DECEMBER, 2009

 December 1 - 14:

12/1 (Tue):      

In the ancient Greek solar calendar, 12/1 is the festival of Poseidon, god of the sea.

Venus enters Sagittarius. Unlike Mars, who chafes at the authority of his father Jupiter when he is in this sign, Venus is regally at ease and at home until Dec. 25. She may experience a sudden reversal of feeling and favor, though, as she has a heady trine with Mars in from Dec. 16, then, a few days later, a conflictive, intense square to Uranus in Pisces.

12/2 (Wed):    

   In the Hindu solar calendar, 12/2 is the Feast of Shiva, the Destroyer, one of the three most important male deities in the Hindu pantheon. The sound and rhythm of his drum are said to be the primordial tone of the cosmos, his dance the creative act that brings all life into being.

    Om Nama Shivaya.

12/4 (Thu):     

One of the festivals of Pallas Athena in the ancient Greek calendar, and the feast of St. Barbara in the traditional Christian calendar. This is yet another example of the methodical way in which the early Christian church replaced "pagan" holidays with days honoring new Christian saints. St. Barbara -- whose veneration the Vatican recently discontinued, when she and several other obviously mythical saints were quietly retired -- was said to protect her devotees from lightning, just as Athena mollified the wrath of her father, Zeus Cloudgatherer, Lord of the Lightning Bolt.

In the Yoruba calendar, this is the feast of Shango, protector against all evil.

12/6 (Sun):

In the Roman Catholic calendar, feast of St. Nicholas, healer and miracle worker, patron saint of Russia. To this day his relics at the church in Bari, Italy are said to yield a "manna" that heals the sick and infirm. In northwest Europe and North America, he is more closely identified with Santa Claus, whose highly dualistic system of giving gifts -- toys for kids who obey, coal for those who don't -- encourages children to be good in December, during the mellowness of the harvest season, when yelling is least welcome and pleasant.

12/7 (Mon):

St. Catherine by Caravaggio

Feast day of St. Catherine Of Alexandria, whose virgin martyr scenario has always been admired for, among other things, the element of slow-burn comedy that could make W. C. Fields an ideal casting choice for the emperor Maximinus. Catherine sought an audience with Caesar to ask his help in redressing a wrong, then proceeded to berate his augustness for cruelty toward Christians. Not wanting to slice up one so innocent and tender, Maximinus handed Catherine over to his court priests and scholars, asking them to talk the girl out of her fantasies. Catherine proceeded to convert the teachers, then the emperor's mother. Maximinus ordered Catherine to be broken on a wheel, but the wheel shattered at her touch. He finally had Catherine decapitated, so she is usually depicted with a spiked wheel and a sword. She is especially beloved in Russia, and she has been celebrated more poignantly since 1941 for the day when the Soviet Army stopped the Germans outside Moscow and forced them to retreat and cover for the winter. On this day, as the attack on Pearl Harbor was hours away, the future of Russia, and the world, hung by a thread. People in the Russian Orthodox churches are still grateful for St. Catherine's protection on Dec. 7, 1941.

In the Khemitian calendar, Feast of Neith, double-aspected goddess of creation, symbolized in her role as patroness of weaving; and of war and hunting (Month of Tybi, day 23).

In the Roman Catholic calendar, Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.

Among Buddhists, this is Bodhi Day, called Rohatsu in Japan, and celebrates the moment at which the Buddha attained enlightenment.

This is the date of the Roman festival of Lux Mundi ("light of the world"), still celebrated in Europe, especially in France, where this day commemorates Liberty, the goddess of light whose Statue was presented by France to the United States (though after the gift was declined by Egypt). Light of the World is among the first of the festivals of light traditionally held in the weeks before the northern winter solstice; and one of many goddess festivals of peace and freedom held in early December, before the more raucous events (see the Saturnalia at 12/18 below) that precede the December Solstice.

In Mayan calendar systems, this day begins the Uinal of Earth, the second of the 20-day uinals in the cycle (8 Imix, Tzolkin 21). This uinal, symbolized by the Green Hummingbird, marks the growth of new life after the purifying Uinal of Fire at the beginning of the Tzolkin cycle.

In the Baha'i calendar, this day honors the Deity as Masa'il, or Mystery.

12/13 (Sun):

In Christian calendars, the Feast of St. Lucy, Santa Lucia, the great north European winter Festival of Lights. This day is also Little Yule in the Norse calendar, followed a week later by the Yuletide cycle. Interestingly, the old Swedish feast of Lucia and the similarly-named Roman feast of Juno Lucina-- honoring the matron goddess Juno as keeper of the home fires -- developed independently in very ancient times, and merged later into the Christian feast of St. Lucy.

Geminid Meteor Shower peaks tonight and tomorrow. This can be one of the year's better celestial shows, with relatively bright (average magnitude 2.5) meteors appearing at a rate of some 50 - 80 per hour. Viewing should be excellent this year, with a Dark Moon in three days.