rue wreath, little wreath, little ring, herb wreath
What do wreath, rue, and ring mean?
In Lithuanian songs and customs, wreath, rue, and ring are symbols of transition. They mark maidenhood, festive state, love, weddings, memory, a life threshold, and a person's place in the community.
These signs are especially important because they are both visible objects and poetic images. A wreath can be braided, worn, floated, lost, or kept, while in a song it becomes a sign of a person's honor, youth, or fate.
Rue in songs and folk art
The Encyclopedia of Lithuania article on rue emphasizes that rue is most strongly given meaning in Lithuanian verbal folklore: songs, sutartinės, tales, legends, and riddles. Rue motifs also decorate chests, furniture, textiles, clothing, Easter eggs, and handwork.
Rue is therefore not only a plant. It is considered perhaps the clearest Lithuanian sign of maidenhood: the rue garden is a girl's space, green rue and the rue wreath are symbols of chastity and youth, and in weddings the removed or burned rue wreath means that a girl becomes a wife. Still, the specific meaning of rue depends on the song or custom.
Joninės and Rasos wreaths
The Encyclopedia of Lithuania article on Joninės describes kupoliavimas, herb gathering, and wreaths braided by girls. Wreaths were not only decoration: they were used for divination, floated on water, thrown into a tree, and kept as symbols of health and happiness.
In such customs the wreath joins plant power, water boundary, divination, expectation of marriage, and the fullness of summer. For that reason the wreath should be one of the main symbols on Rasos pages.
The ring as promise and boundary
In songs the ring often means promise, betrothal, love, remembrance, or a person's bond with another person. It is small but closed in form, so it suits themes of commitment and repetition.
The Lithuanian word žiedas can also mean a plant blossom. Then its meaning stands close to beauty, brief flowering, and summer fullness. Thus the ring/blossom on this page has two directions: jewelry and flowering plant.
How to read these symbols today
Today wreath, rue, and ring are often presented as beautiful folklore signs, but it is important to show their more serious layer: they speak about a person's status, threshold, relationship, festival, and fate.
The best way to explain these symbols is through concrete texts and customs: Rasos wreaths, wedding songs, rue motifs, the promise of the ring, and the loss of a wreath in songs.