Feast day of Aedesia, ancient Greece – or is it?

Many neopagan calendars on the Net and elsewhere refer to August 22 as a commemoration for ‘Aedesia’, who is usually described as a female Neoplatonist philosopher of the 5th Century, "famous for her virtue and beauty". Some sources say she was Greek, or at least that this was a Greek day of commemoration.

However, it is very difficult to find any actual evidence of this, as these conscientious people at Societas Via Romana website have discovered independently of your almanackist. There is an Aedesius (died 355), a male Neoplatonist philosopher, who came from Cappadocia and taught at Pergamum, so he hardly fits the bill whether in century, country or sex. Was Aedesia the wife of Herminus and mother of Ammonius? If so, was she commemorated on a particular day? If so, was it August 22?

A great many neopagan calendars are based on the Juno Covella Perpetual Calendar (or upon calendars based on it), which was written by Lawrence Durdin-Roberston, who founded the Fellowship of Isis in 1976. In turn, Juno Covella is derived, I believe, from the Lux Madriana calendar. The Juno Covella Calendar entry for August 22 gives today as a day for Aedesia.

The oft-borrowed-from Nigel Pennick’s The Pagan Book of Days (Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992), makes the 'Aedesia' claim on page 99. Like your almanackist, like the Juno Covella, like all the commemorations calendars on the Net and in bookstores, both neopagan and other, Mr Pennick borrows from many sources, just as many sources borrow from many others. Sometimes a fact gets multiplied such that it’s like looking in barbershop mirrors. Caveat emptor: there is a great deal of arbitrariness in all such calendars. Wilson’s Almanac is no different, except that I do generally try to give references, a practice I recommend to my colleagues for the benefit of all ...

Tagged: calendar+customs, neopaganism, paganism