Romulus and Remus

According to Livy and Plutarch, Romulus was the first king of Rome. In fact, Rome was named for him. It was the site where, with his twin brother Remus, he had been nursed by the she-wolf Lupa. Unfortunately for Remus, Romulus went on to found the city of Rome, while Remus met his untimely end.

In the mythology of the founding of Rome, Romulus and Remus were descendants of the city of Troy. Their grandfather, Numitor, and his brother, Amulius, were fugitives of the Trojan war. Upon the death of their father, they received as their birthright the throne of Alba Longa – Numitor received the sovereign power while Amulius took charge of the treasury. Eventually, Amulius dethroned his brother Numitor, though he allowed him to live in the city as his subject. To cement his power though, he exiled his niece Rhea Silvia to the Vestal virgins out of fear that she might one day produce children that would go on to depose him.

Rhea Silvia was later found to be pregnant, giving birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus. She told her uncle that she had been visited by the god Mars, and that the children were his. This made no difference to her uncle however, who sentenced them all to death. In some stories, Rhea Silvia was given the standard death sentence for Vestal virgins who forsake their vow of celibacy, that is, live burial. (Centuries later, this was a punishment reserved for Christian nuns who forsook their vows as well.) In other stories, she was thrown into the Tiber river with her children.

Because the twins were so beautiful and innocent, the servant ordered to dispose of them could not in good conscience simply throw them into the river. Instead, he placed them in a basket and set it on the bank of the river. The river rose and the god of the river, Tiberinus, carried them away. He caused the basket to catch in the roots of a fig tree growing in the Velebrum Swamp where they were fed by a woodpecker. Later he carried the basket up to the Palatine Hill where they were nursed by the she-wolf Lupa. Incidentally, Lupa was also the term used for female prostitutes and for priestesses of a fox goddess, leading some researchers to believe the “wolf” may have been human. Both the wolf and the woodpecker are sacred animals of Mars.

Eventually the babies were discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd for Amulius. He and his wife, Acca Laurentia raised the boys as their own. Acca Laurentia had twelve sons. After one of her sons died, Romulus took his place and joined them in founding the college of the Arval brothers, the Fratres Arvales. Acca Laurentia is therefore identified with Dea Dia (the Good Goddess) of that collegium. Some scholars go further and suggest that Acca Laurentia was called Lupa (courtesan) and that she was the she-wolf that nursed the boys. Some also identify Faustulus as Lupercus, the wolf-god who protects flocks from predation. The Flamen Quirinalis (priest of Quirinus) of the Fratres Arvales acted in the role of Romulus (who was deified upon his death as Quirinus) to provide funerary rites for his foster mother.

When Romulus and Remus were eighteen years old, the shepherds of Numitor and Amulius began to fight. Many of Amulius’s cattle were driven off, and his men became enraged. Romulus and Remus gathered their friends together and killed Numitor’s shepherds, recovering their lost cattle. Romulus and Remus then took in many needy men and slaves of Numitor. While Romulus made sacrifices to the gods, as he was wont to do, some of Numitor’s shepherds attacked Remus and some of his friends. Eventually Numitor’s shepherds prevailed and took Remus prisoner, taking him to Numitor for punishment. But Numitor, being afraid of his brother Amulius, did not punish Remus. Instead, he went to Amulius and asked for justice. The people of Alba Longa sympathized with Numitor, and Amulius was inclinded to give Numitor permission to treat Remus as he saw fit. Once Numitor had taken Remus to his home for punishment however, he was amazed at the young man’s stature and strength. As he learned more about the boy and discovered how he had been found along the banks of the Tiber, Numitor began to think that, based on Remus’s age and looks, he might be Rhea’s son.

When Romulus returned from his sacrifices, Faustulus told him of Remus’ capture. Romulus left to raise an army to march against Alba Longa, while Faustulus took the cradle in which he had found the twins and quickly ran to Alba Longa. When Faustulus reached the gates of the city, the guards stopped him, but by chance, one of the guards had been the servant who had taken the boys to the river. Upon seeing the cradle, he knew that Faustulus spoke the truth and brought Faustulus before him to be examined. Amulius quickly sent a friend of Numitor to see if he had heard any report of the twins being alive. As soon as the man entered Numitor’s house, he found Numitor embracing Remus. He advised Numitor and Remus to act quickly, as Romulus was marching on the city with an army of those who hated and feared Amulius. Remus incited the citizens within the city to revolt, and at the same time Romulus attacked from without. Amulius, without having taken a single step to defend himself or his city, was taken away for execution.

With Amulius dead, the city offered joint leadership to the twins, but they refused to take charge of the city while their gradnfather was still alive and also refused to be his subjects. So, after restoring their grandfather to his throne and properly honoring their dead mother, they left to found their own city on the slopes of the Palatine Hill. Before leaving Alba Longa however, they gathered together many fugitives, runaway slaves, and others who wanted a second chance at life.

