Deity of the day: VATICA - Etruscan goddess of the dead Vatica (Vatika) -- The Etruscan.Goddess of the Underworld who guarded the city of the dead on Vatican Hill in ancient Rome. The Etruscans did not bury their dead inside the walls of their cities and for that reason, on a hillside slope outside the ancient city that was destined to become Rome, the Etruscans established a very large cemetery. The area, which is now St. Peters Basilica, thus became known as the Vatican. Vatika had several other related meanings in ancient Etruscan. It was the name of a bitter grape that grew wild on the graveyard slope, which the peasants made into what became infamous as the name of one of the cheapest (and worst) wines in the ancient world. It was also the name of a hallucinogenic weed (vatika cannabis), that grew on the slope and when chewed, was thought to produced prophetic vision, much like the effect of peyote mushrooms. Thus, the word passed into Latin as a synonym for prophecy and also as the name of the Etruscans female oracles called Vaticinia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_mythology
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 00:24:40 +0000
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