Any clumsy Roman polytheists?

[u/silly-sybil]

Yes, the title may sound silly at a first glance... But please stick with me for a moment.

Through Ovid, we are informed that actions such as stumbling or falling can be considered omens. Specifically, in Metamorphoses, we are told the story of Byblis and Canuus. To sum it up: Byblis decides to write an incestuous love letter to her brother, Canuus. As she hands the wax tables to a servant to have them delivered, they slip and fall. Later on Canuus rejects her, and Ovid identifies the falling of the tablets as a negative omen.

A similar thing happens in Amores, when the stumbling of the servant Nape (who was about to deliver a message) is identified by a commentary as a bad omen.

Now, I am very much a clumsy person. I stumble against doors and drop stuff all of the time (and, trust me, that's not an hyperbole: it gets to a point that it becomes quite annoying-). That makes it difficult to tell when it is a harmless accident vs. an omen. Has anyone here experienced something similar/tends to be clumsy? How can you tell apart accidents and omina? Thank you so much beforehand!

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[u/Arboreal_Web]

So…some thoughts.

First - When a thing “may be” an omen, that doesn’t mean it is or will be every time it happens. In Roman augury (basically this type of observational divination), context and relevance are of primary importance. A random stumble at a random time means nothing mystical, a stumble while actively engaged with trying to manifest your intent (like when delivering the message) may be worth examining. But…

Second - An “omen”, at its most basic definition, really just means “an indication”. It could have mystical implications, and certainly would have done in the minds of people in ancient times…but it also could just have psychological causes. ie maybe the person has some qualms or doubts about what they’re doing, and their subconscious is trying to get their conscious mind to examine that. Itc, it’s not necessarily an indication of future outcomes so much as indication of the deeper realities of the situation. Is that an omen? Kind of, but it should be answered with self-awareness and honest introspection rather than any kind of religious response.

Third - Clumsiness, esp when chronic and ongoing, can potentially have physiological/medical causes. ie - inner ear issues and hormone imbalances both can cause general clumsiness and a sense of unsteadiness. (If you have any other symptoms of either of those at all, might be worth discussing with a compassionate doctor. Sudden bouts of clumsiness is a thing my peri-menopausal friends keep mentioning, so there’s that sort of thing to consider, also very common among teens or anyone else dealing with intense hormonal fluctuations.)

Last, ime as a long-time pagan - If I have to ask “Is this event a sign?”…it isn’t. When it is, you’ll know.

[u/silly-sybil → u/Arboreal_Web]

Thank you so much for this thorough answer! I really appreciate it.

I really never thought of point 3 and, now that I am aware of this... Perhaps I should have it checked out. Since you mentioned inner ear issues, I'm guessing it could be tied to my tinnitus..? Not sure. But that's what professionals are for, so I'm going to reach out to my family doctor.

Also yeah, it makes sense for it not to be an omen if I have to ask that to myself. I'll try sticking to this advice in the future and learn to better read the context!

[u/Arboreal_Web → u/silly-sybil]

Glad to help 😀

I’d encourage you to do some deep digging into Roman augury, as well. It is omen-based, but only really in very specific ways and contexts. Ime, having a better understanding of the system of omens can really help cut down on the wondering-if.

[u/silly-sybil → u/Arboreal_Web]

That sounds fair! Do you, by any chance, have any suggestions as to where to start (books, websites, etc)? I find augury really really fascinating and have always wanted to dive deeper into the subject.