#𓆩𝕍𓆪 ˣ 𝐅𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆

[ditipatri]

Saturnalia is coming on soon, so I'd like to speak some more on this peculiar, interesting festive occasion.

It is an Ancient Roman holiday of abundance, feasting, and celebration of harvest, which was supposed to be over by the time the festivities began. After the farmers gathered the crops, they'd celebrate Saturn, God of seed and sowing, for His generosity and richness of the harvest.

The festival, known for its abundant feasts and the peculiar tradition of switching roles of masters and servants, has a complicated history.

The origins of Saturnalia are much of a mystery as the festival appears to be so Ancient that Roman sources mark it to be older than the city of Rome itself. Saturnalia existed in both Greek and Roman tradition, though it corresponded to the Greek Kronia, which was a similar, but not an identical festival.

Sources speak on different possible origins of the holiday: some mention the temple of Saturn, the largest of the recorded by the pontiffs, being erected in Rome, and thus starting the tradition; whereas others speak on the festival being brought from Greece. Either way, this Ancient tradition is associated with the liberation of the God of harvest.

Saturnalia was officially celebrated on December 17 and, in Cicero's ties, lasted for a week (inclusively), until December 23. The length of the celebration varied depending on the time period as Augustus shortened it to three days only for the sake of letting the civil courts stay closed for less, while Caligula extended the celebration to five days. The original festival, according to Macrobius, appeared to have lasted for only a day; fourteen days before the Kalends of January. The Julian reform shifted the date to the 17th, thus making it into sixteen days before the Kalends. Some believe that the timing for Saturnalia was symbolic, as next followed Winter Solstice, or symbolic Death of the Sun and Birth of the new one.

Regardless, even after the limiting of the festival, Saturnalia seemed to still be celebrated for a full week with the last day being dedicated to Sigillaria, named so after sigillaria, the small earthenware figurines sold in the cities on that day. The original day of celebration was in turn given to Ops, the consort of Saturn and the Deity of abundance and the fruits of the Earth. The celebration in Her honor was called Opalia, and two festivals tended to mix together with Ops' worshippers sitting down during prayer to touch Earth, mother of all.

Saturnalia involved various activities akin to feasts, parties, gift-giving, and ritual rites. The party traditionally started with the guests exclaiming, i Saturnalia, believed to be a shortening from ego tibi optimis Saturnalia auspico, or 'i wish you a happy Saturnalia'. It is believed to be one of the most delightful periods of the year and one of the most beloved Roman festivals. People went into the streets celebrating, marching, setting up shows and street markets. People of all backgrounds could participate in it.

Among the general aspects of Saturnalia were activities such as gift giving, as people exchanged things such as candles, walnuts, dates, and honey. Masters served slaves, whereas slaves became free men as in memory of Saturn's reign when slavery did not exist. Servants walked the streets masked, in Frigio hats, or hats of liberation. The Saturnals were also celebrated in the army; the party was called the Saturnalicium castrense, when the low-rank soldiers sat next to the generals as equals and toasted together. Dice games and public gambling were allowed, but became prohibited again once Saturnalia ended. Mourning was abolished, while courts and schools were closed; starting war or enforce capital punishment was strictly prohibited. The festivities took such a great degree of chaos that some authors of the time report moving to remote suburban houses for the week of the Saturnalia to avoid the noise.

Saturn was one of the few celebrated Deities, as, in Roman times, Dis Pater and Proserpina were also believed to join the festive processions in winter time. They were to be appeased by gifts, festivities, and food; which was believed to make Them return to the Underworld where, as the Gods of subsoil, They would protect the crops and make them sprout in spring.

The official part of the feast consisted of a solemn sacrifice in the temple attended with bare head and during which the wool bandages that wrapped the feet of Saturn's simulacrum melted. A public banquet followed where all the guests exchanged toasts and wishes.

Further celebratory activities were split into days, and precise rites were done on each day of the festival.

At the beginning of Saturnalia, a rite of lectisternium was held. During the ritual, statues of Jupiter and 12 Olympians were seated in a dining position upon a special bed, or couch, and offered food, prayers, and gifts. They were spoken to with due respect and asked for protection of Rome and its people as well as for help with current affairs. After the first step, a procession was sent off to the Temple of Saturn and animal sacrifices were made at the site. A banquet with cheeses, focaccia, olives, and wine was held, to which everyone was invited - all provided by the state.

Starting day one, no-work days began, and gifts as well as greeting cards were exchanged between the citizens. Myrtle, laurel, and ivy - symbolic elements of the Saturna - were given; the trees were respectively sacred to Venus, Apollo, and Bacchus. The first day was signified by banquets, during which the Princeps of Saturnalia, the ruler of the festivities, Princeps Saturnalicius, was elected. During the first day of the festival, people changed from togas to synthesis and pileus; a casual home robe and a cap like headdress.

On the second day of the festival, Rome was still abundant with noise and feasts, to which everyone invited everyone. Stalls and juggles were in the streets alongside dancers and musicians. Celebrations were accompanied by the feast in honor of Epona, Celtic Goddess of horses, much adorned by the equites, whose importance during Saturnalia was due to Her connection to fertility and richness of feasts. The second day of Saturnalia, the 18th of December, marked the beginning of the triad of days of Mercatus, much similar to today's city fairs.

The third day of Saturnalia was the initial day of the celebration (before the reform of the calendar) and was devoted to the Goddess Ops, Deity of Sabine origin introduced to Rome under Titus Tatius. She was praised as the Deity of abundance, protector of rich harvest, giver of fruits of the Earth, and respected consort of the God Saturn. Her Temple at the Capitol hill was erected on that day, and thus received attention and became a center of worship of the Goddess as it was the anniversary of its establishment. Ops was prayed to and asked for blessings of harvest.

The fourth day of the Saturnian festivals, December 20, was dedicated to gift-giving and worship of the Lares, house guardian Deities of Ancient Rome. Terracotta figurines, sigillaria, were made out of paste, wax, or terracotta. Bronze statues were a rarity as bronze was expensive, while sigillaria made out of sweet dough were meant for the children. These statuettes were exchanged as gifts between the citizens as well as given to Saturn as offerings. He was seen as the God of time, and, thus, Death, and the figurines were to be given to Him as ways to redirect Death from coming for the giver, instead letting the figurine take it.

On the fifth day, Rome was filled with visitors from all across the Empire who came to see the city at its peak, blooming with festivals and street activities such as shops, shows, and a multitude of banquet spots. Fod, souvenirs, sigillaria (sigillaria<sigillum<signum+illum), clothes, ornaments and jewels were sold on the street. Artisans from all over the Empire offered goods made of leather, wood, terracotta, bronze, brass, silver and a special alloy of gold and silver, electrum.

