Albanian paganism

Albanian paganism comprises the pagan customs, beliefs, rituals, myths and legends of the Albanian people. The elements of Albanian mythology are of ancient Paleo-Balkanic origin and almost all of them are pagan. Ancient paganism persisted among Albanians, and especially within the inaccessible and deep interior – where Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in a relatively isolated tribal culture and society – it has continued to persist, or at most it was partially transformed by the Christian, Muslim and Marxist beliefs that were either to be introduced by choice or imposed by force. The Albanian traditional customary law (Kanun) has held a sacred – although secular – longstanding, unwavering and unchallenged authority with a cross-religious effectiveness over the Albanians, which is attributed to an earlier pagan code common to all the Albanian tribes. Indeed, the Kanun contains several customary concepts that clearly have their origins in pagan beliefs, including in particular the ancestor worship, animism and totemism, which have been preserved since pre-Christian times. Albanian traditions have been orally transmitted – through memory systems that have survived intact into modern times – down the generations and are still very much alive in the mountainous regions of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and western North Macedonia, as well as among the Arbëreshë in Italy, the Arvanites in Greece and the Arbanasi in Croatia.
The old beliefs in sun and moon, light and darkness, sky and earth, fire and hearth, water and springs, death and rebirth, birds and serpents, mountains, stones and caves, sacrifice, and fate are some of the pagan beliefs among Albanians. The Fire (Zjarri) rituals and the Sun (Dielli) and Moon (Hëna) worship are the earliest attested cults of the Albanians. The Sun holds the primary role in Albanian pagan customs, beliefs, rituals, myths, and legends; Albanian major traditional festivities and calendar rites are based on the Sun, worshiped as the god of light, sky and weather, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye; the sunrise is honored as it is believed to give energy and health to the body. The Moon is worshiped as a goddess, with her cyclical phases regulating many aspects of Albanian life, defining agricultural and livestock activities, various crafts, and human body. The morning and evening star Venus is personified with Prende, associated with dawn, beauty, love, fertility, health, and the protection of women. The cult of the Earth (Dheu) and that of the Sky (Qielli) have a special place. The Fire – Zjarri, evidently also called with the theonym Enji – is deified in Albanian tradition as releaser of light and heat with the power to ward off darkness and evil, affect cosmic phenomena and give strength to the Sun, and as sustainer of the continuity between life and afterlife and between the generations, ensuring the survival of the lineage (fis or farë). To spit into Fire is taboo. The divine power of Fire is used for the hearth and the rituals, including calendar fires, sacrificial offerings, divination, purification, and protection from big storms and other potentially harmful events. Fire worship and rituals are associated with the cult of the Sun, the cult of the hearth (vatër) and the ancestor, and the cult of fertility in agriculture and animal husbandry. Ritual calendar fires are associated with the cosmic cycle and the rhythms of agricultural and pastoral life. Besa is a common practice in Albanian culture, consisting of an oath (be) solemnly taken by sun, by moon, by sky, by earth, by fire, by stone and thunderstone, by mountain, by water, and by snake, which are all considered sacred objects. Associated with human life, bees are highly revered by Albanians. The eagle is the animal totem of all Albanians, associated with the Sky, freedom and heroism. A widespread folk symbol is the serpent (Gjarpër, Vitore, etc.), a totem of the Albanians associated with earth, water, sun, hearth and ancestor cults, as well as destiny, good fortune and fertility. The sun, the moon, the star, the eagle (bird), the serpent, and the bee, often appear in Albanian legends and folk art.
In Albanian mythology, the physical phenomena, elements and objects are attributed to supernatural beings. The mythological and legendary figures are deities, demigods, humans, and monsters, as well as supernatural beings in the shapes of men, animals and plants. The deities are generally not persons, but animistic personifications of nature. Albanian beliefs, myths and legends are organized around the dualistic struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, the most famous representation of which is the constant battle between drangue and kulshedra, a conflict that symbolises the cyclic return in the watery and chthonian world of death, accomplishing the cosmic renewal of rebirth. The weavers of destiny, ora or fatí, control the order of the universe and enforce its laws. The zana are associated with wilderness and the vital energy of human beings. A very common motif in Albanian folk narrative is metamorphosis: men morph into deer, wolves, and owls, while women morph into stoats, cuckoos, and turtles. Resulted from the Albanian tribal culture and folklore and permeated by Albanian pagan beliefs and ancient mythology, the Kângë Kreshnikësh ("Songs of Heroes") constitute the most important legendary cycle of the Albanian epic poetry, based on the hero cult. Hero's bravery and self-sacrifice, as well as love of life and hope for a bright future play a central role in Albanian tales.
Albanian traditions have been handed down orally across generations. They have been preserved through traditional memory systems that have survived intact into modern times in Albania, a phenomenon that is explained by the lack of state formation among Albanians and their ancestors – the Illyrians, being able to preserve their "tribally" organized society. This distinguished them from civilizations such as Ancient Egypt, Minoans and Mycenaeans, who underwent state formation and disrupted their traditional memory practices.
Albanian traditional practices, beliefs, myths and legends have been sporadically described in written sources since the 15th century CE, but the systematic collection of Albanian customs and folklore material began only in the 19th century.
