Neptune's Dolphins

 

Also, October is a month of transitions. The campaign season is over and soldiers return home. They and their weapons need to be purified before they can rejoin the civilian population. For that reason, this month is under the guardianship (tutela) of Mars. 

 

GODS AND THEIR FESTIVALS

FIDES PUBLICA: The Goddess of Good Faith and Trust, Fides Publica has sacrifices made to Her on October 1. This Goddess presides over oral contracts both political and social. Roman priests make offerings to Fides with gloved hands, to show their absolute trust in Her.  (Fides, who is older than Jupiter, is depicted as a white-haired old woman.)

 

MANIA and DII MANES: The Opening of the Mundus (the Well to the Underworld) is conducted for the second time in the year on October 5. At this time, the Dead (Dii Manes) go amongst the living. I say prayers to Dii Manes and Mania, who is Guardian of the Underworld, to protect my family from the restless Dead.  

 

The Roman calendar differs from the standard Neo-Pagan one. There is no thinning of the veil, instead the Mundus is opened three times a year (August, October and November). The honoring of the Ancestors and the Dead is held in February and May.

 

FAUSTA FELICITAS: On October 9, a festival is held for Fausta Felicitas, the Goddess of Good Fortune. As Felicitas Publica, She is the Divine Force of the State. People pray to Her in both aspects to keep the commonwealth prosperous and successful. 

 

VENUS VICTRIX: The Roman Goddess Venus has many aspects. One of them is Venus Victrix (Venus Victorious), who protects the State. As Venus Genetrix, She is considered to be the Ancestress of the Roman People. As the Evening Star, Venus led her son Aeneas to Latium to settle. Her festival is also on October 9.  

 

 

The sewer system ensured that waste be flushed out of the City. Cloacina, the Goddess of Sewers, Sanitation and Toilets oversaw the proper disposal of waste water. Prayers were made to Her to maintain the sewer system. When a sewer became clogged, the Romans invoked Cloacina, for She purified the City from the sources of disease.

 

The cultus of Cloacina extended to private homes. One notable example, Titus Tatius (King of the Sabines and Joint Ruler with Romulus) dedicated his toilet to Her. Other Gods in the cultus of Sewers and Toilets were Crepitus for bowel problems and Stercutus (Stercuinius) for disposal of feces. These Gods, also, kept the ordinary people healthy. (Note 1)

 

In addition, Roman women had their own Goddess for their particular health issues. Bona Dea (“The Good Goddess”) protected women, and presided over their virginity and fertility. Since her rites and sanctuaries were for women only, no men were allowed. In her temples, women had privacy to deal with their issues of infertility or menstrual pain. Mid-wives prayed for Her for clarity and strength in help with the birthing. Meanwhile, older women prayed for aid in going through menopause. Thus, the consecrated snakes of Bona Dea would indicate what herbs the women were to use for their particular concerns.

 

Starting from about the Fourth Century BCE, the Goddess Salus oversaw the health of the Roman People. (Salus is connected to salt (“sal”).) During the Augurium Salutis in August, offerings were made to Salis Publica (Goddess of Public Health). Then divination was taken for matters of health in the coming year. (Salus was unusual as there were few European Gods of Public Health.)

 

During the Fifth Century BCE, the Romans sought the intercession from the Greek God Apollo (Apollon) for His relief in ending a plague. Although a foreign God, Apollo was adopted into the Roman pantheon through the “Interpretatio Romana.” (The Sibylline Books had dictated that He be introduced in Rome.) They decided that Apollon of the Greeks could be Apollo Medicus of the Romans. As Apollo the Doctor, He ended various other plagues.

 

For help in ending plagues, the Romans prayed to Aesculapius for help as well as to Apollo Medicus. During a plague in the Third Century BCE, the Romans went to Greece for aid from Aeculapius. The God accepted their pleas, and came to his temple, that they had built on Tiber Island. To be healed, people would go to the island. Once there, they made offerings of plaster models of their diseased body parts that they wanted the God to cure. In addition, the Romans transported snakes from the God’s temple to places near their public baths and temples. These Snakes of Aeculapius provided for more protection against various diseases.

 

Notes:

Note 1. I have a small altar to these three Gods in my bathroom.

