*Ø* Wilson's Almanac free daily ezine | Book of Days | August 10 | St Lawrence tears gridiron Perseid meteor shower Perseids Perseus saint Herbert Hoover Australia free Anwar Ibrahim Versailles Moberly Jourdain Puck Fair Ireland

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Today is

This side is done now. you can turn me over.
St Lawrence, to the Roman soldiers who were roasting him alive

When a star falls from the sky
It leaves a fiery trail.
It does not die.
Its shade goes back to its own place to shine again.
The Indians sometimes find the small stars
where they have fallen in the grass.
Native Americans legend, among the Menominee of the Great Lakes region (Wisconsin) Source

The bay trees in our country are all wither'd,
And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;
The pale-fac'd moon looks bloody on the earth
And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change;
Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap,
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy,
The other to enjoy by rage and war.
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.
William Shakespeare; Richard II, Act II, Scene iv (a Welsh captain warns the Earl of Salisbury) Shakespeare on Omens and Prophecies; Shakespeare in the Sky

The peasants of Franconia and Saxony have believed for ages past that St Lawrence weeps tears of fire which fall from the sky every year on his fête (the 10th of August). This ancient popular German tradition or superstition has been found within these [past] few years to be a fact which engages the attention of astronomers.
Edward Claudius Herrick (February 24, 1811 - June 11, 1862), American astronomer, meteorologist and entomologist, one of the modern discoverers of the Perseid meteor showers

It is a natural tendency for all living things to take it easy. You watch any living thing you want to, and you will see that as soon as they FILL UP, they will LIE DOWN and TAKE IT EASY.
The physical comfort, the ease, that is the only thing in this world that satisfies. It cannot be overdone and it is the real base of all our actions.
We all cannot take things easy because there is too much competition from other people. Only those who possess good management will succeed BY EXPLOITING domestic animals, machinery, other people and natural resources.
Edward Leedskalnin, builder of the Coral Castle, born Riga, Latvia, on August 10, 1887

I have discovered the secrets of the pyramids, and have found out how the Egyptians and the ancient builders in Peru, Yucatan, and Asia, with only primitive tools, raised and set in place blocks of stone weighing many tons!
Edward Leedskalnin

People always ask me about my wives.
Celebrity-marrying Eddie Fisher, American singer, born on this day in 1928

We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land.
Herbert Hoover, born on August 10, 1874; speaking as a US presidential candidate in 1928

August 10 is the 222^nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (223^rd in leap years), with 143 days remaining.
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Feast day of St Lawrence (Laurence; Laurent; Laurentius; Lawrence of Rome; Lorenzo), martyr
(Common balsam, Impatiens balsama, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.)

St Lawrence (225 - 258) was a 3^rd-Century archdeacon of Rome under Pope Sixtus I, and looked after the poor, orphans and widows. He was a 'keeper of the treasures of the church' in a time when Christianity was outlawed. Lawrence suffered martyrdom under Valerian – the emperor, not the saint, nor yet the herb, which would have just made him laid back rather than dead.

At the beginning of August, 258, an edict was issued, commanding that all bishops, priests, and deacons should immediately be put to death ("episcopi et presbyteriet diacones incontinenti animadvertantur" – Cyprian, Epist. lxxx, 1). Lawrence was summoned by the praetor to deliver up the treasures of the church, whereupon he produced the poor, saying "These are the church's treasures". For this attitude he was killed by being roasted on a gridiron, on August 10 the same year.

There is an old English expression, 'Lazy as Lawrence' (or 'Lazy as Lawrence's dog'; Larrence, an imaginary being was supposed by Scottish peasantry to preside over the lazy and indolent) – tradition has it that while being roasted he asked to be turned, saying,

This side enough is toasted, so turn me, tyrant, eat,
And see whether raw or roasted I make the better meat.
Foxe: Book of Martyrs

This was seen by his torturers as a sign of laziness. When he was burnt, the smell was lovely to the noses of the witnesses. Later he said, "It is cooked enough. You may eat."

Lawrence pops up in some other British folklore. 'Lazy Lawrence of Lubberland' was the hero of a popular tale, and another archaic expression, 'St Lawrence bids wages' means 'invites to idleness'. Bosom's Inn was a public-house sign in St Lawrence Lane, London; a corruption of Blossom's Inn, in allusion to the hawthorn blossoms surrounding the image of St Lawrence on the sign.

