Aušrinė

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Aušrinė is a Lithuanian feminine deity of the Morning Star (Venus) in the Lithuanian mythology. Some mythologists reconstruct her as the goddess of beauty, youth and health, the queen of all stars Žvaigždės, showing the sky way for her mother Sun (Saulė) at morning. Aušrinė's sisters are other stars: Vakarinė (the evening Venus, who makes the bed for Saulė), Indraja (Jupiter), Sėlija (Saturn), Žiezdrė (Mars) and Vaivora (Mercury). Aušrinė also figures in a Lithuanian myth about Sun, Moon and Morning Star, known from folklore material. (The myth tells, that, when the Moon (Mėnulis, a masculine hero in Lithuanian mythology) divorced Sun (Saulė), he fell in love with Aušrinė and kidnapped her. Mėnulis wanted to marry Aušrinė, but Perkūnas (Aušrinė’s father, the god of thunder and the sky) detained their wedding. He hit an oak and splattered Aušrinė’s white clothes with oak's blood.)

Alternative names: Rytmetėlė, Marių Pana, Ryto Žvaigždelė, Auseklis (Latvian).