Once Romulus and Remus arrived at the Palatine Hill, they argued over where the exact position of the city should be. Romulus was inclined to build upon the Palatine itself, while Remus wanted to build the city on the strategic and easily fortified Aventine Hill. They agreed to settle their argument by testing their abilities as augurs. Each took a seat on the ground apart from one another, and according to Plutarch, Remus saw six vultures (birds sacred to Mars), while Romulus saw twelve. Remus was enraged by Romulus’s victory and claimed that since he had seen his six vultures first, he should have won. As Romulus began digging a trench (or building a wall) where his city’s boundary would be, Remus ridiculed some parts of the work and obstructed others. At last, Remus leapt across the trench, an omen of bad luck which implied that the city fortifications would be easily breached, and was killed. The most common story is that his brother Romulus killed him. Two other lesser known accounts state that Remus was killed by Romulus’ commander Fabius, or someone named Celer, with a shovel. Romulus buried Remus, then continued to build his city, naming it Roma after himself. In the beginning, Rome was very much like America in that it took in exiles, refugees, runaway slaves, and other undesirables. The city grew so much that five of the seven hills were settled in short order.

There were however not enough wives for all these men, and so Romulus decided to steal women from the Sabines, an Italian tribe. He proclaimed a festival called the Consualia, inviting many Sabines to it. While the attention of the men was elsewhere Romulus’ men rushed in and carried off the women. The Sabine men were furious and, led by their king Titus Tatius, made war on the Romans. At the peak of the fighting, the Sabine women, who had grown fond of their Roman husbands, rushed between the ranks and begged both sides to make peace. So the battle was stopped, Romulus and Titus Tatius ruled together over the two peoples until Titus Tatius was killed in battle. For the rest of his life, Romulus ruled alone, a great leader in peace and war. He did not die however, but disappeared one day in a violent storm. The Romans believed he had been deified as the genius loci (spirit of place/guardian spirit) of their city and worshipped him under the name of Quirinus.

February 15th

The Romans honor Lupa, the She-Wolf who nursed Remus and Romulus, with the Lupercalia. The divine twins, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome are honored, and the god Faunus, an aspect of the god Pan, protector of agriculture and flocks and giver of oracles and the goddess Juno are also associated with the Lupercalia. Young men gather at the Lupercal, the cave where the twins were suckled by a she-wolf and sacrifice a goat and a dog. Smearing themselves with the blood, they dress in the animals’ skins and circle the city, slapping people with pieces of goatskin. Women volunteer to be struck in order to become fertile or help ease childbirth. As part of the ceremony, the foreheads of two youths are wiped with wool dipped in milk. Then the boys laugh.

The third day of the Parentalia is associated with Proserpina or Persephone. This is the Februum, or Purification.

In 1521, Pope Leo X issued his order to ensure that all those convicted of witchcraft by the Inquisition would be executed.

On the 2nd Day of Parmutit, Geb proceeds to Busiriso.

Sorry I haven’t posted in two days. I burned my arm on Sunday night making dinner and haven’t been able to get a good night’s sleep since. Last night I conked out at 8:30 pm and my arm woke me up twice. I finally got up at 3am when I couldn’t get back to sleep despite or because of a throbbing headache. I put some neosporin and a bandaid on my burn and took some tylenol pm for my headache. I dreamed of Johnny Cash songs. Sometimes I do that… just dream of music without any real “dream” to speak of. I don’t even own any Johnny Cash, but he’s the only Country singer I actually like. Mostly I think he’s just funny. I mean, who doesn’t like a Boy named Sue?

At least the neighbors didn’t wake me up until 8:30 this morning (their little girls are chronically late for school and every morning is a huge production), but I still feel like I didn’t get enough sleep. Twelve hours should be enough, right? Maybe I’m still getting over being sick. I’m still coughing up yuck, but at least it doesn’t hurt to cough any more. This morning my arm still hurts, I think because the thin layer of blister-skin got rubbed off in my sleep and now it just stings even when nothing is touching it. And of course, neosporin isn’t something you’re supposed to put on burns (but I was desperate last night and it did help to numb the pain a little bit -enough to fall back to sleep), nor are you supposed to bandage a blister. Today it is slightly swollen and red around the edges. My mother would tell me to put some ice on it, but this isn’t the kind of burn you should put ice on. Besides, Asian folk medicine says if you put ice on a burn, it scares the heat into the bone and then it hurts longer. Having experimented with the no ice/no cold water tactic, I have to say, the rule is usually dead on. If I don’t use anything cold on a burn, the pain usually doesn’t last long at all. I should just break down and steal a leaf from my aloe plant, but I always feel bad when I cut my plants. If it keeps hurting, maybe I’ll try putting some honey on it.