On day six of the festivities Rome welcomed dancers, singers, and other performers from across the Empire who came to join the celebration as the entirety of the Empire was involved in it. Gift-exchanging with the guests, also known as xenia, was performed. Marcus Valerius Martialis wrote Xenia and Apophoreta for the Saturnalia, both of which were published in December and intended to accompany the "guest gifts" that were given at that time of year.

On the seventh - and last - day of the celebrations the Gods were thanked for everything given. The streets were full of torches and braziers, and the day passed between banquets and the baths decorated with ribbons and garlands for the occasion. Aulus Gellius relates that he and his Roman compatriots would gather at the baths in Athens, where they were studying, and pose difficult questions to one another on the ancient poets, a crown of laurel being dedicated to Saturn if no-one could answer them.

Saturnalia ended at sunset.

Sources in pinned.

#𓆩𝕍𓆪 ˣ 𝐅𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆 #hellenism #theoi #helpol #hellenic polytheism #roman polytheism #roman festival #religio romana #saturnalia #io saturnalia #witchblr

[ditipatri]

Larentalia of Ancient Rome was a day at the very end of the Saturnalia, around December 23, celebrated in honor of various Deities. Some attest it to the celebration of Acca Larentia, the mythical mother of Romulus and Remus equated with the great she-wolf Lupa, whereas some call it the day of the Lares, protective household Deities of the Roman era. Multiple Di Inferi such as the Lares, Di Manes, Di Penates, and such received due praise on Larentalia.

Known also as Parentalia, Larom, Lemuria, Mania, this sacred day has a long history and roots from the beliefs and customs that preceded the very formation of Rome.

Larentalia has a complicated history, much like most Roman holidays and festivals do. Some sources attest it to be the day when Acca Larentia was praised and worshipped, as she was believed to have raised Romulus and Remus as their adoptive mother. Some stories speak of Acca Larentia as a woman who happened to have a large fortune left after her wealthy Etruscan lover, Tarutilus, passed, and that she gave the money to the people of Rome. Some call her the wife of Faustulus, the shepherd who found Romulus and Remus in the she-wolf's burrow. Some call her a courtesan and the mistress of the great Hercules given to him in a game of dice.

The latter might be a contributing factor to why Acca Larentia got slowly merged with the imagery of a she-wolf Lupa who raised Romulus and Remus according to the old myth: the word for a courtesan (lupa) and the word for a she-wolf (lupa) are cognates. Her other name, Acca, might be compared to the Sanskrit "akka", which means "mother" and rightfully allows us to consider her Mater Larum, the Mother of the Lares whom Romulus and Remus became for Rome after their deaths. The festival to honor the Lares was called Larom and coincided with Larentalia. Some, like Ovid, also referred to it as Mania after a corresponding Sabine Goddess.

The name of Quirinus is tightly connected to the cult of the Lares. Initially, this is likely the name of an Ancient indigenous agricultural Deity of Roman and Etruscan peoples who later was merged with the deified Romulus to represent a giving, prosperous ruler of the Empire.

Quirinus is also one of the epithets of the God Mars, one of the most beloved and treasured among the Roman Gods. Mars Quirinus was the peaceful face of the God of War when He guarded the civillians. Maurus Servius Honoratus in his notes to the Aeneid wrote the following: Mars enim cum saevit Gradivus dicitur, cum tranquillus est Quirinus ("When He rampages, Mars is Gradivus, but when He is at peace, He is Quirinus"). Gods such as Janus and Jupiter were also given the epithet Quirinus. Thus, the very name, Quirinus, became strongly associated with the image of provision, protection, and stability, which explains why Romulus was attested this name as well.

Such a diverse variety of ways Quirinus can be interpreted is partially due to the variety of theories that were created at the time to explain Romulus' death. Some authors claimed him to have been taken by a thunderstorm, some that he was killed by the Senate in a manner much similar to the way Julius Caesar died. Some claim that Romulus and Quirinus are one and have been one. The pre-Romulean function of the Divinity remains much of a mystery, though some argue that He might have been a part of the triad alongside Jupiter and Mars, thus constituting the three most beloved Gods of the Roman Empire.

Quirinus thus has connection to three most important areas of the Roman life: agriculture, military, and the afterlife. This creates a very chthonic identity of the newly coined Divinity, which explains why Larentalia was the day of honoring the dead.

The cult of Quirinus has birthed the new religious rank within Rome, flamen Quirinalis, which coexisted with flamen Dialis and flamen Martialis and seemed to perform a major religious function within the cult and across the entirety of Rome.

Larentalia was celebrated at the place of the supposed tomb of Acca Larentia, the Velabrum located between the Capitoline Hill and the Palatine Hill, not a long way from the old city. There, pontiffs and flamen Quirinalis sacrificed to Di Manes. Di Manes were the souls of the deceased loved ones, connected to other indigenous Roman Deities such as Di Penates, Genii, and the Lares. The festival to honor the Manes and Acca Larentia included performance of parentatio, or funeral rites. The Latin name of the ritual is the reason why Larentalia is also sometimes called Parentalia.

As the Mother of Lares, Acca Larentia received offerings given to the guardian spirits under her protection. However, the holiday wasn't limited to just her and instead celebrated all the Lares.

The nature of the offerings varies depending on what time period and what author we refer to. For example, Macrobius says that at first, Di Manes, as they were among Di Inferi, received offerings in form of human sacrifice. However, according to him, this tradition did not last for long and, under Junius Brutus, was replaced. Starting from Brutus' times, human sacrifice was substituted with offerings of garlic and poppy. In the same book Macrobius also states that people would hang up woolen human-shaped figurines on the day of the Manes to ward off anything bad happening to the family. This, as well as the fact most rituals likely happened at night, points out that this day was devoted to the chthonic Deities.

Among other offerings during Larentalia were homemade cakes and pigs sacrificed for the Di Inferi. Some writers suggest that if during the Larentalia, any piece of food was to fall on the ground, from the moment of touching it the food became an offering to the Lares and was to be burned. A similar tradition is seen among the Greeks who also believed that food dropped on the ground belonged to the spirits dwelling in the house.

As a part of the Saturnalia, Larentalia was one of the holidays of passing when the old died out and allowed the coming of the new.

Note: Do not use the decor in this post. I made it myself, images not mine. Please, be respectful. This holiday mentions the souls of the dead.

Sources are in my pinned.

#𓆩𝕍𓆪 ˣ 𝐅𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆 #hellenism #theoi #helpol #roman festival #hellenic polytheism #roman polytheism #religio romana #witchblr

[ditipatri]

LEMURIA is a three-day long Roman festival of parting with one’s dead that was celebrated in Rome during the 9th, the 11th, and the 13th days of the month of May. Through generous offering and ritualistic celebration, the dead are meant to be calmed down and returned back into the Underworld so that the living could continue on with their lives. 

