{"id":4772,"date":"2026-04-21T09:29:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/larvae\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:29:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:29:04","slug":"larvae","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/larvae\/","title":{"rendered":"Larvae"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"4772\" class=\"elementor elementor-4772 elementor-845\" 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\">Larvae, Spirit of the Roman Tradition<\/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\t<p>Larvae is a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An incorporeal being to which an effect upon the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirit<\/span> of the Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>.<\/p><p><strong>Terrifying <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A bodiless being to which agency in the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirits<\/span> of the dead, the mask of the evil death.<\/strong><\/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-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. Acts 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_larvae-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4773\" alt=\"Larvae - spirits from the Roman tradition, historical-illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_larvae-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_larvae-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_larvae-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_rom_larvae.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<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Larvae<\/div>\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 Larvae are the malevolent variant of Roman spirits of the dead. Where the Lemures still stand in the shadows between dangerous and appeasable, the Larvae are consistently hostile.<\/p><p>They appear as shadowy, terrifying figures and bring madness, illness, and haunting. The Latin word also means &#8220;mask,&#8221; a hint that they were imagined as grinning, hollow grimaces.<\/p><p>In literature they appear in Plautus, Seneca, and Apuleius. Later, Larvae and Lemures merged in common usage; Christian authors used <em>larvae<\/em> as a general term for malevolent spirits. In depictions of banquets, small Larvae figurines occasionally appear, little skeleton statuettes meant to recall the transience of life.<\/p><div><p><strong>Pliny and the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> natural history of the larvae<\/strong><\/p><p>Pliny the Elder treats Roman beliefs about spirits of the dead in his <em>Naturalis Historia<\/em> (ca. 77 AD). Pliny documents <em>Larvae<\/em> as remnants of the dead who are forced by evil circumstances of death (murder, lack of burial, an unfinished life) to linger in the world of the living.<\/p><p>His account is factual and skeptical at the same time; he reports the popular beliefs without necessarily endorsing them, yet he concedes that such phenomena were observed.<\/p><p>Pliny distinguishes between Larvae and other supernatural categories, such as <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demons<\/span> or gods. This differentiation allowed later Roman thinkers to develop a classification of beings of the afterlife that was compatible with Aristotelian metaphysics.<\/p><p>His authority as a writer of natural history lent the concept of the larva a certain scholarly legitimacy that influenced the phenomenon into modern times.<\/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<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\">Quick Overview: Larvae<\/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> Malevolent spirits of the dead<br>Origin: The guilty dead, murderers, the unburied, those who died violently<br>Texts: Plautus, Seneca, Apuleius, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Augustine of Hippo (354-430); Christian Church Father, principal works Confessiones and De civitate Dei.\">Augustine<\/span><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: Purification rites, completion of burial, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Plural of apotropaion: objects and signs intended to ward off misfortune.\" tabindex=\"0\">apotropaia<\/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\">Context<\/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>Attested early in Roman comedy (Plautus, 3rd\/2nd century BC). Seneca&#8217;s tragedies and Apuleius&#8217; <em>Metamorphoses<\/em> (2nd century AD) elaborate the notion. Augustine (4th\/5th century AD) uses the term in a Christian reinterpretation as a synonym for &#8220;<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent effects are attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demon<\/span>.&#8221;<\/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 Italic cultural sphere and the Roman provinces. In <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>, increasingly understood as part of the growing Christian demonology.<\/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>Literary sources in comedy, tragedy, the novel, and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Theology and writings of the Church Fathers (2nd-8th c.), e.g. Augustine, Jerome, Origen, Chrysostom.\">patristics<\/span>. Pictorially, the Larvae convivales figurines (skeleton statuettes at banquets), as preserved in Pompeii and Herculaneum among other places. Otherwise little fixed iconographically.<\/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\">Name and variants<\/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>Larva<\/em> (singular), <em>Larvae<\/em> (plural).<br>Meaning of the word: &#8220;mask,&#8221; hence also a term for the actor&#8217;s mask. The Larva is the grinning, hollow face of death itself.<br>Relation to the Lemures: close kinship, often synonymous.