Bread
 Duona
Bread plays an important role in family holiday rituals and
agrarian ceremonies. Lithuanians link many beliefs and magic with bread. One of
them is the protective characteristic of bread, protection from fire and help in
putting out fires. For protection a piece of bread is placed in the foundation
when building a new house.
Bread is shown great respect, is called holy and is referred to in the feminine
gender. If a piece of bread falls accidentally to the ground, it is picked up
with reverence, kissed and eaten. This is done so that the home would never be
without bread.
Bread baking has been the honorable duty of the mistress of the house. This duty
was passed on to the eldest daughter with special ceremonies. Mother would
collect all bread baking equipment and hand it over to the grown up daughter,
together with a kiss. After the daughter baked her first loaf, mother gathered
the entire family and invited the nearest neighbor to taste the daughter’s first
bread. The first slice went to father, who then kissed his daughter and turned
her and the bench she sat on towards the door. This meant that the daughter was
prepared to be a homemaker, was ready for marriage.
Bread baking day was a very special day. Peace and quiet reigned in the home. If
a visitor arrived on bread baking day, he had to remain until the bread was done.
Nothing was loaned out on bread baking day, with the belief that the borrower
would take away the bread’s good taste. Every homemaker is proud of the taste of
her bread and proudly states that one’s own bread is tastier than somebody else’s
cake. Even though very few homemakers bake bread at home now, they value the
traditional belief that bread is more valuable than gold.
Materials selected by teacher L. Adomaityte
and her students
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