Category: Chthonic
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Manes or Di Manes
In ancient Roman religion, the Manes or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares, Lemures, Genii, and Di Penates as deities (di) that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult. They belonged broadly to the category of di inferi, “those who dwell below,” the undifferentiated collective of divine dead. The Manes were honored during the Parentalia and Feralia in February.…
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Autochthon and allochthon
An autochthon in structural geology is a large block or mass of rock which is in the place of its original formation relative to its basement or foundation rock. It can be described as rooted to its basement rock as opposed to an allochthonous block or nappe which has been relocated from its site of formation usually by low angle thrust faulting. For other possible mechanisms see obduction.…
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Dis Pater aka Rex Infernus, Roman god of the underworld, contracted from Dives Pater (“Father of Riches”)
Dīs Pater (Dītis Patris), otherwise known as Rex Infernus or Pluto, is a Roman god of the underworld. Dis was originally associated with fertile agricultural land and mineral wealth, and since those minerals came from underground, he was later equated with the chthonic deities Pluto (Hades) and Orcus. Dīs Pater’s name was commonly shortened to Dīs, and this name has since become an alternative name for the underworld or a part…
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Chthonic is a word related to all things underworld
The word chthonic, or chthonian, is derived from the Ancient Greek word χθών, “khthon”, meaning earth or soil. It translates more directly from χθόνιος or “in, under, or beneath the earth” which can be differentiated from Γῆ, or “ge”, which speaks to the living surface of land on the earth. In Greek, chthonic is a descriptive word for things relating to…
