All your renown is like the summer flower that blooms and dies; because the sunny glow which brings it forth, soon slays with parching power. – Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio (XI, 115)
Though in the old Celtic calendar today was traditionally considered the first of autumn, the North American interior is not Northern Europe; our seasons here come later, and we see no signs of anything vaguely resembling autumn until the end of September. These are the Dog Days, so named because the ancients associated the hot, sultry weather with the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star. The Romans considered them to run from July 23rd to August 23rd, which tells me that our weather here must be very like that of Ancient Rome because that’s exactly when we experience the hottest, most oppressive weather of the year, rarely broken by rain. The season came right on schedule this year; up until the third week of July we could still open our windows and turn off the air conditioners at night, but just before the 23rd the nights also became too hot to provide relief.
Still, though, Lughnasadh (or Lammas) is a time of celebration for us; though we feel the heat most strongly now we also can see the days shortening, and at the end of this month we leave the often-problematical summer schedule we keep from Beltane until August 31st and return to the standard schedule which orders the rest of the year. For pagans, this is the festival of First Fruits, a harbinger of the main harvest yet to come; in my column for this day two years past (which was also my very first holiday column) I published a short essay from my witch friend JustStarshine about the significance of the day, and if you have not read it before you may find it interesting.
As is my custom on holidays, I wish all of my readers, whatever your personal beliefs, happiness and prosperity in great abundance.
It’s funny how a lot of the old pagan holidays came around at about the same time. For instance, in Norway and the Viking nations – I believe yesterday was “Lithasblot” … which is like their harvest festival.
Also interesting … on this day in 1940 … “Operation Cone of Power” … which was a gathering of hundreds of witches (skyclad :D) in New Forrest from covens all over England. They were trying to send Hitler telepathic messages to stay the fuck out of Britain. It possibly worked! LOL
It’s not coincidental; all Celtic and Germanic cultures have shared traditions. Look at the name of the festival you mentioned and the name of today’s column; see the resemblance? Even in unrelated cultures, the same sun rules us all so holidays based on the solstices and equinoxes appear everywhere.
A tiny funny comment about skyclad, a character on a TV show said ” Why are the people you don’t want to see skyclad the ones who are skyclad ?”
The Japanese celebrate O-Bon, honoring the spirits of their ancestors – and making offerings to release them from the realm of hungry ghosts. This was originally done on the 15th day of the 7th month as suggested by the Buddha to one of his disciples seeking to relieve his mother’s karmic burden.
After adopting the Gregorian calendar at the start of the Meiji Restoration, the timing got scrambled so it can be celebrated on the 15th day of July, August or September. It varies by region. I was in Okazaki, Aichi-Ken for O-Bon, and they make an entire festival of it.
In one small plaza, they had a showing of bonsai. If I calculated correctly, the oldest one there, which looked to be some type of magnolia, had been started in the 1480’s. I couldn’t read Kanji at the time so I was trying to match the characters with a list of reigning emperors. I took pictures, but they got destroyed when my parents’ basement flooded while I was away at college. They were all spectacular. There were other exhibits at other plazas, but bonsai has always fascinated me. I don’t really recall what other offerings were available.
After 3 days of festival, everyone takes paper lanterns – illuminated by candles – down to the river and place them on paper boats which they then push out into the current at dusk. There are so many of them that it looks like the river is wall to wall lanterns. Then they finish up with a fireworks show.
Sounds lovely. Japan is pretty high on my list of Places I’d Like to Visit.
I’m watching men’s gymnastics, and I’m starting to wonder if there’s something wonky about that pommel horse. It seems everybody is having trouble with it. I’m wondering if maybe it’s a half cm too wide or one pommel is a mm higher than the other or something.
Japan is very pretty. I spent all my time in central Japan; Aichi, Gifu, and Mie. I’d recommend going in the spring if you have to choose and then the fall. The winters are bitterly cold as there isn’t much between Siberia and the islands. I’ve heard that Takayama and Nagano are very pretty in winter, although I didn’t get up there.
If you are there during the winter, you have to see O Sho-Gatsu. It’s the New Year’s celebration and it coincides with the western calendar, but the country shuts down for about 5 days. Then on January first, they converge on the various temples and literally shower the coffers with monetary gifts. It wasn’t unusual to see a roll of mon-en (50,000 Yen or about $50.00 US at the time) that was two inches around go flying through the air toward the altars that looked like very long water-troughs. And everybody is wearing their finest, so the salary men are wearing their business suits, but the women are all wearing full-dress kimonos complete with spectacular obi. Some men are in traditional dress, but the real draw are the women.
You can take pictures of the people, but the priests don’t like you taking pictures of the mounds of money.
