Pokaiņi mežs: The Magic of the Pokaiņi Forest
My cultural experience model went off the rails in March when I was suddenly left unemployed with no prospects in Latvia. This came as a huge surprise to me, and even though I am relatively old, and I feel like I should be in a secure place in my life by now, I am not. I am not living in the streets yet, but that is thanks to the kindness of people in my life. I have also had the chance to travel a bit, and this weekend we drove across Zemgale, the most fertile region of Latvia, to find the magical forest of Pokaiņi.
Ozolaine and Brukna Muiža
I guess now is as good a time and place as any to introduce you to Anete Saulīte, my girlfriend (mana draudzene) and companion on our journey across Latvia. She was actually the catalyst because she had a day off and wanted to visit her hometown of Ozolaine. I love to drive, so we made a plan.
On the way, we happened to pass by this manor house that I had heard mention of, and so we decided to stop at Brukna Muiža to see the sights. From what I understand, the manor is a place for recovering addicts to get away and get clean. The grounds have a manor house which is an old mansion likely built by Baltic Germans. There is also a lovely church with the statues of the 12 apostles outside and tropical birds and plants inside. We parked the car and walked toward the manor where we met a nice woman who said it was fine to walk around. I met a St. Bernard named Brenda who really liked me for about five minutes.
I took photos of each of the 12 apostles. I am pretty sure I know which one is Peter and which one is Judas, but if anyone knows who the others are, I would love to hear your theories. The statues were quite expressive and each had some kind of tool or weapon.
The manor was built on the banks of the Iecava river, and it really is an impressive place.
More photos
Pokaiņi
After a stop in Ozolaine at her house where we burned some things and had a nice picnic on her back stoop, we drove to Pokaiņi. I only learned of this place because we were looking at a book about 100 Beautiful Place in Latvia, and Anete pointed out this forest. I read about it and felt that I had to go. According to rumors, there are magical rock formations and inexplicable ponds and mysterious things in Pokaiņi.
We arrived to a mostly empty parking lot, and as soon as I got out of the car, I could feel this energy. I have felt this before in the trunk of an ancient oak tree and a circle of trees in Sigulda. There are magical, ancient places in Latvia where the veil is thin, and this was definitely one of them. I asked Anete if she could feel it, but she couldn’t… yet.
The forest is about 15 minutes outside of Dobele in Zemgale. The entrance is a gate in the shape of a triangle. I hadn’t read much about it, and I just wanted to go explore, so we just started walking.
It starts by crossing a bit of marsh on a wooden platform. We crossed over a small stream, and the only sound were a variety of birds in the distance. The forest was quite bright, and Anete kept pointing out how strangely bright it was for a forest.
As we walked, there were signs pointing to areas of interest, and these were marked with triangle signs. Offerings had been left at these sites. There must have been two people right in front of us who left Latvian Gotina candies on the rocks. I left coins of varying denominations.
Most of the sites were rock formations that were given names based on Latvian folklore and mythology. To me, many of them looked like cairns or ancient burials sites. At one point, I said that maybe the ancient Latvians were filling in gates to other worlds, and blocking the entrances with rocks. This freaked us both out a little bit.
At each special spot, we both could feel energy radiating. It is hard to explain how this feels, but my whole body gets a bit tingly and it was like there was a slight vibration pulsing through me giving me energy. I know it sounds a bit weird, but I swear that I could feel it. Others have said the same.
At one point near the Ziggurat we lost each other. I swore that I watched Anete walk in front of me, and then I followed and she was gone. I doubled back and eventually found her sitting on a bench. She said she never left the hill. I still don’t know what happened there, but we made sure to stay close after that.
One of the coolest features of the forest are these small ponds that are apparently spring fed. They have no inlets or outlets, and they just sit at the bottom of the hill reflecting everything. At the top of one hill, someone had built a birch-wood pyramid. It felt sacred and beautiful.
The last two features we saw were Līgavas Akmens (Bride Rock) and Tēva Akmens (Father Rock). These are two huge stones surrounded by smaller stones. They felt immortal and out of place.
By the time we got to a road, it was already 7:30 and getting a bit dark, so we had to leave about half of the forest undiscovered, but this will give us something to go back to next time. I am looking forward to it, but the magic of the first time is always special.
I highly recommend going here and just exploring for yourself. Be open to what you feel. Respect the space and just feel nature. The healing power of forest bathing is always a good way to spend your free time!
Slideshow
Unemployment Update
I learned a bit about the unemployment system here when I was working at Lingua Franca. Many of our students were people who were in government education programs, and they were between jobs, learning English. It sounded like a nice idea. In fact, some of my students made it sound quite nice, and so I wasn’t too worried when I lost my job because I thought there was a good social safety net.
Of course, any social safety net comes fully equipped with a deeply unsettling bureaucracy that is meant to dissuade commoners from even attempting to access the system, let alone someone who barely speaks the language.
I won’t go through all the hurdles that I had to jump to get here, but I had 2 jobs and was registered as a self-employed person so I could pay taxes on money I was making from my other private ventures. In order to qualify as unemployed, I had to quit my RTU teaching job, change my self-employed status and then hope and pray that they would accept all of this.
It took over a month, but I finally got approved and am now fully unemployed. This means that I will get about 50% of what I was making before from the state for 2 months, then it quickly drops to zero after a few more months, so I have to find a job quickly.
Side note
I recently had my first scooter accident. I was riding home on a rainy evening after losing 5 straight games of pool (4 to Renārs and 1 to Lara). I came to the crossing on Ķīpsala, and there was a car coming. I wasn’t sure if it was going to stop, but it did. I was a bit anxious, and when I accelerated, I completely lost grip on the wet asphalt and went down hard. I rang my bell, so to speak. Luckily, I had a hat on that cushioned the blow and kept me from having a severe abrasion on my head. Instead, I just had this giant lump right above my eye. The next day, the lump went down in size, and all the blood that had pooled descended into my eye socket giving me the most amazing shiner that I have ever had. My face is still a bit sore, but I think I escaped mostly unharmed. Just be careful out there!
