Amber myths and legends have been around since ancient times and people have constantly indulged their interest in this gemstone's mysterious history. Humanity has always had a soft spot for love stories, romantic tragedies and dramas. Based on these facts, one of the most beautiful, and at the same time tragic, love stories of all time comes from Lithuania.
The tale is about Perkunas, who was the God of Thunder. He had a beautiful daughter named Jurate who lived in an underwater palace completely built of amber. The palace was located in the Baltic Sea area. Around the area also lived a fisherman, Kastytis, who used to cast his fishing nets within the underwater kingdom. Jurate sent her many handmaids to ban Kastytis and prohibit him from fishing in her kingdom, which was forbidden. The fisherman ignored the maids' warnings and kept on enjoying the successful poaching. Jurate realized she had to tell him in person, as he was quite impervious to her wishes and orders. So she personally delivered him a message to cease immediately all fishing activities in those waters. But as soon as she laid eyes on him, Jurate fell in love. As with all love stories, this became a major turning point for both of their lives, so she brought the fisherman back to the amber palace with her. Unfortunately, it was a short, tragic and dramatic love affair. Perkunas, Jurate's father, betrothed his daughter to Patrimpas, the God of Water. He was incensed to see that his own daughter would commit to having a relationship with a mere mortal. So in an act of rage, the God of Thunder destroyed the beautiful mystic amber palace with a lightning bolt. In the process, Kastytis was killed and Jurate was imprisoned within its ruins for eternity.
The amber myths and legends say that once in a while when storms occur in the Baltic Sea, the soft fragments of that heavenly underwater palace are washed up on the Baltic shores and coasts. Many of these small pieces and fragments are tear-shaped, and are said to be the tears of grieving Jurate who still cries for her lost lover. Other amber myths and legends refer to birth from fire and water. This particular story was mentioned in Ovid's poems and writings; he described the myth of Phaeton, “ the shining one”.
He was the son of Helios, the Greek Sun God, and Klymene, the daughter of Okeanos – the child of fire and water's archetypal union. Phaeton grew up with his mother. In his childhood, he was teased by kids of the same age about his unclear descent. So he decided to prove to everyone that he was worthy of his origin and that the Sun God Helios was his real father. He managed to persuade Helios to let him drive the sun-carriage across the sky for a one day period. But Phaeton was young and lacked experience, so he didn't quite manage to tame the horses and this led to a tragedy. When half the earth had been burned by the sun, Jupiter sent a thunderbolt at him. Phaeton fell into the river of Eridanus and drowned. While his mother and sisters grieved for him, they froze and became trees, and their tears were transformed into amber stones.This explains the epithets of “tears of the Gods” and “tears of the Daughters of the Sun“. These are only two of the most beautiful amber myths and legends written by writers and poets throughout history, showing how much people worshipped amber.
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