It is said that as the saint lay dying, his face seemed to be surrounded by a beautiful light; after praying for the conversion of Rome, he died, weeping because others did not have the same spirit to suffer for the sake of faith as he. (It is more probable that Lawrence was beheaded, because this was the usual manner of execution at that time. The gridiron appears to be derived from a Phrygian source through the acta of Saint Vincent of Saragossa). Lawrence's mummified head may be in the Secret Archives of the Vatican.

There are many place names and churches named for this saint, such as the great St Lawrence River. Before the Reformation, the cathedral at Exeter, England, claimed to have some of the coals from the fire of his martyrdom. The Church of St Lawrence Jewry in London, is built with a gridiron on the steeple for a weather vane. Phillip II of Spain, having won a battle on this day vowed to consecrate a palace, a church, and a monastery to his honour. He erected the Escurial (El Escorial, at San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a town 45 kilometres northwest of Madrid), the largest palace in Europe, in the shape of a gridiron. The bars form several courts, and the Royal Family occupied the handle. Gridirons are featured all through the building: sculptured gridirons, iron gridirons, painted gridirons, gridirons in marble, and so on. Gridirons, too, are over doors, in the yards, in the windows, in the galleries. Before the palace stood a silver statue of the saint, gold gridiron in hand; however, the valuable metals were looted by Napoleon's soldiers. The only very precious article still there is a bar of the original gridiron, which Pope Gregory found in the martyr's tomb at Tivoli. Or, so it is said.

Lawrence's intercession was reputed to have caused the victories of Christian armies in the Battle of Lechfeld (see below, 955 CE) against the Magyars, and at Saint-Quentin, in 1557. According to folklore, among the treasure of the Roman church entrusted to Lawrence for safe-keeping was the Holy Chalice (Holy Grail), the cup from which Jesus Christ and the Apostles drank at the Last Supper.

His patronage includes archivists, armories, brewers, butchers, comedians, confectioners, cooks, cutlers, fire, glaziers, laundry workers, librarians, lumbago, paupers, restauranteurs, stained glass workers, students, tanners, vine growers, and wine makers. In religious art, Lawrence may be represented with a book of Gospels, a cross, and/or a gridiron; as a deacon holding a gridiron; a deacon holding a book; as a deacon holding a purse of money. On this day, the reliquary containing his burnt head is displayed in the Vatican for veneration.

In Huesca, Spain (supposedly his home town), today they celebrate the Fiesta of San Lorenzo. The charred bones of Lorenzo, in a reliquary shaped like his head, are carried throughout the streets amid giants, Moors and hobby horses. Festive dances and bullfights are held. In ancient Latvia, the day was called Labrenca Diena.

"There is furthermore a miraculous event that has been witnessed each year on August 10, the Saint's feast day, in a church outside of Rome, where some of the Saint's blood is believed to be preserved in a vial. The blood, now centuries old, begins to liquefy on the vigil of his feast, becoming entirely liquid by the start of the feast day. The blood then re-hardens after the day is concluded." Source

Henry Wace, A Dictionary of Christian Biography: Laurentius

Catholic Encyclopedia St Lawrence Golden Legend: 'The Life of St Laurence' Leo I: Sermon on St Lawrence

Lawrence's tears and the Perseid meteor showers

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, and very bright at this time of year (generally visible between July 23 and August 22, peaking around August 13). Thus, in England the meteors in medieval times were called 'the fiery tears of St Lawrence' as they were visible on his day, and also related symbolically to the torments of the martyr.

The meteor stream is thought to be comprised of particles ejected by the comet as it passes by the Sun. When the Earth moves through the meteor stream, the meteor shower is visible. The Perseids get their name from usually making their appearance in or near the constellation Perseus, named for the Greek god.

Perseus is the protagonist of one of the most famous of the ancient Greeks' many interesting myths. His story also concerns several other constellations, namely Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Andromeda.

In Greek mythology, Perseus was the son of mortal Danae and the god Zeus. He went on a quest to obtain the head of the gorgon Medusa as a wedding present for Dictys, the brother of king Polydectes of Seriphos (the quest was actually only a ruse on Dictys' side). With a bit of help of the gods Hermes and Athena he finally managed to kill the gorgon and take her head. On the way back he rescued Andromeda (daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of Ethiopia) from a sea-monster.