Perhaps some day.
although i was baptised a christian orthodox when i was 11 months old and i consider Jesus wise(not christians though),i always felt a strong pull towards paganism.what i love mostly about it is the way that female nature is considered divine-sexuality, birth and every characteristic of them-the vulva,the menstrual circle.christianitys inclination to demonize it was sth that always disapointed me,which is a pity because i do respect the philosophy of christianity and even more so,because i feel that it wasnt Jesus who had theese beleifs but his followers,who turture us to this day.for example i always hated the fact that women are not allowed to enter the altar-at least thats how it is in the orthodox church-because their menstrual circle means they are dirty.how can a function that is responsible for the existence of life be considered dirty,polluting for holly things?
what i have also noticed is that many sex workers are in fact pagans.i wonder if the reason behind it is that they are not looked as sinners in need of salvation,but they are accepted as they are and even celebrated.it is great for someone, whom the society deems worthless to be accepted as doing a service to the divine by a group of people.
My column of two years ago today was about exactly that; see the link in the text above.
I think a lot of women are attracted to paganism – but I’m not so sure many men are. Let’s not psychoanalyze that and say it’s because men don’t like paganism because it empowers women or something – because I think real men don’t mind women being empowered.
My problem with it mostly – is because most of this stuff came from societies that didn’t write shit down – so it was handed down, and a lot of it was lost. There’s really no “catechism” to it. There’s no “on ramp”. I like the peacefulness of it all – but then again I remember something about priests slitting open the stomachs of human sacrifices and attempting to read the entrails on the ground. Who knows if that really happened – but … yick!
i have noticed unfortunately though a tendency for some practicioners,especially hindu who practice tantra and sensual massage to seperate themselves from secular sex workers,because to them those sex workers are just desperate people,whereas they have a calling from the Divine.they tend to forget that every working girl operated under the aegis of the goddess and that would be like saying that Poseidon only protected the sailors that embarked Paralos or Salaminia(the sacred triremes of Athens).this mentality came to my notice when i read the article about the Arizona temple arrests-some pagans condemned them for selling sex and for giving paganism a bad name,because you see,they only practiced MASSAGE and they didnt want it confused with prostitution.same with a swiss project that seeked women to offer sexual therapy-from massage to sex-to disabled men.the woman in charge said that although the payment is done exactly the same way as with whores,theese women were SEX THERAPISTS, who cared first and foremost about the clients as people and it was a requirement for the women to have an income from a ”straight”job,thus implying that actual sex workers who work to make a living are greedy exploiters,who can never have an ounce of emotion about the wellbeing of the men they serve.
Well that sucks, and not in the good way. Some decriminalization would go a long way towards ending these disputes.
Actually, if you look at the seasons from a length of day perspective, the length of day we have right now is the same as the length of day we have in early may. If you line up the seasons on a solar cycle (longest days of the year = summer, shortest = winter) it not only lines up with pagan calendars and harvest schedules, but it also makes a lot more sense.
So basically, (though I’s consider two weeks from now a better marker, its close enough) Happy fall!
Lee Gold has written a song about the Dog Star. It may bring a smile in these hot dog days of summer.
“Sirius Song”
Lyrics: Lee Gold
Music: The Banana Boat Song (Day-O), Harry Belafonte
Lee Gold’s data is from the 1958 Britannica II.
This is a Sirius Song.
Dog Star shining up there on high.
Yes, it’s a Sirius Song.
Dog Star’s the brightest star in our sky.
(CHORUS)
Ay Oh! Ay Oh!
That’s its star class, scientists say.
Yes,… it’s A0.
And I’m saying that it’s A-OK.
It’s 2-point-7 parsecs out.
Dog Star shining up there on high.
Not very far by astronomer count.
Dog Star’s the brightest star in our sky.
(Repeat CHORUS)
It’s one-third hotter than the sun.
Dog Star shining up there on high.
Rises in north when the heat’s begun.
Dog Star’s the brightest star in our sky.
(Repeat CHORUS)
It’s not lonely, I’ll guarantee.
Dog Star shining up there on high.
Got a white dwarf companion, name of B.
Dog Star’s the brightest star in our sky.
(Repeat CHORUS)
This is a Sirius Song…
Dog-star shining up there on high.
Yes, it’s a Sirius Song…
Dog-star’s the brightest star in our sky.
(Repeat CHORUS)
Ay Oh! Ay Oh!
That’s its star class, scientists say.
Yes… it’s A0.
And I’m saying that it’s A-OK.
Curiously, the “Ould Lammas Fair” takes place at Ballycastle (N Ireland) on the last Monday and Tuesday of August, not today.
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/LammasFair.html
(link includes the ballad)
It’s also Swiss National Day today, bonfires and fireworks across the country. Just a coincidence.
And Bright Blessings upon you, too, Maggie.