{"id":4769,"date":"2026-04-21T09:29:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/lemures\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:29:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:29:03","slug":"lemures","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/lemures\/","title":{"rendered":"Lemures"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"4769\" class=\"elementor elementor-4769 elementor-844\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10fdade e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"10fdade\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herohlft0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herohlft0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c3ceb64 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c3ceb64\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96ae5e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"96ae5e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Lemures, Spirits of the Dead and the Household in Roman Belief<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e45238a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e45238a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLemures (Latin: Lemures), restless dead and the May festival of the Lemuria.<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A bodiless being to which agency in the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Spirits<\/span> of the dead and of the household in Roman belief, also known in German spelling as Lemuren.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klsbdg01 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"klsbdg01\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klshtm01 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"klshtm01\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Spirit: an incorporeal or semi-corporeal entity, the deceased, nature beings, household spirits or threshold guardians. Active in everyday life, often bound to places or families.\">Spirit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/rome\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Roman religion from the monarchy to late antiquity, syncretistic with Greek and Etruscan layers.\">Rome<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/spirits-of-the-dead\/\" class=\"iwg-tradition-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"The deceased whose spirits continue to act in the world of the living, household spirits, ancestors, restless dead.\">Spirit of the dead<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f74855 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3f74855\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c30362 elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"1c30362\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herorght0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herorght0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-heroimg00 iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"heroimg00\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_lemures-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4770\" alt=\"Lemures - spirits from the Roman tradition, historical-illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_lemures-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_lemures-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_lemures-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_lemures.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-32917199 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"32917199\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26e916cb e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"26e916cb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-253a40d4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"253a40d4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1200c304 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1200c304\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Lemures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-11758e7f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"11758e7f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Lemures are the restless dead of the Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>. Unlike the <em>manes<\/em>, who are honored in the regular <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Veneration of a family's deceased as continuing protective powers.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancestral cult<\/span>, the Lemures are regarded as potentially dangerous: they return to the houses, disturb sleep and family, and demand to be appeased.<\/p><p>Every year in May, on the 9th, 11th and 13th, the festival of the Lemuria takes place, during which the head of the household drives the Lemures out of the house with a fixed <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span>.<\/p><p>The best-known literary description is given by Ovid in the fifth book of his <em>Fasti<\/em>. The <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span>, throwing beans, reciting a formula, not looking back, is one of the most detailed <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> rituals we possess in written form. Its influence reaches into modern folkloric accounts.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-159dcf9a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"159dcf9a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48cee66f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"48cee66f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">At a Glance: Lemures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f50d82c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f50d82c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Type:<\/strong> Restless spirits of the dead<br>Origin: The deceased with incomplete burial or violent death<br>Texts: Ovid (<em>Fasti<\/em> V), Horace, Plautus, Persius<br>Period: Republic to <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">late antiquity<\/span><br>Distribution: Italy, the Roman Empire<br>Defense: Lemuria <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> (May), proper burial, Parentalia <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An offering to a deity to express thanks, a request, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">offering<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18613602 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"18613602\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-262b8a9f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"262b8a9f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Classification<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46dcb7d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"46dcb7d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61d3ab3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"61d3ab3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-117c166 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"117c166\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Period of the Texts<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-73997a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"73997a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Lemures are already known in the early Republic. According to Ovid, the Lemuria festival dates back to its mythical founding by Romulus. Literary sources range from the 3rd century BC (Plautus) into <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">late antiquity<\/span>. Christian authors later adopt the word for demonic spirits in general.