 

https://substack.com/@domesticreligion 

 

In a recent introduction to an essay, they write, “I can talk all day about how and when I worship the Lares. That has its place, and there is certainly room for that on this blog. But I have to do more than just that. I have to talk about what we can learn from historical evidence as well. With that comes a full-on history lesson, because to understand that evidence, you have to, at the minimum, know about ancient Rome, their evolving calendar, festivals, and all the mind-numbing minutiae or else you just have something like “this day, because so-and-so wrote about it; don’t read into it unless you enjoy spending a lot of time looking up stuff and going off in hours-long tangents.” We all do it, but I’d rather give my reader as much as possible up front. That’s called good customer service.”

 

In another post, the blogger describes why they are not a reconstructionist.

“If anyone knows me, they know that I’m completely unapologetic about where I stand on issues. I am allow my moments.

 

That same unwillingness to soften the point and my lack of concern extends into my personal beliefs as well. I worship my household powers as Lares. I am an animist. I have other beliefs that aren’t the topic of this blog. And I’m completely unconcerned with the fact that I am not reconstructing a Roman religion and am not going to, either. I have enough delusions as it stands now, so I don’t need to unnecessarily add another one to my personal resume The “potential level” is disturbingly high and I gotta pick my battles.

 

I’m sure that once certain reconstructionist pagans discover me, some may have a little fit. But let me tell you something: I am forty-something years old. I have perfect, enviable skin, can easily maintain my desired weight, and have reached the stage of life where being scolded by strangers online just doesn’t rank very high among my concerns. On top of that, a lot of people misinformed on the topic may accuse me of “cultural appropriation,” so let me go ahead and set the record straight on this issue:

 

There is no continuous closed Roman religious community whose restricted practice I am taking from. I am not claiming Roman ethnic identity or authority. I am explicit about my adaptations. The effort involved in appropriating anything is way too much work for me. I cannot. I am busy. For the foreseeable future.

 

I’m only using a particular framework because the powers it describes are real. Responsibility still matters, but that’s not the same thing as saying I need permission.

 

Of course, I’ve met all manner of reconstructionists over the years, and they’re not all cut from the same cloth. In fact, out of all of them, it’s the Religio Romana practitioners that I’ve had the least amount of interaction with.

 

I’d like them to chime in.

 

And I think it’s important to really outline my position because it has a high probability of being helpful for those who want to join me and the Lares.

 

The first thing we need to discuss is that a Roman household wasn’t just a ritual system or a house. We do not live under Roman law, and the whole Roman household organization was dependent on said law. The domus, depending on the social class of the residents, was also dependent on a slew of other factors that our modern way of life cannot or cannot easily reproduce. Let me try to give you an exhaustive list of examples:

 

Roman concepts of kinship;

Slavery;

Gender roles even the most socially conservative people might be uncomfortable with;

Inheritance and inheritance law;

Patronage (inheritance and patronage is a whole book’s worth of complexity);

House architecture (yup);

The neighborhood (you weren’t an island back then);

And civic religion.

 

We can piece together rites and rituals all day long and extrapolate, but we can’t recreate a social order or social structure. Nor do I (and I assume most people) live in a world where their household is constituted as a Roman familia, organized around patria potestas. Rome had a whole system for their households and they were extremely organized. If you’re able to recreate some of this for yourself and your house, well, more power to you; but most of us wouldn’t even know where to begin.

…..

A quandary of reconstruction is that things weren’t static from the time of the Roman Kingdom –> Roman Republic –> Roman Empire. Which one are you using? We can’t reconstruct a single Roman family system because the law changed over centuries.

 

You can read the rest at: https://domesticreligion.substack.com/p/not-a-reconstructionist

 

 

The opening paragraphs:

“In western society, no polytheist today is most likely born this way. We all came to polytheism in one way or another. Except for practitioners of Shintoism, Hinduism.

 

For those who came to polytheism, it’s different. We all came from a monotheistic background, living in a monotheistic society. So for us, it’s more about setting yourself from monotheistic influences and that is not easy. It’s like religious decolonisation if you will. This takes a long time. Simply because the influences are everywhere.

 

I’m not advocating that all polytheists should seclude themselves from society. That will never work and is foolish to begin with. As a polytheist, any pagan for that matter, we should be weary of this fact, that to decolonise our religious mindset from monotheism, that it will be a lifelong process. Then again, we should also look forward and see how to take advantage of it to help our religions evolve naturally. Religions evolve through time but also due to influences from other religions. Christianity is a good example of this.”

