Demonology
April 30th
I swear that all this is a coincidence. The connection between my interest in demonology, folk art, pagan remains in European society and religion, mythology and my current trip to Lithuania. I had not planned this trip based on those interests, but it seems that by good fortune everywhere I look I see interesting curiosities.
Lithuania is a Catholic country, and strongly so. In Kaunas, it seems like a church is around every corner. And some of them are of deep interest from a historical and cultural point of view. On the other hand, pagan religion officially survived here until the XVII century, and it seems to still be just under the surface of the church devotion.
Even in a sculpture of Jesus in the main cathedral in Kaunas (St. Michael the Archangel’s Church) the visual connection with the pagan representation of the worried god is clearly visible:
The same with wooden crosses on display in front of the Military Museum in Kaunas — the symbolic meaning of visual add-ons to a regular shape of the cross is connected to deeply rooted paganism:
And then there you have the Devil Museum in Kaunas — the only one of its kind in the world. Part of the collection shows the representation of the Devil (or any other local or religious evil spirit) from around the world, but two floors are dedicated to the representation of the devil in local folk art and, by extension — in local folk beliefs and lore. It is clear that the Devil had a very important place in the beliefs of local people. Maybe it still has? No matter — it was a delight for me to spend a couple of hours there, and I strongly recommend it to anyone visiting Kaunas.