Explanation: The ongoing Perseid Meteor Shower should be at its strongest tonight and tomorrow night. Although meteors should be visible all night long, the best time to watch will be between 2:00 AM and dawn each night. In dark, moonless, predawn skies you may see dozens of meteors per hour. Sky enthusiasts in Europe and Asia might see an unusual burst of meteors near 2100 hours UT. Grains of cosmic sand and gravel shed from Comet Swift-Tuttle will streak across the sky as they vaporize during entry into Earth's atmosphere. Tracing the meteor trails backwards, experienced skygazers will find they converge on the constellation Perseus, thus this annual meteor shower's name. Pictured above is a Perseid meteor from 2002 over a rock formation in the US Southwest desert. Shadowing and blurring are caused by the long 10-minute exposure. The brightest Perseids can be seen from anywhere on Earth by monitoring the continuously returning images from the Night Sky Live cameras. Source: NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Were meteor showers responsible for omens in ancient sacred texts? Meteors & Native American Folklore

List of meteor showers Meteor observing calendar Meteors and the Native Americans Sky map

Thunderstones and Shooting Stars: Meteors and Meteorites in Folklore More More And more Yet more

See also Leonid and Lyrid meteor showers in the Book of Days

If you can't see nuthin' ... join the International Dark-Sky Association and help lobby for some laws to help save the human spirit!

The Games of Lugh

This is an old Celtic name for the Perseids, the most familiar of all meteor showers, that take place at around the time called Lughnasadh by the pagans and Lammas by their Christian successors – around August 1. The Perseids have been well documented since at least 830 CE but were surely well known long before. We can well imagine ancient Celts looking upon these wonders and associating them with other phenomena of the season between the equinox and solstice, including the heat of the last of the Dog Days. They attributed the celestial display of Perseid lights to games being played by their sun god, Lugh, 'the shining one'.

As is well known, most ancient cultures looked on meteor showers and other phenomena in the sky as having supernatural meaning. In pre-Zoroastrian India, the Perseids were the Pairikas, the prototypes of the Peris, the nymphs or female angels of later Persian tradition, and likewise the Parigs or witches of Manichaeism. The Pairikas, in the form of worm-stars, are said to fly between the earth and the heavens at this time. These 'shooting stars' fall annually at about the time when Tistrya (Sirius) is supposed to be most active.

The remarkable annual appearance of the Perseids might explain why the ancient Egyptian Lychnapsia ('Festival of Lights', or 'The Lights of Isis') at this time of year was revered in the Osirian mysteries. In Arab folklore, shooting stars are traditionally said to be firebrands hurled by the angels against the inquisitive Jinns or Genii, who are forever clambering up on the constellations to peep into heaven.

"Thomas Furley Forster of London had recorded it in 1827 in his Pocket Encyclopaedia of Natural Phenomena. 'According to Mr. T. Forster,' Herrick reported in October 1839, citing Quetelet, 'a superstition has "for ages" existed among the Catholics of some parts of England and Germany that the burning tears of St. Lawrence are seen in the sky on the night of the 10th of August; this day being the anniversary of his martyrdom.'"
Discovery of the Perseids

"Many years ago, a phone call came into New York's Hayden Planetarium. The caller sounded concerned about a radio announcement of an upcoming Perseid display and wanted to know if it would be dangerous to stay outdoors on the night of the peak of the shower (perhaps assuming there was a danger of getting hit). These meteoroids, however, are no bigger than sand grains or pebbles, have the consistency of cigar ash and are consumed many miles above our heads.
"The caller was passed along to the Planetarium's chief astronomer, who commented that there are only two dangers from Perseid watching: getting drenched with dew and falling asleep." Source
Space * Ø * News

NASA's interactive applet Perseids photo gallery The legend of Perseus Comets, meteors and myth

More on Perseus in astronomy and legend Meteors: A Primer Meteors That Changed the World

The Perseus/Medusa myth: should we interpret it meteorologically, or astronomically?

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Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Meteorites

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The Universe in a Nutshell

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The Heavens on Fire : The Great Leonid Meteor Storms

Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings

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A Little History of Astro-Archaeology

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Puck Fair, Killorglin, on the Ring of Kerry, in County Kerry, Ireland (Aug 10 - 12)

Held in the little village of Killorglin, this is an ancient festival ruled by a wild goat. The fair, held over three days and attended by about 100,000 people from far and near, is one of the three oldest in Ireland, the others being Ould Lammas Fair, Ballycastle and the Great October Horse Fair, Ballinasloe.

