Consecration ritual for an altar of Tinia

 

A Consecration of an Altar unto Tinia, Father of the Sky, in the Etruscan Manner

The Presiding Augur, cloaked in garments of unblemished white and crimson, bearing the lituus, approaches the newly erected altar, upon which no offering has yet been laid. Attendants bear sacred implements: a bronze pitcher of purest spring water, a shallow patera, sacred meal, and a vessel of wine, dark as the earth from which the grapes were sprung. The Haruspex stands ready, his gaze fixed upon the heavens and the earth.

The Invocation and Preliminary Purification:

"O Tinia, thou whose might doth shake the firmament, whose glance is the lightning flash, and whose voice the rolling thunder that speaks decrees from the empyrean heights! Supreme among the Aesar, guardian of our people, the Rasna; and thou, Uni, majestic spouse, whose favour doth ensure the blessedness of hearth and state; and Menrva, whose wisdom guides the craftsman’s hand and the warrior’s arm! And thou, O Cel, primordial Earth, from whose silent depths this stone was prised, and Selvans, stern protector of all hallowed boundaries! Attend, we beseech ye, lend your divine regard to this, our present undertaking.

Before this stone may presume to bear the impress of divinity, let it be cleansed."

The Augur takes the pitcher and, with measured dignity, pours water thrice upon the altar, letting it flow freely upon the earth beneath.

"As this water, drawn from untainted founts, doth wash away all commonness, so too may all that is profane be banished from this consecrated place! Let all ill influence be averted, and the breath of the gods alone draw nigh."

The Statement of Intent and Definition of the Sacred Locus:

"Tinia, Highest and Most Provident, when this day, under auspices rightly sought from the feathered messengers of thy will, and with omens from the silent watchers of the night duly pondered by the keen-eyed Haruspex, I, thy servant and interpreter of signs, chosen by the assembly of the zilath (magistrate/leader), do give and with solemn pronouncements consecrate this stone as thine hallowed Altar. I do so according to the most ancient traditions and the sacred writings, whose wisdom descends from Tages himself.

And know, O Father Tinia, that this Altar is set within this designated region, a precinct whose inviolable laws and demarcated boundaries I, by the authority vested in me, shall this very day delineate and dedicate unto thy service. Its sanctity shall extend from this central stone outwards, to the reach of a cast spear in the four cardinal directions, a space henceforth set apart, inviolable and sacred unto thee."

The Condition of Enduring Sanctity and the Law of Sacrifice:

"For so long as this very lapis palus, this foundational stone, graven with thy name, shall remain firmly embedded beneath this Altar, unshaken by the tumult of ages or the hand of man, so long shall its dedication endure. Its purpose is fixed; its sacred nature immutable.

And this shall be its immutable law: if any supplicant, with pious heart, should bring hither a chosen victim, a creature without blemish, intending a sacrifice unto thy divinity; and if, in the haste of devotion or by some unforeseen impediment, the Haruspex shall not have first, with utmost diligence, stretched out and with searching eye examined the still-warm entrails, divining therein thy disposition, all the same, if the intent be pure and the offering freely given, may that sacrifice be regarded as properly and acceptably offered unto thee. For thy wisdom, O Tinia, pierces beyond the mere surface of ritual exactitude to the core of true devotion. Yet, let it ever be the strenuous endeavour of thy priests to observe the full Etrusca Disciplina, lest neglect should inadvertently cloud our understanding of thy will."

The Reference to Primordial Law:

"Furthermore, let the law governing this Altar, its rites, its observances, and the comportment of those who approach it, be the selfsame as those august and time-honoured laws proclaimed for the great altars within the sacred temenē of ancient Tarquinia, or those which resound from the venerable sanctuary at Volsinii, where thy divine presence is most potently felt. What is inscribed upon the bronze tablets there, what is chanted in the ancient hymns, what is decreed in the libri fulgurales concerning places struck by thy sacred fire – all that is spoken in those holy laws shall apply with undiminished force within this consecrated region as well. Let it be a mirror, though smaller in dimension, of that greater, ancestral piety."

The Formal Dedication and Solemn Plea:

"Thus, for all these reasons which I have, with earnest heart and chosen words, laid bare before thy divine majesty and before this assembled populace; for the prosperity of our community, for the strength of our city, and for the glory of the eternal Rasna; I give, I decree by the ancient signs, and I do now irrevocably dedicate this Altar unto thee, O Tinia, Optimus Maximus of our people! This is a gift unto Tinia!

Henceforth, may it stand as a beacon of thy presence amongst us, a place of communion between the mortal and the immortal. And in so dedicating it, we humbly implore: Be thou willing, O mighty Tinia, to be ever favourable and propitious! Extend thy benevolent regard unto me, thy humble Augur; unto my colleagues in the sacred college; unto the zilath and the council of our magistrates who govern this colony; unto all the people of this settlement [Name of Colony/Settlement], and with a father’s tender care, watch over our wives, our children, and all our generations yet to come.

Let the first libation now be poured! Let the first nunθen (invocation with offering) now ascend!"

The Augur, taking the patera, pours a libation of wine upon the newly consecrated Altar, followed by a scattering of sacred meal. The smoke of incense, lit by an attendant, begins to rise, carrying the prayers towards the heavens. The people murmur their assent.

"So it is established. Zichri cn! Let these rites be recorded. May Tinia accept this, his sacred place."