<\/p><p>The double meaning &#8220;mask \/ spirit of the dead&#8221; is characteristic. It reflects the Roman sense that the face of death is not the face of a person but a mask-like distortion.<\/p><p>The Larvae convivales figurines, small movable skeletons passed around at the banquet, draw on this connotation: they admonish the guest to enjoy life before the Larva comes.<\/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\">Characteristics<\/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>Terrifying, often skeletal figures; in descriptions with hollow eyes, grinning teeth, waxen skin. The Larva is less human than grimace, a mask being peeled away.<\/p><p><strong>Behavior<\/strong><\/p><p>More hostile than the Lemures. Larvae actively beset people, bring madness, nightmares, illness. They are associated with mental torment; the Roman expression <em>larvatus<\/em> (&#8220;possessed by a Larva&#8221;) means &#8220;insane.&#8221;<\/p><p><strong>Sphere of action<\/strong><\/p><p>The house of the perpetrator or the family, places of violent death, prisons, battlefields. Also banquets, where the memento mori <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring thematic element in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> is deliberately staged.<\/p><p><strong>Mythological origin<\/strong><\/p><p>No divine origin. Larvae arise from people whose death or life violated the regular ethical and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> measure. They are the dark mirror of the Manes.<\/p><div><p><strong>Apuleius and demonology in De deo Socratis<\/strong><\/p><p>Apuleius wrote a systematic treatise on demons and spirits in <em>De deo Socratis<\/em> (ca. 170 AD). He treats Larvae as a subclass of demons, specifically as spirits of deceased people who were not received into the afterlife because they remained bound to earthly conflicts.<\/p><p>Apuleius differentiates: the good dead become <em>Genii<\/em> (guardian spirits), while the bad or imperfectly deceased become Larvae. This moral and functional dichotomy was later adopted by Christianity and transformed into the saved and the damned.<\/p><p>Apuleius&#8217; systematic approach made the Larvae a conceptually stable phenomenon that could be analyzed and classified. His influence on medieval <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the doctrines of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theological<\/span> thinkers was great, especially on authors who sought to reconcile Christian and Platonic metaphysics.<\/p><\/div>\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: Larvae<\/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 Larvae at a glance. You will find the detailed treatment of name, description, defense, and parallels 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\">Tradition<\/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 malevolent dead, murderers, the unburied, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Gift to a deity to express gratitude, petition, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">victims<\/span> of violent death. The dark mirror of the <em>manes<\/em>.<\/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\">Whom the Larvae target<\/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>People burdened with guilt, perpetrators, families with an unreconciled death. Further: guests at banquets, where Larvae appear as a memento mori.<\/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\">Depiction<\/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>Skeletal, mask-like, hollow face. The Latin word also means &#8220;mask&#8221;; the Larva is the face of death being peeled away.<\/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\">Sphere of action<\/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>Madness, nightmares, illness, persistent harassment. More active and more hostile than the Lemures.<\/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\">Protection<\/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>Completion of a delayed burial, purification rites, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An offering to a deity to express thanks, a request, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">offerings<\/span> to the di inferi. In <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 <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Ritual expulsion of a spirit or demon understood as harmful.\" tabindex=\"0\">exorcism<\/span> formulas against <em>larvae<\/em>.<\/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 Larvae<\/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>Lemures (close kin), <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/edimmu\/\">Edimmu<\/a>, Keres, hungry ghosts, revenants.<\/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 Lemuria also covers the Larvae; the boundary between the two is fluid. No specific Larvae rites have come down to us; the general rites for the dead (burial, Parentalia, Lemuria) suffice as a countermeasure.<\/p><p><strong>Invocations<\/strong><\/p><p>No independent tradition of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The petitioning or conjuring address of a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invocation<\/span>. In defixiones, Larvae can be called upon to be sent against personal opponents. In <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Theology and writings of the Church Fathers (2nd-8th c.), e.g. Augustine, Jerome, Origen, Chrysostom.\">patristics<\/span> they are conjured as demons and driven out.<\/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>General Roman apotropaia, the phallus fascinum, the bulla for children, eye amulets. The Larvae convivales figurines at banquets are not protection but a memento mori, a ritual encounter with the Larva in a safe setting.