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d47b156 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d47b156\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ff38c2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ff38c2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Area of Distribution<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e49fcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e49fcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The core lies in Italy, spreading throughout the Empire as Rome expanded. In the provinces, the notion merges with local <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An incorporeal being to which effects in the world are attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirit<\/span> traditions. The festival of the Lemuria belongs to the fixed Roman calendar.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db03c39 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"db03c39\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-229a87b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"229a87b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f471fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1f471fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Source Situation<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36b1201 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"36b1201\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Central is Ovid&#8217;s <em>Fasti<\/em> V (479, 492) with its detailed description of the Lemuria <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span>. Alongside this are mentions in Horace, Persius, Plautus, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Augustine of Hippo (354 to 430); Christian Church Father, principal works Confessiones and De civitate Dei.\">Augustine<\/span>. Inscriptions relating to the Parentalia <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration for a deity or holy figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> and burial law round out the picture.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ae0637c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3ae0637c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31d07739 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"31d07739\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Designation and Spellings<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7642947 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b7642947\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a086266 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a086266\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Latin:<\/strong> <em>Lemures<\/em>, mostly plural; the singular <em>lemur<\/em> is rare.<br>Distinguished from: <em>manes<\/em> (<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ancestor venerated in many cultures as a protective power.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancestral<\/span> spirits, positive), <em>larvae<\/em> (malevolent spirits, often synonymous with Lemures), <em>di inferi<\/em> (gods of the underworld).<\/p><p>The etymology is unclear; Ovid speculatively derives the name from &#8220;Remus&#8221;. More likely is a root meaning &#8220;shadow&#8221; or &#8220;nocturnal figure&#8221;. The boundary with the Larvae is fluid; some authors use the terms synonymously, while others reserve Lemures for the more neutral category.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-709a44a8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"709a44a8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f585873 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2f585873\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Description<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70621c12 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"70621c12\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4296eb49 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4296eb49\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Appearance<\/strong><\/p><p>Shadowy, without a pictorial tradition of their own. The literature describes them as pale, soundless figures that appear in dreams or make themselves present through noises, knocking, rustling, murmuring.<\/p><p><strong>Behavior<\/strong><\/p><p>They return when their care for the dead has been neglected or when they have died violently. They disturb sleep, bring bad dreams, affect the health of family members, and make houses uncanny.<\/p><p><strong>Sphere of Influence<\/strong><\/p><p>The family home and the places of their death. In travelers&#8217; tales occasionally also inns and unfamiliar places with a history of violent death.<\/p><p><strong>Mythological Origin<\/strong><\/p><p>According to Ovid, the Lemuria festival goes back to Romulus, who wished to bring rest to his murdered brother Remus. Historically it is probably older, deriving from a pre-urban Italic tradition of the cult of the dead.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44e71476 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"44e71476\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c1fc3f0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3c1fc3f0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Profile: Lemures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84f33b8e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"84f33b8e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-hqkdc67p elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"hqkdc67p\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important aspects of the Lemures at a glance. The detailed account of name, description, defense and parallels can be found in chapters 2, 3, 5 and 6.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-qh9oavvu iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"qh9oavvu\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-awzx8k2k elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"awzx8k2k\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Origin of the Lemures<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-x6rowhv0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"x6rowhv0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>From those who were improperly buried or who died violently. Not a created being, but a human deceased in the wrong position.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e3o4kxs iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8e3o4kxs\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08rkdgov elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"08rkdgov\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Target of the Lemures<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-uwjelx8s elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"uwjelx8s\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Above all the family itself, which has neglected the care of the dead. Also the inhabitants of houses with a violent history.