March Days: Here Comes Spring
March is named in honor of Mars, the Roman god of war and guardian of agriculture, whose birth was celebrated on the first of this month. It was the beginning of the year for Romans until Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 46 BCE to adjust for leap years and move the start of the year to January.
Notable February Days
February is named for the Roman purification ritual (februa) that occurred around the middle of this month. The Christian holiday of Candlemas, observed on February 2, is also associated with purification—of Mary 40 days after the birth of Christ.
January Days: Looking back and looking forward
This month’s name derives from the Latin word Ianua, meaning “door” or “gate,” representing new beginnings. It is also probably named for Janus, the god of gates and doorways, beginnings and endings, entrances and departures, who is depicted with two faces, a young man looking forward and an old man looking back.
Christmas Cookies Not Quite Like Grandma Used to Make
Imagine a bakery and candy store combined and you get a sense of the spread Grandma brought out after a very filling Christmas dinner.
December Days and Dalliances
In the Anglo-Saxon calendar, winter solstice is called Geola, aka Yule, and the months (starting with the first visible crescent of the new moon) before and after that are Aerra Geola, “Before Yule,” and Aeftera Geola, “After Yule.” Since the next “new” (dark) moon occurs on Dec. 19, by the time we can actually spot that sliver of a backwards C that marks a new moon-month, it’ll be the winter solstice, Dec. 21.