Flowers

The Veneralia (April 1) was the Ancient Roman festival of Venus Verticordia (“Changer of hearts”), the goddess of love and beauty. The worship of the goddess Fortuna Virilis (“Bold fortune”) was also part of this festival.

In Rome, jewelry was ritually removed  from the statue of the goddess, her image was then taken from her temple to the men’s baths, where it was undressed and washed in warm water by her female attendants, then garlanded with myrtle.

Similarly, women bathed themselves in the public baths wearing wreaths of flowers and myrtle on their heads. It was generally a day for women to seek divine help in their relations with men. Men also asked Venus Verticordia for her help in affairs of the heart, sex, betrothal and marriage.

Here’s a nice ritual for the Day of Venus:

  • Color: Sea green, golden, and pink
  • Element: Water
  • Altar: Upon cloth of sea green, golden and pink, set many shells, flowers, beautiful ornaments, pink candles, hearts, doves, incense of rose and violets, and a great chalice of white wine.
  • Offerings: Hearts and flowers. Giving a gift of love to someone.
  • Daily Meal: Seafood. Angel hair pasta. Sweet breads, cakes, and desserts.

Invocation to Venus

Hail, Lady of the Morning Star!
You who rose form the sea foam,
Born of the impersonal severed phallus of the sky
Immersed in the impersonal womb of the sea,
You who rode to shore on a shell of pearl
And whose powers no one can resist
Save the virgin goddesses,
You who bring the glow of gold
Into the lives of all whom you touch,
Lady, we revere you as the avatar
Of the love between equals
Who look each other in the eye,
The attraction and pursuit
Between every particle in the universe.
Hail, Lady of the Evening Star!
You who rule the night
With its darker passions,
You who tempt the wistful heart,
You whose hands reach out
To all the world and more,
Lady, we revere you as a force of nature
Far greater than merely the human heart,
For you are the force that binds together
All that dances with another of its kind
In the endless dance of creation.

(The wine is passed around, and poured as a libation to Venus. Each takes a flower and wears it in honor of Venus.)

Chant:

Venus Veritas
Amor Amor

Source: Wikipedia and Pagan Book of Hours

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March 4th was the Greek festival of the Anthesteria, which was a celebration of flowers and dedicated to Flora. To celebrate this Spring festival of flowers, buy fresh flowers for your home. If you have house plants, repot and fertilize them. Burn a flowery incense, such as jasmine, rose or honeysuckle. Wear pastel colors to represent the delicate shades of the new Spring blossoms. Place a pretty bowl of fresh water on your altar and float a light flower in it.

When the moon is up, go to your altar and light a white candle. Sit in the darkness with only the candlelight. Look at the floating flower and think about the wonderful powers of Nature that bring the flowers back year after year. Contemplate the way this power touches your own life.

Feel your “roots” sinking deep down into the Earth, from which you can draw sustaining energy. Feel the energy being fed back to you. Now, reach your arms upward toward the Moon. Feel its energies adding to those of the Earth. Let these energies swirl around and through you, cleansing, healing, balancing. To break the flow, place both hands on the floor. Let the energies sink back into the Earth.

From: Moon Magick

In ancient Rome, this day (June 24) was known as the Festival of Fata, the Goddess of Fate and Chance. She was more commonly called Fortuna, and this day was also known as the Festival of Fortuna. The Temple of Fortuna stood on the banks of the Tiber and on this day many Romans would make a pilgrimage on foot or by boats decorated with garlands of flowers. Fortuna was especially popular with poorer Romans and the servant class, who sought the blessings that more successful Romans already had.

About Fortuna:

Initially Fortuna, the Roman goddess of abundance, was honoured as a fertility goddess, but came to symbolise abundance as the fickleness of life and luck followed the cyclic ups and downs of life. She was invoked for good luck and prosperity, or lamented to during times of hardship.

She is usually depicted holding a rudder in one hand, steering our destiny as our karmic path progresses, and/or a cornucopia (or horn of plenty) signifying the wealth that she could bring. Often she has a wheel beside her, reminding us that she is the benefactor of life, death, and the wheel of fortune.

