I find Latvian folklore easy to understand when I think of my psyche (esma) as a family unit (gimene). The traits of the adult psyche encompass all members of the "es" family; so your psychological profile is described as a reflection of family members  - how they feel and interact. Specifically there is mother (māte), father (tēvs), sister (māsa), brother (brālis), grandmother (vecmāte), grandfather (vectēvs).

These are personifications of human psyche. They are not to be taken literally.

mother (māte) Is key in nurturing and hence determining success in ability to grow healthy. Without a mother nothing can grow properly. Instinctively mothers are considered kind and caring. Animated diminutive mother (māmina, māmulīte, mamukiņš) stresses the importance of her life essence through the sun, her animated sun (saulīte). Other words that often describe a nurturing mother are white (balta), good (laba), beautiful (skaista), gentle (maiga), loving (mīļa).

orphan (bārenīte, sēderīte) Without a mother. The mother may physically not exist, or the mother may not behave as one, the nurturing instincts not working. Latvian folklore regards orphans highly. They are thought of as self-reliant and hard working, as this is the way they had to grow up. They are the preferred mating partner, because of those strong personality characteristics. Latvian folklore is filled with resources for orphans. Nature (daba) and its spiritual entities give preferential treatment to orphans. They play the roles of mother and rest of family. Of course in healthy families and communities everything is not perfect all the time. Everyone experiences the feelings of an orphan from time to time. Loneliness, fear, disorientation, despair. In similar fashion as for orphans, nature and goddesses offer support in those troubled times.

servant (kalpone/is) Household run by servants, usually orphans (bārentītes) shepherd (ganiņš) or children who are removed form homestead to work. A loving family may exist, but is not accessible, therefore they feel like orphans (bārenītes)

step mother (pamāte) This is the cruel mother. The mother the orphan depends on and is obligated to be with, is the person the orphan fears the most.

step (pa - the prefix) Any character who is difficult is given the prefix "pa". For example, a stepdaughter (pameita) could be a spoiled brat, but her corresponding stepmother could be nice, and therefore given the name "māte" instead of "pamāte".

father (tēvs) Ideally he protects and maintains order of the fence-family (ģimenes sēta). He does the heavy work (stiepšana) and is well-mannered (laipnība). he is encouraged to be strong (stiprs) an dwell-learned and developed, like a large oak tree (dižozols). Realistically this tends to happen, demonstrated by the personified story of the strained relationship between the sun as wife, and moon as husband. The moon, shines brightly once a month, and is only half there or not there at all the rest of the time. The sun, on the other hand is consistently shining and warm, and it is this reliability that is absolutely required for nurturing good health. This is why the father is of secondary importance to the mother. A father can increase his importance with reliability.

sister (māsa) Is described as always working, doing house chores, schoolwork, knitting, field and garden work. She feels responsibility for everything in her surroundings, and feels that she can make things better.

brother (brālis) When he works, he does good work. he often takes breaks, playing games, especially provoking sister. He fantasizes of making the world a better place, while his immediate surroundings are not as important.

grandmother (vecmāte) Always nice, patient, huggable and has time for you. Is often referred to in diminutive (vecmāmiņa) stressing importance of life essence (saulīte).

grandfather (vectēvs) Is nice as well; always able to give practical advice.

Once again I remind that the above are personifications of the psyche, and not a description of how all brothers, sisters, fathers etc function. In reality, we all possess a little of everything, and are just weighted differently.

Overall psyche (es, esma) Many Latvian versus refer to "es". This is not reference to personal experience, but the psychological experience as a whole. The traits of the adult psyche encompass all members of the family. For example, a real father would definitely have some mother psyche tenderness, otherwise no one would want to be near him, yet alone marry him. A real mother would not just watch a child put her hand on the stove. She would set rules, and get angry if child disobeyed, which is part of the father psyche.

On a more practical level, we are born into families, but rarely is there perfect balance. People may be missing physically, it may be there physically, but not playing their role appropriately. There are three ways to fill in the gaps:

1. role-play: We can place roles to different people in our family. Maybe your dad actually behaves like your mother, your sister like your dad, your mother like your stepmother. So what is missing in your psyche is your sister and brother. You look for people to play those roles. If nobody is available in your immediate surrounding, you look outward into other fences (sētas).
2. fence (sēta) structure: According to our permeable psychological fence infrastructure, you can always move out some levels to get advice and support needed. ie. community fence, god's fence.
   
3. Nature (daba): The family structure is always present in nature. Nature is the easiest to understand and always accessible: just look out your window. Most dainas compare balance, or unbalance in your environment, family, or own self (esma). So nature can fill the gaps. In folklore, elements of nature are described as sparkling, and alive, even in rocks and mountains. We are often reminded that this sparkling is directed to us if your free-will is receptive to it. So we are always loved by nature.