Crops Celebrated Out of This World

Finally, crops are receiving recognition in astronomical proportion.. Well, asteroid level at least. The dwarf planet Ceres is supported by the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Discovered and named by the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801 it was visited by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft last year.

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The resulting images and data have allowed the International Astronomic Union, in charge of such things, to approve of a slew of craters and a few mountains to be named after various cultural personifications found closer to our home planet. This is justified on the grounds that Ceres was a Roman goddess of agriculture, grain and motherly love. Said to be the daughter of Saturn and Rhea, wife-sister of Jupiter, and mother of Proserpine by Jupiter – the Roman (and Greek) deities had lives that would discourage even modern movie makers. Nevertheless she was regarded as a kind and benevolent goddess to the Romans and they had a common expression, “fit for Ceres,” which meant splendid. Ceres was worshipped at her temple of the Aventine Hill, one of the Seven Hills of ancient Rome. Her festival, the Cerealia, was celebrated on 19 April. Another special time for Ceres was Ambarvalia, a Roman agricultural fertility rite held at the end of May. Distinctly lesser deities from other cultures are chiefly featured in the new Cerean topography. Many in fact are lesser to the point of illusiveness as befits spirits everywhere. However, since many are associated with flowers, fruit, vegetables and viticulture along with harvests and agriculture in general, they may be invoked by gardeners, perhaps even horticulturists . . . Darzamat was a Latvian spirit known as “Mother of the Garden”, a vegetation goddess who was said to be one of 70 siblings. The spirit Kirnis from adjoining Lithuania was guardian of cherry trees has also more ominously been described as a demon. Farther afield, Ysolo Mons commemorates an Albanian festival marking first day of the eggplant harvest. Close by, Jarovit was the Slavic god of fertility and harvest who comes down to the Underworld after every harvest and returns to a usual world every emerging spring. And over in what was to become England, Vonotonus was a Celtic Briton god of vines; local deity of Yorkshire; all seven altars known are on the Yorkshire Moors, a strange place for grape growing so rather unsurprisingly little is known of him. In classical mythology, Liber was a Roman god of viticulture and wine, fertility and freedom whose festival of Liberalia, celebrated every 17 March, associated with freedom of speech. Occato, “he who harrows” was another Roman agricultural deity, an assistant god of the goddess Ceres; his 90 km crater contains a pair of mysterious, so far unexplained spots – perhaps even Epsom salts according to latest reports. Victa was a Roman goddess of food and nourishment. Fluusa from Oscan in ancient southern Italy was goddess of flowers ruling over fertility rites based on flowers as sexual organs.

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Amongst ancient civilizations, ‘The Assyrian came down like wolf on the fold’ quothe the poet, but Assyrian god of agriculture Asari was a corn god assimilated into Egyptian pantheon, now commemorated in a 52km crater. Ernutet was an Egyptian goddess of the harvest; goddess of fertility, consort of Hapi, the god of the Nile, a symbolic union which produced Nehebkau, a snake-headed protector from snake venom – indeed Ernutet herself is sometimes portrayed as a cobra-headed woman. Also from the Nile civilization was Haneb, Egyptian god of grain, produce and vineyards also reflected in Mesopotamia by ‘Lady of the Vine’ the Sumerian/Babylonian goddess Geshtin. In Africa, Fejokoa is a Nigerian god who supplied the yams, while Dantu was a Ghanaian god, the time-keeper and first god of planting millet of the Gä people of Accra, now commemorated in a 120km diameter crater. The deities of lands in and encircling the Pacific are well represented if sparse on details. One prominent website actually begs for information on Hamori, the Japanese tree god and protector of tree leaves. Jarimba of Australia’s Arunta/Aranda is god of flowers and fruit. In neighbouring New Guinea, the Nagaing recognize Meanderi as goddess of taro, sugar cane and other foods. For some reason, Polynesians see the necessity of having two gods of turmeric, Rao and Tupo in Mangarevan people mythology, a variant of a more general Polynesia mythology such as Kumitog, goddess of plant life. She became Haulani in Hawaii recognized somewhat incongruously in a 30km Ceres crater which is colder than the surrounding area. Tahu of the Maori, another Polynesia people, was the personification of all food.. Takel was a Malaysian goddess in charge of the tuber harvest; symbol root crops; her themes are banishing, health, protection, harvest, thankfulness and kinship, and Uvara an Indian and Iranian deity of plants and fields now better known by an enormous crater 160km across and 6km deep. South America is represented by Sintana of Columbian who produced the fertile black earth for sowing and Shakaema of Jivaro tribe in Ecuador and Peru, god of vegetation invoked in the planting and cultivation of bananas, husband of Nugüi, who also cleared the ground for making new plantations. Finally, we have the Arawakan (Guyana) Anura, the spirit of the tobacco seeds. Still not enough for a prayer? For more, check out the U.S. Geological Survey Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. It’s out of this world. However, comments Christopher Crockett, Science News: ‘With no liquid water on the airless Ceres, gathering an assortment of divine beings is probably the only way to get anything to grow there.’

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