Note: This post speaks on the undead familial souls. Please, do not take this as a guide as I am not an authority in telling you how to appease spirits you know best. 

It is relatively hard to say where Lemuria initially comes from, as its origins are long since lost to time. Like other Roman festivals that we still can learn about from Ancient writing, it is likely a very specific local tradition rooted in the culture of Italic peoples of the peninsula. 

Ovid, who is one of our few sources of structured information about the festival, says that Lemuria was initially installed by Romulus to appease the unrest spirit of Remus. While it is not clear whether or not it is true, we do know from multiple inscriptions that Romans did avoid marriage during the month of May, just like the month of February, and celebrated the dead called Lemures. 

Some parts of the Fasti also refer to the rituals of Lemuria as the Argei, which was the rite of banishing of evil spirits and malicious undead souls in honor of the God Saturn. Overall, Ovid gives a relatively detailed explanation as to what rituals were done and what Deities and entities were revered. 

Some researchers refer to Lemuria in Ovid’s text as an idiomatic way of speaking on the necessary sacrifice done to ensure the proliferation of the Roman state - in comparison to Feralia, which was way more focused upon honoring the past heroes.  It is important to mention that, like most Roman festivals, Lemuria was accessible to the poor and the rich alike. 

There is still some questions that remain regarding the nature of the spirits involved in Lemuria. Some compare it to Parentalia when Lares, the protective spirits of the dead ancestors, were venerated across the Roman Empire. Also referred to as Manes, these entities are beneficial and helpful that protect the home and family while peacefully sharing a space with them; being just as peacefully escorted back into the Underworld when the time of the dead is to pass.

Lemures, however, were different, as the Romans referred to them as Larvae and associated them with wicked and fearsome specters of the dead. It is unclear what exactly makes Lemures appear, though there is some information preserved that states they would come as disfigured, grotesque, and terrifying in form. These entities, believed to be haunting the living, need to be given gifts during Lemuria when the pater familiaris is to rise at midnight and proceed with a ritual of calming the undead souls. 

It is not clear whether Lemures are simply angered spirits of the dead that appear among the living for individual reasons, or if every person without a proper burial turns into a dangerous Larva. Ovid refers to the Lemures as “paternas manes”, which might imply that the spirits venerated during the festival are the dead relatives that passed into the Underworld by an untimely, violent, or otherwise unnatural death.

From what we know of the festival, it is loosely associated with a number of Divinities, among whom Saturn and Janus come first. As the Gods of time, death, entrances, and doorways, these Deities are directly referred to in prayers to keep the doors between the living and the dead shut. Janus’ Divine wife, Goddess Cardea or Cerdon, is also asked of the same favor; She is venerated with lit hawtorn torches. 

The Goddess Hekate, Divinity of the night, crossroads, and the dead in Roman tradition, is involved into the celebration as well: Her priestesses in Rome performed the rites in the terrifying night of Lemuria, offering the Patronness of the lost souls gifts of myrtle, sweets, statuettes, candles, and perfumes to reach out to the spirits of the dead and ask them questions. 

Ceres and Proserpina, as the Deities associated with the Underworld, are celebrated as well. Their temples in Rome were adorned with myrtle and colored ribbons as public rites were held there while all the other temples stayed closed.

There is still some discussion as to whether Di Inferi are the ones to receive all the offerings given to the manes or if the spirits are the ones to directly get them. This is due to the fact that Romans do refer to the spirits of the manes as “Gods” in multiple texts, which creates slight confusion. 

Ovid mentions different rituals allegedly associated with celebrating the days of Lemuria. One of them, connected with the banishing ritual of Argei, speaks of throwing wooden puppets into the river down from the temple of Vesta. On June 15, when the waters are considered clean after the ritual again, marital celebrations are allowed in the state after a long period of cancelation. 

The first feast of Lemuria is usually a solemn feast celebrated during the night time. While the Goddesses of the dead receive Their praise, a procession of citizens carrying lit-up candles crosses the city, much similar to a slowly moving snake made of flames. Lemurs receive a rich banquet, and here the information splits into two streams as some sources believe they were not granted place at the table while some state the spirits were eating among the living.  Treats for the deceased and torches are left outside the houses - perhaps to help the dead find their way in the night. 

There is as well a custom of driving away the evil Larvae by walking around at night, barefoot, and throwing black beans behind one’s shoulder. Beforehand, the person is to purify their hands by washing them in pure waters of a fountain. This rite, much like other ones, could be performed at home. Ovid mentions the following invocatio used by the Romans during the rites: 

"I send these, with these beans I redeem myself and what is mine" nine times.

or

“Manes exite paterni” that is, “exits of spirits of the ancestors”.

or

"Ghosts of my fathers and ancestors, be gone!" nine times as the family hit bronze vases. 

The custom of Lemuria was most likely Christianized into the feast of All Saints based in Rome before May 13th. The holiday was later moved to correspond with the Celtic Samhain, thus beginning to coincide with All Hallows’ Eve. 

Lastly, it is important to state that every individual is free to appease their dead in ways that feel comfortable to them. You are more than free to gift anything that isn’t listed in this post as long as it feels right to you. Feel free to alternate the suggested ritual as much as you need to in order to achieve personal comfort. 

Sources in pinned.

#𓆩𝕍𓆪 ˣ 𝐅𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆 #ancient rome #rompol #roman polytheism #roman paganism #roman festival #roman history #lemuria #religio romana #cultus deorum

[ditipatri]

Dea Tacita, Dea Muta, the Silent Goddess, the Quiet One - these are some of the ways Ancient authors referred to one peculiar Divinity of no particular known appearance or properly written down cult. The Silent One, as She is known from some works of Greek and Roman writers is among the few Deities invoked during the Roman week of Parentalia, and She serves a particular protective purpose: to silence evil tongues.  

Most of the information about the presence of the cult of the Silent Goddess in Ancient Rome comes from Ovid with some meaningful additions from Plutarch and other smaller authors. The origins of the Goddess are, thus, quite hard to track both because Ovid’s description is among a few that exist and because Dea Tacita bears resemblance to other Roman Divinities. 

In Ovid’s description she is, for example, very similar to Acca Larentia who had a recorded cult order in the Roman Empire where She was praised as the Mother of Lares, spirits of the dead. With that said, and with Dea Muta’s appearance during the Roman days of the dead, we can say that She bears similarity to one of the Di Inferi, or Gods of the Underworld.  

Another group of sources claims that Dea Tacita is instead a naiad initially known by the name Lara or Larunda, daughter of Almone, and was tightly connected to the tripartite Goddess of the Underworld. Through this interpretation, She is often associated with the Lares and other undead spirits. 