The elements of Albanian mythology are of Paleo-Balkanic origin and almost all of them are pagan. Ancient Illyrian religion is considered to be one of the sources from which Albanian mythology and folklore evolved, reflecting a number of parallels with Ancient Greek and Roman mythologies. Albanian legend also shows similarities with neighbouring Indo-European traditions, such as the oral epics with the South Slavs and the folk tales of the Greeks.
Albanian mythology inherited the Indo-European narrative epic genre about past warriors (Kângë Kreshnikësh), a tradition shared with early Greece, classical India, early medieval England, medieval Germany and South Slavs. Albanian folk beliefs and mythology also retained the typical Indo-European tradition of the deities located on the highest and most inaccessible mountains (Mount Tomor). Albanian paganism retained the Indo-European sky, lightning and weather deities (Zojz, Shurdh, Verbt), Sun and Moon deities (Dielli and Hëna), the dawn goddess (Prende/Afërdita), fire rituals and deities and the hearth cult (Enji/Zjarri, Nëna e Vatrës, Vatër), the Fates and Destiny goddesses (Zana, Ora, Fatí, Mira), aspects of the earth worship (Dhé) and of the Divine twins (Muji and Halili), as well as the "serpent-slaying" and "fire in water" myths (Drangue and Kulshedra), the "Daughter of the Sun and Moon" legend (E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit), and the guard of the gates of the Underworld (the three-headed dog who never sleeps).
The absence of any single and specific theonymic root for the "earth" in the various branches of the Indo-European language family, might be due to the predominance held by earth mother goddess cults already extant and profoundly rooted among Pre-Indo-European-speaking peoples encountered by incoming Indo-European-speaking peoples. The confrontation between the belief systems of Pre-Indo-European populations—who favored 'Mother Earth Cults' comprising earthly beliefs, female deities and priesthood—and of Indo-European populations who favored 'Father Heaven Cults' comprising celestial beliefs, male deities and priesthood, might be reflected in the dichotomy of matriarchy and patriarchy that emerges from the two types of female warriors/active characters in Albanian epic poetry, in particular in the Kângë Kreshnikësh. Nevertheless, the Albanian belief system has preserved also the importance of the cult of the earth, Dheu.
The Albanian sky and lightning god, Zojz, is considered to have been worshiped by Illyrians in ancient times. Albanian Zojz is the clear equivalent and cognate of Messapic Zis and Ancient Greek Zeus, the continuations of the Proto-Indo-European *Di̯ḗu̯s 'sky god'. In the pre-Christian pagan period the term Zot from Proto-Albanian: *dźie̅u ̊ a(t)t- was presumably used in Albanian to refer to the sky father/god/lord, father-god, heavenly father (the Indo-European father daylight-sky-god). After the first access of the ancestors of the Albanians to the Christian religion in antiquity the term Zot has been used for God, the Father and the Son (Christ). The worship and practices associated to the Indo-European sky and lightning deity have been preserved by Albanians until the 20th century, and in some forms still continue today.
Early evidence of the celestial cult in Illyria is provided by 6th century BCE plaques from Lake Shkodra, which belonged to the Illyrian tribal area of what was referred in historical sources to as the Labeatae in later times. Each of those plaques portray simultaneously sacred representations of the sky and the sun, and symbolism of lightning and fire, as well as the tree of life and birds (eagles). In those plaques there is a mythological representation of the celestial deity: the Sun deity animated with a face and two wings, throwing lightning into a fire altar, which in some plaques is held by two men (sometimes on two boats). This mythological representation is identical to the Albanian folk belief and practice associated to the lightning deity: a traditional practice during thunderstorms was to bring outdoors a lit fireplace (vatër me zjarr), in order to gain the favor of the deity so the thunders would not be harmful to the human community. Albanian folk beliefs regard the lightning as Zjarri i Qiellit ("the Fire of the Sky") and consider it as the "weapon of the deity".
The earliest figurative representations that accurately mirror the Albanian lamentation of the dead—gjâmë—appear on Dardanian funerary stelae of classical antiquity. In the context of religious perceptions, historical sources confirm the relations between the Greco-Roman religious ethics and the Albanian customary laws. These relations can be seen during the rule of the Illyrian emperors, such as Aurelian who introduced the cult of the Sun; Diocletian who stabilized the empire and ensured its continuation through the institution of the Tetrarchy; Constantine the Great who issued the Edict of Toleration for the Christianized population and who summoned the First Council of Nicaea involving many clercs from Illyricum; Justinian who issued the Corpus Juris Civilis and sought to create an Illyrian Church, building Justiniana Prima and Justiniana Secunda, which was intended to become the centre of Byzantine administration.
Prehistoric Illyrian symbols used on funeral monuments of the pre-Roman period have been used also in Roman times and continued into late antiquity in the broad Illyrian territory. The same motifs were kept with identical cultural-religious symbolism on various monuments of the early medieval culture of the Albanians. They appear also on later funerary monuments, including the medieval tombstones (stećci) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the burial monuments used until recently in northern Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, southern Serbia and northern North Macedonia. Such motifs are particularly related to the ancient cults of the Sun and Moon, survived until recently among northern Albanians.
