Meet the Gods: Faunus     As part of the festival of Lupercalia, held on February 15, the ancient Romans honored Faunus, the god of forests, fields, and plains. One of the oldest Roman deities, he epitomizes the reproductive force intrinsic in the universe. He is the essence of wild male sexual energy and the urgent biological need to procreate. Similar to the Greek god Pan, Faunus is typically depicted as an attractive man from the waist up and a goat from the waist down, with human feet and goat horns. He kept company with similar creatures, known as fauns, in the woodlands. While delicate and humble, they were also…