" But what about the genius loci? Is it alive? Is it visible? How can we hear or see it? What or who is the genius loci? Let us delve into scholarly literature.
'Genius is what the ancestors called the natural god of every place or object, or person', Latin writer Servius wrote. The genii of a home - the Lares - and the genius loci were given offerings of wine and milk, fruits and flowers. For the Roman genius, the Greeks had daimon (demon). The very word genius refers to 'genus', the origin of kin, i.e. the forebears. The Romans regarded the genius primarily as the god of the inner forces and capacities of a free male citizen. (..) In a genius, one can see the impersonation of an individual's inner qualities, of their nature. Thus, after death, your genius wanders somewhere around the places where you lived, and can unite with other gods. Soon the idea of genius was extended to inanimate objects and places. According to Servius, there is no place without a genius of its own. The most famous ancient genius loci is certainly the genius of Rome. On Capitol Hill, there was a shield dedicated to the genius and the inscription: "To either man or woman". These words were conditioned by the idea that neither the name nor the sex of the genius could be known. The unknown name of the genius was never pronounced, so that enemies could not entice it. One could see the mood of the genius, one could feel its presence, and one could be in the power of the genius, but naming that mood or giving it a definition was considered impossible or even dangerous."
From Kaliningrad Art Guide 'Now', article 'To Genius Loci Kaliningrad and Koenigsberg' by Ivan Chechot
