Manes

ma'nez, in Roman mythology, the souls of the departed. The good spirits were called lares, and the evil lavae. They were worshiped as gods. The letters, D. M. S., sometimes found in sepulchers, stand for Dis Manibus Sacrum (sacred to the divine manes). Although regarded as infernal deities, the manes were believed to visit the upper air as ghosts occasionally. They were especially likely to do so on the 30th day of August, the 4th of October, and the 7th of November. These days the Romans regarded, therefore, as unlucky. No enterprise of importance was begun on these days. See Ancestor Worship; Mythology; Lares