”. This time I only spent a weekend there, so didn’t get to take many pictures. Some magical things happen every year, this time it was sound of the bagpipes in the night somewhere on the mountain, mythical creatures swimming in the swamps and stars that sometimes fall and we shout at them. Even if things change a lot every year, I still say about this place that if you ever went there, you won’t be searching for home anymore. Pictures from the last year and from 2010 are on my blog.

We spent the whole morning baking this dark bread with garlic and salt, don’t think other countries have it, you don’t know what you’re missing out on (perfect for beer and kvass).

Group hug on the last evening and some speeches that always make you want to cry a bit

A week later I went to a festival named Menuo Juodaragis, or Black Horned Moon in English. It is a festival of contemporary Baltic culture focusing on the heritage of pagan tradition, Baltic culture revival, post-folk trends and avant-garde of contemporary music. We had such a lovely time, as always, even though it rained all the time.

She’s Vėtra Trinkūnaitė, daughter of krivis (Lithuanian’s highest pagan priest). She has an amazing voice, in the festival she performed with Cruachan.