If you are not Italian, what bring you to Roman Paganism?

Am I correct that the title of this post is the typical view?
My sense is they represent the Manes more than anything else, rather than any Genius Loci.

Perhaps the Genius Loci are directly connected to the Manes, in the classical sense, where the house you live in was built by an ancestor, and everyone you're descended form is buried right outside your window.
Yes, there is an an older Greek tradition of figures holding snakes, connected to the job of snakes being vineyard ratcatchers. People kept them as sacred house pets, a definite argument for 'guardians of the place.'
But why the connection to 'fertility' I hear mentioned, and why are they SO often depicted on Lararia as being *below* a line of some sort that the Genius and Lares stand on—which really looks like the division between the world of the living and the dead? Sometimes two snakes intertwine around an altar below ground (two family trees?). Sometimes they break out of the ground to wrap around an altar the living are praying at!

I was wondering if there’s any YouTube channels or videos dedicated to Roman paganism (I can’t find any)

Olá pessoal, sou uma pessoa com deficiência física, quero saber se posso adaptar a minha realidade? E como é o passo a passo do culto doméstico?

Obrigada à todos

So, on the 15th of September will be the second anniversary of my father's passing. I'm wanting to do the ritual from this book: https://a.co/d/ba4xu4k . However they're using the Gods greek names etc. Should I just substitute their Greek names for the Roman names and capite velato or what else should I do? He never formally got a funeral as he didn't want it and I didn't get to mourn him properly due to fighting over inheritance money etc after he passed, so it feels right to do it this year since that's over with now.

It would be really nice to be able to post images of things instead of having to use links to Imgur.
Not sure why they're even off, but this place seems pretty buttoned up, so I don't think it would be abused.

I've seen historical prayers and they usually use terms like "ancestors" or "forbears", which implies strictly direct lineage. This makes sense as aunts and uncles would have their own children to pray for them, as part of their own unique manes.

I've also heard historians and other Religio Romano practitioners use terms like "loved ones," which could mean relatives as well.

Curious about the historical reality.
Also, is there evidence that individuals were listed by name in the domestic ritual, and if so how many generations back?

I imagine a revivalist approach could make special mention of very select aunts and uncles one was close to, especially if they were childless. I'd also think if naming ancestors, limiting it to people you knew personally while they were alive, or ancestors further back who were really noteworthy or did foundational things for your family (founded an ancestral town, etc.)

I understand the importance of revering the 'personal spirit' of the father (and/or mother). Especially in the ancient world, the loss of the head of the household could not just be bad, but disastrous for the entire household, including slaves.

In this paper, the author clearly defines the Genius as personal, but in a footnote states
"a family spirit which watches over the domestic situation" and references a Pompeii inscription naming "The Genius of the family."

https://www.ostia-antica.org/fulltext/orr/orr-1972.pdf

How would a 'family spirit' work, if there's both Genius and Iono Genialis?
Some of the Pompeii lararia clearly depict both side by side, so it doesn't seem to be about widows.

Is it simply another way of referring to the paterfamilias guardian, based on the idea that the family was inseparable from the pater/materfamilias?

I was wondering if anyone here worships Antinous. I'm curious about his ancient cult and his moder worship? What is he like? And what are your experiences?

So I was creating a fantasy religion for my world and i'm very inspired by Roman paganism. I wan't it be heavily influenced by Roman Paganism. One problem. I don't have the best grasp on all the practices and beliefs. I also want to work in some Celtic, Anatolian, and Kemetic influences. Theres a god inspired by Hercules but I wan't to mix in some influences from Bacchus and Min. The pantheon is led by a goddess inspired by Isis and Hera that I call Vika. I also want there to be a popular earth goddess inspired by cybele and Gaia.

I was looking over Nova Roma and noticed they specify milk for Goddesses, Wine for Gods. I haven't seen this distinction elsewhere.
Is it improper to offer wine to Goddesses?
I'm aware during the monarchy wine consumption for women was frowned upon or forbidden, but did this persist in religious practices in later eras?
Would milk, or no libations for Goddesses be more in keeping with Mos Maiorum?
What do you do personally?

