CARDEA

The tutelary goddess of hinges, in other words, of family life, among the Romans. She was supposed to ward off all the noxious influences of evil spirits, especially of the Strigae, who were believed to suck the blood of children by night. It is doubtful whether she is to be identified with the goddess Carna, who is said to have taken the larger organs of the body--heart, lungs and liver--under her especial protection. Carna had a shrine on the Caelian Hill, in Rome, and a festival on the 1st of June, at which they ate beans and bacon, and made offerings of them to the goddess.