<i>Felix Angeronalia et alia!</i>

Today is a rather packed day for feasts and festivals, so I will give the Saturnalian/Roman dimensions of it first before moving on to Ekklesía Antínoou-specific matters and the more general Winter Solstice matters in the next post.

Most importantly, today is the Divalia or Angeronalia, in honor of the Roman goddess Angerona, also known as Diva Angerona.

Angerona was a Roman goddess of secrecy, who was propitiated in order to bring relief from pain and anxiety. She was depicted with a finger to her mouth, as if to promote silence (as the Greeks and Romans interpreted Harpocrates, the Egyptian child Horus, often associated with Serapis). On the Angeronalia/Divalia, a sacrifice was offered to her in the Curia Acculeia in Rome (which may have been a roofless enclosure for observing auguries), and there was a further ritual performed for her in the shrine of Volupia; both the shrine and the Curia were probably adjacent to one another at the foot of the Palatine Hill. Volupia was a goddess of pleasure. In Volupia’s shrine, Angerona also had a statue, which portrayed her with her mouth bound and sealed. Some have suggested the two goddesses are therefore two aspects of the same goddess, but that need not be necessary. What would the connection between them be? I have no idea, but I will suggest something in the subsequent entry for today that links to some possibilities in this.

What is certain, however, is that this festival had nothing to do with the Winter Solstice, because in Roman times, the Solstice was reckoned on the 25th of December, not the 21st.

Another date of significance on the 21st of December in the Roman calendar was the dedication date of the Temple of Hercules Victor, one of several epithets under which the god Hercules/Herakles was known and worshipped by the Romans. Hercules Victor is often conflated with Hercules Invictus, but they are different and separate with distinct origins–plus, Victor is “victor/winner,” whereas Invictus is “undefeated/invincible.” (We shall be celebrating the more famous bearer of the epithet Invictus, namely Sol Invictus, in four days!) For many years, the circular temple which is thought to be that of Hercules Victor, shown above, was thought to have been the temple of Vesta (Hestia), where the Vestal Virgins tended the eternal flame, but it most certainly was not. The temple of Hercules Victor founded on this date was a Hellenistic round temple founded most likely by either Titus Quinctius Flamininus or by Aemilius in the 190s-180s BCE.

There were several temples of Hercules Victor in the Forum Boarium that have been destroyed, including the one that was founded on this date; another was dedicated on August 13, a date of importance to the Ekklesía Antínoou, because it is the Natalis Dianae, the birthdate of Diana as celebrated in Rome and Lanuvium (the latter in conjunction with Antinous), and also a festival of Castor of the Dioskouroi and of Vertumnus.

Finally, I have been informed by Q. Poppaeus Sabinus that today was also a festival day for Ceres, but I have not been able to follow that information up definitively. Ceres had a number of festivals throughout the year, but one of them was the Sementivae, which Ovid suggested was the same as the Paganalia. The Sementivae was a moveable festival, usually held in late January, which celebrated Spring sowing, and honored Tellus Mater on the first day and Ceres on the second. Some have suggested that the Paganalia was celebrated in December (it, too, was a moveable feast), and that it marked the end of Winter sowing, which would then have some relation to Ceres. However, as I mentioned, I have not been able to securely confirm this identification. Anyone who has some references on this that are more certain is more than welcome to share them here, and I would be most grateful for doing so! But, it bears mentioning that Ceres was a very common syncretism, visually and on coins, for Diva Sabina Augusta, the wife of Hadrian, after her apotheosis; any further chance to honor or mention her is a good one to take, in my opinion!

Thus, we see that, like the other major dates we’ve celebrated in the Saturnalia–the 18th with Epona, and the 19th with Ops–there are many goddesses being honored along the way, in addition to all of the “god-action” involved with the Saturnalia itself, and the coming feast of Sol Invictus, and the other figures who will be the subject of the next entry.

Our focus, therefore, comes to assessing the place of “victory” in our lives–what over the last year have we accomplished; or not merely accomplished, but over which we have truly been victorious? In looking at Diva Angerona and her honoring in Volupia’s temple, where have we been silent in seeking pleasure, or where has our pleasure-seeking ended up “silencing” something deeper or more important? And, taking the possible influence of Ceres into account on this day, have we finished sowing one thing, or are we needing to begin sowing another? Can we sow the seeds of future victories? Can we ask for what we need to help us in our future victories and not be silent? Can we bring pleasure into our victories and our future difficult work? And, sticking with the main prayers to Diva Angerona, what do we need to bring our anxiety and grief to an end–or even to an end that results in victory rather than defeat? All of these, and more, could be the worthy questions to ponder on this day, when the darkness will now begin to diminish and the light will increase.

More on this in a few moments…but until then, Felix Angeronalia! Felix Divalia