The middle of November was traditionally held sacred to the Goddess Feronia, the Dawn and Patroness of Commerce, by our Etruscan and Roman foreparents.
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Like all European and related heathen Gods, Goddesses, Heroines and Heroes, Feronia had a “dark” as well as a “light” side. Feronia, like the forces of nature she represented, could be either helpful or harmful, and her worship rotated around propitiation of her. In her “dark” aspect, she could curse the unfair and stingy, but she also stood for fairness in business and charity to those in need.
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While the veneration of Feronia was largely based on concerns about the unknown, and took propitiatory forms, her cult had esoteric aspects that are part of the European mindset and which aided social cohesion. Teaching kindness to strangers and those in need, Feronia personified the altruism that is an important part of Western Civilization and vital to our system of http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=5993.
by Charles Godfrey Leland
Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular Tradition, 1892
Feronia, according to MÜLLER, was the ancient goddess of the marketplace and fairs. This would, as a matter of course, identify her with, and make her the patron of, all strolling characters who frequent such places. MÜLLER expresses a doubt whether she was really a member of the Etruscan Heiligthum, or mythology, since VARRO claims her as Sabine. But as she had temples in Etruria, he deems it possible that she was common to both. The ancients were at a loss where to place her among the deities; she appears, however, to be a goddess of the earth, and allied to Mania, “which makes it intelligible how it was in her power to give to the Praenestic Herilus three souls from the lower world.” But what is most important of all for my purpose is that she was feared, and that people brought her offerings.
Feronia is at the present day “a strega-folletta–a witch-spirit who goes wandering about the country begging alms in disguise. When the peasants are liberal to her all goes well with them; but should they give her nothing then they suffer for it. She bewitches children, oxen, horses, and all the beasts (che tengona nella stalla) which are kept in stables.”
A wandering witch, who exacts offerings, and who is rather evil than good, is a legitimate descendant from a goddess of the markets, and who, as a form of Mania, is prone to mischief and revenge. There can be no question but that the ancient Feronia was Persephonic or chthonic, or a queen of the realm below–therefore a witch now, who, if not propitiated, inflicts on the peasants what they most dread–loss of children and cattle. Sabine or Etruscan, she still lives, and is much feared in Tuscany.
Feronia haunts market-places, specially “Perche e le spirito del mercato.”
“Feronia was an old woman who went about begging in the country, yet she always had a gran pulitica–that is, she was intelligent or shrewd or very cunning in manners–and, as one would have believed, she was a witch. All who gave her alms were very fortunate, and their affairs prospered. And if people could give her nothing, when they returned home after the sun rose (dopo chiaro) they found abundant gifts–enough to support all the family–so that henceforth all went well with them; but if any who were rich gave her nothing, and had evil hearts, she cursed them thus:
“‘Siate maledetti
Da me che vi maladisco
Di vero cuore!
E cosi i vostr ‘affari
Possono andare
A rotto di collo
Fame e malattie
Cosi non avrete,
Non avrete piu bene!’
(“‘Be ye all accursed
By me who curse you
With my heart and soul
May your lives for ever
Go to utter ruin;
Illness and starvation
Be ever in your dwelling!’)
By this they knew she was a witch. But when she was dead she became terrible, and did much harm. However, when those who had wronged her, and knew it, went to her tomb and begged pardon they were always sure to obtain it.”
The incident of the begging, and the elegant style and distinguished air indicate a character like that of Juno and Ceres combined. The curse attributed to her has a great strength, and may be of extreme antiquity. The connection of Feronia with Mania explains why she was feared as a witch. And it is very remarkable indeed that while MÜLLER lays stress on the fact that. she had offerings brought to her, the modern Tuscan account makes it a main incident. Taking her altogether, Feronia appears to be exactly what such a goddess would naturally come to be in the minds of the people at a stage while they still believed in and feared her, and before she had sunk to a mere reminiscence in a Märchen. And it is the Märchen, or child’s tale, alone which is chiefly sought by folklorists who have no conception of the extent to which the, as yet, living myth exists.
The Roman-Etruscan Feronia was very famous for the extent of the offerings made to her. “All who dwelt near brought her the first fruits, and many offerings, so that in time an immense quantity of gold and silver formed a treasure in her temple, which was all carried away by the soldiers of Hannibal” (Livy, xxvi., II; Silius Italicus, Pun. xiii.; Preller, Rom. Myth. 377). This agrees with the modern story of her exacting tribute. Again, she was the special protectress of the freed slaves–that is a friend of the poor–and the Libertini in Rome made offerings to her (Livy, xxii., 1.). This is curiously identical with the legend. If, as MÜLLER asserts, Feronia was a duplicate of Persephone, who was often a counterpart of the charitable Ceres, this would explain the very singular statement that the poor always received their gifts from her “after the sun rose, i.e., they came, or were given, during the night. Her market and temple were also a great resort for merchants and traders, which seems to cast some light on the otherwise uncalled-for statement that she was of gran pulitica–very shrewd. The modern Feronia is also a great friend to the poor.
But there is yet another reason why Feronia may have retained a reputation as a witch or wonder-worker. She was of old especially identified with the great miracle, of which so much was made during the Middle Ages, of walking on red-hot ploughshares or glowing coals.
The ordeal of hot coals was very commonly applied to witches, and it is not improbable that the accused appealed to Feronia to protect them, owing to some tradition. One thing is apparent both in the ancient and modern Feronia, that she is, or was, a protector and friend of the poor, one of slaves and refugees, as now of paupers. The identification of the elder goddess with the ordeal indicates protection.
It will be seen, therefore, that the modern Feronia corresponds to the ancient character of the same name in many ways. And I would call attention to the fact that beyond the name itself (for which I indeed inquired) nothing was by me suggested or demanded.
According to Fraser (The Etruscans), “Feronia in Etruria held an honourable position, for not only was she goddess of Falerii, she had a sanctuary also at the Etruscan town of Losna, (Latin, Luna). The name of this town, Losna, is another proof that Feronia is the goddess of the Dawn, for it comes from the Greek los or las, light.”
Monti has written a very beautiful, though rather feeble poem, called the Feroniade, in which the heroine, as a goddess, approaches much more closely to the same character as set forth in modern popular legend than to the stately goddess Feronia of classic tradition. For she is with him at first only a small sylvan Etruscan deity, the queen of the violets, who wanders through ravines and forests, or “a nymph.”