Category Archives: Days and Seasons

Happy New Year: Shofars and Possesions

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A man blows the shofar.

A man blows the shofar.

This year the Jewish celebration of the High Holy Days falls in very early September. Considered the birthday of Adam and the “Days of Awe” during which God judges the world to decide who will live or die during the coming 12 months, the celebration of the New Year and Day of Atonement are especially solemn. One of the most noted New Year’s practices is the blowing of the shofar during the New Year services. When the walls of Jericho fell, it was in response to the blowing of shofars by the army of Israel. Hebrew folklore also indicates that blowing a shofar was used to implore God to bring rain during times of drought and serve as a warning blast to the people when a disaster was looming on the horizon. It was a heavenly shofar that sounded when God gave Moses the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai and it is a shofar the angels will blow to announce the End of the World.

Because of the association of the High Holy Days with repentance, judgement, and death it also a time when the division between the living and the dead is considered thin indeed. One way the dead or other spirits interact with the living is by possesion. Some spirits that attack the living are ghosts but others are demonic entities. Some demons are fallen angels but according to some Kabbalistic thought, a man who masturbates, has a “wet dream,” or has a seminal emission under other unhallowed circumstances, his semen gives birth to “spiritual children” which gravitate against him [and his family] as negative spiritual forces. The man may redeem these spiritual children through remorse and repentance and end their damaging influence upon himself and his loved ones.

A ghost that posses the living is called a “dybbuk.” The term first appears in a number of 16th century writings, and earlier accounts of possession (such as that given by Josephus) were of demonic possession rather than that by ghosts. The 16th century accounts advocated orthodoxy among the populace as a way to prevent possession by a dybbuk. For example, it was suggested that a sloppily made mezuzah or entertaining doubt about Moses’ crossing of the Red sea opened one’s household to dybbuk possession.

There are also other accounts of soul transmigration in Jewish mythology. In contrast to the dybbuk, the “Ibbur” is a positive possession, which happens when a righteous soul temporarily possesses a body. This is always done with consent, so that the soul can perform a good deed, known as a “mitzvah.” Some kabbalists put forth the idea that a soul must live through many lives before it gains the wisdom to rejoin with God.

Virgo, the Virgin

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(Image of virgin-martyr taken from 15th century astrology handbook)

(Image of virgin-martyr taken from 15th century astrology handbook)

Virgo is the sixth astrological sign in the Zodiac. The sun transits this area on average between August 23 to September 23 each year. The planet said to be ruler of Virgo is Mercury and as portrayed in ancient Roman mythology, Mercury wasn’t one to sit still for long. This swift-footed god was a bundle of energy, both physically and mentally, and that pretty much sums up Virgo’s makeup

The constellation of Virgo is representative of many identities, all related to maidens, purity and fertility. She was originally associated to Dike, also known as Justice, daughter of Zeus and Themis, who was once the Mistress of All-Divine Order and Law prior to the Olympians. Dike initially lived among mankind but withdrew when they no longer upheld justice.

In Greek mythology, too, there is a similar theme. Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, had been abducted and taken to the underworld by Hades. In revenge her mother ruined the harvests, the earth became infertile and the people were starving. Zeus was forced to issue a decree stating that Persephone should spend only a short time each year in the underworld, and when she was released Demeter permitted Nature to resume its natural course.

Virgos, more than any other sign, were born to serve, and it gives them great joy. They are also tailor-made for the job, since they are industrious, methodical and efficient. The sense of duty borne by these folks is considerable, and it ensures that they will always work for the greater good. Virgos enjoy indulging their practical and logical side and poring over their projects to the nth degree. To say these folks are good at fact-finding almost understates the case. Those born under this sign are also able communicators and use their mental acuity to maximum advantage.

