April 1, 2009

• April

  April

  March borrowed from Averil
  Three Days, and they were ill.

  Because the beginning of April is often stormy, it is said that first three days of April were borrowed by March, which comes in like a lion, but goes out like a lamb. In Ireland, they are called tri latha na boin ruaidhe, “the three days of the red cow.” However, a northern Ireland version extends the three days to nine. The old legend states that the blackbird, the stonechat, and the old gray cow mocked March after his days were done and that to punish their insolence, he begged of April nine of his days: three to fleece the blackbird, three to punish the stonechat, and three days for the old gray cow.
  

  
  The name of this month comes from the Latin word aperire, “to open.” This is appropriate for a month of blossoming flowers dedicated to Aphrodite. The Anglo-Saxon name for this month is Eastermonath and to the Franks it was Ostarmanoth, the month of Eostre the goddess of Spring and the true origin of Easter. The Asatru and many other Pagans simply call it Ostara. The Irish word for April is Aibrean or in Gaelic an Giblean, while the end of April is known as Seachtain an t-Sionnaich, end of the winds.
  
  The first Full Moon of this month is called Seed of Planting Moon, Budding Tree Moon, Egg Moon, or Growing Moon. Tribes in coastal areas referred to this as the Fish moon when Shad would come upstream to spawn. It is also referred to as Pink Moon for wild ground phlox, one of the earliest and widespread flowers of the spring, Full Sprouting or Green Grass Moon, Planter or Planting Moon, and Hare Moon, names it shares with May’s Moon. It also shares the name, Wind Moon, with March. April’s moon is also the Paschal Full Moon, the first full moon of the spring season. 
  
  On April 20th, the zodiac turns from Aries to Taurus. The sweat pea is the flower for April children. Aries is the diamond, though on some older lists, sapphire is the stone for the month of April. The birthstone for Taurus is the emerald. Aries also lays claim to amethyst, carnelian, garnet, fire agate, pink tourmaline, and topaz, while aquamarine, lapis lazuli, kunzite, rose quartz, and sapphire are associated with Taurus.

  
  
  

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  April 1st
  

  
  

  If it thunders on All Fools’ day
  it brings good crops of corn and hay.
  

  
  

  The tradition behind April Fool’s Day is uncertain. Though sometimes linked to a tradition of releasing insane people for one day a year for the amusement of “normal” folk, it is also considered sacred to Loki, the Norse trickster god, and it is acceptable to play tricks on people till noon. The day may even have evolved from the festival of Cerelia. An ancient Roman feast, it celebrated the story of Proserpina. Due to the hopelessness of Ceres’ quest to find her daughter, it has been called a “fool’s errand.”
  
  Some believe the celebration of April Fool’s Day began many years ago in France. It may even relate back to the ancient festivals held on the vernal Equinox, March 21st. This was the beginning of the new year according to the pre-Gregorian calendar. In France when the Gregorian calendar was changed by Charles IX in 1564, the beginning of the new year was changed and celebrated on January first. Those people who still celebrated the day on the first of April were then known as April Fools.
  
  Prior to the change of the date it was customary to give gifts on the first day of the year. When the date was changed, people began sending mock gifts to other people on April, making them April fools. In Scotland, the custom was known as “hunting the gowk,” (the cuckoo, a term of contempt), and April-fools were “April-gowks.” In France, a person who resisted in changing the date of the new year was victimized by pranksters who played practical jokes on him. This person became a poisson d’avril, an April Fish. The French traditionally celebrated by placing dead fish on the backs of friends, though today, real fish have been replaced with sticky, fish-shaped paper cut-outs that children try to sneak onto the back of their friends’ shirts. Candy shops and bakeries also offer fish-shaped sweets for the holiday. Some believe the origin lies in the weather of the vernal equinox which seems to fool all of mankind. In many countries however, April Fools’ Day is not celebrated on the first of April. In Mexico, Fools’ Day falls on the 28th of December, and in ancient Rome, the day was celebrated on the 25th of March. They observe the day on the 31st of March in India.
  
  

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  The festival of Veneralia or Festum Verneris honors Venus “Goddess of Beauty, Mother of Love, Queen of Laughter, Mistress of the Grapes.” During the festivities, married women invoked the goddesses Concordia and Venus. The jewelry and decorations of Venus was removed from her statue. The figure was washed, dried, and the golden necklaces restored. Offerings of roses and other flowers, myrtle and incense were given. English folklore says myrtle won’t grow unless planted by a woman.
  
  Fortuna Virilis is also held today in honor of Fortuna. Today was a festival of good luck honoring the goddess Fortuna, Lady Luck, to whom all gamblers pray whether they know it or not. Originally, Fortuna Virilis was interpreted as “men’s fortune,” but by late classical times it came to be interpreted as “luck with men!” This was a time for women to seek good relations with men, and women “of the lower order” would pray to Fortuna in the men’s public bath.
  
  

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  This is the 17th day of Pachons according to the Egyptian calendar. It is a day scared to Hathor.
  

  
  
  

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