*Ø* Blogmanac July 20 | Feast day of St Margaret
Margaret was a virgin martyr of the third century, known to Greeks as St Marina. Olybrius, governor of Antioch, loved her beauty; being rejected, he put her in a dungeon where the Devil came to her in the form of a dragon. She held up the cross and the dragon fled. Her flower, according to the folklorist Hone, is the Virginian dragon's head; Dracocephalus virginianum.
Folklorist Waverly Fitzgerald writes that the plant, wheatfield poppy, supposedly sprang from the blood of the dragon she slew. Long before, it was dedicated to Diana and Demeter as the source of healing sleep and death. Her other flower, the daisy, is also called in France La belle Marguerite.
Margaret is the matron saint of childbirth.
Picture: Saints Michael and Margaret killing the 'Devil as Dragon' in Lindfield Church
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Feast day of St Wilgefortis, or Uncumber
Wilgefortis, daughter of the King of Portugal, made a vow of chastity. When her father tried to make her marry she prayed for deliverance and immediately grew a copious beard. Her suitors fled and her father had her crucified. Known in England as Uncumber or Liberata, she was invoked by women who wanted to ‘uncumber’ themselves of suitors or troublesome husbands.
The story and feast day of St Uncumber might derive from the stories of the Corinthian Aphrodite who grew a beard and impregnated women.
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Osorezan Taisai, Bodai-ji Temple, Mutsu-shi, Aomori, Japan, July 20-24
Mt Osorezan is believed to be a gathering-place for dead souls – a gateway to the dead. Women mediators called Itako help visitors hear the voice of the dead relatives. The pathway to the summit is studded with pinwheels placed by parents praying for deceased children.
During the Grand Festival several dozen blind female shamans (itako) act as the mediums of communication, clicking their strings of beads as they enter a trancelike state and convey messages from the spirits to grieving relatives. More
Margaret was a virgin martyr of the third century, known to Greeks as St Marina. Olybrius, governor of Antioch, loved her beauty; being rejected, he put her in a dungeon where the Devil came to her in the form of a dragon. She held up the cross and the dragon fled. Her flower, according to the folklorist Hone, is the Virginian dragon's head; Dracocephalus virginianum.
Folklorist Waverly Fitzgerald writes that the plant, wheatfield poppy, supposedly sprang from the blood of the dragon she slew. Long before, it was dedicated to Diana and Demeter as the source of healing sleep and death. Her other flower, the daisy, is also called in France La belle Marguerite.
Margaret is the matron saint of childbirth.
Picture: Saints Michael and Margaret killing the 'Devil as Dragon' in Lindfield Church
Feast day of St Wilgefortis, or Uncumber
Wilgefortis, daughter of the King of Portugal, made a vow of chastity. When her father tried to make her marry she prayed for deliverance and immediately grew a copious beard. Her suitors fled and her father had her crucified. Known in England as Uncumber or Liberata, she was invoked by women who wanted to ‘uncumber’ themselves of suitors or troublesome husbands.
The story and feast day of St Uncumber might derive from the stories of the Corinthian Aphrodite who grew a beard and impregnated women.
Osorezan Taisai, Bodai-ji Temple, Mutsu-shi, Aomori, Japan, July 20-24
Mt Osorezan is believed to be a gathering-place for dead souls – a gateway to the dead. Women mediators called Itako help visitors hear the voice of the dead relatives. The pathway to the summit is studded with pinwheels placed by parents praying for deceased children.
During the Grand Festival several dozen blind female shamans (itako) act as the mediums of communication, clicking their strings of beads as they enter a trancelike state and convey messages from the spirits to grieving relatives. More
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