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Almanac of the Ancients:
October 2007
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by Triple Moon Goddess |
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The month of October was always one of my favorites. The weather changes become more apparent, and it is time to bring out last year’s clothes and snuggle into them. It is time for baking and cool walks in the crisp autumn air. Best of all it is time to break out the Halloween decorations ! Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, I just LOVE putting Halloween decorations on display. I crave being warm, but I also love the change of the seasons (something I missed when I lived out west). So now to warm up, I wrap up in home made quilts and drink hot tea. Halloween, although that is not what it was called at the time, was a big time of celebration for the ancients. Halloween won’t be until the end of the month, but we will make our way there through all of the celebrations October has to share with us.
We have just entered the first full month of autumn. The days are shorter, and the cool nights are longer. This is a month of many significant celebrations although the average person on the street may not realize it (but we aren’t average are we!).So sit back with a cup of cider as the goddess turns to her aspect as the Crone, and together we will explore the holidays of the ancients culminating in the celebration of Halloween that is still a big celebration today.
Let us start with the sun. This month shares the sun signs of Libra the Scales and Scorpio the Scorpion. The name October comes from the Latin word octo, meaning eight (as October was the eighth month on the old Roman calendar).The birth stones for this month are Opal, rose sapphire and tourmaline. The flower is the calendula. Now that you have your birthday gifts all picked out, let’s see what gods were worshiped in October. The month of October was sacred to: Cernunnos, Hecate, the Morrigan, Osiris, Hathor, and the Wiccan goddess as the aspect of the Crone. The full moon this month is the Blood Moon on the 26th...and so we end with the moon.
October was called Winmonath in old English, or wine month. Maybe instead of that cider I mentioned earlier, it would be a good time for a glass of red wine to warm you up. Calendars all associated the month with wine or hunting. From England to France to the United States, the theme remained the same. The Irish calendar actually called it “the end of autumn” or Deireadh Fomhair.
When birds and badgers are fat in October, expect a cold Winter.
Traditional American proverb
This is the Goddess month of Hathor. Hathor was an ancient Egyptian cow goddess. She is said to be in the milk that flowed, and personification of the Milky Way. She has been noted since around 2700 BC, and she was also known as Mehturt.
October first is a big day. There are celebrations that are still held in different parts of the world. Let us begin in Peru at the Fiesta de aqua. Prior to this date all of the channels and ditches that feed the crops were cleaned (remember in the southern hemisphere , they are getting ready to plant crops as we are harvesting pumpkins). Today is the day of the festival where the water god Paripaunko is honored. There is a procession of horsemen who accompany an official of the region to a cave where the water god lives. After the official leaves his offerings to the god, the gates of the river Carhuayumac are opened. The horsemen race the rushing water down the canals. A rocket is sent up to let everyone know that the gates are open and the water is on the way! This sounds like so much fun and excitement, maybe someday I will have to make a trip to Peru.
Today is also a day for blessing all animals. Some trace this back to Saint Francis of Assisi who was an animal lover, but the Pagan tradition goes back even earlier. The animals worked a long and sometimes hard summer and were thanked for helping support the humans of the region. You may be lucky enough to have a church in your area where the animals can go to be blessed, but you can bless them yourself. Maybe a little Reiki for your pet, or even a special treat, for today is the day !
Stenia- The ancient Greeks celebrated Demeter and Persophone on this date. There is not much information available as to what actually occurred at the festival. It was a festival for women only. The first four days were held in Athens, and the last day was held at the sea in Halimus were the women made sacrifices and danced on the water’s edge. Take a stroll along the waterfront if you can, and remember your ancient Greek sisters.
Feast Day of Fides was today in Ancient Rome. Fides is the goddess of loyalty, and her temple was actually where the Roman Senate met. The “loyalty” was loyalty to Rome. The name Fido that we frequently give to dogs, comes from her name. Dogs are loyal companions , so I guess that makes sense.
Oct 2- Pagan/Wiccan- Guiding Spirit Day- A day to thank your spirit guides. Light a white candle , and use any form of meditation to help meet and communicate with your guide. Thank them for helping you with your life lessons. This is also an old Pagan tradition borrowed by the church , which has turned it into thank the angels...it all comes out the same in the end.
Oct 3- Oschophoria- Ancient Greece-A festival held in Attica to celebrate Athena and Dionysus. Some references say it was Ariadne, instead of Athena. This is a vintage festival to celebrate the ripening of the grapes.Great day for a glass of wine (I can hear some of you saying...aren’t tehy all?)
Oct 4- Jejunium Ceres- A day of fasting to honor the mother goddess Ceres. She is goddess of corn, agriculture and all fruits of the earth. This is the newer date since 191BC, before that the celebration was held in the spring.Bake some cornbread today to honor the goddess Ceres.
Oct 5- Nubaigai- The Festival of the Old Woman (Lithuanian)- Farm workers take the last sheaf of grain and dress it up as a woman for a festival of food, games, and fun. This is to honor the goddess of the corn, even though they didn’t call her Ceres!
