Household worship

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Reconstructed household shrine.

How to start practicing private rites

This "How To" manual has been written for citizens who are interested in beginning to practice the cultus deorum on their own, by practicing the household rites that were a part of Roman life for centuries. It is intended to be a basic practical introduction rather than a scholarly text. Further research, reading and learning are as always highly encouraged.

Importance of Household Worship

Private worship was the foundation of religion in ancient Rome. The public rites, with their grand temples and many festivals have received the most attention from historians. Yet such things were possible only because of the pietas which grew from household and family rites. Each household in Rome was in a sense a temple to the gods. All Roman homes had a household altar, or "lararium", at which the family interacted with the goddesses and gods on a personal level each day. The rites of the home and family were so important to the Romans that such worship persisted into very late antiquity, surviving centuries longer than the public manifestations of the cultus deorum, which were officially banned in the late 4th century CE.

The reasons why household worship was important are understandable even today. The family is the basis of Roman culture, and the household is the "center" of a family's existence. Inviting the gods into ones house helps to ensure that one's property, relatives, and worldly efforts are blessed by the Roman deities, and that the positive powers of the goddesses and gods will enrich ones daily life. Such a sharing of life between humans and the gods is the essence of the Pax Deorum, or "Peace of the Gods."

The Basic Outline of Household Worship

The basics of cultus deorum household worship are simple and easy to do. A "sacred space" is set up in the home, in the form of a household altar or Lararium. At this altar both the deities that are responsible for the home and the patron deities of the family are worshipped. Historically, there are two simple rites done at the Lararium altar each day - in the morning and evening. During these rites the gods are honored, and asked to watch over the affairs of the family. The lararium was of course also a place where individuals could worship the gods privately, and make small offerings to them. In essence, the lararium is the "sacred heart" of the household, where the positive forces of the gods may be brought into everyday mundane existence.