DOMESTIC CULT – SACRA PRIVATA

Salve Lupe,

Firstly, this is sacra privata. So really the ultimate choice is up to the family in question. But I would strongly advise against anything that is supersitio. Remember, gods and mortals have freewill and both engage voluntarily. You cannot force a God to accept an image or to be involved in anything else. Thinking and trying to do so is supersitio. Not a respectful thing, so to be discouraged.

Now if we assume sacra privata was often modeled on sacra publica, we do have some examples as to how to do this.

The most simple and probably historically common means is to simply offer the image to the God in question as a sacrifice. In other words, you make the offering sacer by offering it to the God. Following the societas numanea protocol would provide a script as to how to do this.

As to how to determine if this offering is accepted, we would follow the process used for any offering. We watch for signs during and after the ceremony. Anything strange, the image breaking or falling over during a ceremony, or other unusual and suggestive occurances would be suggestive of a rejected image. Similarly anything suggestive of favor – a favorable animal coming near the image or lightening or other natural phenomena would speak well. No sign could be regarded as neutral or favorable acceptance.

This process of making an image sacer makes this object property of the God. They own the image. The image should be treated as such. The image remains the property of the Gods until it is made profanus. This would require again asking the deity in question for permission and watching the signs. It is possible that the God does not consent to a request to relinquish the object. In that case, this should be respected.

I hope this clarifies.