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| In [[:Category:Roman mythology|Roman mythology]] '''Fauna''' was the mother goddess of earth, rural life, fields, cattle and wild creatures. She was a protectress of women.
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| ==Origin==
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| A Roman earth-mother and fertility goddess, usually referred to as the '''Bona Dea'''.
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| She is thought to be the wife, sister or daughter of [[God]] [[Faunus]]. Fauna is identified with'''Terra''', '''Tellus''' or '''Ops'''.
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| '''Bona Dea''' ("the Good Goddess") is a Roman fertility goddess, especially worshipped by the Roman matrons.
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| She presided over both virginity and fertility in women.
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| She is the daughter of the god [[Faunus]] and she herself is often called Fauna. She had a temple on the Aventine Hill, but her secret rites (December 4) were not held there but in the house of a prominent Roman magistrate.
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| Only women were admitted and even representations of men and beasts were removed. At these secret meetings it was forbidden to speak the words ''wine'' and ''myrtle'' because [[Faunus]] had once made her drunk and beaten her with a myrtle stick.
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| Her festival was observed on May 1. Similarly, no men were allowed to be present here either.
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| She was also a healing goddess and the sick were tended in her temple garden with medicinal herbs. Bona Dea was portrayed sitting on a throne, holding a cornucopia. The snake is her attribute, a symbol of healing, and consecrated snakes were kept in her temple at Rome, indicating her phallic nature. Her image could often be found on coins.
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| ==Other Names==
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| '''Fauna''' is an alternate name for:
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| *'''Bona Dea''', was a goddess of fertility, healing, virginity and women. She may also be known as '''Marica'''.
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| *'''Ops''', a fertility deity and earth-goddess of Sabine] origin.
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| *[[Terra (goddess)]], the goddess of the Earth.
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| ==See Also==
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| *[[Faunus]]
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| *[[Faun]]s
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| ==Links==
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| {{wikipedia}}
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| [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/fauna.html Fauna]
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| [www.pantheon.org Pantheon]
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| [[Category:Roman mythology]]
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