Baltic Folklore & Vernacular Belief
Folk narratives, customs, supernatural traditions, prohibitions and everyday systems of belief.
BALTIC ASSOCIATION FOR FOLKLORE AND ESOTERIC STUDIES
Independent research into folklore, belief and esoteric traditions
BAFES is a Lithuanian research association studying folklore, vernacular belief, pre-Christian religious traditions, the history of magic and esotericism, dreams and related cultural phenomena, with particular attention to the Baltic region.
ABOUT BAFES
Researching traditions in historical and cultural context
Folklore, belief and esoteric traditions form part of the cultural history of societies. BAFES studies them as historical and cultural phenomena rather than as doctrines to promote or dismiss.
Our work is source-based, contextual and transparent about uncertainty. We distinguish documented evidence from later interpretation, reconstruction and contemporary belief.
Learn more about BAFES →RESEARCH AREAS
What we study
Pre-Christian Baltic Religion
Historical sources, sacred landscapes, ritual traditions and later reconstructions of pre-Christian religion.
Magic & Divination
Protective practices, charms, signs, ritual objects, divination and the movement of magical ideas.
Dreams & Experience Narratives
Dreams, omens and extraordinary experiences studied as narratives, interpretations and cultural models.
History of Esotericism
Esoteric movements, print culture, spiritualism, occult networks and their development in the Baltic region.
CURRENT RESEARCH
Research at BAFES
Ongoing source-critical research on Vodou and Vodun in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, distinguishing documented presence from local folklore and modern cultural representations.
OngoingAn ongoing commissioned comparative BAFES study of systems claiming conscious change of self, life trajectory, fate or external reality. Access to the full research output is restricted.
OngoingPUBLICATIONS
Latest publications
American Night Visions: Dream Lore, Print Transmission, and Interpretive Authority in Selected American Sources
A BAFES research report on selected American dream traditions, print transmission, archival mediation and competing systems of interpretation.
Read publication →Sacred Landscape of Lithuania
A source-critical BAFES publication examining what historical evidence can establish about sacred places and sacred landscapes in Lithuania, and where later reconstruction begins.
Read publication →Sources and Reconstructions of Pre-Christian Baltic Religion
Sources and Reconstructions of Pre-Christian Baltic Religion examines what surviving historical evidence can genuinely tell us about the religious traditions of medieval Baltic peoples, and where later interpretation and reconstruction…
Read publication →FROM BAFES
News and updates
BAFES opens a study of Vodou in the Baltic region
BAFES-R-005 begins examining documented Vodou/Vodun practice and cultural reception in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
BAFES launches research on systems of conscious change
BAFES has opened a comparative study of systems that claim people can deliberately change themselves, their life direction, fate or external reality.
BAFES-R-003 American Night Visions completed
BAFES completed the commissioned research project BAFES-R-003, American Night Visions. The full report is retained under restricted access.
CONTACT
Research, collaboration and institutional enquiries
For general enquiries, research collaboration and institutional correspondence, contact BAFES by email.