<\/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\">Larvae, 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 and Greece:<\/strong> Edimmu-like spirits of the dead; the Keres as battlefield figures; in both traditions the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring thematic element in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> of the restless dead as a warning to the living.<\/p><p><strong>Christian reception<\/strong><\/p><p>Augustine uses <em>larvae<\/em> as a word for demons in a new sense. From there the term passes into medieval demonology and into the biological technical vocabulary (the insect larva, the &#8220;mask&#8221; before the adult form).<\/p><p><strong><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Religious ideas and customs that are widespread in everyday life.\" tabindex=\"0\">Popular belief<\/span> and the modern era:<\/strong> The death mask, the skull on the memento mori, the Halloween mask, all derivations of the Larva motif. The basic pattern &#8220;mask as the face of death&#8221; remains stable.<\/p><div><p><strong>Lemures and the Lemuria festival<\/strong><\/p><p>The Romans distinguished between Larvae and <em>Lemures<\/em>, a dichotomy that is often confused in modern literature. Lemures are evil or dangerous dead, Larvae are neutral or weak. The <em>Lemuria<\/em> festival (13-15 May) was an important <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A regulated sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> to drive away the Lemures and protect households.<\/p><p>The father of the house performed a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A regulated sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span>, threw out black beans to ward off evil spirits, and whispered formulas of appeasement. This indicates that Roman society took the phenomenon seriously and developed means to counter it.<\/p><p>The etymological connection between Latin <em>lemures<\/em> and the modern English <em>lemur<\/em> (the animal) is a curiosity of natural history; Carl Linnaeus named the primates lemurs because he perceived their nocturnal and inconspicuous nature as similarly ghostly to the ancient spirits.<\/p><\/div>\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-cpeeb0c3d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpeeb0c3d\" 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-cp8a6db83 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp8a6db83\" 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\">Larvae and Lemures: The harmful dead in Roman belief<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpb98868a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpb98868a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp007998d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp007998d\" 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 imagination distinguished various classes of spirits of the dead. While the <em>di manes<\/em> denoted the deceased conceived of collectively and generally benevolently, <em>larvae<\/em> and <em>lemures<\/em> stood for the restless, harmful, or wandering dead. The sources often use both terms almost synonymously, yet a tendency can be discerned.<\/p><p>The <em>lemures<\/em> appear above all as nocturnal haunting spirits that beset the house. The <em>larvae<\/em>, by contrast, are more frequently described as malevolent, terrifying figures that can pursue the living, drive them to madness, or torment them.<\/p><p>The scholar Augustine of Hippo records in <em>De civitate Dei<\/em> an <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> classification according to which the good dead became <em>lares<\/em>, the evil became <em>larvae<\/em>, and the indeterminate became <em>manes<\/em>. This threefold division, however, is likely a late, ordering construction.<\/p><p>Plautus uses <em>larva<\/em> in his comedies as a term of abuse and as an expression for someone who appears possessed by an evil <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An incorporeal being to which an effect upon the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirit<\/span> or mad; the phrase <em>larvatus<\/em> denotes someone plagued by larvae.<\/p><p>This shows that in everyday awareness the Larvae were regarded above all as a cause of mental confusion and nocturnal terror. Scholarship emphasizes that there was no uniform Roman doctrine of spirits, but rather a fluid field of terms that was filled differently depending on author and epoch.<\/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-cp0435136 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp0435136\" 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-cpe6f9eb6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpe6f9eb6\" 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: The festival to ward off the restless dead<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp5576474 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp5576474\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp4deb30e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp4deb30e\" 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 testimony to the ritual handling of the harmful dead is the depiction of the <em>Lemuria<\/em> in the <em>Fasti<\/em> of the poet Ovid. This festival was observed on three days in May, the 9th, 11th, and 13th, and served to appease and expel the wandering spirits from the house.<\/p><p>Ovid describes the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A regulated sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> precisely: the father of the house rose at midnight, went barefoot, and made a certain sign with his fingers so as not to encounter spirits.<\/p><p>He washed his hands in spring water, took black beans into his mouth, and threw them behind him without looking back, while speaking nine times: <em>His ego mitto, his redimo meque meosque fabis<\/em>, meaning, with these beans I redeem myself and mine.