The first day of the main social, economic and cultural event in the Killorglin calendar is called Gathering Day. In accordance with tradition, the Puck, a wild goat, is caught on the August bank holiday Monday. Then, on Gathering Day morning the goat is paraded through the streets of Killorglin, where he is greeted with cheering and rapturous applause. Puck is paraded to the town square where he is crowned King of the Fair, then ceremoniously raised on a scaffold platform about eight metres high. There the poor beast resides for the three days and nights of the fair, looking down on his subjects. The Foley family traditionally has the task of caring for the royal Caprinae of the family Bovidae, and feeding him cabbages.

"On the final day, Scattering Day or Children's Day, the goat-king is dethroned by a throng of excited children. Accompanied by pipers, he is processed through town and over the bridge, whereupon he is turned loose. Or, according to MacNeill [MacNeill, Maire, The Festival of Lughnasa, Oxford University Press 1962], he is carried around on the shoulders of four men, while the shopkeepers contribute to his upkeep, then auctioned off."
Source: School of the Seasons

There is conjecture that the tradition's origins lie in a pre-Christian Celtic pagan festival in honour of the sun god Lugh, as Puck Fair has always occurred at approximately the time of the Lughnasadh (Lammas) celebrations of a fruitful harvest. This line of thought usually suggests that the male goat or 'Puck' was a pagan symbol of fertility, like the pagan god Pan, who has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a satyr, and is one of the deities within the archetype of the Horned God.

That it was once a Lammas fair is indicated by a patent from 1613 that gives the proprietor the right "to hold a faire in Killorglin on Lammas Day and the day after". Others believe the fair started as early as the 13^th Century. According to the fair's official website:

"The most widely mentioned story relating to the origin of King Puck, associates him with the English Ironside Leader Oliver Cromwell. It is related that while the 'Roundheads' were pillaging the countryside around Shanara and Kilgobnet at the foot of the McGillycuddy Reeks, they routed a herd of goats grazing on the upland. The animals took flight before the raiders, and the he-goat or 'Puck' broke away on his own and lost contact with the herd. While the others headed for the mountains he went towards Cill Orglain (Killorglin) on the banks of the Laune. His arrival there in a state of semi exhaustion alerted the inhabitants of the approaching danger and they immediately set about protecting themselves and their stock.

"It is said that in recognition of the service rendered by the goat, the people decided to institute a special festival in his honour and this festival has been held ever since."

The goat in mythology and folklore

Capricornus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It is commonly called Capricorn, especially in astrology, in which it reigns from December 22 - January 19. It represents a horned goat, although it is commonly called the sea-goat. Vedic India identified the he-goat, a sacrificial animal, with the fire-god, Agni, who sometimes rides a chariot drawn by goats. Thor, too, travels in a chariot drawn by goats (Tanngnjóstr and Tanngrisnir) – the Eddas note that the earth is scorched and the mountains cracked as the goats run across them.

The goat is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. It is thought that each animal is associated with certain personality traits; those born in a year of the goat are predicted to be shy, introverted, creative, and perfectionistic. In British folklore, Robin Hood, the forest dweller, is believed to have associations with Pan/Phaunos/Faunus. (NB, Fauna is an alternative name for Bona Dea, the 'good goddess'.)

In Greek mythology, Amalthea ('tender') is the foster-mother of Zeus, king of the gods. She is sometimes represented as the goat which suckled the infant-god in a cave in Crete, sometimes as a nymph of uncertain parentage (daughter of Oceanus, Haemonius, Olen, Melisseus), who brought him up on the milk of a goat. This goat having broken off one of its horns, Amalthea filled it with flowers and fruits and presented it to Zeus, who placed it together with the goat amongst the stars. According to another story, Zeus himself broke off the horn and gave it to Amalthea, promising that it would supply whatever she desired in abundance. Amalthea gave it to Achelous (her reputed brother), who exchanged it for his own horn which had been broken off in his contest with Heracles for the possession of Deianeira. According to ancient mythology, the owners of the horn were many and various. Speaking generally, it was regarded as the symbol of inexhaustible riches and plenty, and became the attribute of various divinities (Hades, Gaea, Demeter, Cybele, Hermes), and of rivers (the Nile) as fertilizers of the land.

The term 'horn of Amalthea' is applied to a fertile district, and an estate belonging to Titus Pomponius Atticus was called Amaltheum. Cretan coins represent the infant Zeus being suckled by the goat; other Greek coins exhibit him suspended from its teats or carried in the arms of a nymph (Ovid, Fasti, v. 115; Metam. ix. 87).

Amalthea's skin also became the aegis in some traditions.

