honorthegods: Procession of children honoring a statue of the goddess Diana  Fresco, 

honorthegods: Procession of children honoring a statue of the goddess Diana  Fresco, 3rd century CE, Ostia Antica. Collection of the Vatican Museums. Photo: Musei Vaticani via Flickr (X). License: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)Today, August 13, is the dies natalis (anniversary) of the dedication of  temple of Diana on the Aventine Hill in Rome in the 6th century BCE.This date also marks the first day of the three-day Nemoralia (Festival of Torches) held in honor of Diana at her temple near Lake Nemi, 30 km/19 mi south of Rome. Worshipers wearing flowers in their hair assembled with torches and candles, bringing votive offerings of bread or terracotta in the shape of stags, children, and of body parts in need of healing. Prayers written on ribbons were tied to trees in the sanctuary. Women and slaves were free of their duties during this festival and enjoyed equality with men and slave-owners. Dogs joined in the celebration, too, adorned with flower crowns. The hunting of animals was forbidden during the Nemoralia in deference to the goddess of the hunt.Dies natalis also means “birthday”. Members of the College of Antinous and Diana at Lanuvium, 32 km/20 mi southeast of Rome, celebrated the birth of Diana, their patron goddess, and the founding of their society on this date with a feast.  -- source link

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