On the Importance of Jove and Juno

"Almighty Jupiter, sovereign of all things, and of all the Gods; Father and mother of the Gods; himself the only God, in himself, all Gods"

- Varro

The importance of Jupiter-Jove, cannot be understated. There is a tendency in Gentile religion to pick the Gods we worship by feeling. Many will gravitate to a particular God or Goddess, making them the focal point for worship.

While there is nothing wrong with worshipping divinity in whichever form they feel an intense devotion, we should not think that worshipping any God will have the same effect or end goal.

Gentile religions possess an openness to different types of devotional worship. If you feel a strong pull to beauty and love, you may gravitate toward worshipping Venus. If you are a fighter and active in the military, Mars may take more importance. The reason for the difference in worship is that we need different things depending on our stage of spiritual development. A soldier finds the need to commune with the God of war and fury, whereas the artist may need to commune with beauty and love. The choice of worship depends on our current state and what is necessary for this life. Perhaps the soldier was born in this life to understand war and the meaning of self-sacrifice or patriotism. Maybe the artist is seeking the reflection of God in the material world.

However, communion with either of these Gods will not lead to communion with the supreme and highest God. It will not lead us toward henosis or liberation from death and rebirth. It will not elevate us above the bonds of mortal life. Mars and Venus do not promise this and do not deliver it either.

So if our goal is to liberate ourselves and reach communion with the highest source, the supreme Godhead, we must ensure we are on the correct path. Fortunately, that path has been laid out for us by one of the earliest sages and seers of Gentile religion, the great poet Orpheus. But before we dive in, it should be noted that not all people are in this present life to seek communion with the Supreme. We do not delegitimize worshipping other Gods simply because we aim to commune with God. We live many lifetimes, and only a few are drawn toward liberation and transcending the bounds of fate. For those few, it is essential that we set the correct heading. If we want to go to New York, we should not board a train to LA. But, of course, not all roads lead to the same destination. So the destination we need to set for our liberation is God.

Simply put, Jove is God. When we think of the ultimate creator and king of the universe, we are talking about Jove. Jove and God are the same. However, please don't take my word for it…

Plato himself says that 'God, as the ancient Scripture [of Orpheus], tells us, possessing the beginning and end and middle of all things, with direct course accomplishes his path, cycling round according to natural law; and Justice ever is with him to seek retribution from those who leave the path of divine law.' (Laws, iv.715, D)

His reference to the beginning, end, and middle comes from the Orphic Rhapsody to King Jove:

"Jove is the beginning, Jove is the middle; out of Jove, all are produced."

Here we have a clear allusion that Plato saw God and Jove as the same.

Likewise, Pseudo-Aristotle says plainly:

"God being one yet has many names, being called after all the various conditions which he himself inaugurates. We call him Zen and Zeus (Jove), using the two names in the same sense."

The great philosopher Hierocles also commented on Pythagoras, saying," 'O Jupiter, Father of men' He (Pythagoras) has already performed the part of a son in calling God (Jupiter) "Father," and he makes this reflection that if all men did what he has already done himself, then they would, like him, be delivered of all their evils."

So we can see that Orpheus, Plato, Pythagoras, and later Platonists saw God as synonymous with Jove.

And let us not forget that the etymology of the title Jupiter means Deus Pater, "God the Father."

Jove is the Supreme God that we can understand with our minds. Beyond that is the ineffable One, the Absolute, which we can say nothing about without falling into error. Jove is God in the positive sense, the God with attributes as we can know and love Him. Whereas the One is the Godhead, the negative aspect of God, beyond all things, transcendent and unknowable.

If we attempt union with the Ultimate God of all, we must make Jove the primary focus of our worship and devotion. We become like that which we worship; therefore, we should worship God.

Furthermore, Jove is not simply God, but as Varro states, he is "all Gods" and "one God comprising all."

Augustine the Apostate even gave Jupiter his due, saying, "All the other Gods, perhaps, are to be referred back to him (Jupiter); and in that case, the view that there are many Gods is vacuous, since all of them are really Jupiter…" (City of God 7.13)

I can go on with references like this, but this should confirm that the ancients saw Jupiter as the supreme God that contained the other Gods within himself. So to worship Jupiter is to worship all the Gods. This is why Jupiter has such high importance to our practices. He is not simply another God among many. He is all the Gods as One and our gateway to union with the ineffable supreme Godhead.

The Importance of Juno

While Jupiter is the Supreme, equal in importance is Juno. In reality, Juno is the same as Jupiter. Juno is his consort, and they are one God, separate only in illusion.

As the Platonic Sage Proclus explains,

"Great Jove was united with Juno; wherefore also she is called [by Orpheus] the sharer in his privileges ." Proclus (Tim., ii.137),

Juno is "vivifying the whole cosmos, whom Orpheus calls the sharer of equal privileges with the Demiurge (Jove), and joins her to him." Proclus (op. cit., v.315)

More explicitly, Augustine the Apostate acknowledged the familiar defense that Jupiter and Juno were the same when he remarked, "For I am well aware, that it could be replied that Juno herself is none other than Jupiter, according to those verses of Valerius Soranus, where it says, 

'Almighty Jupiter, Father of kings, of Gods, and of All things; Mother, too, of the Gods'"

Juno is not just important because she is united with the Father, but she is also the Queen and Mother of the Gods. Juno "generates maternally such things as Jupiter generates paternally." (Proclus Crat., p. 83) She exists in unity with all Goddesses, just as Jupiter exists in unity with all Gods. For this reason, we worship Juno as the supreme Goddess and Queen of Heaven, both at One and distinct from Jove, the Father.

It is crucial to make a note here about the role of Juno in Myth and Legend. Juno is often depicted as spiteful and wrathful, especially against her husband's lovers. However, as we can see, Juno is one with Jove. They are inseparable. Keeping this in mind as we read the myths, we can see that it is not possible for Jove to "cheat" on Juno lest we suggest the absurdity that he is cheating on himself with himself. As Varro states, "everything is full of Jupiter." There is no way for Jupiter to be an adulterer, rapist, or any other such absurd accusation, for he is within all things and the Father of all. The tales of Juno are merely explaining how the will of the Great Father, Jove, is brought to fruition through the Great Mother, Juno.

Furthermore, we can extrapolate from here that the actions of all the Gods are truly actions of Jove or aspects of Jove. The immensity of Jove is so difficult for our minds to grasp that we find it easier to view his power in simpler forms. These forms are the Gods. They are modalities of the One God. For this reason, I often object to the suggestion that we are polytheists.

In reality, we Romanists are panentheistic monotheists. This is the same view held by nearly all orthodox Hindus because it is the correct view of theology. The Hindu Guru, Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya, explains the perspective of panentheistic Monotheism well:

"Despite the transcendentally situated nature of the Absolute [the One], however, unlike the general belief of the Abrahamic faiths, the very same absolute is still simultaneously wholly eminent in all of creation. There is no place that God [Jove] is not. Indeed, for Sanatana Dharma, it is the very presence of God [Jove] within the very core of all things that gives all things their very existence ontologically and their very raison d'etre spiritually." (Pg 31 Sanatana Dharma) [brackets are my own]

Indeed, everything is full of Jupiter.