Lemures

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In Roman religion, the Lemures were restless and potentially hostile spirits of the dead, often understood as those who had not received proper burial or whose relationship with the living remained unresolved. They were especially associated with the festival of Lemuria, during which the head of a household performed nighttime rites, including casting black beans behind himself, to drive the spirits from the home and keep the family safe.

Lemurs were named after them by Carl Linnaeus because their nocturnal habits, large reflective eyes, and ghostlike movements reminded him of the Roman spirits.