Others believe that Tacita is a cultural phenomenon of transition within funeral rites of Rome where what was once simply dead began gaining association with a rebirth of life. That double nature of Di Inferi is not uncommon within the Roman and general Italic theological views. Within this attribute, Dea Muta is often associated with the Goddess Angerona, Deity of anguished winter Sun, who Macrobius, speaking of a temple in Voluptia, narrates to be gagged to remember that concealed fear leads to eventual growth of positive happenings in one’s life. 

Sometimes She was believed to be one of the Gods of the Underworld dealing with the same aspect of silencing: Tacitae Mutae. This interpretation is strongly linked to Her possible origin as a naiad, as those exist in multitudes. 

Silencing through gagging was not the only imagery the Deity received, sometimes being depicted with a finger lifted to cover her lips, as if to command: Silenzio. 

The reasons as to why the Goddess Herself is so strongly connected to the process of sacral silencing differ: some believe that She was one of the Deities of Sacred Mysteries, kept a secret from others, while some believe the narration that had Her mistreated and silenced for Her actions. In one narration, for example, Dea Tacita is punished through a removal of Her tongue for interfering with Jupiter and telling another naiad, Juturna, to flee to avoid assault. Romans generally - and Ovid’s narration supports it - believed that the dead are meant to be silent: “to the silent shades”. 

Regardless of the reason behind Her muteness, whether it is forced or natural, Dea Tacita was referred to as one capable of muting evil or malicious tongues, and Her rites are written down in a number of Ancient texts. 

Ovid in Fasti describes a specific spell that an old hag performs during the sacred week of Parentalia, on the evening of Feralia, 21st, which involves usage of specific objects and sacred numbers. In this ritual, the person was meant to place three lumps of incense in a mouse hole at the entrance into the house using three fingers, then bind enchanted threads with dark lead and roll seven black beans in their mouth. After that, a tarred fish head, sewn up using bronze needle, is roasted on a fire and dripped some wine on. The rest of the wine is drunk, and an announcement is made that hostile mouths and tongues are bound. It is believed that such a ritual over a fish head is meant to silence an unsuspecting soul. 

Interestingly enough, the spell has, in fact, received a validation of sorts despite coming from a literary source as researches have compared it to some inscriptions found in Republican Rome and attested to be classified as curse tablets. Not only are individuals usually cursed by anatomical body parts, but there’s also proof that a lot of curses were done in February: hoc sei perfecerit ante mensem Martium (“if he fulfills this before the month of March”; to Cerberus) or ut tradas mandes mense Februario ecillunc (“that you hand over and consign him in the month of February,”; to Persephone). Another example of an inscription to Dea Muta involves a whole spell found in Southern Germany (Ancient Cambodunum): 

mutae tacitae! ut mutus sit quartus, agitatus erret ut mus fugiens aut avis adversus basylicum, ut e[i]us os mutu(m) sit, mutae! mutae [d]irae sint! mutae tacitae sint! mutae! [qu]a[rt]us ut insaniat, ut eriniis rutus sit quartus et orco. ut mutae tacitae ut mut[ae s]int ad portas aureas

or

Mutae Tacitae! So that Quartus might be mute, that he might wander, frenzied, like a fleeing mouse, or like a bird against the basilisk, that his mouth might be mute, mutae! Let the mutae be fatal! Let the mutae be tacitae! Mutae! So that Quartus might go mad, so that Quartus might be dug up by the Erinyes and Orcus. So that the mutae tacitae might be mute at the golden gates.

Whether Dea Tacita was singular or existed as a multitude of Deities of Death, it seems like Her presence in the rites of the dead was of relative importance to the Ancients. One more theory suggests that She was a way for Her initiated ones to escape the fear of Death through Sacred rituals. 

I believe every God and Goddess, no matter how unknown They are, deserves due attention, so I would like to offer you some ideas as to what to offer to Her as gifts: 

☙ Homemade or store bought food, especially baked goods. ☙ Lanterns, candles, and other light-emitting objects.  ☙ Flowers: roses, violets, oleanders, eternal flowers, poppies, carnations were specifically identified with Death.  ☙ Handmade art, music, hymns for Her. These gifts may come from your deeply hidden emotions as Parentalia is a mournful time and even outside of it, Dea Muta might prefer quieter, more melodic musical gifts. Of course, I am not one to speak for Her nor what She wants, so if you feel that another approach is right, then go for it. ☙ Homemade honey, milk, and different warm drinks of choice.  Alternatives can be used if you’re allergic.  ☙ Fish, if you have any: it can be kept as a pet or as a food offering.  Do not impulsively buy a pet or neglect it. If you’re buying it for an offering, support your local market and make sure to source ethically.  ☙ Gift baskets of food and other objects of choice.  ☙ Sewn or knitted objects.  ☙ Beans or grains in any form. 

I would also like to offer some devotional activities. These are my ideas and I am not claiming to know what the Goddess Herself would want, so consider it a list of ideas - not a list of necessary or only correct rites: 

☙ Keeping silent for the day.  ☙ Learning sign language if you’re willing to understand those who do not speak.   ☙ Making flower bouquets and floral decorations.  ☙ Pouring libations of your drink or mix of choice, but do not pour out toxic ones as these can be bad for the soil.  ☙ Spilling your heart out for Her to listen.  ☙ Being devoted to keeping the secrets your close ones trust you with.  ☙ Writing out or drawing associative messages and prayers to Her.  ☙ Indulging in obscure hobbies and “unpopular” activities of choice - ones that would usually make you feel lonely but ones you can share with Her. 

Sources in my pinned.

#𓆩𝕍𓆪 ˣ 𝐅𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆 #tagamemnon #roman gods #religio romana #cultus deorum #roman festival #roman polytheism #ancient history #ancient rome #dea tacita #dea muta #theoi

[ditipatri]

This year's Saturnalia is in less than a week, meaning that the time of feasting and indulgence is not so far away either. Food was a very important part of the festivities in the Ancient Times because the entire holiday season in Ancient Rome was meant to give the people a chance of tasting delicious meals and otherwise indulging.

I am covering a few of the Roman Saturnalia recipes and, in order to give everyone a chance to celebrate, some modern recipes that match the theme and requirements of the holiday.

Some of the recipes included contain ingredients not everyone can eat, such as meats, nuts, or dairy. I will be offering substitutes for these ingredients. For cheeses, I'd like to suggest some recipes of dairy-free cheese substitutes you can make if you are allergic.

The first recipe I'd like to go over is Mustacei, or Roman Must Cakes. The first notion of it comes from Cato's De Agricultura where he says:

Mustaceos sic facito. Farinae siligineae modium unum musto conspargito. Anesum, cuminum, adipis, casei libram, et de virga lauri deradito, eodem addito, et ubi definxeris, lauri folia subtus addito, cum coques.

