Vestal Virgin

In ancient Rome, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins (Latin: Vestālēs, singular Vestālis) were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. These individuals cultivated the sacred fire that was not allowed to go out. Vestals were freed of the usual social obligations to marry and bear children and took a 30-year vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals forbidden to the colleges of male priests.

Quotes

• Pale maids with passionless purity adorn
  Prim Vesta's temple.
  • John Nichol, Hannibal (1873), III, viii

See also

• Esotericism
• Mysticism
• Vesta (mythology)