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-jm2n74ec iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"jm2n74ec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8vufse4c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8vufse4c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Appearance of the Lemures<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-mwb9u015 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"mwb9u015\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Shadowy, pale, soundless. No fixed iconographic program. The experience is mostly acoustic or in dreams, more rarely visual.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37ss2yr6 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"37ss2yr6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3v0wp3wx elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3v0wp3wx\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Effect of the Lemures<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-w3247g2m elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"w3247g2m\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Sleep disturbances, bad dreams, unrest in the house, illness within the family. No sudden violence, but rather persistent suffering.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0qpjal9w iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0qpjal9w\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ndoih0o elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6ndoih0o\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Defense against the Lemures<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6684tyh9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6684tyh9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Lemuria <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> in May: walking barefoot through the house at night, throwing black beans over the shoulder, calling out nine times &#8220;Manes exite paterni&#8221; (&#8220;Depart, spirits of the fathers&#8221;). The Lemures follow the beans out of the house.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3lfi7x32 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3lfi7x32\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0kg99ga1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0kg99ga1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Parallels to the Lemures<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-n0fum6kp elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"n0fum6kp\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/edimmu\/\">Edimmu<\/a> (Mesopotamia), Keres (Greece), hungry ghosts (East Asia), revenants (Germanic).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7533bc7a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7533bc7a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2447d18d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2447d18d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Protective Practice<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5d0260c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d5d0260c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-341be2ac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"341be2ac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Rituals of Defense<\/strong><\/p><p>The annual Lemuria festival is the central rite of defense. The head of the household rises in the middle of the night, washes his hands, walks barefoot through the house and throws nine black beans over his shoulder without looking back.<\/p><p>He recites the formula &#8220;Manes exite paterni&#8221; nine times. The spirits follow the beans and leave the house.<\/p><p><strong>Incantations<\/strong><\/p><p>The formula of the Lemuria is short and fixed. Alongside it there are orally transmitted short formulas for cleansing the house and protecting sleep. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A verbal formula intended to inflict misfortune on a person or thing.\" tabindex=\"0\">Curse<\/span> tablets (defixiones) directed against personal opponents may explicitly invoke Lemures.<\/p><p><strong><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, misfortune-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Amulets<\/span> and Protective Symbols<\/strong><\/p><p>Door markings made of black bean powder (rare). House altars with figures of the Lares, which at the same time represent the order of the household. Regular Parentalia <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An offering to a deity to express thanks, a request, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">offerings<\/span> in February keep the ancestors gracious and thereby keep the restless ones away.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a584676 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5a584676\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d0757bf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6d0757bf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Lemures, Parallels in Other Cultures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60563f68 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"60563f68\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a93fdd6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a93fdd6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Mesopotamia<\/strong><\/p><p>The Edimmu is the close parallel: a restless spirit of the dead arising from neglected burial or violent death. In both traditions, defense is carried out by making up for the neglected ritual duty, in Mesopotamia particularly through the <em>kispu<\/em> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span>.<\/p><p><strong>Greece:<\/strong> The Keres and later terms for restless souls function similarly, without a comparably systematic festival like the Lemuria. The cult of the dead in Greece is organized in a more decentralized way.<\/p><p><strong>European <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Religious notions and customs that are widespread in everyday life.\" tabindex=\"0\">folk belief<\/span>:<\/strong> Revenants, poltergeist motifs, household spirits. In all of these traditions the basic structure of the Lemures lives on: neglected care of the dead as the cause, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> as the solution.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp8b5b61c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp8b5b61c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2b5a460 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp2b5a460\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Lemuria: Course of the Nocturnal House Rite<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp12b0fc3 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp12b0fc3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp714177b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp714177b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most detailed account of the festival <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Handed over to the sacred through a religious act and thereby set apart from the everyday.\" tabindex=\"0\">dedicated<\/span> to the Lemures is given by Ovid in the <em>Fasti<\/em> (Book 5, verses 419 to 492). The <em>Lemuria<\/em> fell on the 9th, 11th and 13th of May, that is, on odd-numbered days, which were regarded as unfavorable in the Roman calendar.<\/p><p>On these nights, the restless dead, who had no proper burial or no descendants to tend their memory, were thought to roam through the house.<\/p><p>Ovid describes the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> as the task of the <em>pater familias<\/em>. At midnight he rose barefoot, made a sign with his thumb and closed fingers intended to ward off the shades, and washed his hands three times at a spring.