Happy Mercuralia!
Today is also the Ides of May. You’ve probably heard of the Ides of March but there was an ‘ides’ in the middle of every Roman month and landed on the 13th or the 15th, depending on how many days were in the month. [15th for those of 31 days]
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| Hermes (Mercury) |
Tradition has it that the temple of Mercury on the Aventine Hill in Rome was dedicated in 495 B.C. Mercury is associated with the Greek god Hermes and as such is said to have been the son of the goddess Maia and the god Jupiter. The Mercuralia festival on May 15 was in honour of both Mercury and Maia. And Jupiter got in on the act too, since the ides of May was a day that was dedicated to Jupiter. [Read below for more about Jupiter]
Mercury had an amazing portfolio! He was the god of communication, merchants & commerce, financial gain, eloquence, messages, travellers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves. Merchants sprinkled their heads, their ships & their goods with water from the Porta Capena well, the water also known as aqua mercurii. In addition to praying for good fortune, profit and forgiveness for past misdeeds, they also ‘mercurially’ prayed for the continued ability to hoodwink their customers! The word merchant is likely to have developed from the root of the word Mercury.
I love the casual, insouciant pose in the frieze below!
Mercury
Being the messenger
of the gods, Mercury wears a winged helmet and sandals. He carries a caduceus –
a herald’s magical winged staff with two serpents twined around it. Mercury is
sometimes represented as holding a satchel/ purse, symbolic of his business functions. The
caduceus symbol is associated with messengers in general and is probably much
older than even Mercury is. Mercury’s wings – boots, helmet and staff – allowed
him to travel swiftly between the upper and lower realms. That made him
extremely special since he could be in the land of the living but could also guide
the dead to the ‘underworld’ below.
Mercury was a whimsical god not always trustworthy! He is compared in that respect to the Celtic god Lugh who was also a bit of a trickster and not to taken at face value.
Mercury, the scientific chemical element used to be called quicksilver, slick and slithery like the god Mercury was sometimes said to be. Mercury’s scientific symbol is Hg (from hydrargyrum/ water-silver). The element Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room-temperature, becoming solid at minus 39 deg. C.
In former centuries mercury was used in the hat making process and the gradual poisoning it created was said to drive the hat makers mad, as in Lewis Carrol’s Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.
Ovid’s version of the Mercuralia states that merchants would go to a spring sacred to Mercury by the Porta Capena. With their tunics drawn up they gathered the sacred water into a sterilised jar. They then soaked a laurel bough in it and doused everything they had for sale. The merchants also sprinkled their hair and uttered a prayer – something like “grant me profit, grant joy in the profit made, and make cheating the buyer a pleasure".
15th May is also the Roman Festival of the Argei. At the ceremony of the Argei , 27 human-shaped bundles of rushes were carried counter-clockwise by the Vestal Virgins throughout Rome in a procession. The bundles were probably a later substitute for a much earlier human sacrifice. The Vestals eventually threw the Argei bundles into the River Tiber from the bridge of the Sublicius, symbolically bringing harmony and balance to the city.
And we come back to Jupiter!
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| Jupiter |
On the ides of the month, a white lamb was led along the Via Sacra to the Capitolium where it was sacrificed to Jupiter.
As the god of light, the skies and weather, Jupiter was
the protector of the ancient Roman state. Lightning strikes to any place were sacred to him. His main festivals were
held of March 15th, May 15th, and October 15th, though there were many other festivals to him on other days. Jupiter's sacred stone is topaz, and his sacred colour is
white. His priests
wore white clothes, the animals sacrificed were usually also white.
Jupiter Capitolinus: "Jupiter of the Capital" --
part of the Capitoline Triad. The Ludi Romani were dedicated to him, and his
festival took place on September 13th.
Jupiter Conservator Orbis: "Jupiter, Savior of the
World"
Jupiter Custos: "Jupiter the Custodian"
Jupiter Dapalis: god of boundries
Jupiter Dolichenus: the very popular Roman fusion of Jupiter
and Doliche. He is associated with Baal.
Jupiter Elicius: god of thunder and rainfall
Jupiter Feretrius: his symbol is the oak tree.
Jupiter Fulgor / Fulgurator: god who threw lighting and
thunderbolts. His festival is on October 7th.
Jupiter Heliopolitanus: "Jupiter of Heliopolis"
Jupiter Imperator: "Jupiter the Commander" -- his
statue from Praeneste was set up in Rome between the temples of Minerva and
Jupiter
Jupiter Invictus: "Jupiter the Unconquered" -- his
festival is on June 13th.
Jupiter Lapis: "Jupiter of the Stone" -- god of
lightning. Stones used to make oaths on are sacred to him.
Jupiter Latialis/Latiaris: "Jupiter Latinum" --
the protector of the Latins. His festival is the Feriae Latinae.
Jupiter Liber: god of creativity. His festival is on
September 1st.
Jupiter Libertas: his festival was held on April 13th
Jupiter Lucetius: "Jupiter, Bringer of Light" --
his consort is Juno Lucetia
Jupiter Opitulus: "Jupiter the Helper"
Jupiter Optimus Maximus: "Jupiter the Best and
Greatest" -- This version of Jupiter is the chief god of the Romans. His
consort is Juno Regina, and his main festival is on September 13th.
Jupiter Pistor: "Jupiter the Baker" -- god of
bakers
Jupiter Pluvius: god of rain
Jupiter Praedator: "Predatory Jupiter" -- spoils
of war are dedicated to him -- he decides who loses and gains the spoils of war
Jupiter Prodigalis: a god of destinies
Jupiter Propugnator: "Jupiter the Champion"
Jupiter Stator: "Jupiter, Stayer of the Rout" --
This version of Jupiter helped people, especially soldiers, stand their ground.
His festivals were held on June 27th and September 5th.
Jupiter Tonans: "Jupiter the Thunderer"
Jupiter Tonitrualis: "Jupiter the Thunderer"
Jupiter Triumphator: "Jupiter the Strong" -- he is
shown crowned by a laurel wreath
Jupiter Victor: "Victorious Jupiter" -- his
festival was held on April 13th.
In art, Jupiter is sometimes depicted with a spoked wheel.
He was a very busy god!
Slàinte!
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S03_06_01_020_image_2551.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hermes_Ingenui_Pio-Clementino_Inv544.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giove,_I_sec_dc,_con_parti_simulanti_il_bronzo_moderne_02.JPG
Information drawn from a number of internet sources.
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