Among the Illyrians of early Albania the Sun was a widespread symbol. The spread of a Sun cult and the persistence of Sun motifs into the Roman period and later are considered to have been the product of the Illyrian culture. In Christian iconography the symbol of the Sun is associated with immortality and a right to rule. The pagan cult of the Sun was almost identical to the Christian cult in the first centuries of Christianity. Varieties of the symbols of the Sun that Christian orders brought in the region found in the Albanian highlands sympathetic supporters, enriching the body of their symbols with new material.
The historical-linguistic determination of the Albanian Christian terminology provides evidence that Albanians have already joined the process of conversion to Christianity in the Balkans since the late antiquity (4th–5th centuries AD). The earliest church lexicon is mainly of Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin origin and, to a large extent, of native origin, which leads to the conclusion that the Christianisation of the Albanians occurred under the Latin-based liturgy and ecclesiastical order of the Holy See. Also according to Church documents, the territories that coincide with the present-day Albanian-speaking compact area had remained under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome and used Latin as official language at least until the first half of the 8th century.
At the time of the South Slavic incursion and the threat of ethnic turbulence in the Albanian-inhabited regions, the Christianization of the Albanians had already been completed and it had apparently developed for Albanians as a further identity-forming feature alongside the ethnic-linguistic unity. Church administration, which was controlled by a thick network of Roman bishoprics, collapsed with the arrival of the Slavs. Between the early 7th century and the late 9th century the interior areas of the Balkans were deprived of church administration, and Christianity might have survived only as a popular tradition on a reduced degree. Some Albanians living in the mountains, who were only partially affected by Romanization, probably sank back into the Classic Paganism.
The reorganization of the Church as a cult institution in the region took a considerable amount of time. The Balkans were brought back into the Christian orbit only after the recovery of the Byzantine Empire and through the activity of Byzantine missionaries. The earliest church vocabulary of Middle Greek origin in Albanian dates to the 8th–9th centuries, at the time of the Byzantine Iconoclasm, which was started by the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. In 726 Leo III established de jure the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople over the Balkans, as the Church and the State established an institution. The Eastern Church expanded its influence in the area along with the social and political developments. Between the 7th and 12th centuries a powerful network of cult institutions were revived completely covering the ecclesiastical administration of the entire present-day Albanian-speaking compact area. In particular an important role was played by the Theme of Dyrrhachium and the Archdiocese of Ohrid. Survived through the centuries, the Christian belief among Albanians became an important cultural element in their ethnic identity. Indeed, the lack of Old Church Slavonic terms in Albanian Christian terminology shows that the missionary activities during the Christianization of the Slavs did not involve Albanian-speakers. In a text compiled around the beginning of the 11th century in the Old Bulgarian language, the Albanians are mentioned for the first time with their old ethnonym Arbanasi as half-believers, a term which for Eastern Orthodox Christian Bulgarians meant Catholic Christian. The Great Schism of 1054 involved Albania separating the region between Catholic Christianity in the north and Orthodox Christianity in the south.
Islam was first introduced to Albania in the 15th century after the Ottoman conquest of the area. In Ottoman times, often to escape higher taxes levied on Christian subjects, the majority of Albanians became Muslims. However one part retained Christian and pre-Christian beliefs. In the 16th century the Albanians are firstly mentioned as worshippers of the Sun and the Moon. British poet Lord Byron (1788–1824), describing the Albanian religious belief, reported that "The Greeks hardly regard them as Christians, or the Turks as Muslims; and in fact they are a mixture of both, and sometimes neither." In Ottoman times education in the Albanian language was forbidden. The folk storytellers have played an important role in preserving Albanian folklore. The lack of schools was compensated by the folk creativity, molding generations of Albanians with their forefathers' wisdom and experience and protecting them from assimilation processes.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, in Albania arrived also the Bektashi Sufi order which spread widely among Albanians because of its traditional tolerance and regard for different religions, practices and beliefs and because it allowed itself to be a vehicle for the expression of Crypto-Christian, Christian and pre-Christian pagan beliefs and rituals. Bektashism is a Muslim dervish order (tariqat) thought to have originated in the 13th century in a frontier region of Anatolia, where Christianity, Islam and paganism coexisted, allowing the incorporation of comparable pagan and non-Muslim beliefs into popular Islam. It facilitated the conversion process to the new Muslims and became the official order of the Janissaries. After the ban of all the Sufi orders in Turkey in 1925, the Bektashi Order established its headquarters in Tirana.
Since its founding in 1912, Albania has been a secular state, becoming atheist during the Communist regime, and returning secular after the fall of the regime. For half a century the regime in Albania anathemized all beliefs, without taking into account the fact that the Albanian traditional rites, customs, beliefs, mythology, etc. aligned Albanians – who have preserved a unique culture – with the major ancient groups of peoples.
Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in a relative isolated tribal culture and society, and although several changes occurred in the Albanian belief system, an ancient layer of pre-Christian beliefs has survived until today. Ancient paganism persisted among Albanians, and within the inaccessible and deep interior it has continued to persist, or at most it was partially transformed by the Christian, Muslim and Marxist beliefs that were either to be introduced by choice or imposed by force.
Albanian traditions have been orally transmitted – through memory systems that have survived intact into modern times – down the generations and are still very much alive in the mountainous regions of Albania, Kosovo and western North Macedonia, as well as among the Arbëreshë in Italy and the Arvanites in Greece, and the Arbanasi in Croatia.
