Fortune's Favor: Exploring the Goddess of Luck❦
- DMR
- Mar 16
- 6 min read
“Now we come to examples of changing Fortune, which are innumerable. For what great joys does she bring except after disasters, or what immense disasters except after enormous joys?” — Pliny the Elder
The streets of Rome were filled with loud shrieking chants, swaying hips, frenzied dancing, and euphoric shrills. The day was warm and sticky. Each citizen peeled away the linen that adhered to their skin like a second layer. It was Fortunae Huius, the Festival of Fortuna, and each proper Roman carried in their baskets, fruits, grains, or cakes to honor the goddess Fortuna.
The name Fortuna is derived from the Latin word fero, meaning “to bring, win, receive, or get.” Her worship in Rome stretches back to the reign of Ancus Martius, the 4th King of Rome, who ruled from 640 to 616 BCE (Took 2022). Before merging with the Greek goddess Tyche, Fortuna was venerated as a goddess of agriculture, ensuring the fertility of the soil and guaranteeing farmers bountiful harvests. She also played a significant role in women’s fertility, helping them conceive and perpetuate the cycle of life (Took 2022). According to Roman propaganda, designed to cast the city as destined for greatness rather than a humble settlement founded by sheep herders on malaria-ridden hills, when Fortuna first arrived in Rome, she dramatically threw off her shoes and discarded her wings, declaring that she had found her true home and would never leave.
Fortuna’s name may also have roots in the Etruscan goddess Veltha, or Voltumna, whose name evokes themes of cycles, turning, and the shifting of seasons. Voltumna, in turn, might be linked to the Roman goddess Volumna, protector of children, a theme that resonates strongly with Fortuna (Prehistoria Italia 2023). Often depicted with a wheel, Fortuna was believed to influence the fates of children at birth, intertwining her destiny with their own. As a goddess of fate, Fortuna held the power to foresee the future. In her form as Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste, she was served by an oracle, where messages were drawn from a jar of inscribed tablets. Additionally, her cult-center in Antium boasted an oracular shrine, further solidifying her role as a divine seer.
By the 3rd century BCE, she was recognized as the goddess of luck, fortune, and fate. She was worshiped publicly and privately and her three major temples, Temple of Fortuna Publica, Temple of Fortuna Virilis (also known as the Temple of Fortuna Male), and the Temple of Fortuna Redux, reflected her widespread popularity (McCarty2018).
Now, to say Fortuna was a popular goddess is an understatement. Hundreds of statutes and inscriptions have been found and identified at key Roman sites, such as Ostia, Pompeii, Hadrian’s Villa, Londinium, and Carthage. The Forum of Fortuna, where her cult was most prominent, contained small, portable figurines, often made of bronze, terracotta, and marble.
Fortuna was invoked for those seeking good fortune in general, and when they were embarking on a journey, or starting a new venture (Huanaco 2022). However, Fortuna could bestow prosperity and misfortune upon an individual, city, and even an empire. You see, Fortuna embodies the ever-changing forces of luck, both the good, and the bad. She is often depicted as controlling the wheel of fortune, symbolizing how unpredictable and uncontrollable life can be. She spins the wheel to “bless whoever she pleases” (Huanaco 2022). Once the wheel was spun, no one could predict or forecast where the pointer would fall. She is often depicted as whimsical and capricious, influencing the outcome of immediate events. She did not have broad control of the overall fate of individuals, that was left up to the fates, or the Parcae as they were known.
To deviate for a moment, the Parcae were composed of Nona, Decima, and Morta, with Nona who spun the thread of life from her distaff to her spindle, Decima who used her rod to measure the thread of life, and Morta who severed the thread of life and determined how a person would die (Michele 2022). Together they oversaw the lives (and deaths) of both mortals and gods in ancient Roman religion and myth (Michele 2022). On the day a child’s name was selected, or the dies lustricus, which happened on the ninth day after birth for a male and the eighth day for a girl, Nona was meant to calculate a person’s lifetime. Morta was believed to preside over infants who died. (Michele 2022). The Parcae were generally represented as three old women with chaplets made of wool, and interwoven with the flowers of the narcissus. They were covered with a white robe, and fillets of the same color, bound with chaplets. One of them held a distaff, another the spindle, and the third was armed with scissors, with which she cut the thread which her sisters had spun (McClintok 2025).
