Spes
Spes is the Roman personification of hope, and her temple in the Forum Holitorium was built by Aulus Atilius Calatinus in the First Punic War, restored in 232 BCE, rebuilt after the fire of 213 BCE and restored again by Germanicus in 17 CE (Livy 24.47 and 25.7; six of its columns still stand in the church of San.
Spes is a civic personification with a real temple and no mythology, not a mythic person: the temple in the Forum Holitorium, its rebuildings, and the imperial Spes Augusta are the attestation. Roman hope is expectation with a future in it, not the Christian virtue, and it is not a promise that the expectation will be met. The planetary, zodiacal, tarot and sabbat values here are modern Western overlays with no Roman basis, and the tradition's own account is primary.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Moon
- Zodiac Affinity
- PiscesSagittarius
Offerings
- Offerings
- A candle kept litWineIncenseThe naming of what is hoped forA first step taken
Sacred timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Spes AugustaSpes PublicaHopeElpis
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- HopeThe Forward LookSpes AugustaThe Trust That WaitsLady of the Coming Thing
- Symbols
- The budThe flower in the handThe cornucopiaThe forward step
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneGentle and formalAddressSpesHopeSpes AugustaRelationshipThe thing hoped for held without guaranteeWarningShe is expectation and does not promise the outcomeResonanceThose waiting on a verdict a harvest or a birth
- Modern Practice
Spes is invoked in the waiting - for a verdict, a diagnosis, a harvest, a birth - and her practice is to name the thing hoped for precisely and then take the first step that is actually available. She is not asked for a guarantee, and does not give one.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- HopeExpectationThe good to comeThe petition not yet answeredThe heirThe waitingConfidence in the future
- Mythology Summary
Spes is the Roman personification of hope, and her temple in the Forum Holitorium was built by Aulus Atilius Calatinus in the First Punic War, restored in 232 BCE, rebuilt after the fire of 213 BCE and restored again by Germanicus in 17 CE (Livy 24.47 and 25.7; six of its columns still stand in the church of San Nicola in Carcere). She is a civic personification rather than a mythic person: her business is expectation, including the expectation of an heir, and Spes Augusta put that expectation at the service of the imperial house. The Greek equivalent is Elpis, who in Hesiod's Works and Days alone remained in Pandora's jar (96-99).
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsWhiteGreenBlueScentsLavenderRoseMetalsSilverTinAnimalsDoveSwallow
One of 3,120 entries in the Grimoire — the whole library, every cross-reference, is free to take. Take the whole thing Is it wrong somewhere?
Referenced by 0
Nothing in the library points at this entry yet.
More in Deities
The entries either side of this one in the same catalogue.
All of Deities →New entries, when they land
Occasional notes when a section of the grimoire is added or revised. No account, no tracking across sites, and one line to leave.