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Lemuria (festival)

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287: 298: 445:. The householder, perhaps with others, walks barefoot through the house at midnight. He washes his hands in spring water, takes his thumb between the fingers of his hand, to ward off any ghosts, then takes a mouthful of black beans and spits them out behind him or throws them behind himself, over his shoulder for the hungry 437:
was meant to help those family members who had died in circumstances that prevented or delayed their admission to the afterlife; those who had died "before their time," in their childhood or youth, through disease, war, assault or misadventure, or in circumstances that prevented their being given
421:, made harmful and spiteful to the living because "kinless and neglected" in death and after it, having no rites or memorial, free to leave their dead body but unable to enter the underworld or afterlife. A less common but more "mischievous and dangerous" type of ghost, known as 858:(Boston 1931) p. 84: "...the thirteenth of May, which was one of the days of the Roman festival of the dead, the Lemuria. Whether there is any connection between these dates or not, the rites of All Saints' Day are a survival not of the Lemuria but of the Parentalia." 471:
for what are presumably the same ghosts, at the same festival, under different names but with little or no individuation other than differing levels of malice or benevolence. Presumably there was some overlap in identity.
476:, on the other hand, were thought to have been entirely unforgiving, even demonic. Some of the literature presents them as persecuting the living, and torturing bad souls in Hades. 491:
ceremony in the same month, supposedly a substitute for former human sacrifices, made the whole month of May unlucky for marriages. This is one possible explanation for Ovid's
902: 788:"All Saints' Day and Halloween": "...yet May 13 had also happened to be the last day of the Roman Lemuria for lost souls"; Richard P. Taylor, 459:). The householder washes his hands in spring-water, three times. When he turns to see the results of the offering, or exorcism, no 822: 455:) nine times; then the rest of the household clashes bronze pots while repeating, "Ghosts of my fathers and ancestors, be gone!" ( 895: 433:, is a rarity in any source, and seems to have also been used for a frightening type of theater mask. Dolansky believes that the 1300: 326: 888: 870: 1290: 159: 732:
Dolansky, Fanny, "Nocturnal Rites to Appease the Untimely Dead: The Lemuria in Its Socio-Historical Context",
628:.2 p 182) remarking "The ordinary appellation for the dead in late Republican and early Imperial times was 413:
points out that Remus' death was violent, premature, and a matter of regret for Romulus. Toynbee defines
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any malevolent and fearful ghosts of the restless dead from their homes. These unwholesome spectres, the
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200, p. 163: "Pope Boniface IV (608-615) replaced Lemuria with "All Saints' Day" on 13 May."
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to gather, unseen. He chants "I send these; with these beans I redeem me and mine" (
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http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Lemuralia.html
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all temples were closed, and no marriages were allowed. The three days of the
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the three days of the festival were 9, 11, and 13 May. Lemuria's name and
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Modern linguists dismiss this connection but find the etymology of
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has been celebrated at Rome ever since and started the feast of
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held this feast on 13 May. Later, on 13 May in 609 or 610,
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See for example "Days of the Dead" in Christian Roy, ed.
714:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971, 1996 pp. 34-35, 64
734:
Mouseion Journal of the Classical Association of Canada
638:, although frequent use was also made of such terms as 910: 373:
were propitiated with chants and offerings of black
782:
Traditional festivals: a multicultural encyclopedia
515:According to some cultural historians, Lemuria was 405:to appease the angry spirit of his murdered twin, 850:of All Saints' and All Souls' Day with the Roman 1282: 790:Death and the Afterlife: a cultural encyclopedia 736:March 2019 16(S1):37-64 DOI:10.3138/mous.16.s1-4 425:was thought to wander about the house with the 650:and others." He notes the first appearance of 452:Haec ego mitto; his redimo meque meosque fabis 896: 320: 450: 903: 889: 327: 313: 875:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities 441:Ovid's is the only detailed account of 14: 1283: 884: 820: 552:dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Martyres 804:, Volume 4, Nov. 1, citing in turn 712:Death and Burial in the Roman World 24: 527:. Christians in 4th-century Roman 27:Ancient Roman festival of the dead 25: 1312: 623:The American Journal of Philology 438:proper burial or funeral rites. 296: 285: 840: 814: 795: 774: 761: 463:are to be seen. Ovid uses both 752: 739: 726: 717: 704: 695: 678: 665: 615: 13: 1: 1301:Observances honoring the dead 380: 162:Etruscan mythologies compared 487:, and the performance of an 7: 856:Survivals of Roman Religion 605:, a similar Japanese custom 561: 347:was an annual event in the 10: 1317: 864: 846:An attempt to connect the 823:"All Saints and All Souls" 810:, ed. Bicknell, pp. 23, 89 397:, derives from a supposed 36: 29: 925: 510: 171:Other minor Roman deities 802:Butler's Lives of Saints 609: 349:religion of ancient Rome 149:Religion in ancient Rome 32:Lemuria (disambiguation) 1291:Ancient Roman festivals 493:Mense Maio malae nubunt 292:Ancient Rome portal 873:Smith, William, 1875. 451: 827:catholiceducation.org 1180:Quinquennial Neronia 550:; the feast of that 499:6.219-234, cited by 457:Manes exite paterni! 30:For other uses, see 821:Saunders, William. 409:. 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Index

Lemuralia
Lemuria (disambiguation)
Lemuralia (EP)
Roman mythology
Jupiter
Mars
Quirinus
Vesta
Juno
Fortuna
Minerva
Mercury
Vulcan
Ceres
Venus
Janus
Roman Kingdom
Religion in ancient Rome
Flamens
Roman, Greek, and
Etruscan mythologies compared

Penates
Genius
Dei Lucrii
Furrina
Bona Dea
Carmenta
Camenae
Dea Dia
Convector
Lemures

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