[O hai. It's December Days time, and this year, I'm taking requests, since it's been a while and I have new people on the list and it's 2020, the year where everyone is both closer to and more distant from their friends and family. So if you have a thought you'd like me to talk about on one of these days, let me know and I'll work it into the schedule. That includes things like further asks about anything in a previous December Days tag, if you have any questions on that regard.]
It's Solstice Day, at least observed, as the actual astronomical solstice wobbles back and forth between the 20th and 21st, but the upshot of this is that we can expect to have more light in the Northern Hemisphere until midsummer. (The downside is that it's the brightest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, so they can look forward to less light and heat until the other solstice.) The returning of the light is often accompanied by the idea of success at having made it to the darkest point of the year, of harvest having carried you this far and hopefully, it will carry you the rest of the way until it is time once again to plant and grow, and then reap.
One of those things that's always interesting about the Julian (and Gregorian) calendar and the names of the months in English is that we have months that are presumably named for gods (Janus, Mars, Maia, Juno,) named for emperors (Julius, Augustus) who, if I remember correctly, would be part of the cultus as gods or to ascend to them after their death, a couple of months named for things that happen in them (Februa, Aperio) and then, there's the counting months (seven, eight, nine, ten), which were displaced from their rightful places by one of those emperors themselves when he moved the dead months to the beginning of the year, instead of leaving them at the end. I kind of wonder why there weren't more gods elevated to the calendar. It's not like the Romans didn't have plenty to choose from. (And, you know, the days of the week in English have astrologically and god-related names, too, but it shows the Germanic in English. (Sun, Moon, Tiw, Woden, Thor, Frigga, Saturn,) In other Romance languages, they stay a little closer to Roman gods and goddesses, but also make room for Judaism and Christianity (Lord's Day, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Sabbath). I mean, knowing that the pre-Julian calendar was only ten months and that past the ones that had major festivals or were dedicated to specific gods, they just counted, that makes a certain amount of sense why the other months never picked up certain godly associations, but it's still weird that none of the attempts to name any of the other counting months after something else stuck. Even after they were displaced by the two emperor's names.
Which, in a very roundabout way, brings us to this Solstice-themed question:
...that's a pretty wide-ranging question, there, floating blockquote. I mean, I could say things like I believe there's space for Jews to acknowledge and make songs about how Black Lives Matter (which I am indebted to both![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gingicat for explaining that there is a backlash against this idea and the Maccabeats, who performed the song, responding to the criticisms they've received after posting the song for helping me gain at least a surface-level understanding as to why two groups with a history of being persecuted by the same hegemon would be at odds with each other on such a matter as this). You want to give that some scoping?
That's better.
( And here we talk about belief and culture and seeking )
So, I suppose the answers, such that they are, are that I make my sacrifices both to the gods and archetypes that I wish to cultivate the benefits of association with and those gods and archetypes that are part of the public ritual, without whom I would be unable to participate in the society at large. I guess that would be a perfectly comprehensible answer to a Roman, based on what I've seen and read, so that, I guess, brings it all back full-circle.
It's Solstice Day, at least observed, as the actual astronomical solstice wobbles back and forth between the 20th and 21st, but the upshot of this is that we can expect to have more light in the Northern Hemisphere until midsummer. (The downside is that it's the brightest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, so they can look forward to less light and heat until the other solstice.) The returning of the light is often accompanied by the idea of success at having made it to the darkest point of the year, of harvest having carried you this far and hopefully, it will carry you the rest of the way until it is time once again to plant and grow, and then reap.
One of those things that's always interesting about the Julian (and Gregorian) calendar and the names of the months in English is that we have months that are presumably named for gods (Janus, Mars, Maia, Juno,) named for emperors (Julius, Augustus) who, if I remember correctly, would be part of the cultus as gods or to ascend to them after their death, a couple of months named for things that happen in them (Februa, Aperio) and then, there's the counting months (seven, eight, nine, ten), which were displaced from their rightful places by one of those emperors themselves when he moved the dead months to the beginning of the year, instead of leaving them at the end. I kind of wonder why there weren't more gods elevated to the calendar. It's not like the Romans didn't have plenty to choose from. (And, you know, the days of the week in English have astrologically and god-related names, too, but it shows the Germanic in English. (Sun, Moon, Tiw, Woden, Thor, Frigga, Saturn,) In other Romance languages, they stay a little closer to Roman gods and goddesses, but also make room for Judaism and Christianity (Lord's Day, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Sabbath). I mean, knowing that the pre-Julian calendar was only ten months and that past the ones that had major festivals or were dedicated to specific gods, they just counted, that makes a certain amount of sense why the other months never picked up certain godly associations, but it's still weird that none of the attempts to name any of the other counting months after something else stuck. Even after they were displaced by the two emperor's names.
Which, in a very roundabout way, brings us to this Solstice-themed question:
What do you believe?
...that's a pretty wide-ranging question, there, floating blockquote. I mean, I could say things like I believe there's space for Jews to acknowledge and make songs about how Black Lives Matter (which I am indebted to both
gingicat for explaining that there is a backlash against this idea and the Maccabeats, who performed the song, responding to the criticisms they've received after posting the song for helping me gain at least a surface-level understanding as to why two groups with a history of being persecuted by the same hegemon would be at odds with each other on such a matter as this). You want to give that some scoping? Ugh, fine. What gods do you make sacrifices to?
That's better.
( And here we talk about belief and culture and seeking )
So, I suppose the answers, such that they are, are that I make my sacrifices both to the gods and archetypes that I wish to cultivate the benefits of association with and those gods and archetypes that are part of the public ritual, without whom I would be unable to participate in the society at large. I guess that would be a perfectly comprehensible answer to a Roman, based on what I've seen and read, so that, I guess, brings it all back full-circle.
