Month

 

 

Month: One of the twelve major subdivisions of the year. The names of the months are of great antiquity, and although they have in more than one sense lost their original significance, they continue to survive as a part of our common language. Originally they were intended to represent the twelve arcs of the Earth's annual revolution in orbit about the Sun, and thus were comparable to the arcs we now know as the Astrological or Astronomical Signs of the Zodiac. The original significance of the months is as follows:

 

January. A month of 31 days, the first in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It was named after Janus, the ancient Roman deity who presided over gates and doors, hence all beginnings. He was represented with two faces, turned in opposite directions, to indicate how every ending is also a beginning. He was propitiated at the beginning of every important undertaking. Both A. B. Cook and J. G. Frazer identify Janus as Jupiter, and indicate that he looked both ways to give better protection to the house over which he stood guard. January 1st was made the beginning of the year in England with the statutory adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752, before which date the year began on March 25. Nevertheless, it was in the Temple of Janus that Saturn sought refuge in times of peace.

 

February. A month of 28 days, except when increased by one intercalary day on bissextile or leap years; the second month of the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It was not contained in the Romulian calendar, and was said to have been introduced in to the Roman calendar by Numa in 713 B.C., as the eleventh month. January and February were transposed by the decemvirs in 452 B.C., making it the twelfth month. The name was derived from Februare, to purify, from which came Februa, the festival of expiation, celebrated at the end of the month, during which the women were "purified" by the priests. By the Anglo-Saxons it was caged Sprout - Kale, as the cabbage-sprouting season. The two martyred Saints Valentine who died on the same day in the reign of Claudius, determined February 14th as St. Valentine's day, but the modern celebration of it as a lover's festival appears to be purely accidental.

 

March. A month of 31 days, the third in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the first in the Roman calendar. It was named in honor of Mars, god of war, the reputed father of Romulus, who was traditionally believed to have compiled the first calendar. However, Ovid says the month existed before the time of Romulus. It was the beginning of the legal year in France until 1564, when by decree Charles IX made the year begin in January. Scotland followed this example in 1599, but in England it continued to begin in March until the 18th century. At that time the first three days, the "blind" or "borrowed" days, were deemed so unlucky that no English or Scottish farmer would sow seed on these days.

 

April. A month of 30 days, the fourth month of the Julian and Gregorian calendars; the second in the Roman calendar. Its etymology is commonly traced to the Latin aperire, "to open," as the season when the blossoms open their petals. The Roman months, however, were named after divinities, and as April was sacred to Venus and the Festum Veneris et Fortunae Virilis was celebrated on the first day, it is possible the month was originally Aphrilis, from Aphrodite - the Greek name for Venus. To the Anglo-Saxon it was the month of Easter, the pagan Saxon goddess of Spring, from which name is derived the modern Easter. April Fools' day as we know it seems to have originated at the time of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. Prior thereto the celebration of the New Year began on March 25th, and ended April 1st with the general distribution of gifts. With the change of the New Year to January 1st, those who objected thereto made ostentatious presentations of mock gifts to those who under the influence of the church had advocated the adoption of the Gregorian reform.

 

May. A month of 31 days, the fifth of the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of the Roman calendar. It is said to have been named in honor of the goddess Maia, daughter of Atlas and mother of Mercury and Jupiter, to whom sacrifices were offered on the first day of this month. Probably, however, it was named in honor of the majors of the government - the senators; June honoring the juniors, or members of the lower house. The month was regarded a unlucky for marriages, owing to the celebration of the Lemuria, the festival of the unhappy dead, held on the 9th, 11th, and 13th. This is reflected in a proverb of unidentified origin - "Marry in May, you'll rue the day." May day, a people's holiday on which to go "a-Maying" in the woods, goes back to medieval and Tudor England. A huge maypole of cedar erected under the supervision of James II was taken down in 1717, and used by Sir Isaac Newton, as part of the support of a large telescope presented to the Royal Society by a French astronomer.

 

June. A month of 30 days, the sixth in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the fourth in the Roman calendar. Ovid makes Juno state that the month was named in her honor, but elsewhere he contradicts this origin. Probably June was named after the junior assemblage of the government, and May after the senior assemblage of the Senate. Prior to the Julian reform of the calendar it had 29 days. To the Anglo-Saxons it was the "dry" month.

 

July. A month of 31 days, the seventh in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the fifth in the Roman calendar. Originally called Quintilius, it was renamed by Mark Antony in honor of Julius Caesar, who was born in that month. Among the Anglo-Saxons it was known as "hay month," as the meadows were then in bloom. Dog days begin on July 30th, and St. Swithin's Day falls on July 15th.

 

August. A month of 31 days, the eighth in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the sixth in the Roman calendar. Originally known as Sextilis, it was renamed by direction of Augustus Caesar, who refusing to be honored by a month of smaller size than that which in honor of Julius Caesar had been named July, ordered it increased to 31 days, taking the extra day from February. In Gallia and remote parts of the Empire it was known as Aust, meaning harvest.

 

September. A month of 30 days, the ninth in the Julian and Gregorian calendars; the seventh in the Roman calendar. The Ludi Magni, in honor of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, was celebrated by the Romans on September 4th. In Charlemagne's calendar it was called the "harvest month," corresponding partly to the Fructidor and partly to the Vendemiaire of the First French Republic. The Anglo-Saxons called it the gerstmonath, or barley month, as the crop was usually harvested in this month. In Switzerland it is still known as the Herbstmonat.

 

October. A month of 31 days, the tenth in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the eighth in the Roman calendar. The Equiria, when the Equus October was sacrificed to Mars in the Campus Martius, was celebrated on October 15th. Successive attempts were made to rename it Germanicus, Antoninus, Tacitus and Herculeus, but all failed, as did the effort of the Roman Senate to christen it Faustinus in honor of Faustina, wife of Antoninus. The Slavs called it "yellow month" from the fading leaves. To the Anglo-Saxons it was known as the Winter-fylleth (moon), since Winter was supposed to begin with the October Full Moon.

 

November. A month of 30 days, the eleventh in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the ninth in the Roman calendar. The Roman winter began on November 11th, and was celebrated on the 13th by a sacred banquet in honor of Jupiter, the Epulum Jovis. The proposal of the Senate to name it Tiberius, was vetoed by the Emperor, with a question as to what they would propose when it came to the thirteenth Caesar. All Saints Day is the 1st, AH Souls Day, the 2nd, and St. Andrew's Day, the 30th.

 

December. (L. Decem, ten). A month of 31 days, the twelfth in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the tenth in the Roman calendar. The Saturnalia, or feast of Saturn, was celebrated in this month. During the reign of Commodus it was temporarily styled Amazonius, in honor of his mistress whose portrait he had had painted as an Amazon. The Saxons called it the Winter month; also the Holy month, from the fact that Christmas fell within it.

 

MONTH. Sidereal, 27.3217 d.; Synodical, 29.5306 d.