At the founding of Rome, the gods were regarded as 'numina' or divine manifestations - faceless, formless, but very powerful. The idea of gods as personified human beings came later under the influence of the Etruscans and Greeks. For early Romans, everything in Nature was thought to be inhabited by numina or the divine, which explains the big number of deities in the Roman pantheon. Numina manifest the divine will by means of natural phenomena, which the pious Roman constantly sought to interpret. Great attention was paid to omens and portents in every aspect of Roman daily life.

The month of June is named after the goddess. Juno is the patroness of marriage and was said to be present at all marriage ceremonies.  Many people still believe today this month to be the best time to marry. Juno was Jupiter's wife and the Queen of the Gods. The Goddess of heaven and of the moon, Juno symbolized the matronly qualities Roman women should possess. She was the protector of woman during childbirth and child rearing.

She protected the city of Rome from the Gauls. Before the attack, the sacred geese in the temple of Juno alerted the Romans of the pending danger, giving them the opportunity to attack and defeat the Gauls first and thereby save the city. In addition to geese, the peacock is also a sacred symbol of Juno.

Jupiter’s daughter, Minerva, was born through the use of magic. She came directly from the head of Jupiter, leaving Juno out of the process. This made Juno  extremely jealous. She in turn finds a magical flower that can impregnate women. She used the rare flower to conceive and give birth to the god Mars.

© 2007 Wendy Brinker