![]() ![]() While there’s some anecdotal evidence for the goddess Laverna, scholars have surmised a few different meanings for her name. So I guess it all depends on who calls upon her first if she’s going to help or hinder a would-be thief. ![]() Though, in one of Plautus’ plays, a cook does call upon Laverna to seek revenge against some thieves who stole his cooking tools. Laverna would be invoked by thieves to ensure a successful heist without getting caught. Libations to Laverna would be poured from the left hand. There was also a grove on the Via Salaria, an ancient highway that crossed the ‘calf” part of the boot for Italy from Rome up to the Tiber River. Laverna was a significant enough goddess in Roman to have her own sanctuary, a minor place of worship on Aventine to be named after her, near the Porta Lavernalis. Laverna is frequently described as having a head, but nobody, or she’s a body without a head. Sphere of Influence: Cheating, Deception, Fraud, Lies, Plagiarism, Secrets, Theft, Trickery Patron of: Charlatans, Cheaters, Liars, Thieves The poet Horace makes mention of her as does the playwright Plautus where they each call Laverna a goddess of thieves. Not a bad goddess to honor in these times, where our politicians are every bit as untrustworthy as the thieves in the night.Simply put, Laverna is the Roman goddess of Liars, Thieves, and the Underworld, more specifically, she is of Italian origins. Laverna is called upon when one breaks the law or when one has been on the receiving end of one of her devotees. In one of Platus’ plays, a cook calls upon Laverna to get his revenge on thieves who stole his cooking implements. It uses herbs representing Pavor ( variously described as the God or Goddess of Fear depending on the source) and Concordia (the Goddess of Harmony) to help with these ends. Not the way I would want to get a divinity’s help.) The ritual incantation asks the goddess to restore the child, protect her ( the mother) all her life and protect the ritual from intruders. ( In classical Italian witchcraft, the deity is threatened with torment by a higher power until the favor is granted. There was also a ritual where the mother could get the child back by threatening the goddess with volcanic tortures until the child was returned. Interestingly enough, Laverna is said to have aided unwed pregnant women, in the secret delivery of her child with the child being taken away. “I command that in future Laverna shall be the goddess of all the knaves or dishonest tradesmen, with the whole rubbish and refuse of the human race, who have been hitherto without a god or a devil, inasmuch as they have been too despicable for the one or the other.” When the mortal would come for payment that part which she swore upon was not apparent, so she would declare the agreement invalid. Virgil also tells tales of Laverna swindling mortals out of property by swearing on either her body or her head. But if he did his work of knavery badly or maladroitly, when he again invoked her he saw only the body but if he was clever, then he beheld the whole goddess…” “Whenever anyone planned or intended any knavery or aught wicked, he entered her temple, and invoked Laverna, who appeared to him as a woman’s head. Virgils states ( from Arcadia, link below): The statue of the goddess was sometime described as a head without a body or a body without a head. She was honored in a temple or a grove of trees near the Avenine Hill. Laverna’s worshippers would ask for her help in appearing law abiding or in the success of their illegal endeavors. No one would want to admit to honoring her. ![]() Though as the goddess of society’s underbelly, it makes sense that details of her would be scarce. Leland’s Arcadia had the most information upon her that I could find and he relies upon Virgil, Horace and Platus. This would certainly account for the lack of information on this goddess. Maybe a case of going to a divinity for help in an area opposite of their typical purpose, much like Apollo who could harm or heal. That is an interesting association as the Furies or Erinyes where believed to avenge crimes. Laverna is associated with the Roman Goddess Furina (also a goddess of thieves) who in turn is associated by some with the Furies. Modern scholars say she was probably an Etruscan underworld goddess but no one seems to be sure which one. This week’s tribute (#7) is to the goddess, Laverna, the Roman goddess of thieves, frauds, plagiarists, hypocrites and ne’er-do-wells. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |