Lupa?

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Original post: DocHolliday

Does anyone have information, or know of a good source for information on Lupa, the so-called "bitch goddess" of Rome?

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Original post: vulnera

i know she suckled the infant twins romulus and remus (the legendary) founders of rome in a cave known as lupercal... i know few other minor details other than their birth mother was rhea silvia and their father, mars... and that the babies were set out to the elements to die... (politics/hereditary power etc) but were saved by lupa (she-wolf) who fed them with her own milk...

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Original post: hayabusa

I've seen no mention of her as a goddess.
None of my mythology books mention her, excpept the brief parts that mention that she suckled Romulus and Remus. Nothing else seems to mention what happened to her after the shepard took the children.
Internet search provided the same information, though I'm sure you already checked there.
*shrug* Beats me where you're going to find a good source.

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Original post: oak

dunno about good, but here's something:
http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Algea.html

Hail Eris! :lol:

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Original post: DocHolliday

Google either gave me the standard fare or the new-age "universal dark goddess" BS. I didn't find much of use.

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Original post: DocHolliday

Google either gave me the standard fare or the new-age "universal dark goddess" BS. I didn't find much of use.

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Original post: Mmothra

I found Loba as an alternative spelling.

http://www.indopedia.org/Remus.html

Romulus and Remus, however, were found by Tiberinus, the river god, and nursed by a female wolf underneath a fig tree, according to the myth, and were able to survive. (While such an incident, if taken literally as passed down, is extremely unlikely, there has been at least one case of an abandoned child surviving with assistance from wild animals. In Chile, an 11-year-old boy was found cohabitating with a pack of feral dogs; he may or may not have nursed from one animal. (See: feral children)



Romulus and Remus were then discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd, who brought the children to his home. Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the boys as their own. According to Livy, some said that Faustulus' wife had been named Loba, and that she had suckled the twins ("Loba" being related to the Latin lupa, "female wolf"). (It should also be noted that lupa was at times used as slang term for a prostitute.)

Also:

From http://www.rac-usa.org/wau/romangoddess.html (Women's Aryan Unity...go figure)

Lupa The Great Wolf Bitch. Sacred Roman She Wolf, nurse of the foundling twins Romulus and Remus. Lupa's temple harlots were lupae, sometimes called Queens or High Priestesses. Her greatest festival was the annual Lupercalia, celebrated in the Grotto of the She-Wolf, with orgiastic rites to insure the year's fertility.

And this from http://www.paganlibrary.com/reference/lupercalia.php

Lupercalia is a Roman ritual of purification and fertility dating from such an ancient time that even the Romans of the first century BCE had forgotten its origin and to which Gods it was dedicated and even the meaning of some of its symbolism. (Contrary to Z Budapest's statements, it was not known whether it was to Faunus and in fact I think it may have been sacred to the more ancient founding Goddess, Rumina, the She-Wolf of Rome.) Central to the ritual is the lustration (light flogging) with a goat skin scourge (see, Gardner didn't invent it). This was often accompanied by much rowdiness and horse-play. The purpose was the purification of the people from curses, bad luck and infertility. The ritual is performed on February 15. The name of the month comes from the februa, anything used in purifying including wool (used for cleaning), brooms, pine boughs (which make the air sweet and pure), etc.

The rite began in the cave of the She-Wolf in the city of Rome where legend had it that the founders of the city, Romulus and Remus, had been suckled by the wolf before they were found by a shepherd. The sacred fig tree grew in front of the cave. Vestals brought to the site of the sacrifice the sacred cakes made from the first ears of the last years grain harvest. Two naked young men presided over the sacrifice of a dog and a goat. With the bloody knife, their foreheads were smeared with blood, then wiped clean with wool dipped in milk. The young men laughed and girded themselves in the skin of the sacrificed goat. Much feasting followed. Finally, using strips of the goat skin, the young men ran, each leading a group of priests, around the base of the hills of Rome, around the ancient sacred boundary of the old city called the pomarium. During this run, the women of the city would vie for the opportunity to be scourged by the young men as they ran by, some baring their flesh to get the best results of the fertility blessing (you can see why the Christian church tried so hard to get this ritual banned, but it was so popular that it continued for quite some time under the new regime.)

Except for the intrusion of foreign cults, this was the only Roman ritual where a goat was sacrificed. Dogs were only offered to Robigus (a guardian associated with crops), the Lares Praestites (the guardians of community), and Mana Genata (ancestral guardians).

Because of the cave, the fig tree, the milk, and such, I suspect the very oldest forms of this rite honored a Goddess. Unlike some of the other Roman rites like the October Horse sacrifice, there is no other Indo-European equivalent in Vedic, Scandinavian, Irish, or Indo-Iranian traditions.

With modifications, the Temple of Pomona performed Lupercalias and has a great time.

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Original post: igraham

I think was just a divine vessel, like the "Virgin" Mary.

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Original post: Mmothra

[QUOTE=igraham]I think was just a divine vessel, like the "Virgin" Mary.[/QUOTE]
Explain, please.

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Original post: vulnera

Finally, using strips of the goat skin, the young men ran, each leading a group of priests, around the base of the hills of Rome, around the ancient sacred boundary of the old city called the pomarium. During this run, the women of the city would vie for the opportunity to be scourged by the young men as they ran by, some baring their flesh to get the best results of the fertility blessing

that sounds pretty damn hot, hehe...
heres somewhat, slightly related info:

In Rome there were several trees which all Romans held sacred. The Ruminal fig tree on the Palatine Hill--under which, according to the story invented by a later generation to explain the tree, Remus and Romulus had been suckled--was worshiped (originally by shepherds on behalf of their flocks), with offerings of milk.
In 58 A.D. the tree, which had been transplanted to the Forum by magic, began to wither, a fact which caused great consternation among the Romans. This consternation disappeared only when the tree began to show signs of reviving. The tree doubtless was worshiped at first; but because the Romans believed that Ruminalis was connected with ruma or rumis, "a teat," they created two new divinities, Jupiter Ruminalis and Rumina. In historical times Rumina had a shrine near the Ruminal fig tree.

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Original post: Frater Insert Name

Forget modern web-site spin. You can find one of the earliest accounts along with some interesting ideas about the idea of Lupa from good old Plutarch and his Life of Romulus.

Plutarch's Life of Romulus

About halfway down in the number 4 area.

Livy also telly the story in his history of Rome and Ovid's Metamorphisis.

From what I understand Lupa(or Lupae) is never actually considered a goddess,(although this could be argued) she is worshipped in small cults, along with nearly every other important thing and could be in at best viewed as perhaps a sort of matron-saint. She was most certainly was not part of the normal pantheon. There was a cult or temple for nearly everything. If you were important enough you could be voted a god by the Senate after or even before you death.