And my head still hurts. Blech. I really wanted to post Something last night, but I couldn’t focus beyond a few comments here and there. Being mortal is most annoying. lol

So…. on to today’s Valentine’s day post…

Confusion surrounds the exact identity of the man called Saint Valentine, for at least three Saint Valentines are mentioned in the early martyrologies. One is described as a priest in Rome, another as a Bishop of Terni in Italy, and the other lived and died in Africa. The priest of Rome and the Bishop of Terni are often considered the same person. A priest and physician, he was killed during the persecutions of the Emperor Claudius II Gothicus. Claudius believed the reason for the dwindling number of men enlisting in his army was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, he canceled all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine continued to perform marriages in secret and was eventually executed for defying the emperor. He was beaten to death by clubs on February 14, 269 AD, decapitated, and buried in the Roman road Via Flaminia. This was later the site of a basilica built by Pope Julius I. His matrimonial activities coupled with the traditions of Lupercalia made Saint Valentine the patron saint of lovers. Two hundred years later, Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

In the days when Christianity was still taking control of a Pagan Europe, the Roman church was in the practice of merging many Pagan holy days with its own in an effort to both convert and make conversion easier for Pagan worshippers. In this way, St Valentine’s Day was combined with the old Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia, adopting many of its traditions. Valentine’s Day has always been celebrated on February 14, while Lupercalia is observed on February 15, though Pagan holidays tend to start the night before (so the evening of February 14th).

Lupercalia is primarily a spring festival, honoring the Roman gods Faunus and Lupercus. Faunus (like the Greek Pan) is a god of flocks and fertility, while Lupercus protected the flock from wolves. Lupercalia was intended to ensure the fertility and protection of flocks, fields and people, but in Rome it was also meant to honor the twin founders of their city –Remus and Romulus –who were nursed by the she-wolf Lupa as children. The Luperci priests sacrificed goats and dogs on Palatine Hill at the Lupercal, the cave where the twins were raised by the wolf. After they had smeared wool dipped in milk and the blood of the sacrifice on the foreheads of young boys, the boys would run through the streets dressed in animal skins, laughing and wielding februa (thongs made from goat-hide). With these thongs, they would slap (februatio) women gathered in the streets, ensuring both fertility and easy child delivery. The name of the month of February came from these words, meaning “to purify.”

As the Roman Empire spread, so too did the observation of Roman and Roman-hybrid holidays. Even after the power of Rome began to wane, Lupercalia was still celebrated by its citizens. Only the focus of the holiday changed, realigning to a more popular female deity. Juno, the goddess of women and marriage, became the deity of Lupercalia. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia, girls placed their names in a container, possibly accompanied by love notes, to be used in a type of lottery. A boy drawing a girl’s name would seek (or was guaranteed) her favor. The two were then considered partners for the festival’s duration, sometimes for an entire year. The union often resulted in love and marriage for the young couple. In the Middle Ages, men and women drew names from a bowl to determine their Valentines. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week, and from this tradition came the phrase “wearing your heart on your sleeve.”

As far back as the Middle Ages, lovers would exchange or sing romantic verses at this time. It is thought the young French Duke of Orleans invented the first Valentine-like cards in the 1400s. Captured in battle and held prisoner in the Tower of London for many years, he wrote countless love poems to his wife, sixty of which remain among the royal papers kept in the British Museum. In 1537, King Henry the Eighth declared that February 14 was “Saint Valentine’s Day” by Royal Charter. By the 1700s, exchange of handcrafted greeting cards had become a common practice, and the observance grew to include Valentine gifts. In America however, Valentine’s Day did not become a tradition until around the Civil War (1861-65). Early Valentines were homemade, fashioned by hand with colored paper, watercolors, lace, ribbon, and colored inks. Miss Esther Howland is credited with developing the first commercial Valentines, reputedly earning $5,000 her first year in business, at the time a great deal of money. By the early 1900s, a card company named Norcross began to produce valentines. Hallmark owns a collection of rare antique valentines and occasionally displays them. Valentine’s Day became so popular it rivaled Christmas. This is perhaps why St Valentine’s Day was dropped from the Roman Church calendar in 1969.

Handmade valentines varied, but included:

Acrostic valentines: verses whose first lines spelled out a beloved’s name
Cut-out valentines: made by folding the paper several times, then cutting out a lacelike design with small, sharp, pointed scissors
Pinprick valentines: made by pricking tiny holes in a paper with a pin or needle to create the look of lace
Theorem or Poonah valentines: designs that were painted through a stencil cut in oil paper, a style that came from the Orient
Rebus valentines: verses in which tiny pictures take the place of some of the words (for example, an eye would take the place of the word “I”)
Puzzle Purse valentines: a folded puzzle to read and refold. Among their many folds were verses that had to be read in a certain order
Fraktur valentines: had ornamental lettering in the style of the medieval illuminated manuscripts

Other Traditions:

In England, children dressed as adults on Valentine’s Day and went singing from home to home. One verse they sang was:

Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine—
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.

In Wales, wooden love spoons were carved and given as Valentine gifts. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favorite decorations on the spoons.

In some countries, a young woman might receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she kept it she was agreeing to marry him.

Birds are also thought to choose their mates on February 14th. By watching birds, a young woman can discover what kind of man she will marry. A robin means a sailor for a husband; a sparrow means a poor man but a happy union. A gold finch represented a wealthy mate.

In Rome, girls place five bay leaves under their pillows to dream of their future husbands or lovers.

In Japan, Valentine’s Day ladies buy chocolate for the men. There are two kinds of chocolate –the kiri-choco for friends and acquaintances and has no romantic connotations and the hon-mei for a boy friend, lover or husband. Exactly one month later on White Day the men reciprocate, giving gifts of white chocolate to all the ladies who remembered them on Valentines Day.