The Parcae are revered as the ultimate arbiters of destiny, their judgments unwavering and beyond question. Unmoved by the pleas of gods or mortals alike, their decisions are absolute and irreversible. Not even the mightiest deities, like Zeus or Jupiter, can sway the fate they decree for any individual. In their hands, the threads of life are spun with an impartial and unchangeable force (Michele 2022).
The roles of the Parcae and Fortuna differ in the scope and nature of the influence they have over human life and destiny. The Parcae are responsible for the inescapable and predetermined aspects of an individual’s life. They symbolize the inevitability of fate, beyond control or alteration. Fortuna governs the ever-changing forces of chance, luck, and fortune, both in personal and societal contexts. She has the power to bestow good or bad luck upon individuals and communities, influencing their prosperity, success, and misfortune. Unlike the Parcae, Fortuna’s power is not predetermined. She is often depicted as capricious, with her favor shifting unpredictably like the turning of a wheel. While the Parcae control the fixed aspects of life, such as birth and death, Fortuna influences the variable aspects, like success, wealth, and health. Her influence is mutable, meaning she can change her favor at any moment, offering hope or misfortune without warning.
Given that Fortuna presided over luck, she was a favorite goddess of gamblers in ancient Rome!
![Statue of Fortune; Vatican, Rome, William Henry Goodyear [No restrictions or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f0e59c_c74281114e8443cbb88ac3a49b6a36bc~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_999,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/f0e59c_c74281114e8443cbb88ac3a49b6a36bc~mv2.png)
Why Connect with Fortuna?
1. In Times of Uncertainty: If you’re facing uncertain outcomes or seeking to change your circumstances, Fortuna can be invoked to help guide you or shift the luck in your favor.
2. To Accept Fate’s Unpredictability: Fortuna can help you learn to embrace the unpredictable nature of life. Connecting with her spiritually can offer peace in knowing that change and chance are part of existence.
3. Manifesting Abundance: Fortuna can also be called upon to bring financial prosperity or general good fortune in various endeavors.
Her Epithets
Fortuna had many names throughout her history which include the following:
Tranquila (Giver of Prosperous Voyages)
Victrix (Giver of Victory)
Soteria (Savior)
Dux or Comes (Leader or Attendant)
Meilichius (Gentle, Soothing)
Her Signs and Symbols: Wheel of Fortune, Hearts of Wheat, Cornucopia, Wreath, Ship’s Rudder
Offerings to Fortuna: Rosemary, Aloe Vera, Vanilla, Incense, Coins, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Berries, Meat, Candles (Gold, Green, Purple)
Her Colors: Gold: Represents abundance, wealth, and prosperity, symbolizing Fortuna’s gifts of fortune.
Green: Symbolizes growth, vitality, and luck, especially in the realm of financial and material prosperity.
Purple: Tied to royalty and luxury, purple can symbolize Fortuna’s role in granting or withholding fortune at a grand scale.
Her Stones: Citrine: Known for its properties of wealth, abundance, and personal power, it aligns with Fortuna’s role in bringing prosperity.
Aventurine: A stone of luck, especially in financial and career matters, which is aligned with Fortuna’s energies.
Jade: Often associated with prosperity and good fortune, jade can be used in rituals for attracting wealth and good luck.
Citations:
Harper, E. (2023, March 10). The Goddess Fortuna in Rome and Pompeii. Elodie Harper. https://www.elodieharper.com/post/the-goddess-fortuna-in-rome-and-pompeii
Huanaco, Francisco. “How To Worship Goddess Fortuna.” Spells8, 27 Mar. 2022, https://spells8.com/lessons/goddess-fortuna/.
McCarty, J. (2018, December 4).”Fortuna: Deity and Concept in Archaic and Republican Italy.” Bryn Mawr Classical Review. https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2018/2018.12.04/
McClintock, J., & Strong, J. (n.d.). Parcae. McClintock and Strong’s Biblical Cyclopedia. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/P/parcae.html
Michele, A. (2022, October 1). Parcae. Weird Italy. https://weirditaly.com/2022/10/01/parcae/
Preistoria in Italia. (2020, November 2). Gli Etruschi, il primato femminile, le Sibille e il culto di Voltumna. Preistoria in Italia. https://www.preistoriainitalia.it/en/2020/11/02/gli-etruschi-il-primato-femminile-le-sibille-e-il-culto-di-voltumna/
Took, T. (n.d.). Fortuna. Thalia Took’s Online Guide to Goddesses. Retrieved March 2, 2025, from https://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/fortuna.php
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Fortuna. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortuna
Comments