<\/p><p>Then he took black beans into his mouth, turned away and threw them over his shoulder while saying nine times: <em>haec ego mitto; his redimo meque meosque fabis<\/em>, roughly: &#8220;These I cast; with these beans I redeem myself and mine.&#8221; The shades were supposed to gather up the beans behind him without his looking back.<\/p><p>Afterward he cleansed himself again with water, struck bronze vessels and called on the spirits nine times to leave the house: <em>manes exite paterni<\/em>. Only then was he allowed to turn around; the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> was regarded as completed and the house as cleansed.<\/p><p>Scholarship sees in the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A handed-down action regularly repeated within a community.\" tabindex=\"0\">custom<\/span> an <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Warding off evil: of signs and objects intended to keep harmful influences away.\" tabindex=\"0\">apotropaic<\/span> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> whose individual elements, going barefoot, crossing the threshold, the noise of bronze and the number nine, are widely attested in ancient <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that seek to intervene in the course of events through particular actions or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">magic<\/span>. In Rome beans were regarded as a food with a special connection to the dead; the Pythagoreans too avoided them.<\/p><p>Ovid&#8217;s account is the most important, but at the same time a late literary source that may embellish older practice. How widely the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> was actually practiced cannot be securely inferred from it alone.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpd4641e7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpd4641e7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp0ad70dc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp0ad70dc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Lemures, Manes and Larvae: Distinguishing the Classes of the Dead<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp37fae02 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp37fae02\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp8a7fa6a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp8a7fa6a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Roman world of ideas knew several terms for the dead and the spirits of the dead, which partly overlapped and are still discussed in scholarship today.<\/p><p>The <em>di manes<\/em> were the collectively venerated, generally benevolent ancestral spirits, to whom grave inscriptions were dedicated with the formula <em>dis manibus<\/em>. The festival of the <em>Parentalia<\/em> in February was devoted to them as a time of peaceful care for the dead.<\/p><p>By contrast, according to a widespread interpretation, the <em>lemures<\/em> denoted the restless, potentially dangerous dead who had not come to rest. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">Ancient<\/span> grammarians and later authors attempted to mark off a further class: the <em>larvae<\/em> as harmful, terrifying ghosts, occasionally equated with the Lemures.<\/p><p>In <em>De civitate Dei<\/em> (Book 9) Augustine reports a system he finds in the philosopher Apuleius: the soul of a deceased person is called <em>lemur<\/em>; if it turns out well-disposed toward the descendants, it becomes a <em>lar familiaris<\/em>; if it turns out punishing, a <em>larva<\/em>; and if it remains uncertain whether good or evil, one speaks of <em>di manes<\/em>.<\/p><p>This ordering is, however, a late, philosophically shaped construction and hardly reflects the lived conception of the earlier Republic. The sources are inconsistent, and even <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> authors were aware of the vagueness.<\/p><p>Modern scholars of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">religion<\/span> such as Franz Cumont and later researchers of Roman death religion emphasize that the terms represent not so much fixed categories as flexible designations for different aspects of being dead.<\/p><p>If you are looking for more on the protective household spirits, you will find further pointers in the entry on the <a href=\"\/en\/lares-roman-guardian-spirits-of-the-home\/\">Lares<\/a>; for the Egyptian parallel of a restless dead one, see the notions surrounding the <a href=\"\/en\/apophis\/\">ordered handling of the chaotic<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpf2931f4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpf2931f4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpef6ffee elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpef6ffee\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Etymology and Ancient Attempts at Interpretation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp91fbef8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp91fbef8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp4cf35ed elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp4cf35ed\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The origin of the word <em>lemures<\/em> is not secured. Already in <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">antiquity<\/span> explanations circulated that are folk-etymological rather than linguistically tenable.<\/p><p>In the <em>Fasti<\/em> Ovid derives the festival name <em>Lemuria<\/em> from a supposed older form <em>Remuria<\/em> and connects it with Remus, the brother slain by Romulus, whose restless <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An incorporeal being to which effect in the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirit<\/span> is said to have been appeased through a rite of atonement. This connection is a literary construction and is regarded by scholarship as unhistorical.<\/p><p>Linguistically, a connection with Greek words for nocturnal terror-figures is considered, but the etymology remains disputed. Some researchers suspect a pre-Latin, possibly non-Indo-European origin, which is not implausible given the special religious status of the term; a secure proof, however, is lacking.<\/p><p>More revealing than the word&#8217;s origin is the finding that <em>lemures<\/em> almost never appears in the singular and scarcely outside ritual or learned contexts. The word belongs to the sphere of the calendar and of household religion, not to mythological narrative.<\/p><p>There are no Lemures myths in the proper sense, no genealogies, no stories of individual named Lemures. This peculiarity clearly distinguishes them from the gods and heroes of the Greco-Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the gods of a religion or culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">pantheon<\/span> and places them closer to ritual collective terms such as <em>manes<\/em>.<\/p><p>The modern zoological use of the name for the Madagascan lemurs goes back to Carl von Linn\u00e9, who in 1758 named the nocturnal, ghostly-seeming animals after the Roman spirits of the dead.