Valentine’s Day Crafts

February 12th

This is a day holy to Diana (or Artemis).

Gerald Gardner, founder of the Gardnerian Tradition, died in 1964 of heart failure.

Beginning at noon, this is the first day of the Roman Parentalia, a part of Mania. From now to the 21st, the Romans honor their dead, especially their parents. Temples are closed and marriages are forbidden. People visit their ancestral tombs, leaving wine, milk, and flowers. The last day of the festival is Feralia. The Manes are good spirits of the dead. Immortal like the gods, they were honored with many private celebrations, in addition to a public and universal festival. Vesta was also honored at this time.

Gwyl o Danu a Cernunnos, the festival of Festival of Love, honors Danu and Cernunnos. It begins at sundown and continues through February 21st.

The 30th day of Pamenot is the Feast of Osiris in Busiris. The Doorways of the Horizon are opened.

St Valentine’s Day honors a Roman priest martyred in 270 by the Emperor Claudius for performing secret marriage ceremonies. His feast day was later tied to the pagan Roman festival Lupercalia. At the Lupercalia, couples are paired by lots. After drawing names, people exchange gifts and remain partners until the end of the festival. Long before Valentine, this day was sacred to Sjofn, the Norse goddess of love. The archer god Vali, son of Odin, and Juno Februa, a Roman love goddess, were also honored today.

This is the second day of the Parentalia Mania.

In England, an arch of brambles is carried to ward off evils spirits. In Scandinavia, there is a tradition of walking labyrinths today.

It rained all night two days ago and in the morning, as we walked down the alley, there was a puddle in one of the many potholes and valleys of the uneven tarmac. The tarmac in the puddle was broken and segmented like you sometimes see in a drought, but the rainwater had filled it up and the quality of light had changed it from gritty gray-black to brown green that might have been ugly anywhere else, but was exquisite under its watery shell, like a tidepool that had collected color instead of sea creatures.

I never have a camera at the ready, and I really should start carrying one. So often I see things of such incredible beauty and I know they will not last. It seems the most beautiful things last only a few moments before being swallowed by time. Some see time as order, but I think it is an element of chaos. It is not a leisurely line, but spreads out in all directions, not a trickle, but a torrent constantly changing and warping everything it touches. Order is stillness. In order, time stops and we see, if only for an instant, the beauty all around us. The beauty in a rain puddle for instance or the golden beauty of a mote of dust in a vein of light.

There is so much beauty in the world, but we rarely see it as we are carried along by the chaotic torrent of time. Instead of swimming, we let time carry us along like a leaf, spinning and tumbling; we barely have the time to notice the beauty around us, let alone stop and admire it. We allow time to separate us from our perceptions. Cogito Ergo Sum, I think therefore I am. Like Descartes, I am an idealist. I am not this body or these fingers which type these words. I am these words. I am these perceptions. I stop time by observing myself and my surroundings. Time marches on outside of myself, but while I am still, there is order; everything is changeless and in that pocket of timelessness, I am free to perceive beauty. By perceiving something as beautiful, I make it so. I create the world as I lovingly observe it. By admiring beautiful moments and giving them significance, I ensure a world which will continue to harbor beautiful moments. This is my world. I share it with you through these words.

February 11th

The famous apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes, an ancient shrine to the goddess, occurred today. This was the last manifestation of the goddess at this site.

Osiris had a feast day in Abydos on the 28th day of Pamenot.

Have all the obstacles and problems you been through in life made you stronger? How?

It’s the problems in life that you don’t surpass that weaken you. Anything else can only make you stronger. An obstacle is only an obstacle until you’ve passed it. Then it becomes a hurdle you have jumped. The more practice you get, jumping hurdles, the better you will be at jumping them in the future. So long as you are willing and able to face your problems in life and deal with them, they can only make you more competent and confident. Confidence can carry you a long way over a hurdle, but fear holds you back, fear of the unknown, fear of failure. Everytime you let fear stop you from trying to overcome a problem, you become weaker in spirit. Strength of body or strength of spirit, neither one comes from nothing. If you want strength, you have to work for it. Anything worth having is worth working for.

Facing your problems and conquering them also brings experience. With experience, you have some idea of whether or not you will be able to face future challenges. It gives you clues into what to expect and how best to deal with new problems as they arise. Experience is a kind of strength too, a strength you will not have if you choose to walk away from the challenges of life. 

If you let fear or ignorance stop you from facing the choices life throws at you, you are crippling yourself. Just like the butterfly whose wings develop more through its struggle to free itself from the cocoon than any time spent in its gestation, we become stronger through our effort to overcome the trials that puncutate our lives.   

I haven’t always been as strong as I am now, but it was a conscious decision I made almost twenty years ago that has shaped who I am. It was my decision to face my problems, rather than hide away from them, that has made me strong. I don’t let anyone make me feel like I am worthless any more. My willingness to make goals and do what needs to be done to reach them and my determination to not to be disuaded by temporary setbacks defines my worth in my own eyes and in the eyes of others.

