The deus otiosus who keeps the order and is rarely troubled
Warning
The same word now means the Christian God
Resonance
Farmers at the threshold of the year
Symbols
SkySunWhite horseOak
Mythology Summary
Dievas (Latvian Dievs, Old Prussian Diews) is the Baltic supreme sky god and a direct successor of the Proto-Indo-European *Dyēus: god of light, sky and prosperity, maker of the world, with two sons, the Dievo sūneliai or Dieva dēli, the heavenly twins. The evidence is the 16th-17th century reports (Jan Łasicki's De diis Samagitarum, the Jesuit relationes) and above all the dainos, and Gintaras Beresnevičius argues that by the historical period he was already a deus otiosus with no cult site of his own. Since Christianisation the same word is the ordinary Baltic name for God, an ambiguity that every modern use inherits.
Modern Practice
Dievas is approached at the feast and at the turn of the year, with the first cup poured out and bread and beer set aside, and with restraint: he is the order of things rather than a power to be bargained with. The practice is closer to gratitude and keeping the custom than to petition.