Ferālia was an ancient Roman public festival Dumézil, Georges. ''Archaic Roman Religion''. pg 366. celebrating the Manes (Roman spirits of the dead, particularly the souls of deceased individuals) which fell on 21 February as recorded by

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

in Book II of his ''

Fasti In ancient Rome, the ''fasti'' (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word ''fasti'' continued to be used for simil ...

''. This day marked the end of Parentalia, a nine-day festival (13–21 February) honoring the dead ancestors.''Brill's New Pauly''. "Dead, cult of the." Roman citizens were instructed to bring offerings to the tombs of their dead ancestors which consisted of at least "an arrangement of wreaths, a sprinkling of grain and a bit of salt, bread soaked in wine and violets scattered about."

. ''

'', Book II. Additional offerings were permitted, however the dead were appeased with just the aforementioned. These simple offerings to the dead were perhaps introduced to

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on w ...

by Aeneas, who poured wine and scattered violet flowers on his father Anchises' tomb.Littlewood. ''Latomus'', pg. 922 Ovid tells of a time when

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, in the midst of war, neglected Feralia, which prompted the spirits of the departed to rise from their graves in anger, howling and roaming the streets. After this event, tribute to the tombs were then made and the ghastly hauntings ceased. To indicate public mourning, marriages of any kind were prohibited on the Feralia, and Ovid urged mothers, brides, and widows to refrain from lighting their wedding torches. Magistrates stopped wearing their insignia''Brill's New Pauly''. "Parentalia." and any worship of the gods was prohibited as it "should be hidden behind closed temple doors; no incense on the altar, no fire on the hearth."

Rites and tradition

As concerns public rites nothing of them survives,Dumézil. ''Archaic Roman Religion.'' pg. 367 however on this day as described by Ovid, an old drunken woman (''anus ebria'') sits in a circle with other girls performing rites in the name of the mute goddess Tacita who is identified with the nymph Lara or Larunda.''Brill's New Pauly.'' "Tacita." The ritual consists of the old woman placing three bits of incense, with three of her fingers, beneath a threshold where a mouse is unknowingly buried. She then rolls seven black beans in her mouth, and smears the head of a fish with pitch, impaling it with a bronze needle, and roasting it in a fire. After she formally declaims the purpose of her actions, as customary in Greco-Roman magic ritual, saying, "I have gagged spiteful tongues and muzzled unfriendly mouths" (''Hostiles linguas inimicaque uinximus ora''), she departs intoxicated. The use of the black beans in the old woman's ritual may be related to rites that lend themselves to another festival of the dead in the month of May, called Lemuria.Ovid. ''Fasti'', Book V. During Lemuria the dead ancestor spirits, particularly the unburied, called lemures, emerge from their graves and visit the homes in which they had lived. It was then necessary to confront the unwelcome spirits and lure them out of one's house using specific actions and chants. According to

, this includes the involvement of black beans to lure a spirit out of the home. "And after washing his (the householder) hands clean in spring water, he turns, and first he receives black beans and throws them away with face averted; but while he throws them, he says: 'These I cast; with these beans I redeem me and mine.' This he says nine times, without looking back: the shade is thought to gather the beans, and to follow unseen behind. Again he touches water, and clashes Temesan bronze, and asks the shade to go out of his house. When he has said nine times, 'Ghosts of my fathers, go forth!' he looks back, and thinks that he has duly performed the sacred rites." Perhaps the black beans carried with them connotations of warding away or dispelling bad things in general, whether it be unwelcome spirits haunting a household as seen during Lemuria, or preventing undesired gossip towards an individual as in the old hag's

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...

during Feralia. Also, in the context of sacrifices, the black beans are similar to the black animals used in sacrifice to the 'chthonic deities'. It is implied through Ovid's choice of words, ''"hostiles linguas"'' and ''"inimicaque ora"'', that the ritual is intended to curb gossip about a girl's reputation. Gossip of such a nature and its consequences are the subject for the cause, which Ovid offers, of the Dea Tacita festival, which was held on the same day as the Feralia. Ovid then tells a story to explain the origins of Dea Tacitia, starting with

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

's untamed lust for the

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...

Juturna In the myth and religion of ancient Rome, Juturna, or Diuturna, was a goddess of fountains, wells and springs, and the mother of Fontus by Janus. Mythology Juturna was an ancient Latin deity of fountains, who in some myths was turned by Jupi ...

. Juturna, aware of Jupiter's lust for her, hid within the Hazelwood forest and dove into her sisters' waters. Jupiter then gathered all the nymphs in

seeking their help in capturing Juturna, saying, "Your sister is spiting herself by shunning her own advantage, an entanglement with the highest god. Look out for us both. What will be a great pleasure for me will be in your sister's great interest. Block her as she flees at the bank of the river to keep her from jumping into its waters." One of the informed nymphs,

Lara Lara may refer to: Places * Lara (state), a state in Venezuela *Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia * Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey * Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia * Lara de los In ...

, would not hold her tongue and warned Juturna to flee. In addition, she approached Jupiter's wife Juno, saying, "Your husband loves the Naiad Juturna." As a result, Jupiter rips out Lara's tongue in anger and summons Mercury to escort her to be a nymph in the Underworld. During this mission, Mercury becomes lustful of Lara and copulates with her, begetting twins. These twins become the

Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lare ...

, the guardians of intersections who watch over the city of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Notes

References

*Antoni, Silke (Kiel). "Tacita." ''Brill's New Pauly.'' Antiquity volumes edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider. Brill, 2009. Brill Online. University of California UC Santa Barbara CDL. 31 July 2009
''Brill's New Pauly'' "Tacita" article
*Baudy, Gerhard (Konstanz). "Parentalia." ''Brill's New Pauly.'' Antiquity volumes edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider. Brill, 2009. Brill Online. University of California UC Santa Barbara CDL. 31 July 2009
''Brill's New Pauly'' "Parentalia" article
*Cokayne, Karen. Pg 145. ''Experiencing Old Age in Ancient Rome.'' Routledge, 2003
found here at Google Books
*Dumézil, Georges. ''Archaic Roman Religion.'' Vol 1. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1966. 2 vols. *Littlewood, J. R. "Ovid among the Family Dead: the Roman Founder Legend and Augustan Iconography in Void's Feralia and Lemuria." Latomus. 60 (2003): 916-935. *Ovid. ''Ovid's Fasti.'' Trans. Betty Rose Nagle. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1995. *Prescendi, Francesca (Genf). "Manes, Di." ''Brill's New Pauly.'' Antiquity volumes edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider. Brill, 2009. Brill Online. University of California UC Santa Barbara CDL. 31 July 2009
''Brill's New Pauly'' "Di Manes" article
*S.LU.; von Lieven, Alexandra (Berlin); Prayon, Friedhelm (Tübingen); Johnston, Sarah Iles (Princeton); Doubordieu, Annie (Paris); Jastrzebowska, Elisabeth. "Dead, cult of the." Brill's New Pauly. Antiquity volumes edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider. Brill, 2009. Brill Online. University of California UC Santa Barbara CDL. 31 July 2009
''Brill's New Pauly'' "The cult of the dead" article
{{Roman religion (festival) Ancient Roman festivals February observances Observances honoring the dead

Rites and tradition

See also

Notes

References