August 13th: The Goddess Diana

In Ancient Rome, to day was a festival of candles or torches for the goddess Diana.

1. Diana is the Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon and nature. Her Greek equivalent is Artemis. She is the daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and Apollo is her Twin brother. She was born on the island of Delos.
2. The name Diana derives from words which mean "bright sky" or "daylight". The Latin word for God (Deus) and the word "diurnal" (daytime) come from the same root. While Apollo became a Sun god, Diana was associated with the Moon, with one of her functions being to bring out the moon. Some days she'd bring all of it, but if she was in a bad mood, she'd only bring some of it. Diana is often represented as directing the movements of the moon from her chariot.
3. Mythology bears out the idea that she could be a bit moody and unpredictable. When a hunter, Actaeon, happened to see her naked while bathing in a river, she turned him into a stag and set her hounds on him.
4. It was believed she had the power to talk to animals and even control their behaviour. Hunting Dogs and deer were particularly associated with her.
5. She was a virgin goddess who vowed never to marry, but according to mythology she did fall in love once, with Orion, the hunter. However, her brother Apollo wasn't keen on a partnership between his sister and Orion so he messed it up for her good and proper. He challenged her to a shooting contest in which she was to shoot at a target which was so far away she could barely see it. The target was Orion's head. Distraught at having killed him, Diana turned him into a constellation with his beloved hunting dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor, close by.
6. Despite being a virgin, Diana was revered as a goddess of fertility and childbirth. Women would pray to her in order to conceive and if they did, again for a safe delivery. Diana was said to live in a sacred Oak grove near Rome with the nymph Egeria and her servant and assistant midwife, Virbuis.
7. Diana's sacred plants are Apple, balm, Beech, jasmine, mugwort, oak trees, vervain, and wormwood.
8. She is often portrayed holding a bow, and carrying a quiver on her shoulder, accompanied by a deer or hunting dogs. She is depicted as young and beautiful and wearing a crescent moon as a diadem.
9. Diana was a protector of the lower classes and slaves. For this reason, the priest at her temple was always a former slave. Anyone wanting to apply for the job had to break off a branch from one of Diana's sacred oak trees and beat the current high priest to death with it.
10. Diana was worshipped at a festival called Nemoralia, or the Festival of Torches, beginning on August 13. Diana's worshippers would wash their hair and dress it with flowers before proceeding to the sacred Lake Nemi—also referred to as Diana’s Mirror—bearing torches. The worshippers would allow their torchlight to join with the moonlight on the water’s surface. It was a day off work for women and slaves, and hunting was also forbidden. Hunting dogs and wild animals would also be dressed with flowers. Pagans today observe a version of Diana's festival where they offer the goddess baked goods and fruit and ask her to protect the harvest. They may make requests to her, written on ribbons and tied to trees.

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