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

February 10th

The New Year in Argunga, Nigeria is celebrated with a festival to start the fishing season. The Kebbawa tribe travel to the Sokoto River carrying large dippers and nets. Everyone jumps into the river at once in the hope that the large splash will scare fish into their nets. The largest fish receives a prize, but the overall size of the catch is also an indication of the will of the gods in the coming season.

The Cult of Oprah…. How I loathe it. My mother just doesn’t understand. She loves Oprah. Oprah is her bright and shining beacon of daytime television honesty.  Ugh.

Oh I really don’t mind Oprah most of the time. It’s mostly her followers I can’t stand. You must understand. I work in a bookstore. I have to deal with the nonsense of Oprah’s book club. I am convinced that she does not read the books she recommends. She probably has people to do that. How else do we explain The Secret? I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again…. It’s not a secret and if you think it is, you probably aren’t equipped to handle it. Don’t even get me started on all the books that have come out since which espouse the same tactics for getting what you want. Um, it’s called magic people. I honestly feel that books like this which teach the principals of magical thought without actually coming out and telling people that they are practicing magic is just another usurpation of the Pagan cultural identity. Bad enough the Christians tried to wipe Paganism off the face of the earth while at the same time they borrowed more than half their traditions from Pagan practices; bad enough they used to murder people for witchcraft and now they’re turning it into pop psychology; bad enough if I claim to do magic, half the people will give me a funny stare and suggest I should be committed; now I’ve got to share my practices with people who may or may not have the ethics to seek what they want without squashing people in their way.

And has everyone forgotten about A Million Little Pieces? I don’t for one minute think Oprah didn’t know the book was (partially) fictionalized. I think she just figured it was a good sell. And now I’ve heard that Eat, Pray. Love. is catching flack too. Golly gee! I wonder why? Could it be that most of us are not wealthy enough to be so completely self-indulgent as the book suggests? And forgive me if you disagree, but one of the failings of this country (I think) is that Americans have a habit of being entirely too self-indulgent to begin with. We’ve gone a long, long way from our hard working immigrant ancestors.

What really drives me up the wall are people who see a rerun of Oprah’s show and come in to tell me they want her latest book. When I give it to them, they’re like, No, that’s not it… I just saw it on her show today… don’t you watch Oprah? Um, no? I work for a living? I don’t have time to keep up on which new age guru she’s using as proxy for her vampiric feeding on the hopes of millions… not today, or yesterday, or last month, not ever. Yes… I think Oprah is a psychic vampire.

I am Not looking forward to the day when not watching Oprah becomes a stoning offense. Thou shalt not neglect to watch Oprah on a daily basis will be the number one tenet of her followers. The second one will be Thou shalt own all Oprah’s book club books. Maybe Oprah’s really not so bad and she tries to good things (or are all her “good works” just an attempt to stay in the public eye and curry favor?), but her viewers are just a wee bit creepy and more than a bit pushy. Can you believe there are some people out there who want her to run for president?? Scary!

Would I be a Hypocrite if I said that I hope she promotes something I’ve written some day? It’s sure to be a bestseller then!

….. No I wouldn’t stoop to that. The thought that I could have a bunch of sheeple following me around on her say so gives me the heebie jeebies. If people read my books (whenever it is that I finally get published), I want them to be inspired to think for themselves, not read the book and continue to be influenced by Oprah the Master-marketeer or anyone else for that matter, including myself. I mean, it’s all right if you agree with me, but it’s equally all right if you disagree. At least you’re thinking for yourself, and I respect that!

Daytime talkshow hosts are like the second generation of televangelists and Oprah is their queen. She even refers to her show as her “ministry.”

She’s on my list of scary (in)famous people…
(in no particular order)
Oprah (televangelist)
Tom Cruise (so full of himself, he hardly needs to eat)
Paris Hilton (lost in the space between her ears)
Dr Laura Schlessinger (ignorant bully)
Dr Phil (well educated bully)
Michael Savage (hypocritical bully)
Ann Coulter (just plain old bully)
Newt Gingrich (reptilian… haha! no, but seriously…. guy’s creepy… I’ve seen pictures  lol)
anyone in the Bush family (enough said)
Camilla (& Prince Charles Booo! BOOOOO!)
Bill O’Reilly (he’s just… ::shudder::)
Martha Stewart (sure I could be a decorating, entertaining diva with a staff of dozens too)
Hilary Clinton (we already had her in office once… my vote goes for Obama!)

I’m not the only person who thinks Oprah is a tremendous fraud. Check these out…
The Cult of Oprah is not for everyone
Oprah Winfrey: The Cult of Oprah 

February 9th

As a feast day to Apollo, this day honors the increasing light of the New Year after the darkness of winter.

Dahini Day is a Tibetan holy day.

Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician, philosopher, poet, astronomer, and director of the Alexandrian Library, asserted that the world was round and correctly measured the size of our world 200 hundred years before the birth of Christ. In his library was an ancient book by Aristarchus of Samos who also asserted the world was round long before such knowledge was acceptable.