 

He breaks his essay into sections:

 

The Experience of Time

The Grammar of Existence

The Burden of Total Commitment

Ethics Without Cosmic Hierarchy

The Loneliness of Plural Experience

Ritual Density vs. Belief Density

The Politics of Monotheism

 

The Unspoken Grief

 

Perhaps the most potent undercurrent: many polytheists in monotheistic societies are not converts but descendants of forcibly converted ancestors. The perspective may carry an inherited sorrow, the temples that were razed, the languages that were lost, the continuity that was broken. This isn’t necessarily resentment, but it is a kind of haunting that informs the gaze. Every now and then, I see people stating online that Europe is a Christian and always was. To that, I usually respond with saying that 2000 years ago, European continent wasn’t Christian at all. It was forcibly converted to Christianity. Some seem to think that the conversion went easily and people realised that their religions were wrong. It’s naive to think like that. Then again, people were never taught this in schools that conversion was done mostly by force. They accepted that people converted but don’t think about how it was done. This only becomes apparent when you start looking at history books covering this aspect.

 

You can read the whole essay at mikerasschaert.substack.com/p/living-in-a-monotheistic-society

 

Nanna-Suen

At the Akiti-Sunumun, the emblems of Nanna-Suen are cleaned. Hailed as “Father Nanna, when You sail (across the sky) like a ship on flood waters,” the Moon God loads his Boat with gifts of trees, plants, and animals. He sails from city to city bringing the people fertility. For this reason, The Boat of Nanna-Suen also receives offerings. The Great Offerings to Nanna-Suen are made at the New Moon (the first of the month), the Quarter Moon (seventh), and Full Moon (the fifteen). Modern Sumer Reconstructionists will bake cupcakes for the Great Offerings. (Note 2)

 

Kinunu (Brazier Festival)

From the eighth to the eighteenth days of the month, the Kinunu (Brazier Festival) is held. For this festival, people wear their new clothes. Using fresh olive oil, they light their braziers to keep burning throughout the Kinunu. The First Fire of the coming cold and early darkness is honored.

 

Duku (Festival of the Sacred Mound)

At the end of the month, the Duku (Sacred Mound) (Note 3) festival is held. After feasting with family and friends, homage is made to the Ancestors. Lamentations are read and milk is offered to Endukuga (Lord of the Sacred Mound) and Nindukuga (Lady of the Sacred Mound). They are the Great Ancestors of the Elder Gods, who lived at the Duku. (This was the place of Heaven and Earth before the two parts were separated by Enlil.)

 

Inanna

At this time, the Descent of Inanna is re-enacted to ensure that the land is fertile.  Her Descent into the Underworld is the hinge between the dry and rainy seasons. Inanna dies but is rescued. Since someone has to replace Her in the Underworld, Dumuzi, Her Shephard Consort, goes down for six months. His sister, Geshtinanna, Goddess of Autumn Wines, takes his place the other six months.

 

Notes:

Note 1: In Sumer, this month is called “Duku”, and in Babylon, “Tairitu.”

Note 2: The Great Offering was originally cattle, beer, milk, honey, and grain. Today, cupcakes made with grain, honey, and milk are offered.

Note 3: The Duku is the source of fertility. The Sacred Mound brought forth cattle and grain. Since it covers a conduit to the world below, the Duku is a place to connect with the Ancestors.

 

Jupiter is honored throughout the month of September. On the First, a festival for Jupiter Liber (Jupiter the Creative Force) is held. Later, celebrations for Jupiter Tonans (the Thunderer) are held. (He nearly struck Augustus with his lightning in September.) September is the month of sacred games to honor Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Later in the month, the Capitoline Triad, the Gods of State, is honored with a feast. 

 

At the Ides, a nail is driven into a post at Jupiter’s Temple. This was to advert the plague for another year. (By counting the nails, a person would arrive at the current year.)

 

Traditionally, the Ides of September was the end of the political year. The campaigning season for political office was over. In the early years of the Republic, the Consuls would take office at this time.

 

JUNO REGINA

On September 1, Juno Regina, the Queen of Heaven is honored. In 392 BCE, following a vow, Marcus Furius Camillus raised a splendid temple to this Goddess. Using the rite of evocatio, Camillus promised Uni of Veii that if She allowed him to conquer her city, he would build a temple to Her in Rome. Agreeing, Uni left the Etruscan city to become Juno Regina of Rome. She rules the State with Jupiter Optimus Maximus and Minerva as the Capitoline Triad.

 

JUPITER OPTIMUS MAXIMUS AND THE CAPITOLINE TRIAD

The Ludi Romani are held for Jupiter between September 5 -19. These sacred games (ludi) began in 566 BCE. The Romans held parades, races, and theatrical performances. The parades celebrated the martial values of the Romans. Contrary to popular belief, there were no gladiatorial combats during the Ludi Romani.

