"ACCA LAURENTIA" WAS REGARDED IN ROME AS AN EARTH MOTHER GODDESS, NOURISHING AND LIFE-GIVING.. HOWEVER, HER OTHER SIDE IS THAT OF A CHTHONIAN GODDESS BELONGS IN THE UNDERWORLD FOR IT IS INTO THE ABODE OF THE DEAD THAT SHE TAKES HER CHILDREN AT THE END OF THEIR LIFE. IN ANCIENT MYTH, CHTHONIAN DEITIES OFTEN TOOK THE SHAPE OF A WOLF, AND "ACCA LAURENTIA" WAS THE SHE WOLF WHO SUCKLED ROMULUS AND REMUS.
THERE ARE A FEW DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS AS TO WHO SHE WAS, BUT SHE WAS A GODDESS NATIVE TO THE PEOPLE OF ITALY. ONE ACCOUNT SAYS THAT SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF THE LARES (HOUSEHOLD GODS OR ANCESTRAL SPIRITS) AND THE "ARVAL "BROTHERS (THE 12 PRIESTS OF THE FIELD GODS). OTHERS SAY SHE IS A GODDESS OF SEXUALITY IN WHOSE WORSHIP SACRED PROSTITUTION PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE. ACCORDING TO ROMAN MYTH, SHE WAS A LOOSE WOMAN AND A MISTRESS OF "HERCULES.".. ROME'S MOST BEAUTIFUL PROSTITUTE. SHE MARRIED THE WEALTHY "TARUTIUS" AND AFTER HIS DEATH SHE DONATED HIS MONEY TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE...AND FOR THAT, THE PEOPLE REVERED AND CELEBRATED HER IN THE FESTIVAL OF THE" LARENTALIA" ON DECEMBER 23...THE LAST DAY OF THE "SATURNALIA. "
GODDESS? SACRED PROSTITUTE? SHE WOLF? WHATEVER MAY BE THOUGHT OF THE CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS SURROUNDING "ACCA LAURENTIA," THUS MUCH SEEMS CLEAR...SHE WAS OF ETRUSCAN ORIGIN AND CONNECTED WITH THE WORSHIP OF THE "LARES", FROM WHICH HER NAME "LARENTIA" ITSELF SEEMS TO BE DERIVED. THIS APPEARS FURTHER FROM THE NUMBER OF HER SONS, WHICH ANSWERS TO THAT OF THE TWELVE COUNTRY "LARES, "AND FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCE THAT THE DAY SACRED TO HER WAS FOLLOWED BY ONE SACRED TO THE LARES.
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