<\/p><p>Then he washed again, struck bronze vessels, and called upon the spirits nine times to leave the house.<\/p><p>The bean played a role several times in the Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> of the dead and was regarded as a plant connected with the deceased. Throwing without looking, the silence, and the repetition of the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to the divine and thereby withdrawn from everyday use.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacred<\/span> number nine are classic features of a defensive ritual.<\/p><p>Scholarship sees in the Lemuria a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A fixed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> of purification that freed the dwelling from the unburied or unatoned dead, in contrast to the more nurturing rites of the <em>Parentalia<\/em> in February.<\/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-cpeaf955d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpeaf955d\" 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-cpf5cbd04 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpf5cbd04\" 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\">Larva as mask: A second meaning of the word<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpaad2e33 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpaad2e33\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2756068 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp2756068\" 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 Latin word <em>larva<\/em> carries a remarkable double meaning. Besides the harmful spirit of the dead, it also denotes the mask, especially the frightening or grotesquely distorted mask.<\/p><p>This meaning is amply attested in Roman literature and is plausibly explained by the first: a frightening mask represents a dead person or a specter and can itself be called <em>larva<\/em>.<\/p><p>From the theatrical context the <em>larva<\/em> is known as a stage mask. Famous is an anecdote in Suetonius and others about banquet <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the customs handed down within a community.\" tabindex=\"0\">customs<\/span> in which small movable skeleton figures, so-called <em>larvae conviviales<\/em>, were passed around to remind the guests of transience.<\/p><p>Petronius describes such a silver jointed figure at the banquet of Trimalchio in his <em>Satyricon<\/em>.<\/p><p>In terms of linguistic history, this second meaning has had far-reaching consequences. Through Medieval Latin, <em>larva<\/em> entered the scholarly terminology of the modern era. Carl Linnaeus adopted the term in the 18th century into zoology to denote the juvenile stage of insects, which conceals the later form as if behind a mask.<\/p><p>The modern word larva in its biological meaning thus goes back directly to the Roman spirit of the dead. The German word Larve in the sense of mask likewise preserves the old double meaning.<\/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<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Further links<\/div>\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=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/lemures\/\">Lemures<\/a> (close kin)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/edimmu\/\">Edimmu<\/a> (Mesopotamian parallel)<\/li><li>Memento mori and the cult of the dead<\/li><li>Christian demonology (patristics)<\/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\">Further reading<\/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 Larvae and the Roman cult of the dead:<\/p><ul><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>Scheid, John: <em>An Introduction to Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">Religion<\/span><\/em>. Edinburgh 2003.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Versnel, H. S.: <em>Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion<\/em>. Leiden 1990.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Dunbabin, Katherine M. D.: <em>The Roman Banquet<\/em>. Cambridge 2003 (on the Larvae convivales figures).<\/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\">Ancient<\/span> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted tales of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>. Persons, themes, motifs. 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-larvae-sec e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgca-larvae-sec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" id=\"iwg-ca-larvae\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-larvae-te iwg-ca-textwrap elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgca-larvae-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 into 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>Larvae, Spirit of the Roman Tradition Larvae is a spirit of the Roman tradition. Terrifying spirits of the dead, the mask of the evil death. SpiritRomeSpirit of the dead Table of Contents Larvae The Larvae are the malevolent variant of Roman spirits of the dead. Where the Lemures still stand in the shadows between dangerous [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4773,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Larvae","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Larvae: Spirit of the Roman Tradition","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"The Larvae are the malevolent variant of Roman spirits of the dead. Where the Lemures still stand in the shadows between dangerous and appeasable","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_angie_page":false,"gefaehrdungsstufe":"","wesen_kultur":"","wesen_klasse":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,108,93],"class_list":["post-4772","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>Larvae: Spirit of the Roman Tradition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Larvae are the malevolent variant of Roman spirits of the dead. 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