Peace
July 3 is Rosa Mundi or Rose of the World day in the Palestinian Christian Calendar.
This day has its roots in Rosicrucian mythology (a 17th century secret society rooted in Christian mysticism that has influenced many aspects of modern life including Freemasonry.
Esoterically, the Rose is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge with the Rose of the World as a synonym for Pax Cultura, peace through culture. Daniil Andreev, the Russian mystic and poet, saw Rose of the World as a sign of the future age of Mother of the World, a New spiritual and idealized Age of Aquarius.
So now, when you look at a red rose you can see it as a meditation on an ideal new age to come and the dream of world peace and a new awakening.
The Roman Goddess Concordia is honored and feasted on many different days throughout the year. She is the Goddess of Harmony and Good Relations, and her presence at any grand festival was likely required.
According to some calendars, January 16 is listed as the Festival of Concordia. I could not find much more about this particular day. I would assume that any festival involving this Goddess would or could include the following:
- Forgiveness
- Olive branches
- Coming together to work out differences
- Harmony – maybe even singing in harmony
- Sufi dances of Universal Peace might also be appropriate
The Halcyon Days occur on or around Dec 14, and last for approximately 2 weeks. The legend of these “days” centers around Halcyone, the wife of King Ceyx of Thessaly. It happened that King Ceyx was obliged to take a distant journey, far away over the seas. One night during his absence a very heavy storm came up, and the winds blew a gale.
Halcyone, being the daughter of the wind-god, Aeolus, knew well what her brothers, the Winds, could do, and passed the night in great terror. The next day she walked back and forth all day on the shore, longing for tidings of her husband’s ship, yet fearing to know what might have happened. She was almost beside herself, and did not know what to do,.
The Gods took pity on her, and that night, Somnus, the god of sleep and dreams, sent a dream to Halcyone, – a dream of a wreck at a place some distance down the coast. Early the next morning, Halcyone ran to the place of which she had dreamed. She saw floating beams, and something bright among them – something which shone like the king’s crown.
Having a sudden longing to go to this spot, she started forward, and immediately felt herself raised on wings and carried out over the tossing waves, for the Gods had changed her into a bird. With a loud cry, Halcyone flew to her Ceyx. Just as she lit on the floating beams, the bright crown became a crest of feathers, and the dead king a living bird with plumage like Halcyone’s own.
So, after all, Ceyx and Halcyone were not separated. The air was as fresh and the sunshine as bright as ever. They could still be happy as kingfishers. After this, every year, the two birds built a nest which floated on the sea. During the fourteen days that Halcyone sat brooding, there was never a breath of wind stirring, but the sea was as smooth as glass, for aeolus watched over the waters. From that time, days of fine weather and calm seas, in midwinter, have been called “halcyon days.”
An alternative version of the story is that she knew her husband had drowned, and overcome by grief, Halcyone flung herself into the ocean and drowned along with him. At which point, the Gods took pity on the pair and transformed them into kingfishers, or halcyons, with the power to still the stormy seas for 14 days near the time of the winter solstice while they hatched their young.