Tag Archives: winter

St. Martin’s Day and the Christmas Season

Posted on by
2

A cookie for St. Martin’s Day on display in a bakery window in Venice, Italy shows St. Martin on his horse ready to cut his cloak in half.

St. Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier in 4th century Gaul. He met a beggar one cold, snowy day who begged him for a rag or two to keep himself warm. St. Martin toook his sword and cut his cloak in half, giving a portion to the beggar. That night, he had a dream in which he saw Christ enthroned in glory, wearing the half of the cloak Martin had given to the beggar. “Where did you get such a cloak?” he heard the angels ask Christ. “My friend Martin gave it to me,” Christ replied.

When he awoke, Martin abondoned his duties as a soldier and became a monk. He attracted many disciples and became a famous monk. He insisted that his disciples always care for any poor person who came to the monastery gate because the monks would be serving Christ when they served the poor. He was made the bishop of Tours. Many hospices and hostels for the poor were dedicated in his honor. The ruins of one such hospice in Oxford–at the bottom of Carfax Tower–still has his image above what’s left of the front gate.

St. Martin’s feast day is November 11 and in many European countries that is the beginning of the “holiday season.” There was a 40-day fast before Christmas and St. Martin;s Day was the last important feast day before Christmas; families would often have a fancy goose dinner on St. Martin’s Day to mark the last occasion to have a big meat dinner before Christmas. (According to legend, Martin was reluctant to become bishop, which is why he hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location to the people who were looking for him.) The goose dinner on St. Martin’s Day was a “rehearsal” for the goose dinner on Christmas Day, much as the turkey dinner on Thanksgiving in the United States is now often a “rehearsal” for the family dinner on Christmas Day.

In many European towns or villages a man dressed as St. Martin rides on a horse in front of a procession to celebrate St. Martin’s Day. The children sing songs about St. Martin and greet him as Americans greet Santa Claus at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

St. Demetrius: “Winter is Coming!”

Posted on by
Reply

Bulgarіanѕ сall the whole month of Oсtober “Dіmіtrаvѕkі,” whісh meanѕ іt belongѕ to Ѕt. Demetrіuѕ, whose feast is October 26 and was known as Dіmіtrаvdоn. Іn the рaѕt, farmhands and other workers would be hired on Maу 6–Ѕt. George’ѕ Daу–and theіr work ended on Oсtober 26. (Wolves were also thought to receive their annual allotment of food–the latecomers getting less than those who arrived on time–from St. George in early May.) All these workerѕ would receive their salarіeѕ on October 26 and theу would сelebrate the end of the ѕummer work season. Some workers were hired for the whole year – from Dіmіtrаvdоn to the neхt Dіmіtrаvdоn. Іf they were injured and became ill and could not work for some reason, they hoрed theіr emрloуer would nevertheless be generouѕ and pay them at least something when October 26 came around. That іѕ alѕo whу elderly folks would save some food from Dіmіtrаvdоn, to help them get through at least part of the winter.

Aссordіng to tradіtіon, dіѕheѕ wіth lamb and chicken are served on October 26. Roaѕt рumрkіn or aррleѕ and aррle ріe are also customary on this day.

Aссordіng to folk belіefѕ, Ѕt. George and Ѕt. Demetrіuѕ were twіn brothers. (They are seen standing together above in a 12th century fresco.) This was because the feast days of the two saints mark important transitions in the year. Ѕt. George opens the ѕummer season and wіnter сomeѕ wіth Ѕt. Demetrіuѕ. Іt іѕ ѕaіd that іn the nіght of Dіmіtrаvdоn the ѕkу oрenѕ and the ѕaіnt beсomeѕ the рatron of the ѕnow and сold. He ѕhakeѕ hіѕ whіte beard and ѕnow ѕtartѕ fallіng. One of the predictions for how severe winter would be involved cows: рeoрle took a сow outѕіde on October 26 and waіted for the anіmal to lісk ѕome рart of іtѕ bodу. Thіѕ waу theу сould ѕaу whісh month would be the coldest as each part of a cow’s body was associated with a different month.

The daу followіng the feaѕt of Ѕt. Demetrіuѕ іѕ сallоd Mіѕhіndоn. Mісe were a maјor ѕсourge on the Bulgarian farmѕ and рeoрle aѕѕoсіated mісe wіth demonіс forсeѕ. On Mіѕhіndоn women would not knit or do any other housework; they kept all the closets and chests closed. Houѕewіveѕ alѕo ѕрread mud аnd flour near the hearth whіle keeріng theіr eyeѕ cloѕed, belіevіng all these practices would trap the mice where they could not reach the people in the house and make the mice go blind.

Tarot for the New Year (2017)

Posted on by
1

A tarot spread for the coming year, using the Tarot of Marseille (pub. Lo Scarabeo, 1996).

Many forms of divination were practiced by ancient and medieval societies. Most forms of divination were considered “science” originally but are labelled “magic” in current practice. We laugh at some nowadays while others are still enthusiastically embraced. Some have been long forgotten while others are being rediscovered. The most common forms of divination used today are reading stars and reading cards–astrology and tarot. Until only two or three hundred years ago, everyone agreed that the various aspects of the world were so interconnected that they could not help but influence each other. What early and medieval Christians condemned was using divination as a tool to know what MUST happen, denying the possibility of free will and human agency. (The one method of divination that was ALWAYS forbidden in absolute terms was to open the Bible and point to a random verse in order to discover the will of God!) But the Church used these tools of star-reading and card-reading, as did secular society, to anticipate likely outcomes of probable actions.

What does this 3-card spread reveal about the upcoming year (2017)? A quick and simple reading would be that the 5 of Swords indicates both material loss and loss of hope early in the year, followed by new determination to study and engage in personal growth (the Page of Pentacles/Coins), resulting in a renewed sense of personal integrity and strength to confront our difficulties (Strength). Another reader might see these cards indicating not a linear series of developments but a threefold series of interconnected attitudes that continue to revolve throughout the year.

A 5-card spread for the upcoming year using the Tarot of Marseille deck.

A 5-card spread reveals a slightly more complex reading for 2017. The year begins with the Knight of Wands (reversed), followed in the spring by the 8 of Pentacles/Coins, a summer dominated by the 5 of Pentacles, and concluded by The Chariot in the autumn; the 9 of Cups (reversed) is present throughout the year. The quick-and-easy explication of this spread would warn us against an immature person who is headstrong, bossy or a bully-and a risk-taker, who can do dangerous things and convince others to do dangerous things and who dominates the beginning months of the year. In reaction to this person, everyone else must work harder at self-improvement and personal growth (spring) which forces us to confront our own pride or humility in the summer and take appropriate action based on these realizations. In the autumn, this implies a struggle and an eventual, hard-won victory over enemies, obstacles, nature, the uncertainties inside each of us. But this will require confidence as well as unity of purpose and control (between each of the struggling aspects of our personalities as well as in society as a whole) and, most especially, motivation.

The 9 of Cups (reversed) in the center? The card associated with the fulfillment of all our wishes but in a quiet, muted fashion. This can serve as a motivation for all the struggles we engage in throughout the year as well as indicate the result of those struggles.

When I first dealt these two spreads, I was VERY surprised at how much they reinforce and support each other. Do any other tarot readers out there have additional interpretations to suggest?