Summer, 2021-Chris Friend

Hey, everyone, hope you’re having
a great summer.
The month of July is named after Gaius Julius Caesar (102 B.C.
- 44 B.C.) in the year 44 B.C as
a way to honor the famous Roman
Emperor. Among the Anglo-Saxons the month of July was known as Litha Se Oefterra,
meaning lithe or mild. It was also referred to as Heg-month or "hay month” as well as Maedmonath.
Among the ancient Celts the month of July was referred to as the "Hungry month"
the time before the festival of Lughnasa/Lammas (August 1st) when
the food supplies from the previous
harvest were beginning to run out. With
this, there was the ever-present chance of famine. Thus, all Celtic eyes were on the beginning of August when the next major harvest begin. On the Gaulish
calendar the time of July/August was Elembiuous or claim time when
obligations were either claimed or concluded among neighbors. If friendly
requital was not forthcoming then legal recourse it front
of a judge was to be expected- The claims were to be settled by the time of Lughnasa.
Lucky birthstones
for July are the ruby and Onyx.

August was named after Augustus Caesar, the first
Emperor of Rome in 63 B.C. The Romans celebrated Consualia
the third week of August. Consualia was a festival designed to honor Consus,
the Roman God of the Harvest. August 23rd
was Vulcanalia, a festival to honor Vulcan (not Mr. Spock) the Roman God of fire flame.
Among the Celts,
August 1st is the| time of Lughnasa, the beginning of the harvest
time and the official end of the lean month of July. The festival derives its
name from Lugh, a popular god of Old Ireland. It was believed to be a festival
in which Lugh held to honor his foster-mother Tailtiu and its name translates
to "the binding duty of Lugh." Tailtiu was an ancient goddess
connected to agriculture who was claimed to have died clearing a path among the
trees for people to plant their crops. This was the time when the grain harvest
began and the worry of famine could end. To celebrate, fairs were often held
with the swimming of horses across lakes, contests of strength and dancing were
held.
The festival would
become adopted by the Church and given a Christian identity as Lammas or
"loaf-mass" which is what it is now known by. The festival holds a
much deeper meaning with this being a time of "marriage" between the
Celtic people and the land (Mother Earth if you like.)
Lucky birthstone
for August is Carnelian.
Chris Friend, mars_art_13@yahoo.com, of Parkersberg,
W.Va, wrote the BP #84 poems, “The Sentinel” and “Psalm of Mithra” (+ the
BP #81 poem set, “Angel of the Bereft,” Beauty’s Sleep,” & “Dark
Trinity”; the BP #80 poem, “The Temple of Colors”; BP #79 poems, “The Marquis”
and “My Bloody Valentine”; the BP #78 poem, “The Old Yule Goat”; BP #77’s
4-poem set: “At 50,” “Owls,” “Vintage Halloween,” & “Xmas in the
Doll Asylum”; BP #76’s 4-poem set: “Hag Fairy Communion,”
“Love’s Sepulcher,” “Night Wanderer,” & “St. Andrew’s
Feast”; 2 poems for BP #75, “Angel of the Pagan Dead” and “Churchyard Watcher”;
BP #72’s 2-poem set, “Ed Gein” & “Sour Puss”; and the 2008 poem
“All Hallows’ Eve”), writes and illustrates our “MARS News” column.
He did a cover for Black Petals back in 2000 for the fall issue, and has been around ever since.
BP keeps up two websites for him and prints his column in the issue quarterly. Chris has a
gallery at http://chris.michaelherring.net/ and was featured artist in Kurt Newton’s Ultimate
PerVersities (Naked Snake) [Jan. 2011].
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