Without trying to be coy or overly evasive, this is one of those situations I've reflected on for a few years and haven't fully resolved, but I strongly suspect the latter.
Points to perhaps ponder:
- Some of these exceedingly ancient places are extraordinarily "charged," for lack of a better term, with spiritual force (hence why the church chose to co-opt many of them, I suspect...the Ara Maxima is a good example. The times I've visited, the very air seemed "full," as it were.) It doesn't take much to "set things off" in such places, and it is my suspicion that, especially if formal rites have been followed in a place, then something less-than-casual many trigger untoward events. I believe it may be safer, in a sense, to perform rites in an appropriate "new" space rather than some of these places that have histories, especially if we are not fully cognizant of those histories. - Some of these are places where multiple divinities have been worshipped, and again, I'm not sure whether there is syncretism that occurs or what exactly the dynamics are there. There's the additional issue of ritual spaces for different divinities in close proximity to each other...if you've ever visited the Capitoline, where the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was once (and which bears some remains), you can more or less feel the intensity of that presence, but it's additionally a place that's been connected with Saturnus, and it's just a stone's throw to other myriad temples. I'm not entirely sure how those dynamics play out. A lot of unknowns, especially in the modern, changed landscape.
Take all of these observations with the appropriate grain of salt, as I'm not entirely sure. One takeaway for me: even if one's intent is (relatively) innocent, it does not pay to take an offering to the gods lightly...one is standing before Divinity, after all, and I for one can't afford the doctor bills!
no subject
Points to perhaps ponder:
- Some of these exceedingly ancient places are extraordinarily "charged," for lack of a better term, with spiritual force (hence why the church chose to co-opt many of them, I suspect...the Ara Maxima is a good example. The times I've visited, the very air seemed "full," as it were.) It doesn't take much to "set things off" in such places, and it is my suspicion that, especially if formal rites have been followed in a place, then something less-than-casual many trigger untoward events. I believe it may be safer, in a sense, to perform rites in an appropriate "new" space rather than some of these places that have histories, especially if we are not fully cognizant of those histories.
- Some of these are places where multiple divinities have been worshipped, and again, I'm not sure whether there is syncretism that occurs or what exactly the dynamics are there. There's the additional issue of ritual spaces for different divinities in close proximity to each other...if you've ever visited the Capitoline, where the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was once (and which bears some remains), you can more or less feel the intensity of that presence, but it's additionally a place that's been connected with Saturnus, and it's just a stone's throw to other myriad temples. I'm not entirely sure how those dynamics play out. A lot of unknowns, especially in the modern, changed landscape.
Take all of these observations with the appropriate grain of salt, as I'm not entirely sure. One takeaway for me: even if one's intent is (relatively) innocent, it does not pay to take an offering to the gods lightly...one is standing before Divinity, after all, and I for one can't afford the doctor bills!
Axé!