Does someone here practice rituals for the Emperors like Augustus, Hadrian, Diocletian, etc?

I’ve been working on finding prayers in Latin and Ancient Greek from ancient sources that can be used in contemporary practice. I thought I’d post a few here in case people are interested. Others feel free to reply with your own favourites.

Mars pater, te precor quaesoque
uti sies volens propitius
mihi domo familiaeque nostrae.

Cato, De agri cultura 141:2.

‘Father Mars, I pray and request that you be willing and propitious to me, my house, and my family.’

——

Nunc ades o coeptis, flava Minerva, meis.

Ovid, Fasti 6.652

‘Now attend to my undertakings, o golden-haired Minerva.’

——

Παλλάδ᾽ Ἀθηναίην ἐρυσίπτολιν ἄρχομ᾽ ἀείδειν,
…
χαῖρε, θεά, δὸς δ᾽ ἄμμι τύχην εὐδαιμονίην τε.

Homeric Hymn (11) to Athena (first and last lines)

‘I begin to sing of Pallas Athena, sacker of cities.
…
Hail, Goddess! Grant us good luck and happiness.’

——

nocturnis Hecate triviis ululata per urbes,
dique omnes nemorum, dique omnes noctis adeste:
vos precor quaesoque
uti sitis volentes propitii
mihi domo familiaeque nostrae.

‘Hecate, cried out to throughout the towns at nocturnal crossroads, and all the gods of the groves and all the gods of night, be present! I pray and request that you be willing and propitious to me, my house, and my family.’

This one I compiled myself from different sources. The first line is Aeneid 4:609, with an initial ‘-que’ (‘and’) removed. The second is Ovid, Metamorphoses, 7:198. The last three are a version of the request from Cato’s prayer, rewritten so as to address multiple gods.

——

ὦ φίλε Πάν τε καὶ ἄλλοι ὅσοι τῇδε θεοί, δοίητέ μοι καλῷ γενέσθαι τἄνδοθεν.

Plato, Phaedrus 279b

‘Beloved Pan and any other gods of this place, grant that I become beautiful on the inside.’

Hello everyone! I wanted to invite anyone who is interested to the recently created Romano-Celtic Discord group:

https://discord.gg/gWQw5RUp

Whether your practice is based in Roman-Gaul, Britain, Iberia, Germany, etc, or you are simply curious to learn more about the path, you are welcome in this space. We welcome conversations about archeology and history, as well as personal gnosis and modern practices. Please note that this is an 18+ space and we would like to keep the conversation on topic for Romano-Celtic polytheism.

Come and check it out if you’re interested!

New to all this, and taking things slow, so we opted for the 15th for Diana's day, instead of the full 3 days.
I've finally got a grasp on the varying competing ritual structures, long and short, picked a combo of what works, and more importantly learned how to personalize, i.e expanding on the requests for 'propitiousness.'
It's like writing poetry, you really can go deep.
We started the day with a proper ritual, including our Lares, Genia, Manes, and Penates, with an additional call to Diana to watch our activities during the day after we finished her prayers.
We wrote wishes on ribbons and tied them to trees.
We cut a few ends of our hair to burn later.
At nightfall we lit a torch and went into the woods to a pond, and did a proper evening rite, incorporating an old hymn to Diana.
My youngest daughter is normally scared of the dark but was fearless tonight.
Afterwards, my wife waited with our dog by the water, while my daughters accompanied me deeper into the black woods to a giant 200+ year old oak we've wondered about for years.
I poured out most of the remains of the patera, swirled the rest and drank. We marveled at the shapes and faces hidden in the bark.
Then the torch hike back home.
We bathed in our pool, laughing and reflecting, and brought our dog in too.
They love the idea of Diana being a patron to them as little girls, alone. It was their day as much as ours.
Warmed up inside, let the girls be wild for a bit, talked about our household and family, and everything that happened this night. Read some more of the Hobbit, then bedtime.