I was unable to find any information on the dates of Geranium day for 2017, and it’s possible that this day is no longer celebrated. The two collection dates for 2016 were Friday 22 April and Friday 20 May 2016.

The English sell geraniums today to collect funds for charities, specifically those that support services for the blind. Since the 1920’s this has been a day in England to collect money for the blind. It represents a joint effort by a number of charities dedicated to helping the blind and is organized by the Greater London Fund for the Blind.

Although at one time real geraniums were given to those who made donations, these days contributors receive a sticker with a red geranium on it. And there are now two collection days—one in the City of London in April and one in the greater London area in May.

The choice of the geranium—a flower without a strong scent—seems unusual as a symbol for the blind, but it may have been chosen simply because the poppy ( see Memorial Day) and the rose ( see Alexandra Rose Day) were already being used for fund-raising purposes. It may also have been chosen for its symbolic meaning.

In the language of flowers, geraniums represent solace – which is what any act of charity stimulates today. It provides hope to those in need. Even if your pocket is empty, extend assistance to someone or something in need. Offer to help an elderly friend with chores, give some returnable bottles to a homeless person, act as a big brother or sister to orphans, give water to a stray cat. Benevolence has many forms, and it makes the world a much nicer place in which to live.

Source: The Free Dictionary

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Samjinnal is a Korean holiday that falls on March 3 of the lunar calendar. Three being a positive number in numerology, this date containing two threes was considered to be highly auspicious. This festive day announces the arrival of spring. By this time, spring is usually in full bloom – the weather is warm, the young grass is a lively green, and the first flowers are blooming.

Note: Because this holiday is based on the lunar calendar, on Gregorian Calendars the date will vary from year to year. In 2016, this holiday was celebrated on April 9th, in 2017, this holiday falls on March 30.

It is known as the day the swallows came back from Gangnam and the day the snake came out from its winter sleep. It is also the day birds and butterflies start to appear.

Koreans believed that swallows left for their southward journey on ninth day of the ninth lunar month and returned back on Samjinnal. They started to repair their old nests under the eaves or built the new ones to hatch their young.

Many seasonal activities associated with spring took place on this day. Villagers headed out on a blossom tour of the nearby mountains as the gardens were increasingly frequented by butterflies, fresh-green buds became visible on tree branches and the hills and prairies put on their colorful spring dresses.

Popular picnic foods included flower petal pancakes and other seasonal delights. Banquets were also held around this time of year to treat senior members of the community to special meals. For the noblemen across the country, Samjinnal was a day of archery contests.

Flower petal pancakes for the blossom picnic were made with glutinous rice batter, formed in circles, fried in a pan with sesame oil and topped with azalea petals. A special dessert known as hwamyeon was prepared by putting slices of mung-bean dough cakes into omija (favor flavor berries)-scented water, and flavoring it with honey and pine nuts. When preparing the mung bean dough for this dessert, housewives sometimes added azalea petals to it. If they made the dough with honey and dyed it red, the dish would be called sumyeon.

Sumyeon was considered a ritualistic dish as it was frequently used for memorial services.One of the beliefs associated with Samjinnal is that seeing a white butterfly on that day was an ominous sign since white signifies mourning. The sighting of a white butterfly could result in a family member dying during the course of the year.

Tiger or yellow butterflies on the other hand were considered an excellent sign, and portended a lucky year. Women made sure they washed their hair on Samjinnal as they believed it would make their hair vigorous and beautiful throughout the year. Snakes that came out of their hibernation around that time were avoided at all costs since seeing these slithering creatures was regarded as unlucky.

Other names for this holiday:

It was called samjil (삼질) in oldKorean language and referred to as sangsa (상사, 上巳), wonsa (원사, 元巳), sungsam(중삼, 重三), sangje (상제, 上除) or dapcheongjeol (답청절, 踏靑節) in hanja. Samjinnal implies the overlapping of Sam (three). According to Choi Namseon, samjil was derived from the consonants of Samil, and Sangsa is defined as the first snake day of the 3rd lunar month.

Source: Wikipedia and Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture

 

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I think it's time to go shopping... maybe even buy some really cool stuff at my online shops!!

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