I had this bizarre dream about zombies last night, though that’s not surprising since I discovered two zombie webcomics last night before I went to bed. The first, Kristy Vs. the Zombie Army, is kind of nonsensical anime-ish “crap.” Eh, it’s okay, but I prefer the realistic kind of webcomic, not one with talking pandas and weird guys with chainsaw cat swords and an afro with two points like horns. Yeah, amusing springs to mind, if it’s said with a hint of sarcasm. The other webcomic, The Zombie Hunters, is actually very good. The art is impressive, even if it is also partially inspired by anime, but you can tell the artist is very talented, and the story is very good as well.

So back to the dream I had, apparently there was this guy who faked his own death so that his mother could collect the insurance money, but then he moved into her basement to hide out. People saw him and thought he was a zombie. Then for some reason, he started killing people and hiding them in the attic or basement and various other places (the people who saw him when he was supposed to be dead? -maybe), but these people really did come back as zombies and people saw them trundling all over the place as well. They only came after him though. Even when he was with other people in the basement and they blocked off one of those hanging plastic flap-doorways with nothing but a piece of cardboard and an old schooldesk, when the zombies got through, they only went after the guy who killed them. He ended up jumping off the roof to get away and broke his neck on a half-wall that surrounded the property.

You know…. this would make a great movie. Heh I’ve seen worse. Heck, I’ve *liked* worse. lol Honestly I think this fascination I have with Zombies is a reflection of my employment. heh

I bought a new winter coat yesterday for $30. It’s corduroy and ”furry” inside like a nappy old teddy bear. hehe I haven’t bought a new winter coat in about seven years. The last time I got one, I was in New Hope and got a great deal ($65 for a $200 coat) on a long waterproof coat that made me feel like Indiana Jones. Seriously, all I needed was the ratty hat. Technically there’s nothing wrong with my Indiana Jones coat except for some fraying at the cuffs, but my family keeps complaining about the smell. Luckily, one of my coworkers said he’d take it, so I don’t feel entirely wasteful. He doesn’t mind the smell. I don’t think it smells so bad myself. I mean, my mother smokes, and I think she often smells worse than my coat. Go figure. Considering I have problems with “harmless” smells like perfume and coffee, and my coat (usually) didn’t bother Me, I think everyone was over reacting. Oh well. 

In other news, I found a mystery subscription from “True Feed” when I came online this morning. It turns out it’s something new Xanga is trying out. Apparently, I and a couple hundred other bloggers are the “best of Xanga.” Not sure what that means, but it’s nice in a paranoid, “what’s gonna happen now” kind of way. lol I wonder how many active bloggers there actually are on Xanga and what percentage was chosen for this honor, and how was I even chosen? Was it based on posts, comments, footprints, tags, blogring membership, search engine hits, spelling, random good fortune, what??? Just how exclusive is this True Feed? And what, if anything, will I be required to do to stay on their good side…?

February 8th

The Japanese Star festival is a nighttime celebration, giving thanks to the stars influencing human fate. The master of the house offers prayers to the star that governed his birth and then lights one hundred eight small lamps on a special altar. Each son in the household also offers prayers to the star of his birth, relighting three lamps as the lamps of his father go out. The brightness of the flames dictates the outcome of the year.

The Narvik Sun Pageant is a festival held in Norway in honor of the Sun Goddess, Sunna. The festival begins at dawn and continues until evening shadows darken the sky.

What do you think Valentine’s Day is about? Do you celebrate it? How?

What do I think of Valentine’s Day? 

…….Just another Christianized Pagan holiday secularized by the greating card industry. heh

Do I celebrate it?

…….Nope… not much call for asexuals to celebrate a holiday based on romance and reproduction. lol Technically my mother has a tradition of making everyone brownies for Valentine’s day. I happen to be allergic to chocolate, so basically my mother tries to kill me once a year.

February 14th is a holy day for a couple gods and goddesses… Sjofn, Vali, Juno Februa… It is also a kind of Pagan parent’s day. It is the second day of a festival known as Parentalia, which usually is held to honor one’s dead ancestors, particularly parents. However, Valentine’s day is very much a Christianized version of Lupercalia which is a Roman festival honoring the she-wolf which supposedly nurtured Romulus and his twin brother Remus. Basically, Romulus and Remus were the twin sons of Mars and the priestess Rhea Silvia. Rhea Silvia was a vestal virgin by decree of her uncle who had usurped her father’s throne. When she was discovered to be pregnant, she and her children were sentenced to death. According to the story, while Rhea Silvia was buried alive (the customary punishment for vestal virgin who forsook their vow of chastity), the twins were of such size and beauty that the servant ordered to kill them set them adrift in a basket in the Tiber river instead. Eventually they were brought ashore where they were adopted by a she-wolf and fed by a woodpecker (both creatures sacred to their father Mars). Lupa the wolf took care of them long enough for them to be discovered and adopted by a shepherd. Long story short, Romulus went on to found Rome. Remus, unfortunately, found nothing but his death. If Remus had survived, Rome might have ended up as Reme.

Of course if anyone’s interested in the extended version of the story and the Lupercalia holiday, I’ll go into much more detail on February 15th, when the holiday is actually celebrated.

