Contributed by Antonia Traiana Severa
Goddess Diana is
one of the Dii Consentes, a group of twelve gods that
were especially honored by the ancient Romans.
Background
The goddess Diana is a very old Italic deity Who may have
originally been a spirit of the woods and its wildlife. Early
Diana (Nemorensis), which means "Diana of the Woods", was
mainly worshipped in the forest as a goddess of sacred groves
and prophecy. Diana was gradually retrieved from the wilderness
into local farmsteads, where She formed beneficial relations
with the Italian farmer, his wife and his herds. Diana’s name
is the female equivalent of Ianus (Janus); however, where
His association was to beginnings, dawn, and light, Diana was
most likely connected to endings, dusk, and darkness.
Diana was most often identified as a fertility goddess and
protector. She was especially worshipped by women as their
patron goddess and presided over every aspect of women’s lives.
Diana may have also watched over animals in this derivation. As
the goddess of the chase, Diana was the protectress of wild
beasts and was often portrayed as a Hunter, carrying a bow and
arrows. Later, through syncretism as Apollo’s sister Artemis,
Diana came to also be associated with healing and the moon.
Diana was Hellenized very early in Rome as She already
represented Artemis at the first lectisternium (banquet
for the gods), held in 398 BCE. Yet Diana did not assume all of
the characteristics of Artemis. She was not virginal like
Artemis and initially Her character more closely resembled
Artemis as the Huntress rather than the Lunar goddess.
According to Ovidius (Ovid), it was much later,
predominately during the early Imperial Empire, that Diana’s
assimilation to the Lunar goddess and association with the moon
occurred. This convergence may have developed as a result of
the Romans believing that the moon was favorable for
childbirth. One of Diana’s indigitamenta (aspects) was
Diana Lucina, Who, like Juno Lucina, was invoked
for easy childbirth. Diana’s lunar indigitamenta was
also one aspect of Trivia, the triple-faced goddess of
Luna, Diana, and Hecate.
The first temple honoring Diana at Rome was the Temple of Diana
on the Aventine Hill. The Aventine Temple was established
during the reign of King Tullius Servius in the sixth
century BCE and was modeled after the renowned Temple of
Ephesus, though the cult of Artemis at Ephesus was distinct from
the cult of Diana at Rome. Diana’s Temple at the Aventine set
the standard for all other temples founded in the Roman
coloniae (colonies); instituting regulations for, among
other religious acts, the performance of a sacrifice. The
Temple was dedicated on 13 August which was a holiday for
slaves, and it became a refuge for runaway slaves.
The completion of Diana’s Temple at the Aventine expounded
Rome’s political and religious significance among its Latin
neighbors. The Temple became the new federal center for the
Latin League, a group of independent city-states of which
Rome was the leading state. Diana was the patron goddess of the
Latin League and it was at Her shrine in Aricia
that the Latin League had previously met, perhaps prior even to
the founding of Rome.
It was to Diana
Aventinensis ("Diana of the Aventine") that sacrifices were
made during the
Ludi Saeculares
(Secular games), possibly formed in 509 BCE. The Ludi
Saeculares were considered turning points in Rome’s rebirth
and ascendancy; marking the passing of an era and affirming
divine intervention for the safekeeping of the Roman state. The
games also served to avert disease and pestilence from the
populace and both Apollo and Diana were honored during the
celebration. The Ludi Saeculares commenced on the night
of 31 and included a Sellisternia, a banquet for one or
more gods given in honor of Iuno Regina (Juno
Regina).
Diana had several
cults, but Her most famous cult was at Aricia near Lake
Nemi (from the word nemus meaning ‘sacred
wood or grove’) also referred to as the "Mirror of Diana."
Here, once a year, the women would meet on the idus
(ides) of August after a 15-mile walk from Rome, carrying
torches and wearing wreaths. The women would conduct rites to
Diana after sunset in this sacred grove where they would also
leave offerings for the tutelary goddess. The shrine of Diana
at Nemi was also a sanctuary for slaves. The Rex
Nemorensis ("King of the Lake") was an office held by a
runaway slave who managed to pluck a bough from a sacred tree
and defeat, in mortal combat, the previous Rex
Nemorensis. The newly installed Rex Nemorensis was
then joined
in a sacred
marriage with Diana’s high priestess, and this ceremony may have
occurred annually for as long as he was able to defend his
office. The Rex Nemorensis was identified as Diana’s
consort, Virbius ("god of the forest") and may have
possibly represented regeneration; a mortal lover of Diana, who
is reborn as Her son and becomes Her consort once more.