Themophoria- Ancient Greece- A woman’s festival to honor the barley mother goddess Demeter. Goddess of agriculture, health, birth and marriage. Her Roman counterpart was Ceres, also honored this month. Barley , I guess we are back to drinking, but beer or ale this time. Maybe bake some beer bread and cover a few celebrations all at once.
Oct 6- Nepal- An ancient festival to celebrate the god Vishnu held in Nepal. This is the day Vishnu awakened on a bed pf serpents. Offerings are placed in unripe pumpkins, and left for the god. Buy a pumpkin to decorate your porch, later carve a wish into the bottom of it before offering it to the squirrels and other critters.
Oct 7- Pagans in Germany celebrated a week long festival on this date up until sometime in the 15th century. It was called Kermesse. An icon would be dug up from its’ hiding spot and paraded through the town. The festival lasted a week and then the icon was again buried until it was time for the next year’s celebration. The only thing I can think of for today is head for Mount Ida and dig up some crystals, I don’t think you will find many relics left to discover.
Oct 8- Chung Yeung Day- Festival of High Places (China) . This festival is said to bring good luck and derives from a scholar named Huan Ching who was told by a soothsayer that he and his family needed to go up into the hills. They did so and avoided a plague that ravaged the village below. Today kites are flown to carry away evil spirits. So , go fly a kite!
Oct. 9- Day of Felicitas- An ancient Roman festival to celebrate the goddess of fortune. This day is still celebrated in parts of Italy and by Wiccans and Pagans throughout the world. Maybe a good day to visit a casino, don’t forget to thank the goddess though.
Oct 10- Festival of Light (Brazil)- This centuries old festival lasts 2 weeks and includes a parade of penance, after which, torches, candles and hearth fires are lit. This drives away the spirits of darkness. Light some candles or if you have them ready, jack o’lanterns.
This was the old date for Michelmas
Oct 11- Wiccans and Pagans in Denmark and Germany honor the “Old Lady of the Elder trees”. She is an ancient Pagan spirit who watches over the elders in all the family trees. An elder tree is located, elderberry wine is poured around its’ roots, and a prayer is recited. Back to wine, elderberry this time, maybe give your trees just a drop.
Meditrinalia-An ancient Roman festival to honor the new vintage. Each year the gods were offered the new wine first.
Oct-12 Feast of Fortuna Redux- goddess of travel and safe return.
Oct 13-Fontanalia-to honor Fontus, the Roman god of wealth and springs.
Oct 14- Bangladesh- The annual festival of Durga Puja is celebrated to honor the mother goddess Durga and her triumph over evil.
Oct 15-Equirria-Ancient Roman festival to honor Mars. You may know him as the god of war, but before that he was the god of agriculture. The was a horse race and the winning horse on the right side of the chariot was sacrificed and his tail cut off. The blood form the tail was rushed to the alter of Mars to drip on the sacred area. Take a horse ride if you can.
Oct 16- Lakshmi Puji- Nepal- The festival of the goddess of Fortune. Prayers, chants, and flower petal offerings are made to the goddess in hopes of good fortune.
Oct 17- Kanname-Sai-God Tasting Event- Japan- Shinto temples perform this ceremony to thank the goddess of the sun and ancestors. The offerings that are made come from the first rice crop of the harvest season.
Oct 18-Great Horned Fair- England- This Pagan festival honors nature, fertility, and wild animals. There is a special ceremony held to honor Cernunnos, the horned god of hunting. He is also the consort of the goddess. An ancient ritual called Drawing Down the Sun is also frequently performed during this festival.
Oct 19-Bettara-Ichi- Japan, Near the Shinto shrine of the ancient god Ebisu (god of fisherman and children), children carry sticky pickled radishes tied to straw ropes through the streets. This will chase away evil spirits and bring blessings from the seven Shinto spirits of good luck.
Armilustrium- Ancient Roman festival to honor Mars. This day was more in the realm of Mars’ war god image. The soldiers weapons were ritually purified and stored for winter. The army gathered in Circus Maximus and was adorned with flowers while trumpets blasted and the purification rituals were performed. There were sacrifices to Mars, feasting and dancing .
Oct 21- Day of Ursula- The ancient Slavic lunar goddess was honored on this date, she later became “Saint Ursula”
Oct 22-Hi-Matsuri- Japan- an ancient fire festival- A torchlight procession parades through Kurama, and ends at a sacred shrine where the ancient gods return to earth at midnight.
Oct 24- Pagan- Feast of the Spirits of the Air- Incense is offered up to sylphs and rituals that celebrate the power of the mind and dreams are performed. Do some dream interpretation.
Oct 25- the beginning of the 15 day Feast of the Dead in Mexico.
Oct 28- Day of the Dead - Mexico-This day it is said that the souls of the dead who died in accidents return to the earth.(children come on Oct 31, and adults on Nov 1). Alters are adorned with marigolds (an old Aztec tradition), food and candles. Sometimes you will see flower petals going from the streets in Mexico to the alters to guide the souls. In Mexico this is a national holiday, unlike our Halloween. This day is also celebrated in some other Latin American countries, such as Brazil. This day , like our Halloween is to be celebrated joyfully, not mournfully. Honor your ancestors!
