Vestal Virgin

Okay this cracks me up (the concept of vestal virgins).

My sorority (won't say which one :P ) had "ancient ties" with the Greek goddess Vesta/Hestia (goddess of hearth and home) and apparently the vestal virgins kept the sacred fires of Rome burning and never let them go out. Apparently in order to do their job they never got the opportunity to date, wed, or bear children. Since they were associated with Vesta, they were called Vestal Virgins.

Which, of course used to always crack us up because as a college co-ed none of us in our sorority were particularly interested in keeping the flame alive, but rather burning the midnight oil while we either studied *cough* or partied with our friends and male counterparts.

I don't think Vesta would have approved, but we sure had a great time!

In ancient Roman religion, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth.
They kept a sacred fire burning that was never allowed to go out.
The Vestals were freed of the usual social obligations to marry and bear children, and took a vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals that were off-limits to the male colleges of priests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_Virgin

A generic virgin is someone who's never had sex.

The way I see it is vestal virgins are like Roman Goddesses assigned to protect households, and virgins are females who just haven't had sexual intercourse yet.

But you know what, now I wish I'd googled it. Think I will.

:)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_Virgin

a generic virgin is just a chick who hasn't had intercourse with a man yet.

Are they different awards that virgins can win??

I would never know....I was outta that club early in life;p

okay - I googled it...I'm bad and cut and paste!! It's Wikipedia but I didn't want to get too in depth...

1. A Vestal Virgin is a W. who were freed of the usual social obligations to marry and bear children, and took a vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals that were off-limits to the male colleges of priests.

2. A Virgin - A virgin (or maiden) originally meant a W. who has never had sexual intercourse. Virginity is the state of being a virgin. It is derived from the Latin virgo, which means "sexually inexperienced W.". As in Latin, the English word is also often used with wider reference, by relaxing the age, gender or sexual criteria.[1] Hence, more mature women can be virgins (The Virgin Queen), men can be virgins, and potential initiates into many fields can be colloquially termed virgins; for example, a skydiving "virgin". In the latter usage, virgin simply means uninitiated.

I don't know but reminds me of a song from The Big Chill (van morrison)