Hail Jupiter!
We honour the numinous lord who is to be found in grove and forest.
May we come to know the space of quiet contemplation, the whisper of the breeze and the soft presence of divinity!
We are thankful for the beauty of nature and the quickening of enchantment.
Salve Iuppiter!

 

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The Lucaria are mysterious festivals for us. We have no allusions to them apart from their mention in three Fasti and Verrius Flaccus’ oblique and most likely incorrect connection of the Lucaria with the Roman defeat to the Gauls in 390 bce (the dies Alliensis of 18 July). Consequently, along with the ubiquitous animation and unique freshness encapsulated by the Roman calendar with regard to pagan perception, the Lucaria also convey that element of the mysterious unknown which likewise appears to be central to Roman religiosity.

The most likely idea behind the Lucaria is that of the lucus, the ‘sacred grove or wood’ for which the term lucar is considered to be an archaic form. Many different gods were honoured in the luci from Silvanus, Diana Nemorensis, the Dea Dia, Anna Perenna, Robigus, the Camenae, Furrina and Feronia to Juno and Jupiter. It is, however, this last who is most connected within the lucus, and as the god of light (lux), we find in this attribute the root beneath the words ‘lucus’, ‘lucar’ and ‘Lucaria’. Jupiter’s groves were to be found on Mount Alba, the Esquiline, the Vinimal, the Quirinal and the twin peaks of the Capitoline – the Arx and the Capitolium. The Lucaria themselves came to be celebrated on the Pincian hill but were most likely first connected to the Capitol. The lucus was not invariably but frequently found on hill-tops or summits – the mountain being a pre-eminent symbol for the luminous weather-god of lightning, thunder and rain. The softer, scattered light of the tree-filled grove, however, evokes the more gentle numinous presence to be associated with the summertime of the year. The host of deities connected to luci are suggestive in themselves of the animistic numina who are to be encountered beyond the urban settlement and among the trees of the forest.