{{Italic title}} :For the genus of marine molluscs, see ''Oscilla'' (gastropod). thumb|right|300px|''Oscillum'' in Athens '''''Oscilla''''' is a word applied in Latin usage to small figures, most commonly masks or faces, which were hung up as offerings to various deities, either for propitiation or expiation, and in connection with festivals and other ceremonies. It is usually taken as the plural of ''oscillum'' (diminutive of ''os''), a little face. As the ''oscilla'' swung in the wind, ''oscillare'' came to mean to swing, hence in English oscillation, the act of swinging backwards and forwards, periodic motion to and fro, hence any variation or fluctuation, actual or figurative.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Oscilla|volume=20|page=347}}</ref>

Many ''oscilla'' or masks, representing the head of Bacchus or of different rustic deities, are still preserved. There is a marble ''oscillum'' of Bacchus in the British Museum. Others still in existence are made of earthenware, but it seems probable that wax and wood were the ordinary materials. Small rudely shaped figures of wool, known as ''pilae'', were also hung up in the same way as the ''oscilla''.<ref name="EB1911"/>

The festivals at which the hanging of ''oscilla'' took place were:

* The ''Sementivae Feriae'', or sowing festivals, and the ''Paganalia'', the country festivals of the tutelary deities of the ''pagi''; both took place in January. Here the ''oscilla'' were hung on trees, such as the vine and the olive, oak and the pine, and represented the faces of Liber, Bacchus or other deity connected with the cultivation of the soil (Virgil, ''Georgics'' ii.382-396). * The ''Feriae Latinae''; in this case games were played, among them swinging (''oscillatio)''; cf. the Greek festival of Aeora (see Erigone). Festus (s.v. ''Oscillum'', ed. Muller, p.&nbsp;194) says that this swinging was called ''oscillatio'' because the swingers masked their faces (''os celare'') out of shame. * At the ''Compitalia'', Festus says (Paulus ex Fest., ed. Muller, p.&nbsp;239) that ''pilae'' and ''effigies viriles et muliebres'' made of wool were hung at the crossroads to the Lares, the number of ''pilae'' equalling that of the slaves of the family, the ''effigies'' that of the children; the purpose being to induce the Lares to spare the living, and to be content with the ''pilae'' and images. This has led to the generally accepted conclusion that the custom of hanging these ''oscilla'' represents an older practice of expiating human sacrifice. There is also no doubt a connection with the ''lustratio'' in that both rely on purification by the air.<ref name="EB1911"/>

== References == {{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Oscilla}}

{{EB1911 article with no significant updates}}

Category:Ancient Roman religion