ANGERONA Goddess of secrecy. Angerone is
portrayed with her mouth bound and sealed, her finger raised to her mouth in a
gesture of warning. The ancients thought names powerful; the commonly known name
of an individual or a community was often not the real name at all, the real
name being a closely guard secret. Very probably the cult of Angerona guarded
the secret name of the city of Rome. Little else is known of her.
ATTIS A god of vegetation, similar to Tammuz
and Adonis. Imported together with his mother Cybele from Persia. Driven mad by
the deranged love of his mother, Attis castrated himself under a pine tree.
Attis' priests were eunuchs.
BELLONA War goddess. Bellona's priests were
recruited from the gladiators, and emissaries were received at her
temple.
CYBELE An Asian goddess adopted by the Greeks
and Romans. A healer, mistress of fertility and untamed nature, a protector in
war. Cybele is always accompanied by two lions. Cybele granted immortality to
those who worshipped her. Cybele's priests danced wildly and mutilated
themselves. Her festivals, held at the beginning of spring, were occasions for
wild orgies.
FAUNA Goddess of fertility. Fauna's festival,
which seems to have been quite an orgy, was open only to women, being strictly
forbidden to men.
FAUNUS God of crops and herds. An oracle.
Faunus' temple, the Lupercal, was supposed to have been the site where the
she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus. Goats and dogs were sacrificed at his
festival, the Lupercalia, and priests dressed in newly skinned goat hides
whipped women who wished to become pregnant with whips made of
goatskin.
FEBRUUS The Etruscan god of the underworld,
later associated with Dis Pater, the Latin equivalent of Hades. The month of the
dead, February, is named after him.
FIDES God of faithfulness.
FLORA Goddess of flowers and blooming plants.
Usually shown with a wreath of flowers in her hair. A favorite deity of
courtesans, Flora's festivals were held in April and May.
FORTUNA Goddess of fate and chance. Fortuna's
statue was kept veiled, because she was ashamed of the capriciousness of her
favors. Fortuna is represented by the sphere, the ship's rudder, the cornucopia,
and the wheel. To this day, wheels of fortune can be found in casinos, and the
wheel on the tenth card of the Major Arcana is Fortuna.
GENIUS A guardian who protects both
individuals and homes.
JANUS Guardian of entrances and exits, the
opener of all things who looks inward as well as outward, custodian of the
universe. Janus' two-faced image was usually displayed over doorways and gates.
Janus signifies both past and future wisdom. Janus is the god of beginnings, so
the first month of each year, the first day of each month, and the first hour of
each day are dedicated to him. Janus was the first god to be mentioned in
prayers, even before Jupiter.
LAR God of the house, a cheerful and
beautiful youth.
MARS God of farming, war and springtime. Like
the typical Roman citizen, Mars was first a farmer and then a soldier. The wolf,
the oak and the woodpecker are sacred to Mars. Often identified with the Greek
god Ares, but the differences are more important than the similarities. For one
thing, the Romans liked Mars.
MITHRAS The god who dies and rises again, god
of vegetation, the sun god, the Savior who who redeems mankind from evil. A
Roman version of a Persian god. Especially popular among soldiers, Mithras was
widely worshipped throughout the Roman empire and gave Christianity a run for
its money. Mithras' cult served a number of purposes and its organization was
highly complex. A temple of Mithras served as a social club, a place of worship,
a dramatic society, a magical society, an officers' club, and much more. The
worshipers of Mithras conducted elaborate ceremonies to which no woman was
admitted. The worship of Mithras emphasized correct behavior in this world,
which was the only way to win the favor of the god in the next. There were
different degrees of initiation into the cult, each degree having its own name:
the Crow, the Secret, the Soldier, the Lion, the Fathers and many more on up to
the King of Kings, which was open only to those of royal blood. Initiates were
placed under a grating upon which a bull had been slaughtered and were drenched
in its blood, signifying the emergence from death to rebirth. Ceremonies
generally took place in caverns or rooms made up to look like caverns, and
involved the wild beating of drums, anointings with honey, the unveiling of
hidden statues, and the use of hallucinogenic drugs.
OPS Goddess of the harvest. Identified with
the Greek goddess RHEA.
QUIRINIAS A mystery. Originally a war god of
the Sabines, later a state god o the Romans. One of the highest gods of ancient
Rome, every bit as important as Mars or Jupiter, yet almost nothing is known
today of Quirinias or his worship.
TELLUS MATER An ancient earth goddess.
Pregnant cows were sacrificed on her festival, April 15. Tellus is one of the
very oldest gods, dating back to the time before the Roman religion was
formalized.
VESTA "The Shining One." Goddess of domestic
life and the hearth. Worshipped privately in the home and publicly in Vesta's
temple. In the home, Vesta lived near the hearth and was offered food and drink
at every meal. The Vestal Virgins served her, and (apart from mothers who were
allowed to bring offerings during festivals) were the only ones allowed to enter
her temple. The Vestal Virgins, chosen only from the nobility, tended a sacred
fire which was the symbol of the hearth of the nation. A strict vow of chastity
was imposed on the Virgins, and a Virgin caught breaking the vow was walled up
alive. In more than a thousand years, only twenty women were so
punished.
The preceding information was compiled and is copyrighted 1994 by D.W.
Owens. Distribution is allowed if credit is given. Likewise, all validity,
spelling, and authenticity of information rests on the author's shoulders and
not ours. Enjoy!
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