Festival
of Karna (Roman)
Celebrated with offerings of fat bacon, beans, and wheat.
• Angels of Fletchly Downs
On the late evening of 1st June, 1276, the people of Chalisbury looked
on in disbelief as they watched a host of silver angels rising in the
southern sky beyond Levenchester, surrounding the vision of a giant, golden
grail. Similar apparitions had been seen here long ago, and as on this
day, said always following a thunderstorm.
Whit Friday
• Birth of Count Cagliostro
1743; Born in Sicily, a devout Catholic and an infamous, self-styled Count,
alchemist, scryer, psychic healer and magician and an initiate into the
Order of the Knights of Malta and the Freemasons. Imprisoned by the Inquisition,
he reportedly died in captivity in 1795.
• The Midlock Dragons
Various manuscripts tell of the Derbyshire village of Midlock in the 17th
century which was overruled by a lair of terrible dragons whose names
included Gnatonea, LLorga and Clerghh. These dragons enslaved the village
demanding the sacrifice first of sheep and cattle and then humans and
causing widespread inbreeding and disease amongst the villagers. On this
day arrived a certain George, a soldier with magical powers, who eventually
did battle and vanquished the dragons, banishing them to obscurity and
freeing the village. However, the dragons exerted power still and were
able to plot the murder of George who was buried beneath an oak tree,
which still grows there today.
Whit Saturday
• Dark Rebellion
In 1258, The Dark Fool conspires to provoke Simon de Montfort into leading
the Baron’s Rebellion against the corrupt Henry III.
• The Triumphal Chariot
One of the most important alchemical treatises ever written was The
Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, by the monk, Basil Valentine in
1604. In it he wrote that antimony had the ability to crystallize in
the pattern of a star following the reduction of stibnite by iron, and
was the only metal to work on all the organs and be governed by all
the planets. Valentine went on to perfect the Tincture of Antimony.
• The Dragon of Loschy Hill
Slain by Peter Loschy, this dragon had a lethally poisonous tongue and
like pitchfork prongs. Loschy killed the dragon by hacking at its tongue,
and his faithful hound carried away the pieces. The dog then licked
his master's face and they both died of poisoning.
Whit Sunday
Day of Socrates
496-399 BC; birthday of the great, fifth century Greek philosopher, who,
charged with heresy, was condemned to take hemlock.
All Saints Day (Orthodox)
The Eastern Church tradition still celebrates All Saints' Day on the first
Sunday after Pentecost, when they are required to attend Mass and to "refrain
from unnecessary servile work".
Feast of Semo Sancus (Roman)
Dedicated to Semo Sancus Dius Fidius, the principal god of the Sabines.
Medieval adepts veneration of the birth of Hermes Trismegistus, The Thrice Greatest, the celebrated first century Egyptian priest, founder and father of alchemy. Mercury’s influence will prevail. (see 24th June)
Two-day festival to the fire-goddess of women, celebrating the temple of Vestalia in Rome, where the sacred flame was tended by the Vestal Virgins.
• St. Leonard's Dragon
During the 6th century in a forest in Sussex, England, the hermit, St.
Leonard slew a local dragon and was wounded in the fight. Where his blood
was spilt, Lilies of the valley grow. God granted that the adders of the
forest would no longer be venomous and that nightingales would stop singing
to allow Leonard to pray in peace.
See 19th June
• Michael Maier
Celebrating the German, Rosicrucian alchemist, friend of Robert Fludd
and famous for his remarkable books of emblems such as Atlanta
Fugiens. Born in Holstein, 1568 and died
in Magdeburg, 1622.
Festival in honour of the hero Sigurd who slayed the dragon Fafnir and won back the treasure of the Rhine.
Celtic Tree Month of Hawthorn ends.
Ars Arcanus
The c.20th revival of the hermetic, esoteric and alchemical tradition
of arcane Symbolographic Art.
Celtic Tree Month of Oak (Duir) begins.
Trinity Sunday
The Sunday after Whit and the eighth after
Easter, celebrating the unity of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
Local fairs and merrymaking abounds.
Feast of The Hunter’s Moon
Old Eastern European celebration and games
in honour of The Wild Hunt, by the light of the full moon closest to
the summer solstice.
Matralia (Roman)
Feast dedicated to Mater Matuta, a Sabine goddess known as Mother of
the Morning.
