Auà ¡rinà("dawning", not to be confused with Auà ¡ra, "dawn") is a feminine deity of the morning star (Venus) in Lithuanian mythology. She is the to "VakarinÃÂ", the evening star.
Her cult possibly stems from that of the Indo-European dawn goddess Hausà Âs and is related to the Latvian Auseklis, Greek Eos, Roman Aurora, and Vedic Ushas. Auà ¡rinàis the goddess of beauty, love, and youth, linked with health, re-birth, and new beginnings. After the Christianization of Lithuania, the cult merged with Christian images and the symbolism of the Virgin Mary.
Auà ¡rinàwas first mentioned by 16th-century Polish historian Jan à Âasicki as Ausca. He described a "goddess of the rays of the sun that descend and rise above the horizon".
According to folklore, each morning, Auà ¡rinàand her servant Tarnaitis (possibly Mercury) prepare the way for Saulà(the Sun). In the evening, Vakarinàprepares the bed for SaulÃÂ. The relationship between Saulàand Auà ¡rinàis complex. Sometimes, Saulàis described as the mother of Auà ¡rinÃÂ, VakarinÃÂ, and other planets â Indraja (Jupiter), SÃÂlija (Saturn), à ½iezdrà(Mars), Vaivora (Mercury), and even à ½emyna (Earth).
In some stories, "Karalià «nÃÂ" and "Dangaus Karià «nÃÂ" ("Queen of Heaven") are used to refer to Auà ¡rinÃÂ.
In Latvian folk-riddles, her name is the answer to a riddle about dew. In this riddle, a girl loses her keys (or spreads her pearl necklace), the Moon sees them, but the Sun takes them.
A popular myth describes how MÃÂnulis (Moon) fell in love with beautiful Auà ¡rinÃÂ, cheated on his wife SaulÃÂ, and received punishment from Perkà «nas (thunder-god). Different myths also depict rivalry between Saulàand Auà ¡rinÃÂ, as Saulàis jealous of Auà ¡rinÃÂ's beauty and brightness (Venus is the third-brightest object in the sky after Sun and Moon). Despite the adultery or rivalry, Auà ¡rinàremains loyal and continues to serve Saulàin the mornings.
Another myth, SaulàIr VÃÂjà ³ Motina ("The Sun and the Mother of Winds"), analyzed by Algirdas Julien Greimas in detail, tells a story of Joseph, who becomes fascinated with Auà ¡rinàappearing in the sky and goes on a quest to find the "second sun". After much adventure, he learns that it was not the second sun, but a maiden who lives on an island in the sea and has the same hair as the Sun. With advice from the Northern Wind, Joseph reaches the island, avoids a guardian bull, and becomes the maiden's servant, caring for her cattle. In the tale, Auà ¡rinàappeared in three forms: as a star in the sky, as a maiden on land, and as a mare in the sea. After a few years, Joseph puts a single hair of the maiden into an empty nutshell and throws it into the sea. A ray from the sea becomes reflected into the sky as the biggest star. Greimas concludes that this tale is a double origin myth: the story describes the origin of Tarnaitis and the ascent of Auà ¡rinàherself into the sky.
According to Jonas Vaià ¡kà «nas, Auà ¡rinàalso gives its name to the morning star in Lithuanian folkly astronomy: Auà ¡rinÃ à ¾vaigà ¾dÃÂ, Auà ¡ros à ¾vaigà ¾dÃÂ, Auà ¡rÃ à ¾vaigà ¾dÃÂ, Auà ¡rinukÃÂ.