<\/p><p>This transfer of the name has nothing to do with ancient religion, but it shows how present the notion of the Lemures still was in the learned tradition of the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch roughly from the 15th to the 18th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">early modern period<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpe6686a6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpe6686a6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2b1b3d6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp2b1b3d6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Lemures in Latin Literature beyond Ovid<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp308011f e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp308011f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp7c0df33 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp7c0df33\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Outside Ovid&#8217;s festival description, the Lemures are only sporadically tangible in ancient literature, which underscores their marginal position in narrative <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A handed-down story about gods, origins, and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span>. Horace mentions them in the <em>Epistles<\/em> (Book 2, Letter 2) in passing, in an enumeration of nocturnal terror: alongside dreams, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that seek to intervene in the course of events through special actions or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">magical<\/span> horrors, Thessalian marvels and witches stand the <em>nocturni lemures<\/em>.<\/p><p>The passage shows that the word could serve in the educated usage of the early Principate as the epitome of ghostly haunting, without implying any precise <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration for a deity or holy figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span>.<\/p><p>In Persius and in later prose the term appears occasionally in the sense of &#8220;<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An incorporeal being to which effects in the world are attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">ghost<\/span>&#8221; or &#8220;specter&#8221;.<\/p><p>The comic playwright Plautus titles his play about a haunted house <em>Mostellaria<\/em>, after <em>mostellum<\/em>, a little monster, yet the subject matter alone shows that the notion of the restless dead one haunting a house was firmly anchored in everyday Roman thinking.<\/p><p>The Christian authors of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">late antiquity<\/span> took up the term in order to categorize or discredit <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Synonymous with heathen; belonging to a pre-Christian religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">pagan<\/span> notions of spirits. Augustine uses it, as mentioned, within a demonological system.<\/p><p>Overall, a picture emerges in which the Lemures are present in literature more as an element of atmosphere and as a learned vocabulary item than as the object of elaborated narratives.<\/p><p>This source situation forces scholarship to reconstruct the religious significance of the Lemures almost exclusively from <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> and from the calendar. Comparable restless dead from other cultures are treated in the entries on related figures such as the <a href=\"\/en\/larvae\/\">Larvae<\/a> and the <a href=\"\/en\/manes-the-deified-spirits-of-the-deceased\/\">Manes<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpe936fb5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpe936fb5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpbbdd01e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpbbdd01e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">History of Research: From Spirit Belief to Religious Studies<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp6409ee5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp6409ee5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cped34b1c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cped34b1c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The scholarly study of the Lemures is closely tied to the development of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">religious studies<\/span> in the 19th and early 20th centuries.<\/p><p>In older research the Lemures were regarded as evidence of a supposedly primitive, pre-divine &#8220;spirit belief&#8221; out of which higher religion only later developed. This evolutionist view shaped, for instance, the work in the circle of Edward Burnett Tylor and his concept of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The notion that animals, plants, and things also possess a soul.\" tabindex=\"0\">animism<\/span>.<\/p><p><span data-nosnippet>For Roman religion in particular, the studies of Georg Wissowa were decisive; his handbook <em>Religion und Kultus der R\u00f6mer<\/em> (1902, second edition 1912) placed the Lemuria within the fixed calendar of Roman state religion.<\/span><\/p><p>Wissowa and his successors emphasized the ritual, formulaic character and warned against deriving an elaborated doctrine of the afterlife from the Lemures.<\/p><p>Later researchers such as Kurt Latte in <em>R\u00f6mische Religionsgeschichte<\/em> (1960) further refined the picture and located the festivals of the dead within household religion and the social function of ancestor care.<\/p><p>More recent research, for example in the circle of John Scheid&#8217;s work on Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An offering to a deity to express thanks, a request, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">offering<\/span> and festival practice, emphasizes less the question of &#8220;belief&#8221; than of ritual logic: what did the head of the household do, and what social and calendrical order did he thereby establish.<\/p><p>The question of the age and original distribution of the rite described by Ovid remains open to this day. Since Ovid is the only continuous source and works in a literary manner, it cannot be securely decided how much of it is lived practice and how much is learned reconstruction of the Augustan period.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp192c1c9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp192c1c9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpec649d2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpec649d2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Lemuria in the Roman Festival Calendar and Its Social Function<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp1fd7767 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp1fd7767\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp947f508 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp947f508\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The <em>Lemuria<\/em> were not an isolated <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A handed-down action regularly repeated within a community.\" tabindex=\"0\">custom<\/span>, but part of a thoroughly structured festival calendar that divided the Roman relationship to the dead into two poles.<\/p><p>In February stood the <em>Parentalia<\/em>, a time of peaceful, nurturing attention to one&#8217;s own deceased, concluded by the <em>Feralia<\/em>. The <em>Lemuria<\/em> in May formed the counterpart: here it was not a matter of care, but of defense and separation.<\/p><p>The Roman calendar marked the three Lemuria days as <em>nefasti<\/em>, that is, as days on which public official business rested.