 

The feast for the Capitoline Triad, known as the epulum Iovis (Feast of Jupiter), is held September 13. Statues of these Gods are dressed, wined, and dined. Traditionally only the Senators and magistrates attended this feast.

 

For my own practice, I hold a feast inviting the Gods to my table. At the feast, I thank Them for wise government for my community. I pray that the Gods may continue in their counsel. I make offerings that we may experience justice and fairness for the coming year.

 

These are the emerging Chakras to aid the Earth as a planet to integrate into the Center Source. They are to align the planet with higher dimension realities. These Chakras entail the planetary heart, voice, and soul awakening for the Earth.

 

8. Alchemical Elements – Earth and Water *

Table Mountain (South Africa

Lake Rotopounamu (NZ)

 

Soul Star (Note 6)

Ross Ice Shelf (Antarctica)

 

9. Alchemical Elements – Air and Fire *

The Great Pyramid, Mt. Sinai, Mt. of Olives (Middle East)

Haleakala Crater (Hawai’i)

 

Universal Wisdom (Note 6)

Greenland

 

10. World Purification *

Bali (Indonesia)

 

11. World Balance and Harmony *

El Tule-Palenque (Mexico)

 

12. World Immortality and Ideal Beauty *

Mt. Fuji (Japan)

 

Divine Light (Note 6)

Table Mountain (South Africa)

Mauna Kea (Hawai’i)

13. Center of Synthesis *

Sergiev Posad (Russia)

 

Notes: 

Note 1. In Indian thought, Chakras are energy spectrums that are from the base of the spin to the crown of the head. Chakras can be regarded as inner energy “wheels.”

 

The Chakras are as follows (Placement: Energy): 1. Root: Safety, 2. Sacral: Desire, Emotions, 3. Solar Plexus: Power, Boundaries, 4. Heart: Grief, Love, 5. Throat: Truth, 6. Third Eye: Honoring Mystery, and 7. Crown: Spiritual Awareness. 

 

Note 2. Robert Coon had identified 156 places around the Earth as Chakras.

 

Note 3. The Gates can be thought of initiatory gates with core lessons in the soul’s evolution – both the Earth’s and the seeker’s.

 

Note 4. Robert Coon’s listing of sites is noted with an asterisk.

 

Note 5. The New Age divides human evolution by Astrological Aeons, which are 2,160 years long. At this time, according to the New Age, the Earth is transitioning from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius.

 

Note 6. These are the Chakras that differs from Robert Coon’s system.

 

Sources:

Pete Cossaboon, “Gaia’s Chakra Map”

Jaap Van Etten, “Gifts of Mother Earth”

Frankie Fourfingers, “Ley Lines”

Marilynn Hughes, “Sacred Sites and Mystical Travel”

Mike Ricksecker, “Portals to the Stars”

Risia Sanatana, “The Earth’s Chakras”

 

 

Since the Chakras of the Earth are “living maps,” these great whirling centers of power and consciousness can be found in various places around the Earth. Coon claimed that an Earth Chakra is located on each continent, including Antarctica. (Note 2) While Coon mapped thirteen major Chakras, other people claim that there are just twelve. Meanwhile, most New Age believers identify only seven. However, everyone does agree that the Chakras of the Earth form a grid that roughly goes from north to south, and east to west.

 

In religion of the New Age, people often go on pilgrimages following a “Chakra Map of the Earth.” This pilgrimage is known as the “Path of Sacred Alignment.” At each sacred site, the person will receive a divine frequency that echoes within them. Explains Pete Cossboon, spiritual writer and astrologer, in “Gaia’s Chakra Map,” Chakras “are the myths in the best sense of the word: not lies but deep stories that help us orient ourselves in a mysterious reality,”

 

In the Earth’s Chakra system, the first three Chakras – the Root, Sacral, and Solar Plexus – are the Gates of Matter. (Note 3) These three, which make up “the Triangle of Matter,” deal with human survival, emotions, and willpower. The Root Chakra is the planetary Root, while the Sacral constantly renews life through water and movement. Centering the planetary will, the Solar Plexus is called the “Place of Fire and Will.”

 

The next two Chakras are the Gates of the Heart, which are “Love, Balance, and Voice.” Together, these two Chakras govern the relations between the Earth and other beings. The Heart Chakra is the crossing point between the material and spiritual Chakras. Moreover, it acts a bridge between the Earth and Heaven. As the “Voice of Gaia,” the Throat Chakra is the instrument of alignment between the truth and love.