Either in pagan-polytheistic or monotheistic contexts, the supreme entity in Albanian is referred to as Zojz(-i)/Zot(-i), Perëndi(-a), or Hy(-u)/Hyj(-i), always associated with the sky and light. In Albanian the god who rules the sky is referred to as i Bukuri i Qiellit ("the Beauty of the Sky"), a phrase that is used in pagan contexts for the Sun (Dielli), worshiped as the god of light, sky and weather, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye. As the wide set of cultic traditions dedicated to him indicates, the Albanian Sun-god appears to be an expression of the Proto-Indo-European Sky-god (Zot or Zojz in Albanian). The Sun, referred to as "the all-seeing (big) eye" is invoked in Albanian solemn oaths (be), and information about everything that happens on Earth is asked to the all-seeing Sun in ritual songs. The Fire – Zjarri – is deified as releaser of light and heat with the power to ward off darkness and evil, affect cosmic phenomena and give strength to the Sun, and as sustainer of the continuity between life and afterlife and between the generations.
The primeval religiosity of the Albanian mountains is expressed by a supreme deity who is the god of the universe and who is conceived through the belief in the fantastic and supernatural entities, resulting in an extremely structured imaginative creation. The components of Nature are animated and personified deities, so in Albanian folk beliefs and mythology the Sky (Qielli) with the clouds and lightning, the Sun (Dielli), the Moon (Hëna), and the stars (including Afërdita), the Fire (Zjarri) and the hearth (vatra), the Earth (Dheu/Toka) with the mountains, stones, caves, and water springs, etc., are cult objects, considered to be participants in the world of humans influencing the events in their life, and afterlife as well. Solemn oaths (Besa) and curse formulas involve and are addressed to, or taken by, the animated components of Nature.
The supreme god allows the existence of terrestrial female deities with their intervention in earthly events and interaction with humans. Hence the Albanian belief in zanas and oras (also fati or mira), who symbolize the vital energy and existential time of human beings respectively. The zana idealizes feminine energy, wild beauty, eternal youth and the joy of nature. They appear as warlike nymphs capable of offering simple mortals a part of their own psychophysical and divine power, giving humans strength comparable to that of the drangue. The ora represent the "moment of the day" (Albanian: koha e ditës) and the flowing of human destiny. As masters of time and place, they take care of humans (also of the zana and of some particular animals) watching over their life, their house and their hidden treasures before sealing their destiny. So, the goddesses of fate "maintain the order of the universe and enforce its laws" – "organising the appearance of humankind." However great his power, the supreme god holds an executive role as he carries out what has been already ordained by the fate goddesses.
Albanian beliefs, myths and legends are organized around the dualistic struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, which cyclically produces the cosmic renewal. Ritual calendar fires (Zjarret e Vitit) are practiced in relation to the cosmic cycle and the rhythms of agricultural and pastoral life, with the function to give strength to the Sun and to ward off evil according to the old beliefs. Exercising a great influence on Albanian major traditional feasts and calendar rites, the Sun (Dielli) is worshiped as the god of light and giver of life, who fades away the darkness of the world and melts the frost, allowing the renewal of Nature.
The most famous Albanian mythological representation of the dualistic struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, is the constant battle between drangue and kulshedra, a conflict that symbolises the cyclic return in the watery and chthonian world of death, accomplishing the cosmic renewal of rebirth. The legendary battle of a heroic deity associated with thunder and weather – like drangue – who fights and slays a huge multi-headed serpent associated with water, storms, and drought – like kulshedra – is a common motif of Indo-European mythology. The original legend may have symbolized the Chaoskampf, a clash between forces of order and chaos.
In Albanian tradition the clash between drangue and kulshedra, light and darkness, is furthermore seen as a mythological representation of the cult of the Sun and the Moon, widely observed in Albanian traditional tattooing and in other expressions of traditional art (graves, jewellery, embroidery, and house carvings). The supremacy of the deity of the sky – the light side – over that of the underworld – the dark side – is symbolized by the victory of celestial divine heroes against kulshedra, an earthly/chthonic deity or demon originating from darkness. Those celestial divine heroes are often drangue (the most widespread culture hero among Albanians), but also e Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit ("the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun") who is referred to as pika e qiellit ("drop of the sky" or "lightning"), which falls everywhere from heaven on the mountains and the valleys and strikes pride and evil, or by other heroic characters marked in their bodies by the symbols of celestial objects, such as Zjermi (lit. 'the Fire'), who notably is born with the Sun on his forehead. The dualism between black/darkness and white/light is also remarkably represented by the Moon's phases, which symbolize both fertility (increase) and sterility (decrease). Moon's cyclical phases have regulated many aspects of the life of the Albanians, defining agricultural and livestock activities, various crafts, and human body.
