*Ø* Blogmanac August 12 | Some calendar customs for today
Solar alignment in Mexico
When the Aztecs found the ruins of the city of Teotihuacan, it was already ancient, having been settled in the second century BC. A ritual cave was there, the entrance of which was aligned with a horizon point where the sun set on August 12 and April 19. These are days 260 and 105 of the year: added together they make 365, suggesting the astronomical skill of these ancient peoples. This horizon position is also that at which the Pleiades star cluster sets. The Pleiades annually appear on the first of two days that the sun passes directly over the latitude of Teotihuacan.
More on the Aztec calendar ... will the world end in 2012?
Blessing of the Grapes, Armenia
This harvest festival is dedicated to Astrik, the goddess of the hearth.
Old Lammas Day
In old Scotland, today was the day for handfast (or hand-in-fist) marriages, in which men and women could choose the person with whom they would live for a year. If the year worked out well, they could stay together; if it didn’t, they were free to make another choice.
Feast day of St Clare
The patron saint of laundry workers and - yes - television, Clare was the founder of the Poor Clares order of nuns, who slept on the ground, ate no meat, and seldom spoke. Born about 1193, she was eighteen when she was inspired by one of St Francis of Assisi’s sermons.
Fiesta de Santa Clara
At the Native American pueblo called Santa Clara, formerly called K’hapoo (Where the wild roses grow near the water), today (St Clare’s or Clara’s day) is a day for a corn dance in which women wear headdresses painted like cloudy skies. At the peak of the dry season, the people pray for rain while four runners take off in the four points of the compass. Dancers move to the sound of a willow drum, while men wear tufts of pine and stamp loudly on the ground.
The Glorious Twelfth
It is an old (and, one might say, outmoded) custom in Britain for grouse-shooting to begin today. This blood sport’s season ends on December 10. Many Scots, even those who have never shot one of these birds, honour the day worldwide.
Solar alignment in Mexico
When the Aztecs found the ruins of the city of Teotihuacan, it was already ancient, having been settled in the second century BC. A ritual cave was there, the entrance of which was aligned with a horizon point where the sun set on August 12 and April 19. These are days 260 and 105 of the year: added together they make 365, suggesting the astronomical skill of these ancient peoples. This horizon position is also that at which the Pleiades star cluster sets. The Pleiades annually appear on the first of two days that the sun passes directly over the latitude of Teotihuacan.
More on the Aztec calendar ... will the world end in 2012?
Blessing of the Grapes, Armenia
This harvest festival is dedicated to Astrik, the goddess of the hearth.
Old Lammas Day
In old Scotland, today was the day for handfast (or hand-in-fist) marriages, in which men and women could choose the person with whom they would live for a year. If the year worked out well, they could stay together; if it didn’t, they were free to make another choice.
Feast day of St Clare
The patron saint of laundry workers and - yes - television, Clare was the founder of the Poor Clares order of nuns, who slept on the ground, ate no meat, and seldom spoke. Born about 1193, she was eighteen when she was inspired by one of St Francis of Assisi’s sermons.
Fiesta de Santa Clara
At the Native American pueblo called Santa Clara, formerly called K’hapoo (Where the wild roses grow near the water), today (St Clare’s or Clara’s day) is a day for a corn dance in which women wear headdresses painted like cloudy skies. At the peak of the dry season, the people pray for rain while four runners take off in the four points of the compass. Dancers move to the sound of a willow drum, while men wear tufts of pine and stamp loudly on the ground.
The Glorious Twelfth
It is an old (and, one might say, outmoded) custom in Britain for grouse-shooting to begin today. This blood sport’s season ends on December 10. Many Scots, even those who have never shot one of these birds, honour the day worldwide.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 4:21 PM | Permalink
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