Please wait!
06.04.2022
In 2022, the joint stamp series of the European countries is dedicated to the theme of stories and myths. On the 8th of April 2022, Latvijas Pasts plans to release two new stamps in this series that depict Heavenly Father or God, often mentioned in Latvian mythology, and a scene with the feeding of grass snakes. The new stamps will first be available for purchase at the post offices of the largest cities, as well as in the e-shop of Latvijas Pasts https://veikals.pasts.lv/. The first day cancellation of the stamps is scheduled to take place in the post centre Sakta at 32 Brīvības bulvāris, Riga, from 9 AM to 6 PM on the 8th of April.
The stamp with a face value of €1.77 corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams to the countries located in Group 12. In turn, the stamp with a face value of €1.98 covers the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams to the countries located in Group 14. The individual print run of each stamp is 50,000 copies.
The release of the stamps is accompanied by the issue of two special covers with a print run of 800 copies each. The stamps and the covers have been designed by the artist Edgars Folks who depicted mythical characters from Pēteris Šmits’ (1869–1938) book Latvian Mythology on the philatelic releases. One of the stamps portrays Heavenly Father or God riding a white horse, while the other stamp features a scene where Heavenly Father is feeding grass snakes.
There are many different stories about Heavenly Father in Latvian folklore: folk songs mention that he wears a wide coat, a belt with a sword and a white jacket and carries a cane, but elsewhere he is also mentioned as a little man. He usually rides a horse, but often also rides in a sleigh or cart, while his horses may take shape of various characters, such as black dogs, black ravens and black oxen with white horns.
Feeding grass snakes or devotion to serpents has been found in mythology of various nations since ancient times: the tradition goes that souls manifest themselves as snakes. In the past, some mythologists believed that the cult of snakes had originated from the cult of souls, but in Latvian mythology grass snakes have nothing to do with either spirits or souls. All the deities, according to old superstitions, could do good and evil to people, so they were placated in various ways. The only fact is that ancient Latvians kept grass snakes as cow guardians and that the Mother of the Milk sometimes manifested herself as a grass snake and probably also as a wagtail.
The stamps and the covers Europa – Stories & Myths can be viewed here.
The originator of the Europa series stamps is PostEurop Association, and the stamps of this series with a single logo and a common theme for entire Europe have been issued since 1994. In previous years the themes of the Europa stamps were dedicated to ornithology, literature, natural attractions, travel, postal transport, old toys, eco-friendly lifestyle, castles and railway and ancient postal routes. All stamps that have been released in the Europa series in Latvia are available for viewing here.
The next philatelic release is scheduled for the 22nd of April.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with around 3,000 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Vineta Kļaviņa | Senior Public Relations Project Manager
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv, vineta.klavina@pasts.lv
twitter.com/latvijas_pasts | facebook.com/latvijas.pasts | instagram.com/latvijas_pasts