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    Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

    If you have any questions about religio Roman, ask away. I will try to answer your questions as quckly as I can.
    SPQR

    #2
    Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

    Can you give me the basics? I honestly know nothing about it. (other than the name sounds pretty cool)
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      #3
      Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

      The basics are pretty simple. You have twelve major deities with Jupiter as the head. Then you have many minor deities as well. A family sets up an alter called a lararium where they worship the GODS the Lars and the Penates (SP?). I share my food and drink with the GODS, Lars, and Penates. I pray to my ancenstors for guidance. It is the type of religion, or at least how it is practiced today, as a very personal religion. Through good deeds and offering to the GODS, one secures both blessings in this life and eternity in paradise.
      SPQR

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        #4
        Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

        What role does Juno play in your practice?
        Allow me to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket. ~ Captain Jack Sparrow

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          #5
          Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

          What are Lars and Penates?

          I grew up with kids books that lumped the Greek and Roman gods into just being different names for the same beings...could you talk to us about some of the differences?

          What about gods that the Roman pantheon absorbed? I know that Isis worship was very popular in Rome for a while, for example? Do you ever venerate other gods because of this? What do you think about historic figures who were worshiped?
          Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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            #6
            Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

            Do you worship the emperor? Actually, who is the emperor nowadays?

            Sorry, couldn't help myself. But the imperial cult was such a huge part of religious/ritual practice during the Roman empire, I was wondering how his absence could be dealt with.
            www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


            Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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              #7
              Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

              [quote author=cesara link=topic=902.msg15996#msg15996 date=1290440321]
              What role does Juno play in your practice?
              [/quote]

              Juno is the GODDESS of marriage and Queen of the GODS. She is worshipped manly by the wife and offerings to her will secure a healthy marriage. I pray to Juno whenever I am having problems with my wife. It does seem to help.
              SPQR

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                #8
                Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

                I couldn't help but notice that when you write Gods or Goddess you capitalize. Is there any significance here? Or personal preference?

                I normally write Gods and Goddess out like this : God/dess

                I got this from a book I am currently rereading that suggests writing it like this shows that one is part of the other, they are balanced and equal.
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                  #9
                  Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

                  [quote author=Deseret link=topic=902.msg16028#msg16028 date=1290443110]
                  What are Lars and Penates?

                  I grew up with kids books that lumped the Greek and Roman gods into just being different names for the same beings...could you talk to us about some of the differences?

                  What about gods that the Roman pantheon absorbed? I know that Isis worship was very popular in Rome for a while, for example? Do you ever venerate other gods because of this? What do you think about historic figures who were worshiped?
                  [/quote]

                  The Lares or Lars are Roman household gods regarded as the deified spirits of mortals. The Penates are the gods who were supposed to attend to the welfare and prosperity of the Roman family.

                  The big difference is that the Romans had GODS for everything where the Greeks had twelve GODS and a few minor GODS. Also the Romans where unique in that they honored their ancestors which If I remember correctly the Greeks did not to the same extent as the Romans.
                  The Greek and Roman Gods worshipped by the two nations had similar roles and duties. However, their names were different. The religion of the Romans differed in some respects from that of the Greeks, inasmuch as it was emphatically a state religion. It was more of a ritual and a ceremony. It included most of the deities of the Greek Pantheon, but was more comprehensive. It accepted the gods of all the nations that composed the empire, and placed them in the Pantheon, even Mithra, the Persian sun-god, and the Isis and Osiris of the Egyptians, to whom sacrifices were made by those who worshipped them at home. The Roman religion was more practical and less poetical than the Greek religion. Every Roman god had something to do, some useful office to perform. Several divinities presided over the birth and nursing of an infant, and they were worshipped accordingly, for the benefits which they were supposed to bestow. There was an elaborate "division of labor" among them. A divinity presided over bakers, another over ovens. Every vocation and every household transaction had its presiding Roman gods and goddesses.

                  The Romans established a college of pontiffs (religious leaders) to regulate worship and perform the higher ceremonies, which were complicated and minute. The pontiffs were presided over by one called Pontifex Maximus, a title shrewdly assumed by Julius Caesar to gain control of the popular worship. There were more superstitious rites practised by the Romans than by the Greeks, such as examining the entrails of beasts and birds for good or bad omens. There were augurs and haruspices to discover the will of the gods, according to entrails and the flight of birds. The ceremony and function of the Augur and the Auguries was extremely important to the Romans and the powerful augurs would be consulted prior to any major undertaking in Roman society, both public and private, including matters relating to war, commerce, and religion. Great attention was given to dreams and rites of divination.


                  SPQR

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                    #10
                    Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

                    [quote author=Tylluan Penry link=topic=902.msg16197#msg16197 date=1290463718]
                    Do you worship the emperor? Actually, who is the emperor nowadays?

                    Sorry, couldn't help myself. But the imperial cult was such a huge part of religious/ritual practice during the Roman empire, I was wondering how his absence could be dealt with.
                    [/quote]

                    My religious practice does not include the Imperial Cult. I think the act of doing so is profane. Though I do revere them, just not worship.
                    SPQR

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                      #11
                      Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

                      I capitalize all letters in the name GOD or GODDESS to show my reverence for them and their importance in my life. All GODS and all GODDESSES are equal save one, and that is Jupiter. He is the king of the GODS.

                      Here is a little known fact, Lucifer is actually the name of a minor Roman deity and was the GOD of the morning star. I think I remember something about him pulling Apollo's horses. I could be wrong though.
                      SPQR

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                        #12
                        Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

                        Pain and Light, with the Q&A threads that we run on this forum, we encourage members to answer questions, but their opinions are not open for debate(in order to prevent the threads from being derailed and simply turning into arguments). That doesn't mean, however, that you can't create a debate thread on this topic.

                        Agamemnon, you will be supported in your right to hold your own opinions in this thread, however, a little extra courtesy can go a long way...especially if you want members to actually participate in the thread.
                        Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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                          #13
                          Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

                          How do you pray. I mean what do you do with the sacrifices, do you do it quitely or out in the open? do you talk to Them on a personal level or do you have a ritual; have to go by for certian prayers(purify,guidence,ect...)

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                            #14
                            Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

                            Originally posted by Agamemnon View Post
                            The big difference is that the Romans had GODS for everything where the Greeks had twelve GODS and a few minor GODS. Also the Romans where unique in that they honored their ancestors which If I remember correctly the Greeks did not to the same extent as the Romans.
                            Actually, it's much more complicated than that. Just because a particular God or Goddess didn't fall under the category of "Olympian" didn't make said God or Goddess minor. Also, the Romans acttually combined some of the Greek Gods, Helios with Apollo and Selene with Artemis for example.

                            Originally posted by TwinLeaf View Post
                            How do you pray. I mean what do you do with the sacrifices, do you do it quite or out in the open? do you talk to Them on a personal level or do you have a ritual; have to go by for certain prayers(purify,guidance,ect...)
                            If it's anything like Hellenic reconstruction, there are numerous hymns that can be recited, but no distinct prayers that you have to use. An offering or libation can be done at the altar, or just on the ground.

                            I myself am also curious: what are some traditional offerings for Roman reconstruction? Hellenists offer water, wine, honey, bread, and milk as traditional offerings.
                            Last edited by Catdemon-Ninja; 27 Jan 2012, 21:50.

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                              #15
                              Re: Ask a Roman Reconstructionist!

                              Originally posted by Catdemon-Ninja View Post
                              Actually, it's much more complicated than that. Just because a particular God or Goddess didn't fall under the category of "Olympian" didn't make said God or Goddess minor.

                              I addressed this issue quite a while ago. It was broken off into its own separate thread (http://www.paganforum.com/showthread...oman-pantheons)

                              Originally posted by Catdemon-Ninja View Post
                              Also, the Romans acttually combined some of the Greek Gods, Helios with Apollo and Selene with Artemis for example.
                              Actually, this wasn't the Romans, some of the later Greeks did this. Conflation of Artemis/Selene and Apollo/Helios can be found in the writings of Pausanias, Strabo and Plutarch, to name a few examples.

                              The Romans had the sun god Sol, and also er, imported Apollo from the Greeks. Then there was Diana, and the moon goddess, Luna. So the Romans still had similar, separate such deities.
                              Memories of Pain and Light: http://painandlight.wordpress.com

                              "Hey love, I am a constant satellite of your blazing sun; my love, I obey your law of gravity, this is the fate you've carved on me, the law of gravity..." -Vienna Teng, Gravity

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