Zojz is the sky and lightning god. Regarded as the chief god and the highest of all gods, traces of his worship survived in northern Albania until the early 20th century, and in some forms still continue today. The old beliefs in the Sky (Alb. Qielli) are pagan beliefs preserved by Albanians since ancient times. The sacred significance of one of the main symbols of the sky cult – the eagle – has been scrupulously preserved by Albanians, who have always considered it their animal totem. An epithet considered to be associated with the sky-god is "father", thought to be contained in the Albanian noun Zot ("Sky Father", from Proto-Albanian: *dźie̅u ̊ a(t)t-), used to refer to the Supreme Being. A remarkable reflection of Proto-Indo-European mythology associated with the dawn goddess *H₂éwsōs is the Albanian tradition according to which the dawn goddess – Prende – is the daughter of the sky god – Zojz.
In Albanian the god who rules the sky is referred to as i Bukuri i Qiellit ("the Beauty of the Sky"), a phrase that is used in pagan contexts for the Sun (Dielli), worshiped as the god of light, sky and weather, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye. The Albanian tradition according to which the Sun is an "eye", is a reflection of the Indo-European belief according to which the Sun is the eye of the Sky-God. Albanian folk beliefs regard the lightning as the "fire of the sky" (Zjarri i Qiellit) and consider it as the "weapon of the deity". Finding correspondences with Albanian folk beliefs and practices, early evidence of the celestial cult in Illyria is provided by 6th century BCE Illyrian plaques from Lake Shkodra, depicting simultaneously sacred representations of the sky and the sun, and symbolism of lightning and fire, as well as the sacred tree and birds (eagles); the Sun deity is animated with a face and two wings, throwing lightning into a fire altar. Albanian rituals to avert big storms with torrential rains, lightning, and hail, seek assistance from the supernatural power of the Fire (Zjarri, evidently also called with the theonym Enji). Albanian rituals for rainmaking invoke the Sky and the Sun. The cult practiced by the Albanians on several sacred mountains (notably on Mount Tomorr in central Albania) performed with pilgrimages, prayers to the Sun, ritual bonfires, and animal sacrifices, is considered a continuation of the ancient Indo-European sky-god worship. The cult of the Sky is also preserved in Albanian solemn oaths. The Sky (Qielli) is often paired with the Earth (Dheu) in Albanian oath swearings.
The Albanian divine culture hero drangue, who plays a dominant role in Albanian mythology, features the attributes of a sky and lightning deity, apparently an Albanian reflection of the Indo-European sky god. In some Albanian regions the lightning god who lives in the clouds in the sky is alternatively referred to as Shurdhi, Verbti, or Rmoria. Another possible name of the sky and lightning god could be Perëndi. An Albanian mythical tale concerning the highest of the gods, who uses thunderbolts to defeat the sea-storm god Talas, has been documented in the early 20th century from the Shala region in northern Albania.
Zonja e Dheut (also Gheg Albanian: Zôja e Dheut) is used in Albanian to refer to the Earth Goddess. The Earth Mother Goddess or Great Mother (Magna Mater) is simply referred to as Dhé or Dheu in Albanian, and traces of her worship have been preserved in Albanian tradition. The Albanian noun Toka "The Earth" is also used to refer to the living Earth.
The fact that dhé "earth" is an Albanian inherited word from Proto-Indo-European, with ritualization in sacred contexts preserving its stability and density, highlights the important role of the earth in Albanian culture. Very serious Albanian oath swearings taken by earth, and many curse formulas based on the earth, also show the great significance of the earth cult in Albanian tradition.
The cult of the Earth Mother Goddess is expressed by the whorship of the female ancestor and maternal breasts, and by rituals and beliefs involving immurement and building (also with animal sacrifices), spring, renewal of nature and soil fertility, death and afterlife as the final dwelling of humans, pristine sacred places, and building plots.
Kroni (indefinite form: kron), krua, or kroi, is a hydronym widespread in Albanian inhabited territories. It is an ancient Albanian word, meaning "living water", "flowing water", "water spring". Some people believe that water is to the living Earth what blood is to the humans.
In Albanian culture the original female ancestor of the kin group (Alb. fis or farë) is referred to as the "mother of the home" representing the Great Mother, and she is often imagined as a serpent (see Vitore and Nëna e Vatrës). The serpent is a sacred animal totem of the Albanians. Regarded as an earth-deity, the serpent is euphemistically called with names that are derived form the Albanian words for earth, dhé and tokë: Dhetokësi, Dheu, Përdhesi, Tokësi or Itokësi.
The earth is often paired with the sky in Albanian oath swearings, e.g.: për qiell e dhé, pasha tokën e pasha qiellin, etc.
Dielli, the Sun, holds the primary role in Albanian pagan customs, beliefs, rituals, myths, and legends. Albanian major traditional festivities and calendar rites are based on the Sun, worshiped as the god of light, sky and weather, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye. In Albanian tradition the fire – zjarri, evidently also called with the theonym Enji – worship and rituals are particularly related to the cult of the Sun. Ritual calendar fires or bonfires are traditionally kindled before sunrise in order to give strength to the Sun. Many rituals are practiced before and during sunrise, honoring this moment of the day as it is believed to give energy and health to the body. As the wide set of cultic traditions dedicated to him indicates, the Albanian Sun-god appears to be an expression of the Proto-Indo-European Sky-god (Zot or Zojz in Albanian).