Beheading of John The Baptist

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The Beheading of John the Baptist (detail), possibly by Tomasino da Vimercate, about 1410

The Beheading of John the Baptist (detail), possibly by Tomasino da Vimercate, about 1410

The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches commemorate of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist on August 29. However, in Italian folklore the story of the daughter of Herodias became attached to June 23, St John’s Eve, which is the night before the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist, June 24. (Usually, a feast day of a saint commemorated the death of that saint to celebrate her/his martyrdom; the feast of St. John the Baptist is one of the very few saints’ days to mark the anniversary of a saint’s birth. Click here for my earlier post about St. John’s Nativity and Midsummmer. Click here for another post about Midsummer and St. John’s Wort.) In Rome, youths would gather in front of the cathedral of Basilica of St. John Lateran on the night of June 23, because Herodias traveled in the air.

“Salome of the Seven Veils” is the name by which the “daughter of Herodias” is generally known in modern American culture. J.B. Andrews in his 1897 folklore article (Neapolian Witchcraft, Folklore Transactions of the Folklore Society, Vol III March, 1897 No.1) wrote:

It is believed that at midnight then [St. John Baptist’s Eve, June 23] Herodiade may be seen in the sky seated across a ray of fire, saying:

” Mamma, mamma, perche` lo dicesti?”
“Figlia, figlia, perche’ lo facesti? “

“Herodiade” or “Erodiade” is the Italian version of the name Herodias.

Sabina Magliocco in her incredible article Who Was Aradia? The History and Development of a Legend, The Pomegranate (see The Journal of Pagan Studies, Issue 18, Feb. 2002) explained what Herodiade was doing in the airs on June 23, the Eve of St. John Baptist’s Feast Day:

According Sabina Magliocco, there was an early Christian legend or folklore derived from the bibical account (Matthew 14:3-11, Mark 6:17-28) of Herodias and Herodias’ daughter. When the head of the saint was brought forth on a platter, she-who-danced-for-the-head-of-the-Baptist had a fit of remorse, weeping and bemoaning her sin. A powerful wind began to blow forth from the saint’s mouth, so strong that it blew the famous dancer up into the air, where she is condemned to wander.

Titus Flavius Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian provides the name of stepdaughter and niece of Herod Antipas as Salome, but Josephus makes no mention of the infamous dance. Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews recounted that after the excution of John that Herod, Herodias, and her daughter Salome were exiled Lugdunum, near Spain.

However, the name “Salome” does not appear in the biblical accounts of the beheading of John the Baptist. In the Latin Vulgate Version, the girl is refered to as the “daughter of the said Herodias.”

At some point, the “daughter of Herodias” and “Herodias” became conflated in folklore in early medieval Europe.

Probably because the holiday of St John the Baptist was widely celebrated during the Middle Ages, a great deal of religious folklore surrounds Herodias. Magliocco also explained:

Diana in the Canon Episcopi, a document attributed to the Council of Ancyra in 314 CE, but probably a much later forgery, since the earliest written record of it appears around 872 CE (Caro Baroja, 1961:62). Regino, Abbot of Pr¸m, writing in 899 CE, cites the Canon, telling bishops to warn their flocks against the false beliefs of women who think they follow “Diana the pagan goddess, or Herodias” on their night-time travels. These women believed they rode out on the backs of animals over long distances, following the orders of their mistress who called them to service on certain appointed nights. Three centuries later, Ugo da San Vittore, a 12th century Italian abbot, refers to women who believe they go out at night riding on the backs of animals with “Erodiade,” whom he conflates with Diana and Minerva (Bonomo, 1959:18-19).

Eventually there developed a widespread belief that Herodias was a the supernatural leader of a supposed cult of witches, apparently asociated with or synonymous with the legendary witch-queens Diana, Holda, Abundia, and many others. In Italy, Raterius of Liegi, Bishop of Veronia in the 9th century c.e. complained that many folk believed that Herodias was a queen or goddess and that they also claimed a third of the earth was under the dominion of Herodias. Herodias was supposed to preside over the night assembly or night flight.

In parts of Italy, the dew formed on St. John’s Eve was often said to represent the tears of the daughter of Herodias. This dew was believed to have healing virtues and promote fecundity. June 23 was also known as la notte delle streghe. It was once customary in Rome to build bonfires outside the Basilica of St. John Lateran in anticipation of the night flight led by Herodias. (Read my previous post on the bonfires of June 23 here.)