Translated, this recipe sounds like this:

This is how to make Mustaceos. Moisten 1 modius of wheat flour with must; add anise, cumin, 2 pounds of lard, 1 pound of cheese, and the bark of a laurel twig. When you have made them into cakes, put bay leaves under them, and bake.

While this recipe is relatively simple, the measurements is where difficulties arise since Cato uses Roman modius. There are many methods of making these cakes, here's the one I'd like to offer:

INGREDIENT LIST

400-500g plain flour (you can use gluten-free flour)

150-200ml of 2-3 day old grape juice (can be fresh)

1/2 tsp dried yeast (optional)

25-60g cheddar or pecorino cheese, grated (or vegan pecorino or cheddar)

2 tsp ground aniseed

2 tsp ground cumin

50-80g pastry lard or hard vegetable fat

olive oil

bay leaves (15 or 20)

DIRECTIONS

Prepare a bowl and add the grape juice in. Dissolve yeast in the juice. The yeast is optional, you can use just the must (grape juice).

Take a bowl, put in the flour, cumin, and aniseed. Mix. Add grated cheese into the flour mix.

Add lard or vegetable fat into the flour mix, mix until it comes together. Add the juice mix.

Knead until the dough is done. Roll the dough up and cover it with a towel. You can let it stay overnight.

Prepare and oil up your baking tray. Place bay leaves on it.

Roll the dough on a floured board until it's about 1 cm thick.

Use a pastry cutter to make individual cakes around 5 cm in diameter each.

Place the cakes on the bay leaves and bake for about 45 min at 180°C.

Serve warm.

The second meal idea follows another Ancient Roman cookbook, this time by Apicius, De Re Coquinaria. He says the following:

2Elixatas cucurbitas exprimis, sale asparges, in patina compones. Teres piper, cuminum, coriandri semen, mentam viridem, laseris radicem, suffundes acetum. Addicies cariotam, nucleum, teres melle, aceto, liquamine, defrito et oleo temperabis, et cucurbitas perfundes. Cum ferbuerint, piper asparges et inferes.

Which, if translated, sounds approximately like this:

Press the water out of the boiled pumpkin, place in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt, ground pepper, cumin, coriander seed, green mint and a little laser root; season with vinegar. Now add date wine​ and pignolia nuts ground with honey, vinegar and broth, measure out condensed wine and oil, pour this over the pumpkin and finish in this liquor and serve, sprinkle with pepper before serving.

Some people replace date wine with grated dates moistened with wine, some don't: that part is up to you. However, there are some general methods of cooking this recipe with modern measurements in mind:

INGREDIENT LIST

1 pumpkin, squash, or gourd

1 tsp peppercorns

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander seeds

3-4 mint leaves, shredded

1 garlic clove

3-4 tbsp vinegar

30-60 g dates, finely chopped

45-70 g blanched almonds, finely chopped

2 tbsp clear honey

4 tbsp Wine or Grape Juice

15-30 ml olive oil

Sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Cut the squash or any alternative you're using. Place into a steamer or cook on the stove until done.

Remove the excess water. Transfer the pulp to a saucepan or skillet. Whilst the squash is cooking, grind the spices or prepare them if you're using grinded spices.

Add the mint and garlic, grind or mix together with spices. Add the mix to the squash.

Next add the oil, dates, almonds and the honey. Mix it all together.

Place the final mixture back on the heat and simmer for the flavours to combine.

Serve sprinkled with salt and black pepper.

The last recipe I'd like to describe is that of a beverage. You don't have to have any sort of alcohol to enjoy Saturnalia, this is completely optional. This is purely for educational purposes.

Disclaimer: Do not do this unless you are of age, completely certain you know what you're doing, and know how to properly store it.

In the original text by Apicius, or Apicio, the following is said:

Folias rosarum, albo sublato, lino inseris ut sutilis facias, et vino quam plurimas infundes, ut septem diebus in vino sint. Post septem dies rosam de vino tollis et alias sutiles recentes similiter mittis, ut per dies septem in vino requiescant, et rosam eximis. Similiter et tertio facies et rosam eximis et vinum colas et, cum ad bibendum voles uti, addito melle rosatum conficies, sane custodito ut rosam a rore siccam et optimam mittas. Similiter, ut supra, et de viola violacium facies, et eodem modo melle temperabis.

If we translate this passage, it becomes this:

Make rose wine in this manner: rose petals, the lower white part removed, sewed into a linen bag and immersed in wine for seven days. Thereupon add a sack of new petals which allow to draw for another seven days. Again remove the old petals and replace them by fresh ones for another week; then strain the wine through the colander. Before serving, add honey sweetening to taste. Take care that only the best petals free from dew be used for soaking.

INGREDIENT LIST

A bottle of dry white wine 1 1/2 cups of rose petals Honey, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Take a bottle of premade or store bought wine and pour into a large pitcher or jar.

Pluck the rose petals from the flowers and place them on a piece of cheesecloth. It's best to use freshly collected petals but you can use dry ones, too.

Tie the cheesecloth and submerge it in the wine, leaving to sit in the refrigerator for a few days up to week. After the time has passed, fish the sachet from the wine and replace with more fresh rose petals in new cheesecloth.

Repeat this twice, so the wine steeps for a total of three weeks.

Once it is done sitting, serve the wine with honey to taste (and optional rose petals for garnish).

Before we speak on modern dishes, I'd like to mark down a few honorary mentions of Roman foods that are taken from Ancient cookbooks and follow Ancient recipes but were not included in the list above to save space and time.

If you want to follow Ancient Roman recipes and have the ingredients to do so, you can make: Arrosto di maiale con salsa allo zafferano, Aliter Ius in Avibus, Dulcia Piperata, Chiacchiere, Globi Dolce, Prosciutto in crosta dell’antica Roma, and more. I will be linking all sources on these recipes as well as some cookbooks on my Navigation page.

I also want to recommend some wines as mulled wine was a very prominent part of the celebration. Here are some wine types, not brands, that I personally recommend for the Saturnalia: Chianti Riserva, Sangiovese, Primitivo, Nero d'Avola, Montepulciano, Pinot Grigio, Candoni Moscato. Only get those if you're an adult and know how to deal with alcohol.

These are modern recipes that fit the general theme of the Saturnalia. All of these recipes contain typical ingredients of the festive feast. You don't have to use meat, you can replace it with cauliflower, tofu, and any meat analogues you'd like. For sweets, you can replace eggs with yogurt or heavy cream whereas flour can be non-gluten. You absolutely can replace other gluten-containing ingredients with gluten-free alternatives, and replace nuts with crushed dried fruits or other ingredient with a similar texture.

Links to recipes will be in my Sources.