Albanians were firstly described in written sources as worshippers of the Sun and the Moon by German humanist Sebastian Franck in 1534, but the Sun and the Moon have been preserved as sacred elements of Albanian tradition since antiquity. Illyrian material culture shows that the Sun was the chief cult object of the Illyrian religion. Finding correspondences with Albanian folk beliefs and practices, the Illyrian Sun-deity is figuratively represented on Iron Age plaques from Lake Shkodra as the god of the sky and lightning, also associated with the fire altar where he throws lightning bolts. The symbolization of the cult of the Sun, which is often combined with the crescent Moon, is commonly found in a variety of contexts of Albanian folk art, including traditional tattooing, grave art, jewellery, embroidery, and house carvings. Solemn oaths (Besa), good omens, and curse formulas, involve and are addressed to, or taken by, the Sun. Prayers to the Sun, ritual bonfires, and animal sacrifices have been common practices performed by Albanians during the ritual pilgrimages on mountain tops.
In Albanian the god who rules the sky is referred to as i Bukuri i Qiellit ("the Beauty of the Sky"), a phrase that is used in pagan contexts for the Sun, the god of light and giver of life, who fades away the darkness of the world and melts the frost, allowing the renewal of Nature. According to folk beliefs, the Sun makes the sky cloudy or clears it up. Albanian rituals for rainmaking invoke the Sky and the Sun. In Albanian tradition the Sun is referred to as an "eye", which is a reflection of the Indo-European belief according to which the Sun is the eye of the Sky-God *Di̯ḗu̯s (Zojz in Albanian tradition). According to folk beliefs, the Sun is all-seeing, with a single glance he possesses the ability to see the entire surface of the Earth. The Sun, referred to as "the all-seeing (big) eye" is invoked in solemn oaths (be), and information about everything that happens on Earth is asked to the all-seeing Sun in ritual songs. In Albanian pagan beliefs and mythology the Sun is animistically personified as a male deity. The Moon (Hëna) is his female counterpart. In pagan beliefs the fire hearth (vatra e zjarrit) is the symbol of fire as the offspring of the Sun. In some folk tales, myths and legends the Sun and the Moon are regarded as husband and wife, also notably appearing as the parents of E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit ("the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun"); in others the Sun and the Moon are regarded as brother and sister, but in this case they are never considered consorts. Nëna e Diellit ("the Mother of the Sun" or "the Sun's Mother") also appears as a personified deity in Albanian folk beliefs and tales.
Nëna e Diellit is the Mother of the Sun (Dielli). A sacred ritual called "the funeral of the Sun's Mother" was very widespread in southeastern Albania until the 20th century. She has been described by scholars as a heaven goddess and a goddess of agriculture, livestock, and earth fertility, as suggested by the sacred ritual dedicated to her. Nëna e Diellit also features as a deity in Albanian folk tales. Nëna e Diellit represents a manifestation of the personification of the Sun in Albanian mythology.
Hëna, the Moon, holds a prominent position in Albanian culture, with Moon's cyclical phases regulating many aspects of the life of the Albanians, defining agricultural and livestock activities, various crafts, and human body.
Albanians were firstly described in written sources as worshippers of the Sun and the Moon by German humanist Sebastian Franck in 1534, but the Sun and the Moon have been preserved as sacred elements of Albanian tradition since antiquity. The symbolization of the crescent Moon, often combined with the Sun, is commonly found in a variety of contexts of Albanian folk art, including traditional tattooing, grave art, jewellery, embroidery, and house carvings.
In Albanian pagan beliefs and mythology the Moon is a personified female deity, and the Sun (Dielli) is her male counterpart. In some folk tales, myths and legends the Moon and the Sun are regarded as wife and husband, also notably appearing as the parents of E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit ("the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun"); in others the Sun and the Moon are regarded as brother and sister, but in this case they are never considered consorts. In Old Albanian the name Hana/Hanë was attested also as a theonym – the Albanian rendering of Roman goddess Diana.
Prende or Premte is the dawn goddess and goddess of love, beauty, fertility, health and protector of women. She is also called Afër-dita, an Albanian phrase meaning "near day", "the day is near", or "dawn", in association with the cult of the planet Venus, the morning and evening star. Her sacred day is Friday, named in Albanian after her: e premte, premtja (Gheg Albanian: e prende, prendja). She is referred to as Zoja Prenne or Zoja e Bukuris ("Goddess/Lady Prenne" or "Goddess/Lady of Beauty"). In Albanian mythology Prende appears as the daughter of Zojz, the Albanian sky and lightning god.
Thought to have been worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity, Prende is identified with the cult of Venus and she was worshipped in northern Albania, especially by the Albanian women, until recent times. She features attributes of Aphrodite, Iris, and Helen, as well as Persephone as shown by the etymology of her name. Describing a goddess of the underworld and at the same time a personification of springtime, the Albanian e Bukura e Dheut ("the Beauty of the Earth") is evidently an epithet of the Albanian equivalent of Persephone.