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

So….. long time, no see. Sorry I’ve been sick, but I’m feeling much better now that the great phlegm migration has begun. Hope I didn’t miss anything important! I told my general manager that is she ever makes me that sick again, I’ll quit. She toddled around the store for close to three week with this cold. I’m surprised more people didn’t get sick. So far as I know, I was one of three that caught it.

Yesterday we got a visit from our district manager at work. It wasn’t a surprise. We knew she was coming, but it’s always stressful despite the fact that she only ever disparages other stores, and never really criticizes us at all. I always worry that she is going to find something that is out of place or not according to “plan.” I’m the merch supervisor. If it’s not right; it’s my fault. So I worry.

When I left work yesterday, she had been in the store for almost two hours and had not yet left the general manager’s office. Considering my GM finally chose one of my coworkers to replace my former manager (AKA the evil micromanager), I’m sure they had a lot to talk about, but it still makes me nervous. Especially the fact that they left the office door open the entire time they were talking… UNTIL I sat down at my desk (which is directly in front of the door) to send my end of day email and then they decided to close the door. I’m sure it was nothing and I’m just paranoid, but man that makes me anxious.

I finally managed to update my IPod. I have dialup, so it is slow slow slow. For the longest time I was getting all sorts of error messages and time outs. What a pain! But the newest update has finally taken, and now I am looking at podcast. They have some interesting Pagan podcasts, but I’m running into the same problem with them as wth the iTunes and IPod updates. One download is telling me it’s going to be 19 hours before it is complete! Yikes! Still there are some interesting Podcasts out there for Pagans and I want to listen to them. Anyone have any favorite podcasts they download? The most popular Pagan ones seem to be from Canada. Considering I’d like to live in Canada some day, that’s actually pretty cool. Though… the possibility that people will mangle my name if I ever manage to get there is a bit depressing…. Can you imagine? Candace of Canada? People may start calling me Canadace…. eek.

February 5TH

St. Agatha, the Christianized version of the Greek goddess Tyche, the Roman Fortuna, and the Norse Wyrd, has her holy day today. This day is especially powerful for all forms of divination and fortune telling.

February 6TH

The Sapporo snow festival in northern Japan is held to honor the spirits who bring water to the island. Miniature shrines are created in igloo-like structures, and for one night, children are allowed to wait in these huts, receiving visits from family and friends. The festival began in 1950 when local high school students made six snow statues in Odori Park along the city’s main street. It attracted an unexpected number of spectators and, through the following years, the festival gradually became a part of life in Sapporo. Today the festival has grown to Hokkaido’s biggest winter event and attracts more than 2 million visitors annually. 

Today is a festival of Aphrodite.

St. Dorothy’s Day is said to bring snow.

The 23rd day of Pamenot is a Feast in honor of Horus.

February 7TH

Li Chum in China is a celebration of Spring. During a parade, some people carry small clay water buffalo (a symbol of new life), while others carry much large representations made of bamboo and colored paper. When they reach the temple, the clay figures are smashed and the paper animals burned so that the effigies carry their pleas for a prosperous season flow up to heaven.

This is a Greek holy day dedicated to Selene.

Thomas Aquinas died today in 1274.

I am still not feeling very well, so I’m not going to post much today either.

I’ve been poking around the internet lately and found some sites that increase traffic through reader referals.

Qassia
Reddit 
Digg 
del.icio.us 
Bloggit 
ma.gnolia
stumbleupon 
newsvine

I’m pretty sure there are probably others out there too. Just wondering if you guys have heard of any of these or have used them, or any others I haven’t heard of. How effective do you think they are? I haven’t seen anyone using them on Xanga, so I don’t know if they can even be integrated.

February 3rd

St. Blasius or Blaise is one of four holy helpers invoked to help sick cattle. This saint is also responsible for helping people with sore throats. This is a masculine form of Brigit.

This is the last day of the Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries.

Not much of an entry tonight. This cold isn’t getting better. I hate being sick. It’s so… inconvenient.

February 2nd

The Februalia festival of candles honors Juno Februa. Candles are lit in honor of Juno Februa, the Purifier and Mother of Mars, and to scare away evil spirits. Februalia and Imbolc became Candlemas under Christian dominance and is now held in honor of the Virgin Mary.

If Candlemas Day be bright and fair
Half the winter is to come and mair (more)
If Candlemas Day be dark and foul
Half the winter was over at Yowl (Yule)

This tradition is obviously continued in the celebration of Groundhog’s Day which also occurs today. According to Punxsutawney Phil, we are due for six more weeks of winter.

The Swedish Lucia-Queen is a girl wearing a crown of seven tapers set in a circle. The Crown of Lights is often worn by a very young girl, presumably to symbolize the extreme youth of the year.

This is the second day of the Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone.

Sul-Minerva of Bath is a British-Roman deity associated with Brigid as a goddess of knowledge and healing. Her sanctuary is described as an “ashless” fire referring instead to her sacred spring. If Sul is cognate with the Goddess of Silbury Hill, there might have once been a procession to her sacred spring, the Swellowhead which begins to flow again in February “when the Queen comes from the mound.”