Death of Osiris-He is the Egyptian god of fertility, life and death. He is one of the oldest gods that records exist on, predating Pagans and Christians. You probably have already figured out that being a god, he rose from his death through magic.
Oct 29- Feast of the Dead- The Iriquois Indians celebrated annually with a feast for departed loved ones.
Oct 30- Angelitos- Mexico- This day is set aside to bless the souls of departed children, and to honor Xipe Totec, the ancient god of death along with Tonantzin, goddess of Mercy.
Dhanteres-A five day festival celebrating the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Rice powder is used to make small footprints to put on the houses to guide the goddess Lakshmi in. Women will buy something made of gold or silver to show the prosperity they want brought into their lives. Farmers decorate their cattle to thank them for the prosperity they bring. Every morning people will light small clay lanterns to honor the goddess, they are left to bun out by themselves. Songs are sung to honor her, and sweets, seeds, and coriander is left for her. It is also said that Ayurvedic healers are especially powerful during this celebration.
Oct 31- Halloween/ Samhain Eve/Hallowmass/All Hallow’s Eve/ All Saint’s Eve/Festival of the Dead/Third Festival of Harvest/Winter’s Eve- It has many names, but it is one of the old celebrations that we still practice today. This is an old agricultural festival, a time of harvesting and slaughtering livestock. The death of the crops for the dark half of the year.
This day is the most important to Witches around the world, and I do not mean the ones in black pointy hats. Wiccans still actively celebrate the day, an old Pagan ritual that goes back to celebrating departed loved ones and giving thanks for the harvest. This is a huge “quarter days” celebration (celebrations evenly spaced between the equinoxes). Pagans will light bonfires, feast and honor the departed. It is a wonderful time for divination and making secret wishes.
The Celt’s celebrated this night as New Years’ Eve, and was considered the end of summer, and the beginning of winter, (the Saxons called it Winter’s Eve), or the dark half of the year. Special food was prepared for departed loved ones and in some cultures this is still done til this day. The Celts called it Samhain (Pronounced Saow-en), and emphasized the light half of the year leaving and the dark half returning.
It is easy to see where we get the concept of witches, the dead coming back to life, trick or treating (feasting) and darkness from the old traditions. Today’s celebrations generally put a more “fun” twist to them, but then again, maybe a Superman costume really can scare away evil spirits! The Halloween as we know it today is said to have started in Ireland as Samhain. Think of an Irish twist to put on your celebration this year.
The tradition of “trick or treating” comes from England and the tradition of going house to house to beg for “soul cakes” on this night. The soul cakes were given to the priests to pay for mass to be said for the departed who were believed to be in Purgatory. Some sources say they were just meant to be given to the dead, and that the candles in pumpkins and other natural holders, were meant to light their way! The original “candle holder” however was not an American pumpkin, but an Irish turnip! Many Europeans believe that this is a day when the veil is thin between this world and the other. Spirits can easily pass through and we can easily see into our future.
The Church tried to claim the holiday (Pope Gregory III and IV), in the 7th century, and made the day “All Saint’s Eve”, followed on November first as “All Saints Day”. There were two days involved because the Pagans celebrated from sun down to sun up. So they began their Samhain celebration on Oct 31, but it lasted through November first. This way the Church had it covered. Halloween sort of died out for a while, but in the 20th century it had a huge resurgence and is still celebrated widely today. Just to really cement the celebration in , the Church followed up with Nov 3 being “All Souls Day”. (We will go over those days more next month).
You have probably noticed that good luck and fortune had several dates this month, The ancients were always nervous about the coming winter. Hopefully your autumn and winter days will be happy, healthy and prosperous. Please feel free to email me at triplemoongoddessgina@hotmail.com . ENJOY!
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Triple Moon Goddess,
Psychic Tarot Consultant
& Author
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Triple Moon Goddess has been psychic all her life, receiving her first deck of cards, 36 years ago, at age ten.
As a Psychic, she is currently reading on KEEN, Kasamba, and in person, most recently, in Evansville, IN.
In addition to a BA in psychology from Montclair State in NJ., She has studied Mediumship with Denise Ilwaine, and currently studing Reiki.
She is a student who "plays Tai Chi", and enjoys playing with energy.
Triple Moon Goddess also teaches monthly metaphysical classes at the Bead Angel, in Evansville, covering different topics each month. She has also taught Tarot classes and psychic development classes; led "ghost hunts", and "seances".
She has attended many metaphysical classes, both in person and correspondance (before the internet!). She also teaches quilting!
As an avid reader, she loves to pass on everything she can to others.
She was the editor on "C.R.U.M.B.S.," a New Age self help book., and currently writing a book on tarotand readings.
She is the mother of two children, one of which is autistic, and teaches her a great deal about viewing the world through different eyes.
Email:
triplemoongoddessgina
@hotmail.com
Web:
www.Keen.com/
Triplemoongoddess
URL
www.myspace.com
/triplemoongoddessgina
Blog URL
http://blog.myspace.
com/
triplemoongoddessgina
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