In Christian times she was called ShënePremte or Shën Prende ("Saint Veneranda"), identified by the Catholic Church as Saint Anne, mother of Virgin Mary. She was so popular in Albania that over one in eight of the Catholic churches existing in the late 16th and the early 17th centuries were named after her. Many other historical Catholic and Orthodox churches were dedicated to her in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Enji (Albanian: [ɛɲi]) is the old name of the fire god, evidently contained in the week day name that was dedicated to him – e enjte – the Albanian word for Thursday. The Fire – Zjarri – is deified in Albanian tradition as releaser of light and heat with the power to ward off darkness and evil, affect cosmic phenomena and give strength to the Sun, and as sustainer of the continuity between life and afterlife and between the generations. The divine power of Fire is used for the hearth and the rituals, including calendar fires, sacrificial offerings, divination, purification, and protection from big storms and other potentially harmful events. Fire worship and rituals are associated with the cult of the Sun (Dielli), the cult of the hearth (vatër) and the ancestor, and the cult of fertility in agriculture and animal husbandry. Fire rituals that are commonly found among Indo-European peoples, including the Albanians, have been firstly attested by the Vedas, with hymns dedicated to the fire god Agni. Described in written sources since 1482, the Albanian practices associated with ritual fires have been historically fought by the Christian clergy, without success. The cult of the mystic fire and the fire ritual practices have played a prominent role in the lives of all the Albanian people until the 20th century, and in rural areas they continue to be important for Albanian traditional customs even in the present days.
The theonym from which Thursday was named in Albanian is considered to have been attested in antiquity in Illyrian theophoric names with the Latin spelling En(n)-. He was presumably worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity and he may have been the most prominent god of the Albanian pantheon in Roman times by interpreting Jupiter, when week-day names were formed in the Albanian language. The belief in a prominent fire and wind god, who was referred to as I Verbti ("the blind one"), and who was often regarded more powerful than the Christian God, survived in northern Albania until recent times. Under Christianization the god of fire was demonized and considered a false god, and it was spread about that anyone who invoked him would be blinded by fire. The purifying power of fire underlies the Albanian folk belief according to which the fire god is the enemy of uncleanliness and the opponent of filth.
In Albanian tradition Fire is deeply respected. To spit into it is taboo. Albanian solemn oaths are taken "by fire", and the worst curse formulas are cast for the extinguishing of the individual's, family's and clan's fire. The lineage is identified with an original fire, and the members of a same tribe/clan are "from the same fire". Zjarri i Vatrës ("the Fire of the Hearth") is regarded as the offspring of the Sun and the sustainer of the continuity between the world of the living and that of the dead and between the generations, ensuring the survival of the lineage (fis or farë). The absence of fire in a house is traditionally considered a great curse. Protectors of the hearth are Gjarpri i Vatrës ("the Serpent of the Hearth"), a household benign serpent, and Nëna e Vatrës ("the Mother of the Hearth"). Zjarret e Vitit ("Ritual Calendar Fires") are associated with the cosmic cycle and the rhythms of agricultural and pastoral life. The ritual collective fires (based on the house, kinship, or neighborhood) or bonfires in yards (especially on high places) lit before sunrise to celebrate the main traditional Albanian festivities such as Dita e Verës (spring equinox), Shëngjergji, Shën Gjini–Shën Gjoni (summer solstice), the winter festivals (winter solstice), or mountain pilgrimages, often accompanied by animal sacrifices, are related to the cult of the Sun, and in particular they are practiced with the function to give strength to the Sun and to ward off evil according to the old beliefs. Zjarri i Gjallë, Zjarri i Egër, or Zjarri i Keq – traditionally kindled with rudimentary fire making tools and techniques – is the ritual purifying Fire used for the cleansing, protection, healing, and energizing of livestock and humans. Albanian folk beliefs regard the lightning as Zjarri i Qiellit ("the Fire of the Sky") and consider it as the "weapon of the deity". During big storms with torrential rains, lightning and hail, which often cause great damage to agriculture, livestock, and to the rural economy in general, Albanians traditionally bring outdoors Fire as a continuous chain or in a container, as well as ember and fire-related metallic objects, seeking assistance from the supernatural power of the Fire, in order to turn the storm away and to avert the harms it can cause to the community.
The Albanian terms for "hero" are trim (female: trimneshë), kreshnik or hero (female: heroinë). Some of the main heroes of the Albanian epic songs, legends and myths are:
E Bija e Hënës dhe e Diellit "the Daughter of the Moon and the Sun" is described as pika e qiellit, "the drop of the sky or lightning", which falls everywhere from heaven on the mountains and the valleys and strikes pride and evil. She fights and defeats the kulshedra.
Drangue is a semi-human winged warrior who fights the kulshedra; his most powerful weapons are lightning-swords and thunderbolts, but he also uses meteoric stones, piles of trees and rocks;
In Albanian paganism, there is a unique tradition about children born with the essence of dragons. These children are believed to be born with dragon wings, symbolizing their deep connection to ancient, powerful forces. As infants, they have the ability to fly, but their wings must remain unseen, as it is believed that if anyone witnesses them, it would bring death to the onlooker. To protect both the child and others, their wings are cut while they are still young, ensuring their secret remains hidden. Although the wings are removed, the strength and spirit of the dragon live on within them.
Zjermi and Handa are the protagonists of the heroic folktale "The Twins". Zjerma (lit. 'fire') was born with the sun in the forehead, while Handa (lit. 'moon') was born with the moon in the forehead. They have two horses and two dogs as companions, and two silver swords as weapons. Zjermi slays the kulshedra and defeats the shtriga, rescuing his brother Handa. In a variant of the tale Zjermi also rescues a drangue called Zef and then they become blood brothers and fight in alliance with other drangue the kulshedra.
