Pales

Pales, among the oldest deities of the Roman region, is extremely mysterious:

• ÖPales may be male.

• Pales may be female.

• Pales may even be both.

Ancient rumor whispers of a liaison between Pales and Vesta, who may not always have been so virginal. Pales may be the inspiration for the donkey-headed lover of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Pales provides fertility to people, land, and animals. Pales, a guardian of flocks, protects domestic animals. (Pales should not be confused with Pallas of Greek myth.)

ORIGIN:

Italy

ICONOGRAPHY:

Pales is usually envisioned in the form of a donkey.

Sacred site:

Pales had a temple on Rome’s Palatine Hill.

Feast:

21 April, Pales’ festival, the Parilia, coincides with the anniversary of the founding of Rome. Pales’ revelers jumped over a row of three burning piles of hay and were sprinkled with water from soaked bay laurel boughs. The Parilia was a raucous, rustic, beloved festival.