Day of Artemis and Apollo
(Greek)
Feast in honour of the twin gods, sister and brother and offspring of
Zeus and Leto.
• Roger Bacon Dies
Known as ‘Mirabilis Medicus’, a Franciscan monk and outstanding
natural philosopher with especial interest in Angel Magic, deeply influenced
by the hermetic work The Secret of Secrets. His laboratory tower stood
on Folly Bridge in Oxford. He moved to Paris in 1240 and died in 1294.
Original day in memory of the Norse king chosen for sacrifice to Odin by hanging and spearing.
Feast of Edain
(Celtic)
Gaulish Celtic deity worshipped as goddess of horses, asses, mules, oxen,
and, springs, rivers and fertility. Depicted riding side-saddle or lying
on a horse, she is one of the few Celtic deities to be adopted by the
Romans, as Epona, (see Dec 18th).
Day
of Thoth (Egyptian)
Ancient, ibis-headed Egyptian god of the moon and of chronology, possessing
powerful magic skills he was protector of Osiris and therefore guide and
helper of the dead. Thoths books of magic, open to his disciples, were
guarded in a crypt under his main temple at Hermopolis Magna, and which
were later translated into the works of his reincarnation, Hermes Trismegistus.
Vidar's Day (Norse)
A son of Odin and Grid, Vidar was one of the strongest of the gods and
was considered a god of vengeance. Sworn to avenge his father by killing
Fenrir, he is one of the Aesir who will survive the final battle.
In the ancient court of Camelot, covert influence by Royal confident, the Fool, averts an unfolding, national catastrophe in the personal tragedy between Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere.
United States: Flag Day
Corpus Christi
‘The Body of Christ’; Festival on
the Thursday after Trinity, in honour of the Eucharist or Lord's Supper,
the bread and red wine representing the body and blood of Christ. Town
guilds perform miracle plays.
Homo Mille (Greek/Roman)
Feast in honour of Theotholax Tartarus Draconis, and in celebration of
the one-thousandth man, returned from the underworld by the redeeming
dragon. A small effigy of a limbless baby was sacrificed and lots were
drawn to choose the ‘returned soul’, who was indulged with
every fantasy in the final hour before midnight.
Ceremony for Isis who mourns her murdered husband Osiris, by shedding thousands of tears and at which the priestesses of Isis could control the weather by braiding or releasing their hair.
• James’
Eclipse
1406 June 16th, a total eclipse in the South East of England took place,
marking the start of twelve years of captivity in the Tower of London
for James 1st of Scotland. "It is stated that the darkness was so
great that people could hardly recognise one another” In ancient
Persian lore as in China, the eclipse is a giant evil dragon devouring
the life-giving sun, that must be chased away by the clamour of drums
and horns.
•
Black Friday
On this day in 1433, (a Friday), in Scotland and Northern England, there
occurred a total eclipse in which the darkness was so deep at 3 p.m. that
nothing could be seen. Remembered as Black
Friday or Black
Hour, and considered a very bad omen, many
disappearances and unnatural phenomena took place on this day.
• Battle of Edington
In 878, to the east of Stone Henge, an epic battle of Saxon survival took
place between Alfred of Wessex and the encroaching Danish usurpers under
Guthrum. The cult- warrior god, Ossa Ravenhead, revered by Vikings and
pagan Saxons alike, was from the beginning, seen to inspire his heroes
with ferocity and valour from the sky. Encouraging his brave warriors
from both sides, Ossa protracted a the fight into a long and bloody day,
reaping rich harvests of slain with the promise of a glorious, immortal
life in the Halls of Valhalla. By evening, Alfred had beaten the Danes
back to Chippenham and a lasting truce.
11th C. devotion initiated in the Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the wound of love.
(Old) Lindisfarne Day
(Norse)
The day of the first Viking raid on Britain, when three Norwegian dragon
ships full of warriors sacked the wealthy monastery at Lindisfarne off
the Northumbrian coast and slaughtered the monks. Because the attack had
come with no warning, all Christendom was stirred with panic.
British pagan Celtic 3rd century soldier, turned Christian martyr. In the amphitheatre outside Verulamium, one of his executioners became a convert while another, when he’d finally beheaded Alban, his eyes then fell out. His shrine later grew into the town of St. Albans.