<\/p><p>The sources also say that during the Lemuria the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building that serves the veneration of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temples<\/span> remained closed and no weddings took place; May was therefore considered an unfavorable month for marriage, a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A pejorative term for notions held to be unfounded as religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">superstition<\/span> that in part continued into modern times.<\/p><p>The social function of the festival can be grasped well. The <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A prescribed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> was a matter for the household, not the state, and it was performed by the <em>pater familias<\/em> on behalf of the entire family community.<\/p><p>In this way the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> confirmed each year the role of the head of the household as religious leader and at the same time drew a clear line between the living inhabitants of the house and the unintegrated dead.<\/p><p>Whoever was properly buried and remembered by descendants belonged to the <em>manes<\/em> and thus still to the family; whoever was not was symbolically driven out of the house as a <em>lemur<\/em> year after year.<\/p><p>The Lemuria thus performed a twofold work of ordering, a temporal one in the calendar and a social one in the relationship between the living and the dead. This connection of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> and social structure is more central to understanding Roman household religion than any speculation about the appearance of the Lemures themselves.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36dd7469 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"36dd7469\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-13760ab4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"13760ab4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Further Links<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28c87796 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"28c87796\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d6538df elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5d6538df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Recommended internal links:<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/rome\/\">Rome<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/larvae\/\">Larvae<\/a> (close relatives)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/edimmu\/\">Edimmu<\/a> (Mesopotamian parallel)<\/li><li>Parentalia and Lemuria (festival calendar)<\/li><li>Revenants and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Religious notions and customs that are widespread in everyday life.\" tabindex=\"0\">folk belief<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-grl4kl40 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"grl4kl40\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bzsbfrmh elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bzsbfrmh\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Research Literature<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c13224a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"2c13224a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0eymh9ub elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0eymh9ub\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<footer class=\"iwg-literatur\"><p>A selection of central works on the Lemures and the Roman cult of the dead:<\/p><ul><li><span data-nosnippet>Scheid, John: <em>Religion et pi\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 Rome<\/em>. Paris 1985.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Toynbee, Jocelyn M. C.: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.press.jhu.edu\/books\/title\/1410\/death-and-burial-roman-world\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Death and Burial in the Roman World<\/a><\/em>. London 1971.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Fantham, Elaine: <em>Ovid: Fasti, Book IV<\/em>. Cambridge 1998 (with commentary on Book V).<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Dumezil, Georges: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.payot-rivages.fr\/payot\/livre\/la-religion-romaine-archa%C3%AFque-9782228892971\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La religion romaine archa\u00efque<\/a><\/em>. Paris 1966.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div data-nosnippet=\"true\" class=\"iwg-litliste\"><p><strong>Standard literature (Rome):<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><span data-nosnippet><strong>Walde, Christine (ed.)<\/strong>: <em><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">Antike<\/span> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of the handed-down divine narratives of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">Mythologie<\/span>. Personen, Themen, Motive. Stuttgart 2008.<\/em><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/footer>\n<p class=\"iwg-bib-more\"><span data-nosnippet>Further standard works in the <a href=\"\/en\/literature\/\">literature index<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-lemures-sec e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgca-lemures-sec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" id=\"iwg-ca-lemures\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-lemures-te iwg-ca-textwrap elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgca-lemures-te\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p class=\"iwg-ca-bridge\">The protective practice described here is a religious-studies classification of historical traditions. iWell Guard ties in with this cultural-historical line of wearable protective objects and represents a contemporary form of it. <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/about-iwell-guard-the-protective-pendant-in-detail\/?utm_source=iwell-guard.com&#038;utm_medium=text-link&#038;utm_campaign=schadwesen-tradition\">More about the iWell Guard \u2192<\/a><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lemures, Spirits of the Dead and the Household in Roman Belief Lemures (Latin: Lemures), restless dead and the May festival of the Lemuria.Spirits of the dead and of the household in Roman belief, also known in German spelling as Lemuren. SpiritRomeSpirit of the dead Table of Contents Lemures The Lemures are the restless or malevolent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4770,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Lemures","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Lemures: Spirits of the Roman Tradition","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"The Lemures are the restless or malevolent spirits of the dead in the Roman tradition. Unlike the manes, who are honored in the regular ancestral cult","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_angie_page":false,"gefaehrdungsstufe":"","wesen_kultur":"","wesen_klasse":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,108,93],"class_list":["post-4769","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultures","category-rome","category-spirits"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lemures: Spirits of the Roman Tradition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Lemures are the restless or malevolent spirits of the dead in the Roman tradition. 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