OGOD

Celtic

Egyptian

Etruscan

Phoenician

Roman


 

 



Potina is a Roman Goddess of Children, Who specifically watches over them as they take their first drinks after being weaned. Her name comes from the Latin potina, meaning "She of the Act of Drinking", from potus, "a drink" or "something to drink" (which also gives us the English word potable, meaning "fit to drink"). She may be both the Goddess Who taught a child to drink for the first time (which is after all a different skill than suckling milk from a breast) and the Goddess Who ensured that those drinks were healthy and good for the child, and Who did Her part in making sure the child was hydrated, nourished, and well.

Potina and Her associates, the Goddesses Educa, Cunina, Cuba, and Rumina, watched over various aspects of early childhood (respectively, eating, sleeping in a cradle, sleeping in a bed, and breastfeeding), a perilous time in ancient days, and seem to have grown out of the natural concerns of mothers for their children's health. They were associated with the great Mother-Goddess Juno, who was also concerned with the health of children. They were said to be either attendents of Juno, or direct aspects of Her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All art here ©2004 Thalia Took, aka The Artist Formerly Known As Mary Crane.
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Obscure Goddess Online Directory text ©2006 Thalia Took, and please do not reproduce it.
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