ANTIPASTO & MAIN COURSES

Rotolini di speck e fichi - Speck and fig rolls

Lonza di maiale in salsa di noci - Pork in walnut sauce Carré di maiale alle mele - Pork with apples Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin

DESSERTS & BREAD

Struffoli - Honey Balls Noci Dolci - Sweet filled walnuts Crostata di mele - Apple crust cake Buccellati - Sicilian sweet fig pastry

Lievito madre or pasta madre - Classic Italian sourdough Libum or Focaccia al Formaggio - Cheese focaccia Focaccia morbida - Soft focaccia

Sources are in my pinned.

#𓆩𝕍𓆪 ˣ 𝐅𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆 #hellenism #helpol #theoi #hellenic polytheism #roman polytheism #religio romana #roman festival #witchblr

[ditipatri]

Parentalia, Dies Parentalis, is one of the Roman festive occasions that lasted not one day or two, but rather a week or, in some cases, nine days. Traditionally starting off the 13th of February, it lasted till approximately the 21st of the same month, and no temple access was possible during the celebrations. That is due to the fact that Parentalia, like many festivals of the Romans set in the month of February, was fully devoted to honoring the dead: spirits of deceased parents and ancestors, Lares, Manes, Penates, and other spirits of the dead received due gratitude during the length of this peculiar festivity. 

The history of Parentalia as a festive occasion lies in the long bygone past, as many sources of the Antiquity claim that it is a pre-Roman tradition of Ancient Etruscans and other tribal communities of the Italian peninsula. The name of the festivity hints at who it was mostly directed to, as one’s deceased parents were notably among the first a Roman citizen of the time had to honor during this week. Parentalia - and Feralia, which was the final day of the week-long commemoration - was the festival of mourning and giving, as families were supposed to visit the graves of their dead and deliver offerings of various objects. 

The origin of the festivities is not easy to track down as Romans had a long history of establishing various celebrations similar to the occassion. For example, Lemuria or Larentalia of December is quite similar to Parentalia as it also honors the Manes and the Lares. The family-tied core of the Parentalia celebration makes it hard to tell for sure when it was properly established. However, some literary sources, though they should be taken in with a grain of salt, point at the Ancient origins of the rites. 

For example, Ovid in his Fasti speaks on the origin of Parentalia as rooting from the times of the legendary Aeneas landing in Italic lands. According to him, the literary hero, seen by the Romans sometimes as one of the legendary roots of their kin, established the sacred rites of honoring the dead. Yet when his men did not follow them, disease and plague struck Rome, leaving many dead and the vengeful spirits risen. 

While for the majority Parentalia remained a private, familiar celebration held by households and families, some public rites were performed as well. On the first day of the celebratory week, usually the 13th, the Ides, Virgin Vestals held a public ritual. They marched from the capital to the tomb of Tarpeji, the Tarpeian Rock, to commemorate the people Rome lost when Tarpeja, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, let Sabines into the Capitol during the Sabine siege, allowing the overtaking of the fortress. Ever since, the site is seen as a symbol of treason, perjury, and adultery, as she was swayed by a Sabine general and his riches. 

After the march to the mournful monument, Vestal Virgins performed parentat: a ritual opening the days of the dead. According to Ovid, since that moment no hearth fire, no incense for altars, no templar rites were allowed. The city’s political life also stopped, as the days of Parentalia were dies nefasti, or days of no secular activities. Citizens did not work, secular buildings stopped any activity. Magistrates left off official togas, courts closed, and no marriages could be performed. From Ovid’s writing as well as Cicero’s letters we learn that Romans went out of their way to avoid having marriage fall on the week of Parentalia, trying to wrap it up prior to the celebrations. 

Romans travelled outside of the city to visit local graveyards, and there is some archaeological evidence showing that the sites were quite comfortable, going as far as being equipped with seating areas inside peaceful garden-like settings. Some cemeteries would have elaborate dining rooms and cooking facilities so families could visit the graves to not only leave offerings, but also linger, prepare meals, and stay to eat with the deceased. This activity did not relay on one’s status and was accessible to everyone. 

As Parentalia and Feralia equally deal with the dead, a few words need to be said about how the Romans dealt with their dead and what high degree of respect they tended to hold them in. 

The path of the deceased person started off with having a ring taken off their hand, their eyes being closed as well as their mouth, and their name being exclaimed by the nearest person of relation. The body after that would be washed, anointed, and well-dressed as well as sprayed with perfume by the undertakers, or Libitinarii that received their name after Venus Libitina the temple of whom was the place where all matters of funerals were dealt with. 

The deceased had a coin placed in their mouth to pay the ferryman Charon as they reach the banks of Styx and then laid out, dressed the best they would in life, with their feet pointed towards the door, in their own house. Everyone attending the funeral would be wearing white robes to symbolize purification. Leaves, flowers, and sometimes a cypress branch were used to decorate the door of the house while a painted door was sometimes placed on the wall as if to symbolize one’s personal path into the Underworld. 

At the beginning of Roman history, all deceased were buried at night, but as the Empire grew and the class split became more prominent, only the poor started getting buried at night while the richer families ordered a procession for the deceased family member. Those were quite big as they involved buffoons and singers performing prayers and dances to symbolize the character of the deceased. Masked people symbolizing the relatives of the person walked before the corpse alongside others carrying any of the military ranks and equipment the deceased possessed. After the procession, the dead were buried or, later, burned on a pile of wood that was also supposed to have all the offerings brought along to honor the dead thrown into the fire as well. 

The character of burial sites differed depending on the income of the deceased: rich Romans had vast and state-supported burials that the families did not need to pay for while poorer citizens often needed to make one themselves. For the rich Romans, tombs and - in case of burial - urns were located in richly ornamented sepulchres that were far away from the city, surrounded with trees and greenery. The ornaments rarely represented death as it is, mostly focusing on depicting the character of the deceased rather than the fact they have passed away. The poorer Romans often had their urns either kept by the family or placed in niches in the ground where the walls and the floor would be made out of white clay. Influential citizens, such as illustrious politicians or popular military chiefs would be commemorated with a feast following, and both rich and poor citizens equally had the right to visit the graves of their dead and offer gifts, food, and flowers. 

One of the major days of honor during the week of Parentalia is Quirinalia, or the day of honoring Quirinus, celebrated on the 17th, though sometimes the date seems to float. According to the Ancient myths, Quirinus - for the Romans - was the legendary ancestor and Patron of the Roman people. Some sources say that He was an Etruscan God and a Sabine Deity later identified with Romulus and added into the Roman Pantheon, being added to the Quirinal Hill Deities. Regardless of the origin, He is seen as the legendary protector of Rome and, if associated with Romulus, signifies His deification. 

