2021 - A year full of hope!
Let’s see whether Janus gives us some hints.
January was named for the Roman god Janus. He was the protector of gates and doorways, who symbolized beginnings and endings. When Janus is portrayed, he usually has two faces: one looking into the past and the other with the ability to see into the future.
Until 450 BC, January and February were not part of the Roman calendar. They were considered dormant in agriculture and also in terms of war. This was a time of peace. Due to the March Equinox, the Roman calendar began in March, and was named for “Mars”, the god of War, who was also an agricultural guardian.
Until 450 BC, January and February were not part of the Roman calendar. They were considered dormant in agriculture and also in terms of war. This was a time of peace. Due to the March Equinox, the Roman calendar began in March, and was named for “Mars”, the god of War, who was also an agricultural guardian.
Wassail Bowl Celebration According to folklore, the weather of the first 12 days of the year is said to be indicative of the following 12 months.
January 5th - in English folk custom, marked the end of the Christmas period, and in ancient Celtic tradition, the end of the 12-day winter solstice celebration. On the Twelfth Night, it was customary for the assembled company to toast each other from the wassail bowl, a delicious hot cider drink toasting to health.
January 5th - in English folk custom, marked the end of the Christmas period, and in ancient Celtic tradition, the end of the 12-day winter solstice celebration. On the Twelfth Night, it was customary for the assembled company to toast each other from the wassail bowl, a delicious hot cider drink toasting to health.
European Star Singers On January 6th is Epiphany. According to the New Testament, the three kings brought gifts to the infant Jesus. Not only in Germany, but also in most of the other European States, so called Star Singers go door to door singing and asking for donations for poor children in their neighborhood.
There are other forgotten customs, like the one marking the day to go back to work. This one though has nothing to do with our current virus. The day after Epiphany (January 6) was once called Distaff Day and marked when the women went back spinning, after the 12-day Christmas celebration. A distaff is a wooden rod (staff) that holds flax or wool. Although not used so much anymore, distaff in English was also a word that referred to women related issues or topics. Before the Spinning Wheel arrived, spinning was slowly and tediously done on a Drop Spindle. As is often the case, it’s hard to go back to work after the holidays and not much gets done! The women’s husbands would mischievously try to set fire to the flax on their wives’ distaffs, while the women, lying in wait, would retaliate with humor by dousing them with buckets of water.
Plow (Plough) Monday marks the resumption of agricultural activities. Dating back to the fifteenth century, the first Monday after Epiphany (January 6) marked the start of the agricultural season, specifically for ploughing the fields for spring-sown crops. Of course, not much work was actually done on the first day! Dressed in clean white smocks decorated with ribbons, the men dragged a plow (plough) through the village and collected money for the “plow light” that was kept burning in the church all year. Often men from several farms joined together to pull the plow through all their villages. They sang and danced their way from village to village to the accompaniment of music. In the evening, each farmer provided a Plough Monday supper for his workers, with plentiful beef and ale for all.
In modern times, a folk revival has returned Plough Monday to some small communities. If you have a small farm, why not celebrate the start of spring sowing this way!
In modern times, a folk revival has returned Plough Monday to some small communities. If you have a small farm, why not celebrate the start of spring sowing this way!
Of course all these customs are meant to coincide with the Perihelion- when Earth passes Its closest to the Sun. This year it occurred on January 2, 2021. At perihelion, the Earth will be 91,399,454 miles from our bright star.
January’s Moon is called the Wolf Moon. The Saxon word for the month is “Wulf-monath” or wolf month. This year, the full Moon is late in the month of January, reaching peak illumination at 2:18 P.M. EST on Thursday, January 28, 2021. It can be seen rising from the horizon around sunset that evening.
WHY IS IT CALLED THE FULL WOLF MOON?
The full Moon names used by The Old Farmer’s Almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. Traditionally, each full Moon name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred, not just to the full Moon itself.
It’s thought that January’s full Moon came to be known as the Wolf Moon because wolves were more often heard howling at this time. It was traditionally believed that wolves howled due to hunger during winter, but we know today that wolves howl for other reasons. Howling and other wolf vocalizations are generally used to define territory, locate pack members, reinforce social bonds, and coordinate hunting.
WHY IS IT CALLED THE FULL WOLF MOON?
The full Moon names used by The Old Farmer’s Almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. Traditionally, each full Moon name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred, not just to the full Moon itself.
It’s thought that January’s full Moon came to be known as the Wolf Moon because wolves were more often heard howling at this time. It was traditionally believed that wolves howled due to hunger during winter, but we know today that wolves howl for other reasons. Howling and other wolf vocalizations are generally used to define territory, locate pack members, reinforce social bonds, and coordinate hunting.
Some of the countless viruses In this crazy year of complete social disruptions due to pandemic lockdowns and governmental restrictions, it is somewhat comforting to look back at traditional customs and beliefs. Our last global pandemic was 102 years ago in 1918. Tens of millions of people worldwide were killed by the global Spanish Flu. I heard that in today’s numbers, that would translate to well over 300 million deaths worldwide today! And of course, human history is punctuated by widespread plagues and pandemics going back all the way through human recorded history. They have toppled our greatest civilizations from the Roman Empire through the great empires in the Americas of the Aztecs and Mayans.
So it is somehow comforting to look back at folk traditions, that have endured through these thousands of years of collapses and rebirths, to see that the timeless cycles of the seasons, of growth and renewal, remain embedded in our yearly work of growing and reproducing. This pandemic too will pass. Perhaps our children will look back at the final numbers and see that we were able with our modern technologies to hold the line against the grim reaper’s massive success in the past, and not come close to what he stole from us 102 years ago.
The science of viral evolution shows us that viruses tend to become less virulent over time. After all, it makes more ‘sense’ for the hosts that are infected to survive, to facilitate the survival of the virus to continue existing into the future. A virus that kills 100% of the hosts it attacks, is a virus that will die out and disappear. The more hosts that survive, the more chances of mutating into more sustainable forms that the virus will have. We lacked the modern medicines/technologies in 1918 that are available to us today. So maybe 300 million deaths worldwide in today’s numbers, is not so likely. We choose to be optimistic and think that our agricultural traditions will survive this current assault. We will get through this!
So it is somehow comforting to look back at folk traditions, that have endured through these thousands of years of collapses and rebirths, to see that the timeless cycles of the seasons, of growth and renewal, remain embedded in our yearly work of growing and reproducing. This pandemic too will pass. Perhaps our children will look back at the final numbers and see that we were able with our modern technologies to hold the line against the grim reaper’s massive success in the past, and not come close to what he stole from us 102 years ago.
The science of viral evolution shows us that viruses tend to become less virulent over time. After all, it makes more ‘sense’ for the hosts that are infected to survive, to facilitate the survival of the virus to continue existing into the future. A virus that kills 100% of the hosts it attacks, is a virus that will die out and disappear. The more hosts that survive, the more chances of mutating into more sustainable forms that the virus will have. We lacked the modern medicines/technologies in 1918 that are available to us today. So maybe 300 million deaths worldwide in today’s numbers, is not so likely. We choose to be optimistic and think that our agricultural traditions will survive this current assault. We will get through this!
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