Lupercalia
In ancient Rome , the Lupercalia are annual festivals celebrated in Rome by Luperci of 13 to Feb. 15 , near a cave called the (located at the foot of the Palatine and probably discovered in November 2007), in honor the god of flocks, Faunus Lupercus.
Summary |
The feast of Lupercalia was a festival of purification that took place in Rome from 13 to Feb. 15 , that is to say at the end of the Roman year, which began on March 1.
The Luperci , priests of Faunus, sacrificed a goat to their god in the cave Lupercal (at the foot of the Palatine Hill ), where according to legend, the wolf had suckled Romulus and Remus , after discovering the twins under a fig tree wild ( the rumen Ficus ) located at the entrance thereof.
Two young men, wearing only a loincloth in goatskin, attended the ceremony. The priest Priest touched their foreheads with his knife. Then the blood was wiped from a flake of wool dipped in milk. At that time, young people were laughing. Then they ran around the city of Rome. They were armed with strips cut in the skin of the sacrificed goat, with which they whipped women encountered in their path and who wanted a child in the year to make them fruitful.
Meanings
The feast of Lupercalia was a festival of purification, at the end of the year.
It is also a festival pass: sacrifice in the cave is symbolic of death and the laugh out loud, which occurs after purification, symbolizes the return of vital breath, and thus the resurrection.
The goat is a symbol of her fertility.
Some believe that with the Liberalia and Mamuralia , which was held from February 15 to March 15 , they are part of a cycle of initiation rites marking the end of childhood for the Romans.
End of tradition
In 494 , Pope Gelasius I. outlawed the pagan festival. He chose St. Valentine as the patron saint of engaged couples and lovers, and decreed that this date (February 14, his birthday) would be spent.
Possible archaeological discovery of the Cave of Lupercalia
The Italian Minister of Culture announced in November 2007 discovered by archaeologists in charge of the Palatine excavations of the cave that sheltered the ceremonies of Lupercalia .
Notes
See also
Lupercal nickname of Warlord Horus in the sci-fi saga "Horus Heresy", set in the Warhammer 40000.
Internal Links
External Links
- Salomon Reinach, the ritual flagellation , Religion, Myths and Religions, t. I, ditions Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1905, pp. 173-183.
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