Muji and Halili are the protagonists of epic cycle of the Kângë Kreshnikësh
The Albanian heroic songs are substantially permeated by the concepts contained in the Kanun, a code of Albanian oral customary laws: honor, considered as the highest ideal in Albanian society; shame and dishonor, regarded as worse than death; besa and loyalty, gjakmarrja.
Another characteristic of Albanian heroic songs are weapons. Their importance and the love which the heroes have for them are carefully represented in the songs, while they are rarely described physically. A common feature appearing in these songs is the desire for fame and glory, which is related to the courage of a person.
Dita e Verës (Verëza): "The Summer Day", the Albanian spring festival celebrated (also as an official holiday in Albania) on March 1 of the Julian calendar (March 14 of the Gregorian calendar). In the old Albanian calendar it corresponds to the first day of the new year (Albanian: Kryeviti, Kryet e Motmotit, Motmoti i Ri, Nata e Mojit) and marks the end of the winter season (the second half of the year) and the beginning of the summer season (the first half of the year) on the spring equinox (Albanian: sadita-nata), marking the period of the year when daylight is longer than night.
Edith Durham – who collected Albanian ethnographic material from northern Albania and Montenegro – reported that Albanian traditional tattooing of girls was practiced on March 19.
Another festival celebrated by Albanians around the spring equinox is Nowruz (Albanian: Dita e Sulltan Nevruzit) celebrated on March 22, mainly by Bektashis, and Dita e Zojës (among the Catholics) or Vangjelizmoi (among the Orthodox), celebrated on March 25.
Those festivities are associated with the cult of the Sun (Dielli) and the renewal of nature. The renewal of nature is also associated with the worship of the Great Mother Goddess (Dheu), which is celebrated with several rites and customs, in particular wood or anything from vegetation cannot be cut, and the earth is considered to be "pregnant" (Alb. me barrë) and cannot be worked.
Shëngjergji "Saint George" is a festival celebrated by Albanians both on April 23 and on May 6 (as well as in the period between). It would coincide with Saint George's Day, were it not for the fact that Shëngjergji is celebrated by all Albanians, regardless of being Christians or Muslims, and that the celebrations are carried out with traditional pagan rituals and practices, such as pilgrimages on sacred mountains and places, ritual bonfires on high places, animal sacrifices, water rituals, rituals with serpents, etc. It is rather considered a pre-Christian festivity associated with the worship of a deity of agriculture and livestock.
The summer solstice is celabrated by Albanians often with the name Shën Gjini–Shën Gjoni, but also with the name Festa e Malit or Festa e Bjeshkës ("Mountain Feast"), as well as Festa e Blegtorisë ("Livestock Feast"). It is associated with the production in agricultural and livestock activities.
To celebrate this feast, bonfires are traditionally lit where straw is burned and ashes are thrown on the ground, as a "burning for regeneration" ritual. Tribal or community fires are traditionally made with straw, with people jumping across them. In some regions plumes of burning chaff were carried in the air, running through the fields and hills. The ashes of the straw that burned in the ritual fires of this event are traditionally thrown to the field for good luck.
During this feast sheep shearing is traditionally performed by shepherds.
Albanian traditional festivities around the winter solstice celebrate the return of the Sun (Dielli) for summer and the lengthening of the days.
The Albanian traditional rites during the winter solstice period are pagan, and very ancient. Albanologist Johann Georg von Hahn (1811 – 1869) reported that clergy, during his time and before, have vigorously fought the pagan rites that were practiced by Albanians to celebrate this festivity, but without success.
The old rites of this festivity were accompanied by collective fires based on the house, kinship or neighborhood, a practice performed in order to give strength to the Sun according to the old beliefs. The rites related to the cult of vegetation, which expressed the desire for increased production in agriculture and animal husbandry, were accompanied by animal sacrifices to the fire, lighting pine trees at night, luck divination tests with crackling in the fire or with coins in ritual bread, making and consuming ritual foods, performing various magical ritualistic actions in livestock, fields, vineyards and orchards, and so on.
Nata e Buzmit, "Yule log's night", is celebrated between December 22 and January 6. Buzmi is a ritualistic piece of wood (or several pieces of wood) that is put to burn in the fire (zjarri) of the hearth (vatër) on the night of a winter celebration that falls after the return of the Sun for summer (after the winter solstice), sometimes on the night of Kërshëndella on December 24 (Christmas Eve), sometimes on the night of kolendra, or sometimes on New Year's Day or on any other occasion around the same period, a tradition that is originally related to the cult of the Sun (Dielli).
A series of rituals of a magical character are performed with the buzmi, which, based on old beliefs, aims at agricultural plant growth and for the prosperity of production in the living thing (production of vegetables, trees, vineyards, etc.). This practice has been traditionally found among all Albanians, also documented among the Arbëreshë in Italy and the Arvanites in Greece until the first half of the 20th century, and it is still preserved in remote Albanian ethnographic regions today. It is considered a custom of Proto-Indo-European origin.
The richest set of rites related to buzmi are found in northern Albania (Mirdita, Pukë, Dukagjin, Malësia e Madhe, Shkodër and Lezhë), as well as in Kosovo, Dibër and so on.