Ceres is the Roman Goddess of grain, crops, agriculture, fertility, and motherhood. It was said that she introduced agriculture to humanity, including the sowing of seeds, growing, and ploughing.
There was a week long celebration held in mid to late April in her honour called Cerealia. She was also honoured during the Ambarvalia festival, as well as marriage and funeral rites. A young boy would carry a torch during bridal processions which was known as 'Ceres torch' to light the way forward.
There was also the 'Sacrum Cereale' (the 'cereal rite'), where a Priest would invoke Ceres along with twelve minor Gods to ensure help and protection through each stage of the grain cycle. These twelve Gods had specific functions within the cycle such as 'he who harrows', 'he who digs', and 'he who stores the grain'.
Ceres was also the patron and protector of plebeian laws, rights, and Tribunes (certain elected officials). Here Aventine temple acted as a legal archive, treasury, and potentially also a court for the plebeians (common people). Crimes against fields and harvests were seen as crimes against Ceres; such crimes included 'magical charming' of crops from your neighbour's field into your own, and those who allowed their flocks to graze on public land would be given a fine. Any adult who stole crops on the field was said to have been hanged in the name of Ceres.
There was a week long celebration held in mid to late April in her honour called Cerealia. She was also honoured during the Ambarvalia festival, as well as marriage and funeral rites. A young boy would carry a torch during bridal processions which was known as 'Ceres torch' to light the way forward.
There was also the 'Sacrum Cereale' (the 'cereal rite'), where a Priest would invoke Ceres along with twelve minor Gods to ensure help and protection through each stage of the grain cycle. These twelve Gods had specific functions within the cycle such as 'he who harrows', 'he who digs', and 'he who stores the grain'.
Ceres was also the patron and protector of plebeian laws, rights, and Tribunes (certain elected officials). Here Aventine temple acted as a legal archive, treasury, and potentially also a court for the plebeians (common people). Crimes against fields and harvests were seen as crimes against Ceres; such crimes included 'magical charming' of crops from your neighbour's field into your own, and those who allowed their flocks to graze on public land would be given a fine. Any adult who stole crops on the field was said to have been hanged in the name of Ceres.
Ceres maintained the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead, hence why she was included in funeral rites. Offerings would be left to her, and it was believed that she fulfilled a psychopomp role, guiding the deceased to the realm of the dead.
She was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, sister to Jupiter, Juno, Vesta, Neptune, and Dis. She had a daughter whom she conceived with Jupiter who was named Proserpina. Many of the myths of the Greek deity Demeter were told also of Ceres, including the abduction of her daughter Proserpina by the God of the underworld, Dis Pater.
Depictions of Ceres often show her holding a torch or two, riding in a chariot which is pulled by snakes. Her symbols include the sickle, torches, a crown made of wheat stalks, wheat sheaves, the poppy, and the cornucopia. Whilst pigs were often sacrificed to her, it was said that she hated pigs as they trampled the ground around where her daughter was abducted, hindering her search.
Ceres is a great deity to work with to help you understand natural cycles, to give thanks to during harvest festivals, and also for those who wish to connect with a 'mothering' energy.
She was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, sister to Jupiter, Juno, Vesta, Neptune, and Dis. She had a daughter whom she conceived with Jupiter who was named Proserpina. Many of the myths of the Greek deity Demeter were told also of Ceres, including the abduction of her daughter Proserpina by the God of the underworld, Dis Pater.
Depictions of Ceres often show her holding a torch or two, riding in a chariot which is pulled by snakes. Her symbols include the sickle, torches, a crown made of wheat stalks, wheat sheaves, the poppy, and the cornucopia. Whilst pigs were often sacrificed to her, it was said that she hated pigs as they trampled the ground around where her daughter was abducted, hindering her search.
Ceres is a great deity to work with to help you understand natural cycles, to give thanks to during harvest festivals, and also for those who wish to connect with a 'mothering' energy.
