The five myths are:
Do we need to elaborate? I don't think so, but if you want to read more:
Petersen , Irene Berg. "What Vikings really looked like". ScienceNordic, July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
Salve Lar Familiaris!
Salvete Di Penates!
I'm fascinated by the different ways people think about and create home altars.
"The first task for a new cultor Deorum is to establish a lararium. There is a process to it, in ritually cleansing the house and inviting your ancestors to visit your lararium. Usually it starts out simple. An image of the Lar familiaris or that of one’s Genius is flanked by two Lares offering food and drink. Oil lamps and candles, an incense holder, a bowl to receive libations or other offerings. Over the years the offerings can build. On the birthday of every family member, as one example, a pebble is added to the lararium and relics of various kinds may be stored there, as well as articles used in our rituals." (Piscinus, 2013)
Updated to add links.
Interesting new book: The Last Pagans of Rome by Alan Cameron.
This online reviews says, "Cameron’s mission here is to topple once and for all the “myth” of a concerted resistance movement coordinated by a select group of late fourth-century pagan aristocrats to oppose Christianity’s infiltration of state and society. For more than four decades Cameron’s scholarship has been edging that romantic vision of the religious, literary, and social history of late fourth-century Rome to the brink of destruction. With the publication of this book the classic formulation of paganism’s fourth-century “revival” lies well beyond reconstitution."
The 4th century pagan revival is so much a part of how we think about this period of Roman history, it's a disappointment -- although not a surprise -- to find out that it has little foundation.