The Roman festival of the Lupercalia (which transmogrified into Valentine's Day) had strong associations with the goat, beginning with a sacrifice by the Luperci of goats and a dog. Male participants were brushed, whipped or splattered with februa, thongs of sacrificial goatskin, symbolically blessing them with fertility.

"The goat has long been a visual aid in symbolic and mythological literature and stories. It has a varied significance: gentleness in one tradition and sensuality in another. Both sexes of the goat symbolize fertility, vitality and ceaseless energy. The he-goat (buck) is the epitome of masculine virility and creative energy, while the female (doe) typifies the feminine and generative power and abundance. Symbolically, the goat can be interchanged with the gazelle or the antelope. The wild goat of the Old Testament and Arabic lore is the Ibex.

"The goat was probably, after the dog, the earliest domesticated animal. Goats grazing or at rest, or being milked by a goat-herder, are frequent subjects for idyllic scenes, representing the paradisial state; as such they appear on both pagan and Christian sarcophagi.

History

"There have been many strange beliefs and myths about goats. Oppian says they breathe through their horns, while Varro maintains that they breathe through their ears; Pliny expresses a general belief that they are perpetually feverish. Goat skins were used for water and wine bottles when traveling and camping and as parchment for writing. Goat hairs were woven and the animal provided food and milk. The goat, especially the kid, was a sacrificial animal and was used also as a sin-offering (the Scapegoat.) The he-goat is lust personified, and a goat with a human head depicts depravity.

Goats in Mythology

"The Sumerian god Marduk often has a goat as an accompaniment, and it also appears with hunting goddesses. The wild goat was sacred to Artemis and is an attribute of Dionysos, who took this form when fleeing from Typhon, and of the satyrs, who are half-goats with goats' horns. Pan also has the legs, horns and beard of a goat." Source

Festival of Faunalia, to Pan/Phaunos/Faunus, December 5 in the Book of Days

Kartikeya, Narada and the goat, a Hindu legend

Puck Fair webcams Lots about Puck Elvis the goat is king of the fair

Greater Panathenaea, ancient Athens, in honour of goddess Athena (c. Aug 8 - 17)
Third day: Musical contests.

Dog Days, ancient Rome (Jul 3 - Aug 11)

Feast day of St Bettelin (Bertram) of Ilam
"Date unknown. There is a chapel, font, well, and substantial portions of Bettelin's shrine at Ilam in Stafford, but little remains of his memory. He may have been an Anglo-Saxon hermit, who lived, died, and was venerated in that area. Legend adds some rather improbable details borrowed from the legend of Saint Bertelme of Fécamp: he was a Mercian prince who fell in love with an Irish princess, brought her back to England, and left her in the forest in labor. When he returned with a midwife, a pack of wolves was devouring her. As a result, he became a hermit for the rest of his life (Farmer)." Source

Feast day of St Blane (Blaan), Bishop of Kinngaradha, Scotland

Feast day of St Deusdedit, confessor

Feast day of St Gerontius (Geraint; main feast day is January 10, qv)

Feast day of St Hugh of Montaigu

Feast day of St Thiento and Companions

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Tenth of August

The term 'the Tenth of August' is widely used by historians as a shorthand for the Storming of the Tuileries Palace on August 10, 1792, the effective end of the French monarchy until it was restored in 1814.

Kochi Yosaki Matsuri, at Oji, Japan (Aug 9 - 12)

Ghanta Kharna Day, Nepal
"Celebrates the death of Ghanta Karna, a blood-thirsty demon who haunts crossroads and is the enemy of the God Vishnu."
Source: Earth, Moon and Sky

Prison Justice Day, Canada

Independence Day in Ecuador
The movement began in Quito in 1809. Independence was not achieved until May 1822.

National S'mores Day, USA

On which day of the week were you born? Find out here

1397 Albert II of Habsburg, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

1729 Sir William Howe, 5^th Viscount Howe PC (General William Howe; d. July 12, 1814), English general; Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American Revolutionary War

1821 Jay Cooke (d. 1905), financier

1845 Abai Kunanbaev (d. 1904), Kazak poet

1872 Bill Johnson (d. 1972), jazz musician

1874 Herbert Clark Hoover, (d. October 20, 1964) 31^st President of the United States (1929 - 33), who was for a time founder-manager of the Broken Hill Zinc Corporation at Broken Hill, NSW, Australia. He was in Australia in 1897 - '98 working for the Bewick, Moreing Company, and returned in 1902 and 1907.

After the stock market crash of 1929, "Hoover announced that while he would keep the Federal budget balanced, he wo