Žemyna ("Žemė", "Žemelė") (from – "earth") is the goddess of the earth. It relates to Thracian "Zemele" ("mother earth"), Greek "Semelē" ("Σεμέλη"). She is usually regarded as mother goddess and one of the chief Lithuanian gods. "Žemyna" personifies the fertile earth and nourishes all life on earth, human, plant, and animal. The goddess is said to be married to either "Perkūnas" (thunder god) or "Praamžius" (manifestation of chief heavenly god "Dievas"). Thus the couple formed the typical Indo-European pair of mother-earth and father-sky. It was believed that in each spring the earth needs to be impregnated by "Perkūnas" - the heavens rain and thunder. "Perkūnas" unlocks ("atrakina") the Earth. It was prohibited to plow or sow before the first thunder as the earth would be barren.