Introduction: principles, concepts and values

‘Dea Cura’, the Goddess Care, could be considered a minor deity within the superabundant Roman Pantheon. Yet she had a most peculiar and literally vital role. Her task was to give shape and mould to human beings so as to ensure the continuity of life within them. Life without shape, without an intentionally cast mould, constantly redesigned, maintained and purposely taken care of, simply could not exist. Goddess Care – and the set of concepts and principles which guided her mission in ancient Latin times – is of relevance to humankind of the third millennium as well. She might hand us the right ingredients of the most needed recipe for our era, an adequate therapy for Mother Earth, gripped in the most severe and global ecological crisis humans have ever caused.

Her very name – Nomen omen in Latin (name-giving is not neutral: it evokes and contains the destiny of each living being) – was thus extremely significant. ‘Cura’ implies a mix of concepts and feelings which involve both the mental and the physical level, the emotional as well as the rational response.