What do you think of the religious traditions established by Numa Pompilius? Would you consider them to be a more appropriate way to approach the Divine? How would you compare them to the more widespread tradition of worship and religious life in Rome?

I'm new and not well read, so I'm referring almost exclusively to Emanuele Viotti on these definitions.
https://admaioravertite.com/2019/06/22/rito-romano-zero-da-dove-iniziare/

--

THE DEAD:
(Worth remembering that wealthy Romans buried their dead on their lands for generations in one form or another, so the idea of the dead being nearby was quite literal):

LARES: Many types, but the ones that matter most to us are domestic Lares. These are among the most righteous of our ancestors, who after death stay behind to become permanent guardians of our family, home and lands. Some may stay with the family, some are married to structures and places.

MANES: The general dead. Where most of our forbears ended up, and us too.

LEMURIANS: The restless dead. Ancestors who had unhappy/early deaths or unfulfilled lives. They can bring this into the home, hence festivals like Lemuria, which attempts to distance them.

LARVAE: Violent deaths, and/or bad deeds. These are malevolent.

--

My question is, can/did one ever make prayers for the redemption of Lemures, and even Larvae, or were they considered lost causes?

Ice Hockey seems firmly something Apollo would oversee (precise shooting, occasional fisticuffs).
Does this change for women's hockey, or female competitive sports in general?
Would this instead fall under the domain of Diana, due to female participants?

I've heard Mercury mentioned for general athletics and track and field, but precision aiming sports like hockey, soccer, etc seem to fall on other deities...

Does she have any particular significance to the roman ritual?

Example:
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/cast-of-patera-libation-bowl-with-medusa-head-from-frieze

Well, I'm a pagan and I know about the connection between Greece and Rome, but I wanted to know how Roman pagans see Hellenism, I see the gods not only as Greek gods but also as Roman ones.

However, I wanted to know if you see the Iliad and Odyssey as equal to the Aeneid, or if you really think that Jupiter is Zeus, Venus is Aphrodite, etc. Because I've seen many Hellenists who don't think so. In addition to how you see other pantheons like Egyptian, I know the story of Zeus and Typhon and the flight of the gods to Egypt, which is Roman and seems to show that the gods of Rome are universal gods, or Isis and Mithras who are from other pantheons.

In the summary I want to know how you see the gods and ancient tales.

Sorry if there's any text wrong because I'm translating it using the reddit translator, which isn't that good.

Hi guys, how are you? I'm new to religion and I've been studying the history of Rome for about 3 days. But I have a curiosity. Do I need to know everything about the history of Rome or is just knowing the base and how it was founded and spread ok? Because there are many emperors, many kings, and I don't know if I can memorize everything in one lifetime. So it's okay, I just know the basics and know one or another name and I have to know everything. Because the focus for me is religion, knowing everything about religion and focusing on these wonderful gods. The story is just so I don't seem so ignorant when someone asks me. Can you please answer me?

If so does that also apply to the Lares, Penates and Genius?

Not only methods used by polytheists to avoid detection in late antiquity by using saints to represent Gods, but actual early attempts (presumably by non Christians) to incorporate Christ to the pantheon.

It seems there's some natural overlap, which surprised me— for example, one could accept that the idea that Jesus' sacrifice is the reason the Gods no longer require animal sacrifices.

Hello! We are a Hellenic Polytheist server hoping to grow our community and help our fellow pagans. Our goal as a server is to create authentic, educational conversations about our religions in order to better our own practices and exchange knowledge as the ancients did. Even though we are centered around Hellenism, all polytheists are welcomed! We would love for you to join!

We have...

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I'd read southwest was the worst as it's the direction of fauna, but north is preferred as it's the location of the most elevated Gods. Is this accurate?