In Latvian mythology, the term MÃÂte stands for "mother", sometimes written in English as Mahte. It was an epithet applied to some sixty-seventy goddesses. They were clearly distinct goddesses in most or all cases, so the term definitely referred to the mother-goddess of specific phenomena. According to professor Lotte Motz, scholar Haralds Biezais mentioned there were at least 70 characters in Baltic religion identified with the title of "mÃÂte".
Latvian ethnographer PÃÂteris à  mits noted that the Mahtes seem to be a phenomenon exclusive to Latvian mythology, with no equivalent either in its Baltic neighbours (Prussian and Lithuanian), nor in other Indo-European mythologies.
Scholars (e.g., Miriam Robbins Dexter, Lotte Motz, David Adams Leeming, Martin Litchfield West) note that these deities were invoked with the epithet "mÃÂte" ('mother') and individually oversaw several aspects of nature, including features of the environment (forests, fields, mushrooms, sea, the wind, etc.), animals (for instance, elks), as well as cultural aspects, such as death and interrement, or milk and cattle.
According to scholar Elza Kokare, the authenticity of some Mahte deities is dubious, but some are firmly established due to a great number of mentions in the dainas (Latvian folksongs).
Following are some of the mÃÂte characters:
Scholarship on Baltic and Latvian folklore remarks that some of the Mahte characters comprise a complex of deities related to that phenomenon. It is also remarked that, out of this mother cult, "the main Latvian mother deities are those of the dead, the sea, the forest, and the wind".
For instance, goddess Zemes mÃÂte ('earth mother') was associated with receiving the dead and acting as their ruler and guardian. In Latvian dainas, Zemes mÃÂte is associated with fellow Mahte ("Mothers") Veüu mÃÂte ('Mother of Dead Souls') and Kapu mÃÂte ('Mother of Graves'). According to researcher Elza Kokare, Zemes mÃÂte and Kapu mÃÂte act as the resting places of the dead, guarding its body and holding the key to their graves. As an individual character, Zemes mÃÂte is invoked as a person's final resting place.
A second personage is named Veüu mÃÂte or Vélià ³ motà(Mother of the souls/spirits of the deceased), etymologically connected to Lithuanian veles 'shades of the dead', velionis 'dead person' and Latvian Vels 'god of the underworld' (as mentioned by scholar Marija Gimbutas) and, by extension, with some relation to Slavic Veles, deity of the underworld. She is considered to be a chthonic goddess and "queen of the dead", who welcomes them at the cemetery.
Another figure named NÃÂves mÃÂte ("Mother Death") was presumed by scholar Nikolai Mikhailov to be connected to Slovenian word navje, an etymon related to the Nav of Slavic folklore, a designation for the dead. He also cited the possibility that NÃÂves mÃÂte is another name for Latvian Veüu mÃÂte and Lithuanian Veliona. The word nÃÂve also means 'death' in Latvian.
Other deities connected with the worship of the dead were Kapu mÃÂte ('Mother of Graves', 'Mother of the Grave' or 'Graveyard-Mother') and Smilà ¡u mÃÂte ('Mother of Sand' or 'Mother of the Sand Hillock').
Another set of Mahte figures relate to the natural world, such as VÃÂju mÃÂte ("The Mother of Winds"); Meà ¾a mÃÂte ("Mother of the Forest"; counterpart to Lithuanian Medeina), protectress of wild life; Miglas mÃÂte ("Mother of the Fog") and Lietus mÃÂte ("Mother of Rain"). VÃÂju mÃÂte (or VÃÂja mÃÂte) is said to be the goddess of winds and ruler of the weather.
Another group is composed of several water divinities: Jà «ras mÃÂte ("Mother Ocean", "Mother of the Seas" or "Sea-Mother"), a goddess of waters; à ªdens mÃÂte ("Mother of Waters"); Upes mÃÂte ("Mother of Rivers"), Bangu mÃÂte ("Mother of Waves"; counterpart to Lithuanian Bangputys). Jà «ras mÃÂte is said to rule the seas as a goddess.
Deity Bangu mÃÂte is considered to be a recent and more poetical appellation of the Mother of the Water and Mother of the Sea.
Lithuanian scholar Marija Gimbutas pointed out that Latvian traditions contain a Uguns mÃÂte ('Mother of the Fire') as a counterpart to Lithuanian Gabija, a deity of the hearth and protectress of house and family. Other deities associated with the household and domestic affairs are Mãjas gars ("Spirits of the House") and Pirts mÃÂte ("Mother of the Bathhouse").
Mahte deities related to fields and agriculture include Lauka mÃÂte ("Mother of the Plough-Land"), a deity said to be worshipped at ploughing time.