Neptune's Dolphins

 

However, the tradition of June being for Juno is murky. Ovid in “Fasti,” suggests that “Junius” (which means “junior”) referred to June since May (Maius) was from “Maiores,” (the elders). He also suggests that “Junius” could come from “Iungo” (“to join”) since this could be the month that the Romans and Sabines were united.

 

VESTA

The main focus of June is the Vestalia from June 7 to 15. The Inner Sanctum (Penus) of the Temple of Vesta, Goddess of the Hearth, was opened to women. The temple was cleaned, purified, and rededicated. (The rubbish was then into the Tiber River.) In the Roman religion, Vesta is the Perpetual Fire, Who keeps the Pact between the People and the Gods. (Her Eternal Flame was rekindled on March 1 by rubbing two sticks together.)

 

HERCULES

I have a personal cultus to Hercules, who is considered to be one of the early founders of Rome. Some of the Greek mythology of Heracules was grafted onto Hercules, the Roman God Hero. However, Romans had their own particular myths about Him. For example, the focus of Hercules’ worship, the Ara Maxima (the Greatest Altar) is where He killed Cacus, the monster who terrorized the early Romans.

 

Two temples of Hercules have dedications this month. Hercules Magno Custodi (the Great Custodian) has one on June 4, and Hercules Musarum (of the Muses) on June 29. The first was vowed on the orders of the Sibylline Books in light of Hannibal’s victories against Rome. The second was where poets and others would come to pay their respects to Hercules and the Muses. This temple featured Hercules playing the lyre to the Muses.

 

 

MATER MATUTA

On June 11, the Matralia is held. Single women and women in their first marriage (univira) offer prayers for their sisters’ children. Traditionally a slave was driven out of her temple in Rome.

 

MINERVA

Between June 13 and 15, the Lesser Quinquatria (Quinquartrus Minusculae) is held. Flute players (tibicines) dressed up in festive clothing. Wearing masks, they wandered about businesses, playing their instruments.

 

SUMMANUS

Another God that I have a cultus for is Summanus, the God of the Nocturnal Heavens. He ruled the night as Jupiter ruled the day. Summanus is one of the dii Novensiles (Nine Gods), who are ancient Etruscan Thunder Gods. (Thunder at nighttime came from Summanus.)

 

The temple for Summanus was dedicated on June 20, after He indicated He wanted a temple of his own by striking the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. On his festival day (June 20), people offered round breads imprinted with wheels. For Romans, the Summer Solstice was known as “The Day of Torches,” (dies lampadarum).

 

FORS FORTUNA

The popular Goddess Fors Fortuna has her festival on June 24. Traditionally, Romans would take flower-decked boats down the Tiber to her temple. It is customary to wear flowers and get roaring drunk on her feast day. (Fors Fortuna is the Goddess of Lucky Change and is responsible for rags to riches stories.)

 

Then I realized that the pilot light was Vesta, the Goddess of the Hearth. The Eternal Flame, Vesta gives the fire for cooking, heating and light. Therefore, the hearth is the sacred focus of the home. In Rome, Vesta is the Goddess of Hearth of Private Homes (and of Rome, itself).

 

Since the fire is the axis mundus, the hearth is the place to commune with the Ancestors. It is the place of welcoming for Them to be with the living family. In the singing of the fire, the voices of the Ancestors are heard. In my case, their voices are in firing of the furnace and in the flashing of the pilot light.

 

In the modern home, the kitchen stove is usually considered to be the hearth. The furnace and water heater are usually someplace else. (Mine are in a closet off the kitchen). But together, the three comprise the hearth. Without any of them, the home ceases to be. No heat makes the home unhabitable. No stove causes the family to eat elsewhere. No hot water is considered to be an emergency.

 

Later the water heating unit had to be cleaned out. As with a hearth, before laying a new fire, the ashes need to be swept clean. In Rome, during the Vestalia in June, the Vestal Virgins cleaned the sacred hearths and relit the fires. Therefore, for me, cleaning the water heating unit is the same.

 

In “Fasti,” Ovid wrote, “Vesta is the same as the Earth, both have the perennial fire. The Earth and the Sacred Fire are both symbolic of Home.” For me, Vesta is Home in the furnace, water heater, and stove.

 

Suggested Reading: Claude Lecouteux, “The Tradition of Household Spirits.”