Thursday 17 July 2008

Full moon and bad omens

On Wednesday, 18 June, there is a full moon. It is also a day of bad omens, according to www.pagancalendar.co.uk/.

July's full moon is called The Full Buck Moon, according to Farmers' Almananc, because it is the month when buck deer's antlers first start to show, in preparation for the rut in autumn. Another traditional name for it is Hay Moon, because it marks the start of the harvest, which many pagans celebrate at Lammas on August 1.

The full moon doesn't always fall on the same date, of course, because the moon's cycles are not quite the same as a calendar month. The time between two full moons is about 29.53 days.

The Romans called July 18 the Day of Bad Omens every year because it was the date, back in 390BC, when a defeat in Allia led to the sack of Rome by the Gauls.

I'm not going to worry that this Friday will be a bad omen day myself, however, being something of a fan of the comics The Adventures of Asterix, about a village of Gauls who resist Roman occupation thanks to their hero Asterix and the druid Getafix.

Links:
www.pagancalendar.co.uk/
http://www.new-age.co.uk/moon-dates.htm
www.pagan-heart.co.uk/articles/moonnames/moonnames.html
witchcraze.moonfruit.com/lunarmonths/4526627125
pagan-magic.co.uk/shop/moon-phases-a-27.html?osCsid=db16cdf4e05cfc0e79990eca4af8f5e
www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_festivals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix
http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/a/asterix.htm

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