Aistii (Aisčiai, ancient Lithuanians) mythology is a Polytheistic system that is closely linked to nature. Its deities, Perkūnas (thunder), Žemyna (earth), Laima (happiness), and the other gods are a pure form of primeval Monotheism that emphasises its importance in shaping Lithuanian identity through folklore and storytelling.
The Mother Bird (Motina Paukštė), who is often referred to as the Spirit of Nature, is not really a goddess. She is the Mother of the Gods, eternally shining with her transcendent powers. She is an almighty ruler, attributed to the Neolithic archaeological culture dated back to 5700 BC to 4500 BC.
The Egg that Mother Bird hatched represents the skies, and the Snake - the underworld. These are related to the Life-Giving and Transformative force from which everything comes. There, the Mother of All in All is described as a beautiful woman with naked breasts, a bird's head and wings, holding the Cosmic Egg in her hands, accompanied by the Cosmic Snake.
According to mythology, there was nothing at first, and out of that nothing, Paukštė created herself (Latin: ex nihilo nihil fit), by dividing into two principles - masculine and feminine, father and mother. Mother Bird was the Sacred Chaos, the inexhaustible source of abundance - the ever-hidden spring. She gave birth to the Egg surrounded by a coiled Snake that floated on the waters of Sacred Disarray, waiting to become the Cosmos. When the Cosmic Egg cracked open, the lower shell became the soil. The Solar Cross, the Centre of the Universe, pushed the upper shell skyward, creating the firmament for Goddess Paukštė’s children.
The Egg symbolises the origin of the universe and the feminine principle; the Snake - forces of nature and the masculine principle. This expresses the entire cycle of Nature and the harmony of the Cosmos, which is under the protection of Mother Bird.
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