Weekly Deity: Februus

Februus is mainly known as the Roman god of purification.  The month of February is named after him, and his festival is the Februalia.

Attributes

I could find no descriptions of what Februus was thought to look like.  He was a male deity, that much is clear, but whether he was considered young, old, paunchy, bearded, etc., I have no idea.

Mythology

In Roman myth, Februus is the god of purification.  He lives in the underworld and eventually became synonymous with Pluto until the deity of Februus became so intertwined that he essentially was another name for Pluto rather than a separate deity.  However, the name of the month and the festival was kept the same.

In Etruscan myth, Februus was the god of purification, money, and death, the last of which made Februus very similar to Roman Pluto and may explain how and why Februus was absorbed into Pluto.  Februus was not native to the Romans; like many other deities, he was absorbed into the mythology and religion when the Romans conquered the native people.

The Februalia is the spring purification festival, similar to what we would call “spring cleaning” today.  This festival occurred on the fifteenth of the second month, Februarius.

Dark and Light Sides

Not much is really known about Februus, but we can make some guesses.  As a purification deity, we can assume that he would be good for driving away negativity or negative influences, and possibly good for some minor protection after the purification has occurred.  Not only would he be good for purification of people, but of spaces as well.  As a god of money and death, I envision him as being very patient, laid-back, and calm.  He doesn’t strike me as an excitable deity, which means that if you work with him for money purposes, don’t expect fast results.

That’s my impression, however, if anyone else has another interpretation, please share!

Weekly Deity: Flora

Image from 'Women and the Garden' blog

Flora is the Roman goddess of flowers.  Although a minor deity in ancient Rome, she has since enjoyed a surge in popularity, especially in the Renaissance, as artists and poets incorporated her into art and song.  Flora’s Greek counterpart is Chloris, though Chloris is a nymph and not a goddess.

Attributes

What else would you expect from a goddess of flowers but that she be pictured holding flowers?  Flora is often seen in gardens, or with a bouquet of flowers in hand, and is generally depicted as a fair young woman.  In general, she is not considered a great beauty, but she is as lovely as her flowers.

Mythology

Although Flora is most closely associated with flowers and decorative plants, she is also associated with any other plant.  Flora is sort of an umbrella goddess, in terms of what plants she is associated with.  Her season is spring, and as such she is a goddess of growth and fertility.  The Romans granted her a festival of her own (no small thing, considering how many deities they had–a festival of one’s own was a huge deal) called the Floralia, which was held roughly between April 28 and May 3.

Flora did not have any apparent children, but she was married to Favonius, a wind god (the Roman equivalent to Greek Zephyrus), and kept company with Hercules (probably as a friend, not a lover).

Light and Dark Sides

Because Flora doesn’t really have myths of her own, we can’t tell what her personality is.  I could guess that she is sweet-natured and kind, but do not know for certain.  Still, as the goddess of flowers and a goddess of fertility, growth, and renewal, it’s fairly safe to say that she mainly rests on the Light side of the spectrum.  Flora could also be considered a goddess of pleasure, since gardens and flowers in general tend to be considered things which either bring pleasure or are within the domain of the wealthy (many wealthy people throughout history had some kind of pleasure garden).  Her Dark sides may involve overgrowth, which can choke out other plants (or use as an analogy and say overgrowth of one aspect chokes out another), or unchecked growth, which is just as destructive.  She’s just a goddess of flowers and growth, but no mention is made about orderly growth, so I think if one is to work with Flora, this should be kept in mind.

Weekly Deity: Angitia

Angitia, also known as Angita, was a Roman goddess of snakes, healing, and witchcraft.

Attributes

No pictures are available, but Angitia would probably have been shown in a gown with snakes in her hands, on her arms, or somehow pictured with her in some way.  It’s unlikely that she would have not had snakes somewhere with her since they seem to be her main, defining feature.