Very little is known of the rites of Quirinalia aside from the fact that they were led by Flamen Quirinalis and included ancestral worship and honoring of the dead. Sometimes Janus is mentioned as bearing the epithet Quirinus, as well as the Divine partner of Quirinus the God, named Hora - Goddess of Honor. 

Some sources speak on Quirinalia as a festival later on moved from being celebrated in February to being celebrated in June, which was done by Augustus. The rites of the June celebration still remain mostly obscure, but the God Quirinus seemingly deals with the upturning of the curial rights of Rome, probably allowing the least fortunate parts of the society take part in the celebration, hence why post-Augustan Quirinalia is sometimes referred to as a Feast of Fools. 

Another holiday, Feralia, ended the long week - or sometimes eight to nine day long celebration - of Parentalia. No established written account on the festival survives, aside from literary sources of fictional nature, though its prominent presence in Roman calendars suggests that Feralia indeed was a major, important event. 

Authors such as Varro refer to the mini-festival as the “day of the dead”, seemingly connecting it to Di Inferi. Ovid offers a similar explanation as to what the day commemorated and even suggests a way to interpret its name, tying it to the Latin verb ferunt, a form of fero - to bring - as he believed Feralia was called so since people brought offerings to the dead. 

It is hard to confidently say what sort of offerings or rituals were done during Fetalia, but some literary account, though taken with a grain of salt, suggests that food was brought to the grave sites for the use of the dead as well as those who came to commit rituals of ancestral worship and offering for the state. It was explicitly stated in the literary sources of the time that spirits of the dead wouldn’t ask for much, as “no greedy beings roam the Stygian depths”, meaning, potentially, that Feralia like the whole of Parentalia was a celebration open to those of any income. 

Aside from the spirits of the deceased ancestors, Lares, Manes, and Penates, the one Deity spoken of as being honored during Feralia was Jupiter Feretrius. This aspect, title of Jupiter deals with the keeping of oaths as Jupiter Feretrius would be invoked during marital procedures to watch over the newly engaged and to strike down one if they swore an oath falsely. It needs to be said that some sources claim that interactions of Romans with Celtic peoples might have led to the rites of Feralia mixing with local Celtic holidays, then leading up to the creation of what we currently know as All Hallow’s Eve, though this theory needs to be taken critically.

Offerings on the days of Parentalia consisted of a multitude of gifts, including but not being limited by: spelt cereals, salt, bread wet in wine, wreaths or garlands of flowers, purple flowers, wheat, and milk. The offerings would be often placed in a bowl and left outside or at the edge of the street. 

I would like to also offer some ideas as to what to give to the spirits of one’s deceased and house guardian spirits celebrated during this week: 

‣ Handmade garlands or wreaths  ‣ Dried flowers ‣ Honey  ‣ Sweets made with milk, wine, honey, or edible flowers ‣ Eating utensils  ‣ Overnight offerings  ‣ Food you make  ‣ Handmade crafts such as jewelry, knitted objects, quilts, perfume, sewn gifts, etc.  ‣ Craft toys for animals  ‣ Music and prayers you create

Additionally, I would like to suggest some devotional activities that can be performed for the deceased: 

‣ Provided that you live near the place of their burial (pets count), you can pack a lunch and spend time near their grave. If it’s possible, pack a portion of food for them and share it, though you do not have to leave it at the site if it’s not legal where you are. If it is legally possible, you can leave a bowl of food next to the burial.  ‣ Spend time with them, listen to some music or tell them about your day and perhaps life as it’s been since their departure. Leave a gift of food, flowers, or a possession before going home. You can gift any craft that you made, too.  ‣ Cook a meal that you remember them making for you, if it ever happened, or make something they liked while on Earth. Buy or create something they spoke fondly of or preferred in life.  ‣ Create handmade perfume for them, roller or solid. Be careful when using essential oils, do not inhale or ingest them - and be cautious with putting them on your skin undiluted. Here are some simple recipes for homemade perfume, though do replace essential oil with vegetable oils if you’re allergic, and don’t use alcohol in favor of distilled water if that’s what you prefer:  ‣‣‣ Use a 10ml roller-tip bottle and fill it with 9ml of a carrier oil of your choice, then add herbs or flowers you would like to use if you are using any, top with essential or vegetable oil of your choice in desired intensity of fragrance, close the bottle, shake, leave to develop for 24-48 hours.  You can use bottles of any volume and mix oils in any combinations with or without dried flowers added in for visuals.  ‣ Leave them notes about your feelings, thoughts, or about how much you miss and love them. It can be accompanied with a personal prayer or perhaps a work of poetry, if you’re artistic.  ‣ If you only have ashes, you can do all of these activities with the urn/box/crater/etc. where the ashes are kept.  ‣ Make sure to spend personal time with them in whatever way it comes and, if possible, go out with the ashes on you if it’s comfortable for you, walk to a secluded area you feel safe in, spend some time commemorating them.  ‣ Create music, prayers, or stories for them to listen. Sing or play instruments for them.  ‣ If you do have a place of burial, clean it, get rid of overgrown grass or accumulated dust. Make it look clean and new. 

Sources in pinned.

#𓆩𝕍𓆪 ˣ 𝐅𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆 #tagamemnon #roman polytheism #religio romana #cultus deorum #roman gods #roman festival #theoi #ancient history

[ditipatri]

Caristia, or Cara Cognatio, “Dear Relatives”, is a Roman festival celebrated on the 22nd of February to finalize the sacred week of ancestral worship of Parentalia. The celebration was marked by its highest degree of privacy as the Lares, Lari Domestici, and one’s deceased relatives were properly reunited with after the long week of veneration of the dead. Sacrificial activities, return to the temple devotion, and offerings that once again included burning of incense, prohibited during Parentalia, marked the period of exiting the mourning rites for the Romans and entrance of a calmer, private, family-focused celebration of Cara Cognatio. 

The very idea behind Cara Cognatio lies in an Ancient pre-Roman concept of animism, which was a belief that everything, including inanimate objects, possesses a “soul” or a spirit inhabiting it, which the Ancient Romans would refer to as numen, plural - numina. This entity inhabiting everything within Ancient Roman perspective would be one to negotiate with and build a good relationship with, as the spirit possessed the ability to bless or curse those who, respectively, treated Them well or disrespected Them. 

Numina appeared to Romans in a vast number of forms. Although, some of Them, such as Chthonic forces, did not possess human form. Some, such as ancestral spirits and household Gods, could interfere with the daily life of Their family or household. Not honoring the spirits on proper occasions when the time of interaction of the human world and the spirit world came around would be considered offensive and enraged spirits could avenge those who did not properly venerate Them. 

