by Horatius Piscinus on Mon Nov 10, 2003 11:24 am
Salve Gede
The first part, fertility of humans, plants, and animals reminded me more of Venus. She was called upon to bring the joy of children into a marriage, and I recall Her being mentioned in being a cause for the increase in herds as well. Venus did begin at Rome as Mucia, a garden goddess, and Venus retained an association with sweet scented and especially colourful flowers. But She was not known so well as an agricultural goddess as you seem to describe. Venus as a Bona Fortuna Amoris perhaps.
The names we give to deities are more like titles than names, and do not necessarily mean the same deity always. At times Ceres is indistinguishable from Her daughters Proserpina, Flora, or the Bona Dea. Juno is a title born by many different goddess. Juno Caeleste is not really the same as Juno Regina, and so forth. And there are quite a few goddesses called Fortuna. These are often recognized as being distinctly different goddesses of a given locale. Often Fortuna is a title applied to the patron goddess of a city. Were Venus the patron goddess of your city She, too, might be referred to as Fortuna. I think that as you work with Her more you will learn more about Her and how She will prefer to be addressed.
There is a point here for everyone to pay attention. The deities one will usually run into are geni loci. You will find in Roman prayers at times a deity like Venus being called upon, then with a formulaic expression of "or by whatever other name it pleases You to be called by." That is because the superior gods can work through lower echelons of divinity, as would be the geni loci. It is more proper to address a geni loci by their own epitaphs . The Romans would adopt a native deity, identified with an aspect of one of their other gods. So you find many different Mercuries in Gaulish provinces, each a variant form of the local Teutates, worshipped with a local cultus. Or in the case of any Gaullic oracle, the local deity would be referred to by Romans as Apollo, and then "by whatever name it is permitted to call You." Sometimes we who live in the Americas or Australia do well to learn about and understand the native cultures because the geni loci we will come upon are native to the land. The higher deities we know in the Roman tradition will still be working through them. You approach a local god or goddess through your own tradition, which in our case is the Religio Romana, and then if the local deity expects something a little different then they will let you know. So in my case, in Ohio where I would assume the geni loci to be native - Shawnee, Miami, or some other local tribe - then I might include tobacco as an offering or use copal or sage as an incense. When in Rome do as the Romans, and when Romans were away to Gaul or Syria they added in local customs to their tradition, paying due respect to the native deities. Only by working with and building your relationship with the deity that you have come into contact will you begin to know what is proper.
Di deaeque te ament
M Horatius Piscinus
Sapere aude!