Diana was very popular with women, yet she was also highly
esteemed by men. There were numerous private societies in Rome
which met under the auspices of a deity. Diana was a patroness
of funeral societies, which provided adequate burials for their
members. One funeral societas (society), dedicated to
Diana and Antinous of Rome, convened once a month under a set of
by-laws which were governed by the Senate under Augustan decree.
Members of the societas, comprised of slaves and
freedmen, paid monthly dues to ensure their own decent burials
and to provide for monthly banquets. The societas was
governed by a strict set of rules that regulated all of it’s
various functions including the offices, the allotment of funds
for members’ funerals (no funds were provided for suicides), and
the fines imposed for abusing a fellow member.
How do we relate to
Diana today?
Diana is still
the essence of the goddess from antiquity. She is still the
powerful aspect and protectress of women, the lady of the beasts
who reminds us that we are all creatures of the grove, sewn with
its inhabitants, from the same cloth. As the Romans became
increasingly urban, so too, have we veered from our rustic
roots; the fragile sway of nature replaced with concrete, metal
and commerce. Our relentless contemporary journey is affixed to
the rationalization of progress, yet we often find ourselves
hindered by a habituated yearning for the unkept innocence of
the wild. Women in antiquity particularly understood Diana’s
importance in their lives and honored Her ability to reconnect
them with nature. They understood Diana’s indomitable force
that is the central thrust of the living experience and the
equable law in the human realm. The refuge of Diana’s domain
served to placate the sometimes chaotic fragment of existence,
still so fleeting in its perceptions and extent. Diana’s
fervent arrows continue to reign down upon us, inevitably luring
us into the lost wilderness that was once our home; a poignant
habitat from where the luxuries of the earth continue to sift in
unpretentious consummation.
How do we
honor Diana today?
Diana is the call
of the wild, the beating heart of the forests, the animal spirit
within, urging us to remember our origins. She guides us back
to nature; the need to feel the rustling wind through your hair,
to hear the howling of a wolf or the echo of a voice in the
forest. Diana’s presence reminds us to let our animal essence
out once in a while; to occasionally abandon the introspective
sage of modernity and hone our inherent sensibilities. Dance
and sing to the moon, run until your heart pounds to the top of
a hill, take a swim in a creek, roll around in the grass as you
once did as a child, or just gaze upon the stars in wonderment;
knowing all the while that Diana is beside you, sharing in your
wistfulness. Find a special place in or near your home and call
it your own sacred grove to Diana, or join others for a nature
walk and select a spot to honor the great goddess. Pray to
Diana that you never forget the wonder of creation,
Laetitia
(see
Virtues
page); the joy of being alive, and the importance of a woman’s
place. Pray to Diana when you need Her strength to survive the
wild city life and find the peace that comes from nature, within
you.
Aspects:
Diana Lucina (Goddess of Childbirth), Diana Aventinensis (Diana
of the Aventine), Diana Caelistis (Celestial Diana), Diana
Nemorensis (Diana of the woods), Diana Omnivaga (Wandering
One), Diana Opifera (Aid Bringer), Diana Venatrix (Huntress
and Mistress of Wild Animals)
Temples in Rome:
Aventino (Diana Aventina); dedicated in sixth century BCE by
King Servius Tullius and later rebuilt by Augustus,
Circum Flaminium; dedicated on 23 December 179 BCE, Vicus
Patricius, Vicus Longus, Esquiline
Main festivals:
13
August later changed in 44 BCE to Ides of August (15th
of August),
Month sacred to:
November
Dies Natalis
(Birthday):
13 August
Offerings:
Flowers, plants,
wormwood, jasmine, lavender, mandrake, rosemary, hazel,
cakes of cheese, cakes of honey, cakes of parsley, wheat,
barley, beans, unmixed wine, milk, honey, sacrificial cakes
(see Recipes for Offerings
page)
Common prayers to
Diana in antiquity were for:
Childbirth, chastity, animals, menstrual cycles, body parts
Rite:
Ritus Romanus
(head covered)
Hymn to Diana
Catullus
translated by John Anthony Bernard
Harrison (1909-1983)
Pure unblemished children, we
Chant our tuneful hymn to thee;
Pure unblemished boys and maids
Praise Diana of the Glades.
Latona’s child begot by Jove,
Offspring of his royal love,
Near the Delian olive tree,
Mistress of the woods to be:
Mistress of the babbling rills,
Forest lawns and rugged hills;
Mothers hail thee in their pain,
Cross-roads call thee not in vain.
Shining through the velvet night
As the moon, with alien light;
With the months to mark thy road,
Fill with first fruits each abode:
Hallowed by what name thou wilt,
We will serve thee to the hilt:
Bring us fortune from on high
As thou didst in days gone by.
Prayers from Antiquity (link - coming soon)
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