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DIANA

At the start of timeless antiquity, in the sacred woods of Nemi, in the Albanian Hills near Rome, the goddess Diana was worshipped as the goddess of the woodlands, wild animals and probably also livestock and the fruits of the earth. The guardian of springs and streams, protector of women, she helped mothers during childbirth. Legend has it that Diana was a lover of solitude and liked to roam in isolated places. In the name of Cupid, the Roman god of Eros and beauty, she made a gift of chastity and for this reason she was kind and protective towards those who pledged to remain virgins. These were the vestal virgins who guarded her sacred fire in a circular temple placed at the centre of a sacred enclosure. According to Cato the Censor, the sacred wood was dedicated to Diana by a Latin dictator, Manius Egerius Baebius, on behalf of the people of Tusculum, Aricia, Lanuvium, Laurentum, Cora, Tibur, Pometia and Ardea. Other tasks, like assisting women during childbirth, were carried out on the goddess Diana’s behalf by a nymph of clear water, Egeria, who was associated with her and who, it would appear, was not a virgin given that she had had a love affair with an ancient King of Rome. It appears that Diana too had a companion called Virbius who apparently moved from the inconsistent tales of mythology into equally mysterious historical reality through a succession of priests, called kings of the woods, who were regularly murdered by their successors but felt safe from any attack as long as a given bough was not torn from a special tree in the wood. Evocative and rich descriptions of this dramatic, mysterious and fascinating epic are to be found in James G. Frazer’s book “THE GOLDEN BOUGH – A study in magic and religion” of the "Universale scientifica Boringhieri" collection. The illustration portraying the goddess Diana in her later association with Selene, the lunar goddess, has been drawn by pen on paper and processed by computer using the airbrush, paint brush and clone tools of the Corel PhotoPaint programme.