On the 19th day of Pamenot, Nut was born.

If you had a magic key, what would it open?

I dreamed last night that I was one of a number of children that an evil witch intended to use in a spell. They were all bewitched and obedient to her, but for some reason I was not. We were all in the house where I grew and as the witch prepared for her spell, I snuck into the dining room where the ingredients had been gathered. I hid a wine bottle of something in a cabinet, her spellbook in the fridge behind some food containers, and that left about a half dozen bottles of multicolored Gatorade. I don’t know if maybe it was drugged and intended for the other children, but I went out the back door and hid the bottles behind the compost pile in the alley. Unfortunately, all the children came out of the house and started looking for dandelion roots to use in the witch’s spell. They still did not know that I was not under her spell also, so I ran around and tried to find dandelions before they did and pull them up. They assumed that I was also collecting the roots Unfortunately, I knew that dandelions are prolific and that I could never keep them from finding enough for her plan. Also, I knew that it was only a matter of time before they also found the Gatorade.

And that is when I woke up.

If I had a magic key, I would use it to open a door to my dreams. If I could, I would never wake up. Even though many of my dreams are scary, they are infinitely more interesting than “real life.” If I could go into my dreams, I could always play the hero and save the day. So maybe it’s a selfish whim, but if we’re talking wish fulfilment here, then being “the hero” would be quite fulfilling and the danger which I would always manage to overcome would be just as enticing.

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

February was named for the Roman goddess Februa, mother of Mars. As patroness of passion, she was also known as Juno Februa and St. Febronia from febris, the fever of love. Her orgiastic rites were held on February 14th, St.Valentine’s Day. In Norse traditions, she is equated with Sjofn.

The Irish called this month Feabhra or an Gearran, the gelding or horse. The horse was used to draw the plough, but Gearran also means ‘to cut’ and ‘Gearran’ can be used to describe the ‘cutting’ Spring winds. To the Anglo-Saxons, this was Solmonath, “sun month,” in honor of the gradual return of the light after the darkness of winter. According to Frank and Asatru traditions, this month is Horning, from horn, the turn of the year.

The first full moon of February is called the Quickening Moon. It shares the titles Snow Moon with January and November, Wolf Moon with January and December, and Storm Moon with March and November. February’s Moon is also called the Hunger or Hungry Moon, and it has been called the Ice, Wild, Red and Cleansing, or Big Winter Moon.

Aquarius and Pisces share power over February, with Pisces taking over around the 19th of February. Violet is the flower for those born in February. Though jacinth and pearl appear on some lists, amethyst is the jewel for those born in this month and for Pisces, while aquamarine is the stone for Aquarians. Other stones associated with Aquarius are chrysoprase, garnet, labradorite, lapis lazuli, and opal. Albite, aquamarine, chrysoprase, fluorite, green tourmaline, labradorite, moonstone, and opal are linked to Pisces.

Lunar Holy Days

With the new crescent moon, the Hopi and the Pueblo people hold their Powamu festival. Beans are planted in kivas, large buildings used for religious rituals. As many as two hundred Kachina dancers will perform rituals while the beans grow to ensure a good crop, but Eototo is the chief of all Kachinas and controls the seasons. He is the spiritual counterpart of the village chief and is called father of the Kachinas. During the Bean Dance of the Third Mesa, he conducts an elaborate ceremony by drawing cloud symbols in corn flour. Aholi (Eototo’s reinforcer) places his staff in the center of the symbols and waves it in an all-encompassing fashion, while giving out a long call. This dance is designed to draw the clouds and moisture to the pueblo. Children between the ages of six and ten are initiated into their Kachina societies, receiving gifts from the dancers.

The 19th day of the first moon is the Rats’ Wedding in China. The day honors household rats in order to propitiate them. Salt and grains of rice are sprinkled inside the home to share fortune with the rats.

February 1st

Imbolc (or Oimelc) marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring through the influence of Brigit, the three-fold goddess of fire, poetry, and healing.

The first Day of the Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone lasts three days. This is the Preparation for Initiation. The Eleusinia festivals are divided into the greater and lesser mysteries. The events celebrated at the Lesser Mysteries commemorate the descent of Persephone into the world below. The Greater Mysteries honor her return to light and to her mother and were celebrated between autumn and seedtime. These lesser mysteries were observed at Agrae near the Ilissus. In later times, the smaller festivals were preparatory to the greater, and no person could be initiated at Eleusis without previously seeking purification at Agrae. It was required that the person initiated in the Mysteries was of unblemished moral character.

At the beginning of the month, Juno Sospita, the neighbor of the Phrygian Mother Goddess, was honored with new shrines. The name literally means “Juno the Savior”, but some scholars maintain that the word “sospita” is derived from a very early form of Latin and may mean something considerably different. Some see Juno Sospita as the protector of women in childbirth (and, by extension, the goddess of deliverance); some see her as a warrior, while others have a completely different view of her purpose in the Roman mythology. The Temple of Juno Sospita was in the Forum Holitorium in Rome.

This is the 18th day of Pamenot in the Egyptian calendar, a Feast of Nut.