Part 4: The Roman Republic
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Saturn was a primitive local God who was first worshipped as another God of Agriculture. Saturn was later associated with Cronus, in His aspect as the mate of Rhea the Destroyer, who was first called Lua, and as a fire Goddess, was held responsible for plagues, fires, and the deaths of children (180). To the Chaldean astrologers, Saturn was Aciel the Lord of Death, associated with the Sun at its lowest aspect of midwinter solstice, sometimes called the sun of night. At Harran, near Edessa, Saturn was given the epithet of "Lord Saturn, the cold, the dry, the dark, the harmful", and was the object of some rather peculiar forms of worship which included, among other things, the burning of "...Candles made of incense, opium, goat's fat, and urine (while) chanting prayers..."(Cumont 28,90).

The Babylonian name of Saturn was Ninip, an underworld God addressed as "...the black Saturn, the ghost of the dead sun, the demonic elder God..."(Hallet 387). The Lord of Death was both a savior and a destroyer. He was the dark time of the year, the seed born in winter that blossomed in the spring. The ancient worship of Saturn was remarkably similar to that of the Celtic dying god, who performed the same functions. Part of the winter celebration was the choice of a sacred king, who was honored as the king of the land and as the God Himself, for a season. At the end of the festival, the king-God surrogate was ritually sacrificed as the king who must die for his people, and sent to the underworld to plead with the God- ensuring fruitfulness for the coming year. This sacrifice of a sacred king was a universal practice in Italy, as well as the rest of Europe and the Middle-East (Frazier 679).

By the time of the Republic, the actual sacrifice had been replaced with a symbolic sacrifice, and the festival had become the Roman Saturnalia. The festival was originally held on November 17, but was gradually expanded, and by Cicero's time, lasted for seven days. Public gambling was permitted, slaves were freed for the duration and waited on by their masters, and a general atmosphere of peace, joy, and goodwill prevailed. A mock king was elected to be in charge of the festivities, which were inaugurated with a sacrifice made to the God in the Greek manner, with heads uncovered. "This sacrifice was attended by members of the Senate, and it was followed by a great banquet..."(Lyttleton and Foreman 51). Not all Romans thought the Saturnalia a wonderful festival; Pliny the Younger is reputed to have built an apartment at his villa in Lurantum so that he could get away from the revelry (51).

Saturday was Saturn's Day, and He was "...identified with the astrological influences of heaviness, darkness, assivity, and coldness..."(Walker 897). Considering the jovial nature of Saturnalia, these qualities may well have been later superimpositions. Saturn's attentions were not always undesirable, "like most cthonian Deities, He was ambiguous. He was often revered as a healer. The modern medicinal symbol Rx began as the planetary sigal of Saturn...often written on paper and eaten as a cure for disease..."(Waddell 401). Gods and Goddesses of Death and Healing were not unusual, as death was seen only as a means to rebirth and rejuvenation, and not as the final judgement with which it was viewed by the later Christians.

Venus was also a Goddess of birth and death, an attribution She shares with many other Triple-Goddesses. In Her aspect a "Queen of Shades...She went by the name of Libitina (and was) identified with Proserpine..."(Walker 1043). Plutarch states that Libitina was only another name for "...Venus, the Goddess of generation..."(Knight 73). Venus Erycina was identified with the Gallic heather-Goddess Ursica and with an Irish Triple-Goddess, Garbh Ogh, a giantess whose "cart was drawn by elk, whose diet was venison milk and honey and (at Her death) set up Her chair in the womb of the hills at the season of heather bloom..."(Graves 192). Heather was the sacred tree of Venus.

Venus is the name of the Great Goddess in Her sexual aspect, evolved from the "eponymous Mother of the Venetian tribes of the Adriatic, after whom the city of Venice is named...(Walker 1043).

Venus was first a Goddess of animals, and her consort, the horned God Adonis, was both the hunter and the sacrificial stag. "Venison" originally meant Venus' son, and the words "veneration", "venery", and "venial" were also derived from Her worship (Potter and Sargent 209).

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