Mythology

Her origin is debatable.  Servius said that she was originally Greek, though she is attributed to the Romans.  She is said to have great powers over snakes, including killing them with a touch and could heal any snakebite.  Her healing powers were wonderful, and she was supposed to have taught people remedies for snakebites and antidotes for snake poison, as well as being a miraculous and herbal healer.  Angitia supposedly had powers of witchcraft, but the definition of what that means is debatable.  It could refer to her miraculous healing, or to her ability to recite and cast incantations that work as spells do, or any number of things.

She was worshiped by the Marsi and the Marrubians, from central Italy, as well as the Romans.   Some equate her with Medea, the wife and helper of Jason of the Argonauts, while others compare her more closely to the Roman goddess Bona Dea (“the good goddess”).

Light and Dark Sides

Angitia seems, from these small accounts, to have been a great healer.  This puts her on the Light side of the scale.  Her association with snakes would today put her on the Dark side with most people, but snakes to the Romans were animals of healing and of great benefit, and to apply a modern interpretation to an ancient tradition would in this case be wrong.  Therefore, she is probably a mostly Light deity of rather large significance to certain groups of Italians, considering how the Marsi and Marrubians revered her and raised a temple in her name.

Weekly Deity: Viduus

Italian god who separated the soul from the body upon death.  He was a minor god who may have enjoyed more popularity before the gods of Jupiter and such became major gods.  Viduus (in Latin, pronounced roughly “wid-oo-oos”) was a native god and so was present in Italy before Jupiter and his siblings and was probably folded into another god and so was forgotten.  His name means “divider”.

Attributes

I couldn’t find any pictures of Viduus to add here.

Mythology

I couldn’t find any myths on Viduus.  Most likely his job was appropriated by another god and Viduus was forgotten over time.

Light and Dark Side

I’d say that he’s probably more of a Light deity even though he probably spent his time in the underworld and the darkness.  He took the soul out of the dead body that trapped it, which means he’s not only necessary, but he frees the souls.  Who would want to be trapped in their dead flesh for all eternity?  Viduus did people a favor by doing his job and freeing their souls to go on to wherever they go.  Although there are no myths about Viduus, based on the information we do have about him it’s probably a safe bet that he’s not a Dark god.

Weekly Deity: Hades

Hades is the Greek god of the dead and the underworld.  His Roman counterpart is actually Dis, not Pluto, though over time the two Roman gods became associated with each other and soon Dis was lost in favor of Pluto, who took over his attributes and responsibilities.  Hades’s name means “the unseen.”  Another name for Hades is Polydegmon, which means “receiver of many guests”, for the number of souls he received in the Underworld.  The name Hades refers to both the god and to the Underworld itself.  His Roman name, Pluto, is associated with another Greek name for him, “Plouton”, which means “giver of wealth”.

Attributes

A middle aged man who look a great deal like Zeus, Hades was often shown as a muscular god with a full beard.  He tended to be a very grim-looking god.  Sometimes he was depicted with Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the Underworld, at his side.  He carried a staff and drove a chariot with four horses.  Being a god of things beneath the earth, the Greeks, like the Romans with Dis and Pluto, associated Hades with wealth, and he was sometimes shown wearing fine garments or eating fine food, or surrounded by treasures.

Mythology

Hades was the brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia, and third most powerful god in the pantheon (below Zeus and Poseidon).  He was the son of Cronos and Rhea.

Probably his most famous myth is that of his marriage to Persephone.  There are likely many versions of this story, but the most prevalent one is that Persephone, the goddess of Spring and daughter of Demeter and Zeus, was picking narcissus flowers (a flower associated with Hades) in a field.  Hades saw her and wanted her for his own.