The Roman worldview seemed to place Gods and spirits of the household alike into the caretaking, protective roles: They were interested in keeping the families of Rome safe and secure and, thus, the families were supposed to participate in proper rites to appease the Gods and the spirits alike. Households were believed to thrive when the ancestral spirits were venerated well whereas those deemed unlucky were believed to suffer due to lack of proper devotion put into venerating their ancestral companions. 

Caristia is described in a number of Roman works of literature, such as Aulularia by Plautus or Fasti by Ovid. The latter pays special attention to the involvement of both legendary Aeneas and the Emperor Augustus into the celebration, thus creating a paternal connection between the Emperor and his people. Writings of the time mark that Caristia was a time to settle family feuds and arguments in favor of unification and quiet worship. 

While many Roman festivals held no restriction to involvement of strangers, this one is an exception: strangers are not permitted to honor the Lares. 

Cara Cognatio remained on the calendar long after the Roman Empire became Christian because Caristia was not incompatible with Christian habits such as the consumption of bread and wine at the tomb, which found its place in the Holy Eucharist. Up until the first half of the sixth century AD some Gallo-Romans still followed a part of the feast with food offerings to the dead and a ritual meal.

It should be said that Lares were not the only spiritual forces venerated by the Romans in reference to protection of the house, the family, and the state: other spirits as such included Panes & Penates, Parentes, Manes, Lemures, Genius, Genius Loci, Umbrae, and all the rest. We can witness how seriously Romans took protection of the houses and the cities they inhabited from the fact that they had numerous Deities of specifically Roman and Etruscan origin that dealt with protection of the house and the state, some of whom are: 

🗝 Janus, God of beginnings, gates, and doorways. 🗝 Vesta, Goddess of the hearth and home. 🗝 Cardea, Goddess of hinges. 🗝 Forculus, God of the door itself, especially double doors. 🗝 Limentinus, God of the threshold. 🗝 Terminus, God of boundaries and borders.

Janus and Vesta received state-supported celebrations through Virgin Vestals and the general population of Rome, but home-based, personal worship and devotion were just as important. 

The Lares, venerated during Cara Cognatio, were the guardian spirits of one’s household that were also considered the spirits of the dead ancestors from various eras of the past. Believed to come from a nymph named Lara or Larunda, sometimes referred to or conflated with Acca Larentia or, in some myths, Dea Tacita. They were meant to keep the families strong and households secure. Some stories refer to Lares as multiple children of Mercury, though this needs to be attested further. Like other spirits of the Roman era, Lares were split into a large number of specific group of spirits, each of whom took care of a particular part of Roman routine, and here are some examples: 

🗝 Lares Augusti, the spirits looking after the Emperor and his family. 🗝 Lares Hostilii, the spirits protecting the city from its enemies. 🗝 Lares Militares, guardian spirits in the army and during the journey. 🗝 Lares Patrii, possibly the equivalent of dii patrii (deified ancestors) who were worshiped during Parentalia. 🗝 Lares Permarini, spirits of protection against danger at sea. 🗝 Lares Praestites, spirits who look after Rome, then the state and the community. 🗝 Lares Publici, protecting the whole city. 🗝 Lares Privati, protecting private homes. 🗝 Lares Rurales, taking care of the fields. 🗝 Lares Urbani, taking care of the state. 🗝 Lares Viales, spirits guarding the roads and their crossroads.

Other household spirits, Manes, Penates, Parentes, and the rest received due veneration on other occasions as Roman Polytheism is a highly well-structured religious formation that had established Their own sacred festival or rites for every group of spirits venerated. 

As it has already been stated, the Gods connected to protection of the city and the families received rich state-supported celebrations on Their days of veneration. Janus and Vesta had Their own worshippers and state-supported religious circles that took care of Their temples, altars, and rites being treated well. State festivals and the honors due to the Gods were readily handled by the pontifices (priests), the pontifex maximus (high priest), the rex sacrorum (king of sacred things), the augures (diviners), and the minor priests of the individual Deities known as the flamines. One of the most popular flamines, for example, would be Flamen Quirinalis, dedicated to maintaining rites of the God Quirinus venerated in Rome. 

These authorities had the job of honoring the Gods well in state perspective while it was up to each individual household (specifically the head of that household, usually the father of the family) to honor their own spirits. Roman Polytheism was based on the ideas of quid pro quo, or favor for a favor, and concepts of pax deorum and ire deorum. This implies that Roman citizens believed that as long as one paid proper respect to one’s household spirits and Gods alike, one would enjoy good health and prosperity as manifestations of spiritual and Divine blessings. 

Lares as one’s deceased ancestors were known as Lares Familiares (spirits of the family) or Lares Domestici (spirits of the home) but also were acknowledged in protecting the community, Lares Compitales, and got honored at the Compitalia in December. Daily prayers and offerings were made to the Lares throughout the year but elaborate rituals were enacted on special days such as a birthday, wedding, anniversary, departure or return from a journey. When a family moved permanently from one house to another, the Lares, Panes, and Penates would move with them.

The families would throw banquets to honor their Lares where, dressed in white, they would consume food together with their deceased ancestors, exchanging gifts afterwards and sometimes giving small pouches of money to the servants who were also sometimes seen as a part of the family. Feasts were held at home and at graveyards alike, thus symbolizing the eternal bond between the living and the deceased. Lara statues were placed on the table, which proves that Their presence was believed to be beneficial to the privacy of the home. In the evening, before going to sleep, the master of the household, usually the father, poured wine on the lararia of the house as a libation, then drinking to the health of the ancestors. Offerings at the household shrines included: doll-like figurines, cakes, wine, incense, and flowers. 

I would like to offer some of my own ideas as to how to honor one’s household spirits in respect to Roman tradition. I suggest some offerings to give: 

🗝 Food: cakes, different kinds of wine, honey, milk, pomegranates, and pastries or other kinds of sweets containing honey, milk, nuts, or substitutes if you are allergic.  🗝 Crafts: knitted and sewn objects, handmade gifts, homemade incense blends, protective dolls and other figurines made out of clay, wood, or other material of choice.  🗝 Incense: frankincense, rose, terebinth, cinnamon, rosemary, myrrh, cedarwood, gold and black copal, vanilla, marjoram.  🗝 Flowers: roses, myrtle, poppies, artemisia, orchids, lillies, forget-me-nots, lilacs, chrysanthemum, gladioli, hyacinths, violets, oleanders, aconitum.  🗝 Miscellaneous objects: personal or shared possessions, objects the deceased loved in life, and other customized offerings. 

And I also suggest that you make specific and personalized offerings as well as devote your time to your specific ancestral spirits in ways that are unique to you and Them, seeing that every family is an individual formation with their own customs and history. 

Sources in my pinned. 

#𓆩𝕍𓆪 ˣ 𝐅𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖆 #tagamemnon #roman gods #roman polytheism #religio romana #roman festival #ancient rome #polytheism #caristia #ancestral worship