 

The Gates of Vision are the Third Eye and Crown Chakras. For all beings, these Chakras enhance the awareness of the Earth’s wisdom and clarity. As the place of Earth’s memories, the Third Eye is where the inner and outer lives merge for all beings. Meanwhile, the Crown Chakra invites the soul to participate in the Earth’s consciousness and evolution.

 

To travel to these places either physically or energetically is walking forward in sacred alignment in the Earth. Each site is an inner temple, a place of initiation. The pilgrim becomes joined with the Earth in healing. To go on the pilgrimage is to step into the web of light that is being rewoven across the Earth.

 

Notes:

Note 1. In Indian thought, Chakras are energy spectrums that are from the base of the spin to the crown of the head. Chakras can be regarded as inner energy “wheels.”

 

The Chakras are as follows (Placement: Energy): 1. Root: Safety, 2. Sacral: Desire, Emotions, 3. Solar Plexus: Power, Boundaries, 4. Heart: Grief, Love, 5. Throat: Truth, 6. Third Eye: Honoring Mystery, and 7. Crown: Spiritual Awareness.

 

Note 2. Robert Coon had identified 156 places around the Earth as Chakras.

 

Note 3. The Gates can be thought of initiatory gates with core lessons in the soul’s evolution – both the Earth’s and the seeker’s.

 

Sources:

Pete Cossaboon, “Gaia’s Chakra Map”

Jaap Van Etten, “Gifts of Mother Earth”

Frankie Fourfingers, “Ley Lines”

Marilynn Hughes, “Sacred Sites and Mystical Travel”

Mike Ricksecker, “Portals to the Stars”

Risia Sanatana, “The Earth’s Chakras”

 

Since statues of Gods have a part of the God residing in them, washing the statues (and other items) is showing reverence to that God. The statues leave their temples to be cleaned. Then, when they are dressed, they are brought back in a procession accompanied by kettle drums. Afterwards, the statues are re-installed in their shrines.

 

The washing and the re-consecrating the statues of the Gods is a venerable Polytheist tradition. Keeping holy items neat and clean is a duty of piety. Sacred things should always be kept pure. Therefore, cleaning statues, altars, and temples are encouraged at this time.

 

When Augustus became Emperor of Rome, the Senate voted to add “August” after July. Since August only had 30 days, the Senate took one from February and added it to this month. The calendar was rearranged with June and September having thirty days. August could not have any less days than July, since Augustus was equal to Julius Caesar.

 

For Romans, August is a busy month of festivals. The harvest is coming due and needs to be collected. Since the summer is still hot and dry, the fire season has started. Therefore, the Gods of Harvest and Gods of Fires are honored.

 

Salus

On August 5, the augurium Salutis is held to pray for the preservation of the public health and well-being. Held at the temple of Salus, the Goddess of Safety and Well-Being, salt is offered to the Gods. Prayers for good health are made to Salus, Pax (Goddess of Peace), Concordia (Goddess of Concord) and Janus.

 

 

Sol Indiges

On August 9, offerings are made to Sol Indiges (The Native Sun) for a good harvest. One of the 12 principal Gods of agriculture, Sol Indiges is the God of the Agricultural Year. He nurtures the harvest from beginning to end. On August 30, Sol Indiges is honored with Luna, the Goddess of the Moon, at the Templum Solis et Lunae. This was the day for chariot races, since both Gods are patrons of racing.

 

 

Vertumnus (Vortumnus)

Held on August 13, the Vertumnalia is to celebrate Vertumnus, the Changer of the Seasons. Since He is also the Husband of Pomona, the Goddess of Fruit, Vertumnus receives the first fruits of the harvest. This God is depicted holding in his right hand, grapes, cherries, and other fruits, while at his feet sets a basket of cucumbers. (Originally an Etruscan God, Vertumnus, for the Romans, is the God of Orchards and Gardens.)
 

 

Diana

The main festival honoring Diana, the Goddess of Wild Nature, Nemoralia is held on August 15. Also called “The Festival of Torches,” the Nemoralia takes place in sacred groves. Women wash and decorate their hair in flowers and ribbons. With lighted torches, they add their “light” to the moon’s glow. People chose a tree and decorate it with symbols of Diana such as crescent moons and animal figurines. Afterwards, everyone tie prayers written on ribbons to the trees. (This festival later became the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.)