He quickly got his chariot and broke through the surface of the earth and kidnapped Persephone.  Demeter, of course, protested the abduction of her daughter.  Zeus dragged his heels, reluctant to intervene since in his mind Hades was acting in an acceptable manner.  Demeter threw a fit and refused to grow things.  This went on for long enough that humans and animals began to starve, and the gods weren’t getting their sacrifices at all, which left them in a poor mood.  Finally, Zeus sent Hermes, the messenger god, to Hades telling him he had to give Persephone back.  By that time, Persephone had been with Hades for a number of months and had been tricked into eating of the food of the dead.  She had eaten pomegranate, and because of this Persephone had to return to the underworld for a third of the year.  Demeter was upset but had to relent.  Thus, Hades got a wife for a third of the year.

However, it is believed this version of the myth was intentionally twisted to be an abduction and rape.  An earlier version records similar events but implies that Persephone went of her own free will, and was not abducted or raped by Hades, which places both of these deities in a very different light.

Hades taking Persephone away in his chariot

Another myth, though short, involves how Hades gained his kingdom in the first place.  After Zeus had defeated his father and the Titans and become ruler of the gods, he and his brothers agreed to split the world into domains for each.  They agreed to draw lots.  Zeus got the sky as his realm, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld.

Herakles (aka Hercules) was also involved in a Hades myth.  As part of his Twelve Labors, Herakles needed to capture Cerberus.  The versions vary, but the widely accepted one is that Herakles went to Hades to ask him if he could take Cerberus for a while.  Hades agreed on the proviso that Herakles not harm Cerberus at all, and return him.  Herakles agreed and took Cerberus and eventually returned him at the completion of this Twelfth Labor.

Hades is known to be a grim and unforgiving god.  However, in one instance, he did show mercy.  When Orpheus journeyed to the Underworld in search of his wife, Eurydice (pronounced “your-id-ih-key”), the famous musician who was able to make even stones weep with the skill of his playing played his music for Hades and asked him for a second chance for Eurydice.  Hades, moved to feel by the emotion of Orpheus’s music, allowed Eurydice’s soul to return with Orpheus.  But he added the condition that Orpheus must not look back at Eurydice to see if she was there until both had reached the sunlight again.  Orpheus almost made it, but looked back when he had almost reached the top, and Eurydice returned to Hades.

A final myth is that of Minthe.  Hades, usually a devoted husband to Persephone, ended up chasing a nymph called Minthe.  He had almost won her when Persephone found out about it and turned the nymphe into a mint plant.

Light Side

Hades is the king of the dead but he is not death itself.  He does not cause people to die, he only watched over their souls and makes sure none return to life and that all are given their punishment of reward as they deserve (meaning whether they go to the Elysian fields or if they suffer a punishment like Tantalus or Sisyphus).  Hades is lord of all beneath the earth, and so is a god of wealth as well as death.  He actually seems to be more of a neutral god than anything else–he doesn’t help much, but he doesn’t actively work against anyone either.  He can be moved to feel emotion, but only in one exceptional circumstance–still, that speaks well of him, for he could have refused Orpheus even after hearing his song, yet he didn’t (which could also point to a slightly romantic side of him, especially if the original version of the abduction of Persephone is taken into account).

Dark Side

Hades only gets his bad reputation because he and his stories had been twisted around to put him in a bad light by those trying to suppress the old beliefs.  Yes, he is a grim god, but it is necessary to him to be so.  If he were more light-hearted and easy-going, he would be more susceptible to giving in to souls who wanted to return to life.  Other than his dour nature, he isn’t a bad guy at all.  On the contrary, when stories of his personality are actually studied closely, he seems like the quiet kid in the back of the classroom who doesn’t really do anything wrong but people don’t like him because he keeps to himself most of the time.  Also, it is more likely that he did not abduct or rape Persephone if the original version is counted as having more weight than the altered version, which, if it is, Hades loses the traits of being a rapist and kidnapper.  Which definitely puts him in a more positive light.  I suppose his only “dark” side is that he deals with the dead and lives in darkness, since most of the Underworld is likely dark, and many people are afraid of death and the dead.  Sounds more like a grave misunderstanding of Hades to me, though…I think he’s more a neutral god than Light or Dark.