Midsummer (Norse/Teutonic)
Two-day celebration of the Summer Solstice. Both the god Baldr and the
hero Sigurd were slain at Midsummer.
Feast of Summanus
(Etruscan)
Sacrificial feast to the Etruscan god of lightning, also venerated by
the Romans.
The longest day of the year.
Alban
Hefin (Druidic)
Celtic Druids ceremonially pay homage to the sun at the Summer Solstice.
Astarte's Day (Semitic)
Phoenician goddess of love, representing productive power, her cult degenerating
into temple prostitution.
Aine's Day (Celtic)
Irish Goddess of love and the moon, ruling agriculture, fertility, crops,
and animals, who liked humans and often mated with men, producing fairy
children.
FIRST DAY OF CANCER
Hilltop fire beacons are lit to help strengthen the sun.
• The Great Glastonbury Procession takes place.
Midsummer’s
Day
Midsummer fairs and carnivals are held in towns everywhere; burning cartwheels
are traditionally rolled down hillsides; many local customs and superstitions
take place around ancient standing stones, earthworks and burial mounds;
well-dressing ceremonies are performed; villagers all over Britain revel
in the ‘dancing trees’, large, ancient oaks and elms fitted
with platforms in their branches to dance and make merry in.
Nativity of John the Baptist; John’s
Day
John’s Day is the Old English term, translated from Bede’s
Ecclesiastical History of the English People, for the great Christian
celebration of John the Baptist’s birth. Open-air ‘Wilderness
sermons’ are performed.
Fors Fortuna (Roman)
Celebrating revellers ferried across the Tiber to the goddess’s
temple in boast decked with flowers.
Opus Magnum
The night of the midsummer new moon
is the alchemosophical observance of Opus Magnum, (the Great Work),
in unison with the heavens. Based upon a recently discovered fragment
of manuscript dated 1377, bearing an authenticated signature of The
Alchemist.
• Salamander Nest
A house caught fire in London on this day in 1505,
suspiciously thought by many to be that of a practicing alchemist. The
building was consumed by flames and explosions and the reclusive inhabitant
did not emerge, but the horrified bystanders all saw a swarm of salamanders
scurrying from out of the smouldering wreckage. Paracelsus identified
the salamander as the elemental being to inhabit fire.
After serving as curator of Chalisbury Library for what was said to have been over one hundred years, Farthing disappeared without warning or trace, along with the priceless kernel of the repository’s collection, which, from its inventory, included early transcripts of at least four works by Hermes Trismegistus.
• The Gargouille
Around Rouen in Normandy, about 520 AD, a dragon came out from the waters of the Seine and ravaged the local area. Torrents of water came from its mouth to flood the countryside. It did battle near Rouen with St Romain and a condemned criminal, where, at the sign of the cross, the outflow of waters stopped and the monster meekly followed the men back to Rouen. There, the angry inhabitants burned the dragon and the prisoner was pardoned. Every year since, the archbishop of Rouen releases a prisoner in commemoration. The fearful looking waterspouts erected on gothic buildings known as gargoyles, are the legacy of that legendry encounter.
Festival in honour of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle, and bearer of the terrible Aegis, breastplate bearing the head Medusa.
• Victoria’s Coronation
The beginning of the Victorian era as Queen Victoria
is crowned at Westminster in 1838.
The day in 63 AD it is said, when Joseph of Arimathea arrived on the shores of Glastonbury Island with eleven disciples to evangelise pagan Britain. He supposedly had with him two cruets holding the sweat and blood of Jesus Christ, or else the Holy Grail, the drinking vessel from the Last Supper given to him by Pontius Pilate, in which he caught Jesus’ blood at the crucifixion, which he then hid in or near the Chalice Well. Joseph built the first church in England here, originally only in wattle.
Commemorates the martyrdoms of both Apostles, on the date in 258 when the remains of the two disciples were both moved temporarily to prevent them from falling into the hands of their persecutors. Paul was beheaded with a sword while Peter was crucified upside down.
· Rushbearing Festivals
Ancient ceremonies take
place on or around this day, for dressing church floors, especially
those of St Peter, with fresh hay or rushes, often celebrated with processions,
Morris dancing and merrymaking.
Corn goddess. The beginning of the haymaking season.
