Also called Dis, Pluto.
Their story
Dis Pater, whose name means rich father, was the Roman lord of the dead and of the wealth beneath the earth, later identified with the Greek Pluto. With Proserpina he was honoured by night at the Tarentum in the Campus Martius, where an underground altar was uncovered for the Ludi Tarentini and later the Secular Games. Caesar reports that the Gauls claimed descent from Dis Pater. On three days a year the mundus, a pit linking the living and the dead, was said to stand open.
Best times to give to them
- Ludi Saeculares (once a century)
- Mundus patet days, 24 August, 5 October, 8 November
- Parentalia, 13 to 21 February
What they like being given
- Dark bread
- Black beans
- Incense of myrrh
- Water or dark wine poured on earth
How to honour them
- Speak to him with respect, and do not seek to summon.
- Give thanks for the wealth that comes out of the ground.
- Honour him at the close of a life or a long chapter.
How they can help you
- Grief and endings
- Hidden resources
- Facing mortality
Symbols
- key
- cornucopia
- black stone
- cypress
Much of what is written about the mundus is uncertain.
Sources
- Valerius Maximus 2.4.5
- Caesar, De Bello Gallico 6.18
- Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.16.18
More Roman gods
- Jupiter Best and greatest, guardian of Rome
- Mars Father of Rome and guardian of fields
- Mercury Patron of merchants, messages and journeys
- Janus Two-faced god of doors and beginnings
- Saturn King of the golden age and lord of the harvest
- Sol Invictus The unconquered sun, reborn at midwinter
- Neptune Lord of fresh water and the sea
- Vulcan God of fire, both destroying and forging