Late Post: My Mother's Passing

A little bit over two months ago my mother passed away. She died right before the Covid-19 hit America and before all those deaths came. This gives me more comfort then you can even begin to imagine. The fact that I was able to touch my mother's hand, give her a goodbye kiss, and have a member of my mother's faith with us was beyond amazing. It reminded me of the women that tended to the dead and allowed the soul to move on.

Life moves on, which is should, and I decided about two days ago to bring back my Roman altar. It seems like it's the right time to do that. So here's my shrine.

The gods have been a great help to me during this time. Both in my mother's passing and during Covid-19. I hope the gods are giving you strength.

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Roman Holiday: Fordicidia (2020)

This is a Roman holiday that I didn't celebrate due to how tired I've been from all this work. Here's some info about the holiday. In ancient Roman religion , the Fordicidia was a festival of fertility, held two days after the Ides of April (April 15), that pertained to farming and animal husbandry . It involved the sacrifice of a pregnant cow to Tellus , the ancient Roman goddess of the Earth , in proximity to the festival of Ceres ( Cerealia ) on April 19. [1] On the Roman religious calendar , the month of April ( Aprilis ) was in general preoccupied with deities who were female or ambiguous in gender, opening with the Feast of Venus on the Kalends . [2] Several other festivals pertaining to farm life were held in April: the Parilia , a feast of shepherds, on April 21; the Robigalia on April 25, to protect crops from blight; [1] and the Vinalia , one of the two wine festivals on the calendar, [3] at the end of the month. Of these, the Fordicidia and Robiga...

Roman Holiday: Parilia (2020)

Another holiday that I didn't get a chance to celebrate. Here's some info about this holiday. In ancient Roman religion , the Parilia is a festival of rural character performed annually on 21 April, aimed at cleansing both sheep and shepherd. It is carried out in acknowledgment to the Roman deity Pales , a deity of uncertain gender who was a patron of shepherds and sheep. [1] Ovid describes the Parilia at length in the Fasti , an elegiac poem on the Roman religious calendar , and implies that it predates the founding of Rome , traditionally 753 BC, as indicated by its pastoral , pre-agricultural concerns. During the Republic , farming was idealized and central to Roman identity, so the festival took on a more generally rural character. Increasing urbanization caused the rustic Parilia to be reinterpreted rather than abandoned, as Rome was an intensely traditional society . During the Imperial period , the date was celebrated as the "birthday" of Rome...

Roman Holiday: Vinalia Priora (2020)

This happened tonight, but I was unable to do anything due to being dead tired. I will be using this post, instead, to post info about this holiday. The Vinalia were Roman festivals of the wine harvest, wine vintage and gardens, held in honour of Jupiter and Venus . The Vinalia prima ("first Vinalia"), also known as the Vinalia urbana ("Urban Vinalia") was held on 23 April to bless and sample last year's wine and ask for good weather until the next harvest. The Vinalia rustica ("Rustic Vinalia") was on 19 August, before the harvest and grape-pressing . Vinalia Urbana Fragment of the Fasti Praenestini showing the April Vinalia (VIN) The Vinalia Urbana was held on 23 April. It was predominantly a wine festival, shared by Venus as patron of " profane " wine ( vinum spurcum ) intended for everyday human use, and Jupiter as patron of the strongest, purest, sacrificial grade wine ( temetum ). In honour of Venus, whose p...

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