{"id":5082,"date":"2021-10-27T21:40:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T21:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/?p=5082"},"modified":"2021-10-27T21:40:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T21:40:13","slug":"lemuria-spooky-roman-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/lemuria-spooky-roman-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Lemuria: Spooky Roman Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we will be talking about Halloween,\u00a0or rather one of the closest equivalences to Halloween in Ancient Rome: Lemuria.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, by closest equivalence – I meant that it is the day(s) of the year that Roman believed ghosts could\/would affect their family and needed to be appeased. This is the root of Halloween and similar holidays celebrated around Halloween – ghosts visiting people (whether friendly or mean is the question).<\/span><\/p>\n

LEMURIA<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n
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Photo by Kevin Escate<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The Lemuria (sometimes seen as Lemuralia) was a feast in Ancient Rome in which Romans performed rites to banish ghosts from their home. This festival dates back to the 6th-century<\/span>\u00a0B.C.E until about the 3<\/span>rd<\/span>\u00a0century C.E.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

THE DATES<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

Lemuria was held on May 9, 11, and 13. In ancient Rome, where even-numbered days were considered unlucky – this festival of the dead was held on odd-numbered days.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

THE ORIGIN<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The term\u00a0<\/span>lemures<\/span><\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>larvae<\/span><\/i> is associated with the notion of unwholesome specters of the restless dead. However, according to Ovid, the\u00a0term\u00a0<\/span>Lemuria<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is a derivative from\u00a0<\/span>Remuria\u00a0<\/span><\/i>relating to Remus. Ovid in\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Fasti<\/span><\/i>\u00a0says this\u00a0particular rite\u00a0was established by Romulus\u00a0to appease the spirit of this brother, Remus, whom he had killed<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

THE RITES<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Ovid notes that at this festival it was the custom to appease or expel the evil spirits by walking barefoot and throwing black beans over the shoulder at night. Other accounts mention the beans being spit out of the mouth. The beans were symbols of offering so \u2013 the shoulder makes more sense.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by Vino Li<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

It is important to remember that this festival was private and domestic rather than civic or public.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, it was the head of the household (which may vary depending on the household) who was responsible for getting up at night and walking around the house throwing black beans and repeating the following incantation nine times.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“I send these; with these beans, I redeem me and mine” <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Haec ego mitto; his redimo meque meosque fabis<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SUPERSTITION AND MAGIC<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

It is important to remember that magic and superstition were part of daily Roman life.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of this annual\u00a0exorcism\u00a0of the noxious spirits of the dead, the whole month of May was rendered unlucky for marriages, whence the proverb\u00a0Mense\u00a0Maio malae\u00a0nubunt<\/em>\u00a0 or”Bad girls wed in May”.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Temples were closed and marriages were prohibited during the three days of the Lemuralia. On the third day, a merchants’ festival was held to ensure a prosperous year for business.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Today, we will be talking about Halloween,\u00a0or rather one of the closest equivalences to Halloween in Ancient Rome: Lemuria. So, by closest equivalence – I meant that it is the day(s) of the year that Roman believed ghosts could\/would affect their family and needed to be appeased. This is the root of Halloween and similar…<\/p>\n

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