In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (

plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

, patera (

libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today. Various substan ...

bowl) or

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

. Many Roman altars found throughout the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

were dedicated to a particular ''genius loci''. The Roman imperial cults of the Emperor and the imperial house developed in part in connections with the sacrifices made by neighborhood associations ''( vici)'' to the local ''genius''. These 265 local districts had their cult organised around the ''Lares Compitales'' (guardian spirits or ''

lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares ...

'' of the crossroads), which the emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

transformed into ''Lares Augusti'' along with the ''Genius Augusti''. The emperor's ''

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabilit ...

'' is then regarded as the ''genius loci'' of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

as a whole. Roman examples of these ''genii'' can be found, for example, at the church of St. Giles, Tockenham, Wiltshire where the genius loci is depicted as a relief in the wall of a Norman church built of Roman material. This shows "a youthful and curly-haired Roman Genius worked in high relief, holding a cornucopia in his left hand and a ''patera'' in his right", which previously has been "erroneously identified as

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represen ...

Asian usage

The numinous spirits of places in Asia are still honored today in city pillar shrines, outdoor

spirit house A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The spirit house is normally in the form of sma ...

s and indoor household and business shrines.

Western usage

In contemporary usage, ''genius loci'' usually refers to a location's distinctive atmosphere, or a " spirit of the place", rather than necessarily a guardian spirit. An example of contemporary usage might be along the lines of "Light reveals the genius loci of a place."

Art and architecture

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

made the ''genius loci'' an important principle in

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

and

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and gard ...

with the following lines from ''Epistle IV, to Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington'':

Consult the genius of the place in all; That tells the waters to rise, or fall; Or helps th' ambitious hill the heav'ns to scale, Or scoops in circling theatres the vale; Calls in the country, catches opening glades, Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades, Now breaks, or now directs, th' intending lines; Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs.

Pope's verse laid the foundation for one of the most widely agreed principles of

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

. This is the principle that landscape designs should ''always'' be adapted to the context in which they are located.

A priori ("from the earlier") and ("from the later") are Latin phrases used in philosophy to distinguish types of knowledge, justification, or argument by their reliance on empirical evidence or experience. knowledge is independent from current ex ...

archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

, and ''genius loci'' are the primary principals of Neo-Rationalism or New Rationalism. Pioneered by the Italian architect Aldo Rossi, Neo-Rationalism developed in the light of a re-evaluation of the work of Giuseppe Terragni, and gained momentum through the work of Giorgio Grassi. Characterized by elemental

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

forms and an adaptation to the existing environment, the Neo-Rationalist style has adherents beyond architecture in the greater world of art. In the context of modern architectural theory, ''genius loci'' has profound implications for place-making, falling within the philosophical branch of

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

. This field of architectural discourse is explored most notably by the theorist

Christian Norberg-Schulz Christian Norberg-Schulz (23 May 1926 – 28 March 2000) was a Norwegian architect, author, educator and architectural theorist. Norberg-Schulz was part of the Modernist Movement in architecture and associated with architectural phenomenology. ...

in his book, ''Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture''.

Modern fantasy

Adaptations of the original concept of the ''genius loci'' appear in some works of modern

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

. Tom Bombadil in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 c ...

'' has been described by Tolkien scholar

Tom Shippey Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the ...

as the ''genius loci'' of the Old Forest, a wooded land bordering the Shire. In the ''Dungeons and Dragons'' 3.0 edition book the Epic Level Handbook, the genius loci is a malign, powerful

ooze Ooze may refer to: * Pelagic sediments, fine-grained sediments on the ocean floor, containing at least 30% biogenous material Games * Ooze (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a type of monster in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game * ''The Ooze'' ...

that mimics the landscape and has no intelligence of its own. It can magically enslave a visitor, whose mind affects the genius loci's behaviour. It is spontaneously generated when a place is undisturbed for a long time. In ''

The Dresden Files ''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are ...

'', a genius loci is an elemental spirit of a place. The island of Demonreach has its own genius loci, also named Demonreach, which is omniscient with regards to its own island. Wizards can form a spiritual connection with a genius loci and the place it represents. The Rivers of London series of novels by

Ben Aaronovitch Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the '' Rivers of London'' series of novels. He also wrote two '' Doctor Who'' serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels from ''Doctor Wh ...

feature many beings described as ''genii locorum'', primarily those of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

and its

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

References

External links

Essay on the Genius loci in landscape and garden design

{{Authority control Ancient Roman religion Geography terminology Landscape design history Psychogeography Roman deities Roman legendary creatures Tutelary deities