03 February 2015

Contemporary Shrines

Here follows a celebration of contemporary shrines

My Lararium / household shrine, particularly dedicated to the household Gods, Mercury and Venus


Lararium of Lucanus, a Roman Pagan/polytheist from near Washington DC (Mercury depicted)

D. Gratius Ludovicus' Sacrarium on left (includes Hercules and Matronae statuettes and mask of Bacchus above). Lararium in centre (see detail below) and Caesarium (dedicated to Divus Marcus Antoninus Pius - Marcus Aurelius). Source: incipesapereaude.wordpress.com

Detail of Lararium of D. Gratius Ludovicus (see above). The image in the background depicts Vesta and the Lares. The statuettes are of Mater Magna Deorum (Cybele), Sirona (a Gallo-Roman Goddess of healing) and the Lar familiaris

A Lararium which includes a Japanese butsudan to house images of the Lares. Source: incipesapereaude.wordpress.com

Shrine of Q. Albia Corvina. Lararium on right. Caesarium on left (honouring Augustus and Claudius - includes images of apotheosis above)

Detail of Lararium of Q. Albia Corvina (above). Rosmerta is depicted on the canvas above the Lararium detail picture. Statuettes (left to right) of Sirona, Lares, Mercury and grapes represent Bacchus. 

A Lararium (the man between the Lares represents the Genius, or spirit, of the head of the family). Source: cultusdeorumromanorum.blogspot.com

A shrine belonging to a Hellenist based in Manila. Source: undertwotrees.wordpress.com

Home altar of Joseph and Vincent.  Includes the Lares, Penates, Fortuna, Isis, Ephesian Artemis, Vesta, Ceres, Magna Mater, Mercury, Bacchus/Liber, Mars and Hecate 

Lararium which also honours Mercury. Source: romanpolytheist.wordpress.com

A Lararium particularly dedicated to household Gods, ancestors, Ceres, Mars and Venus. Source: patheos.com/blogs/religioromana

A Lararium with a statuette of Vesta on the left (near the flame) and Fortuna on the right. Source: cafet.1fr1.net

Lararium of Gaius Decius Laterensis which also honours Mars

Lararium of Marcus Julius, loosely based on temple of Sulis-Minerva (Bath, England)

A Lararium particularly dedicated to household Gods, Mercury, Minerva and Fortuna. Source: spinnradler.deviantart.com

Shrine to Venus. Source: anonymous by request 

Shrine to Mercury. Source: anonymous by request

Helio Pires' shrine to Mercury. Note the flower wreath, incense, candle and food offerings. Source: goldentrail.wordpress.com 

Offering for Thor. Source: thorskegga.deviantart.com

Sacrarium of Q. Albia Corvina to Apollo and Sirona. Source: incipesapereaude.wordpress.com

Shrine to Faunus. Source: albion-james.deviantart.com

Shrine particularly dedicated to Antinous. Source: aediculaantinoi.wordpress.com 

Shrine to Antinous. Source: flickr.com/photos/mezaenaset

Festive shrine to Saturn (painted in gold). Source: Sentia Figula

Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at neo polytheist and romanpagan.wordpress.com

16 comments:

  1. As usual a very interesting and useful post. It is always important to remind role and meaning of the Lararium in the Roman Traditional Spirituality.
    Pax
    Carmelo

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  2. I didn't find proper images for my lararium in my country so I decided to make them by myself as I'm fond of drawing and painting. It was very satisfying and I found a very special link to my household divinities and to the gods I feel nearest to me, Juppiter, Mercury and Minerva. Now, I'm considering the posibility of painting some portraits of my decesed beloved ones and include them into my lararium. Thanks, Figula. Great post.

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    1. Thanks! If I were a skilled artist I would definitely love to draw, paint or photoshop sacred images. I love looking through deviantart for these kinds of pics:)

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  3. Very interesting to see all the styles and compositions...it's an impressive illustration of modern-day practice.

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  4. In these absolutely tragic days we, as Cultores and Cultrices, have to suffer the destructions in the Mosul (Iraqi) Museum by irrational criminal monoteists. I have written something about it in a post in my blog "Arvalia" (http://arvalia.blogspot.it/). It is written in italian but it can be easily translated into any language thanks to the google translator. I think that all of us should be aware about the terrible implications, meanings and importance of such a criminal violence. This is not obviously a problem of statues or artworks: it is something dramatically more...

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    1. Those guys are the Savonarolas of our day and we know what happened to Savonarola - good things just don't happen to people like this. When they take pleasure in intolerance, cruelty and vandalism they destroy their own happiness. I agree with you when you say destroying statues or shrines of any spirituality offends the aspiration of men and women towards the divine and that whoever offends the spirituality of others, offends his.

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  5. I would like to buy one of the shrines on this site may i please ask where?
    regards Tony

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    1. I don't think there is a particular place, people just collect things here and there in an eclectic way:)

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    2. I am not a Roman polytheist but I am aware that Sacred Source has materials you may find helpful.

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  6. Visit the catalogue TEPLVM www.teplvm.com for more pieces of decoration

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  7. Apologies if posted twice and feel free to block/delete any duplicates.

    I am a Christian and as such not permitted to participate in any other rituals but I find it really fascinating to learn about this because I feel it sheds better light on the world my earliest spiritual ancestors lived in, and even helps me understand why Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians have home altars and why the prayers there look as they do. It’s easy to see this and understand why they would express themselves in that way. As a Protestant that piece of my cultural heritage is largely gone, so I find this extremely illuminating. It’s also very saddening to me that we never found a way to coexist and that it became a kill or be killed situation in the Imperium. As a modern person I find that a tragic loss as again, we understand ourselves not just in our own traditions but in how we are reflected in others.

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  8. Very interesting gallery indeed! On my Lararium I honour Lares and Penates (ie Juppiter OM, Iuno Regina, Minerva Invicta and Apollo Phoebus

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