Ceremonies of the Parilia
In the Fasti, Ovid provides great detail concerning the Parilia. However, it must be noted that like many other Roman festivals, the Parilia had two representations. These were the rural and the urban. It is uncertain exactly which ceremonies we known existed pertained to which representation.
From what we know, to celebrate the Parilia, the sheep-fold was decorated with leafy branches and its entrance with a wreath. When dawn came, the fold was swept and cleansed. and the sheep themselves were purified. This was done by fumigating them with sulfur. Following this, a fire was made using pine and olive woods, into which laurel branches were thrown. Crackling of the branches was taken as a good omen.
Next offerings of cakes of millet were made, and food and pails of milk were brought. Following this, the shepherds prayed to Pales, the god (or goddess or gods or goddesses) of sheep and shepherds, in which they sought protection for themselves and their flocks from disease and wolves. They also prayed for forgiveness for any inadvertent transgression of holy ground by themselves or their sheep.
This prayer was made four times, always facing east. After completing the prayer, the shepherd washed himself in dew. After this, he heated wine in a bowl, mixed it with milk, and drank it. He then leap through crackling bonfires, placed three in a row. It is also believed the sheep too may have been lead to leap through the fire as well.
Thus is the description which Ovid lay out for the
celebration of the Parilia. However, he also alludes to other practices.
The previously described activities are believed to have been part of the
rural celebration of the Parilia. However, there may have been much
more to the urban State celebration. Little is known about the cult
itself, other than the fact it remained popular well into the Empire, and
was conducted by the Rex Sacrorum. It is known that the ashes of
the unborn calves sacrificed in the Fordicidia were mixed with the blood
preserved and kept by the Vestal from the previous year's October Horse,
sacrificed on the Ides of October, the 15th, and sprinkled over the fire
made by the burning bean-straws. This was a symbol of purification.
However, since this mixture would have ben in short supply, and this ceremony
described by Ovid would have only been able to be practiced at only a few
select locations, if more than one at all.
