Cardea
Roman · deity · regal · deity
Cardea is the hinge. Ovid tells her story in the sixth book of the Fasti: a nymph pursued by Janus who gave her, in compensation, power over the hinge, and with it the ability to keep out what comes in at night — specifically the striges, the bird-shaped things that were believed to feed on infants. The remedy is whitethorn laid at the window. She belongs with Forculus and Limentinus in a threefold division of the doorway that later Christian writers found ridiculous and that the Romans found simply thorough: a door has a leaf, a hinge and a threshold, and each of them is a place where something might get in.
Domains
- boundary
- household protection
Relations
- ally: Forculus
- ally: Limentinus
Sources
- Ovid, Fasti 6, on Cardea, the hinge, and the whitethorn rite.
- Reference treatment of the threefold division of the Roman doorway.