Also called Larvae, the restless dead.
The tale
The lemures were restless, sometimes hungry spirits of the dead who were thought to wander homes in May. Ovid in his Fasti describes how, at the Lemuria, the father of the household rose at midnight, walked barefoot, made a sign with his fingers to ward off spirits and washed his hands in spring water. Then he threw black beans behind him without looking back, saying nine times that with these beans he redeemed himself and his family. Finally he banged bronze pots and told the ghosts of his fathers to leave.
When they are met
- the Lemuria, 9, 11 and 13 May
- midnight
- when a home feels unsettled
Staying on their good side
- black beans thrown behind you without looking
- washing hands in clean water
- words of release
- remembrance of the proper family dead
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- In May, spend an evening remembering the dead of your family and speaking kindly of them.
- Wash your hands in clean water as a small act of cleansing.
- Recite in your own words Ovid's idea of redeeming yourself and your family.
- Give the house a thorough spring clean.
What their tales teach
- setting the dead at peace
- cleansing the home
- remembering ancestors
- ending old patterns
Symbols
- black beans
- clashing bronze
- bare feet
- running water
- midnight
Chiefly from Ovid's Fasti, book five.
More Roman folklore
- Genius Loci The guardian spirit of a place
- Striges The screech-owls of the night
- The Sibyl of Cumae The prophetess of the hundred-mouthed cave
- Fauns The goat-legged spirits of the woods
- The Versipellis The werewolf by the tombs
- Larvae Malevolent ghosts of the restless dead
- Mania Mother of the dead and nursery bogey
- Lamia (in Roman sources) Child-devouring witch of Roman tales