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There was a tree that spread its branches through all the worlds and that had its roots in three of the worlds. That tree was named Yggdrasil. One of its roots was in Asgarth, one was in Jotunheim, and one was in Niflheim that was the World of the Dead. The root that was in Niflheim was beside a well. Therein was the dreadful serpent, Nithogg: Nithogg gnawed for ever at the root of the World Tree, wanting to destroy it. And Ratatosk, the squirrel, ran up and down Yggdrasil making trouble between the eagle that was at the top of the tree and the serpent that was below. He went to tell the serpent how the eagle was bent upon tearing him to pieces, and he went back to tell the eagle how the serpent planned to devour him. Beside the root of the tree in Jotunheim was a well guarded by old Mimir the Wise. Whoever drank out of this well would know all of the things that are to come to pass. And beside the root that was in Asgarth was another well: the three sisters who are the Norns guarded it, and their names were Urth, Verthandi, and Skuld – Past, Present, and Future; they took the water of the well and watered Yggdrasil with it that the Tree of the World might be kept green and strong. This well was called Urda's well. Two swans were on the water of it; they made music that the Dwellers in Asgarth often heard. On the branches of the tree four stags grazed; they shook from their horns the water that fell as rain in Mithgarth. And on the topmost branch of Yggdrasil, the branch that was so high that the Gods themselves could hardly see it, was perched the eagle that the serpent was made to fear. Upon the beak of the eagle a hawk perched, a hawk that saw what the eyes of the eagle could not see.
Padraic Colum, Orpheus, Myths of the World, 1930   Source

But the Occult reason why the Norse Yggdrasil, the Hindu Aswatha, the Gogard, the Hellenic tree of life, and the Tibetan Zampun, are one with the Kabalistic Sephirothal Tree, and even with the Holy Tree made by Ahura Mazda, and the Tree of Eden – who among the western scholars can tell? Nevertheless, the fruits of all those "Trees," whether Pippala or Haoma or yet the more prosaic apple, are the "plants of life," in fact and verity. The prototypes of our races were all enclosed in the microcosmic tree, which grew and developed within and under the great mundane macrocosmic tree; and the mystery is half revealed in the Dirghotamas, where it is said: "Pippala, the sweet fruit of that tree upon which come spirits who love the science, and where the gods produce all marvels." As in the Gogard, among the luxuriant branches of all those mundane trees, the "Serpent" dwells. But while the Macroscosmic tree is the Serpent of Eternity and of absolute Wisdom itself, those who dwell in the Microcosmic tree are the Serpents of the manifested Wisdom. One is the One and All; the others are its reflected parts. The "tree" is man himself, of course, and the Serpents dwelling in each, the conscious Manas, the connecting link between Spirit and Matter, heaven and earth.
HP Blavatsky; The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 2, Part 1, IV

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Portumnalia (Portunalia) in honour of Portunes (Portunus; Portunis), Roman Republic

Celebrated on the 17^th day before the Kalends of September.

In Roman mythology, Portunes was a god of keys, gates and livestock. He later became associated with Palaemon and became primarily a god of ports and harbours, and the River Tiber. He was a protector of warehouses and the grain stored in them. On this day, keys were thrown into a fire for good luck, as his attribute was a key.

There is a temple of Portunus in Rome( pictured), in the ancient Forum Boarium by the Tiber. From here, Portunus watched over cattle-barges as they entered the city from Ostia.

The feast day was set on the day of the dedication of the Aedes Jani (Temple of Janus) in the forum Holitorium, built by the consul Gaius Duilius after his victory over Hannibal Gisco at Mylae (Tac. Ann. ii.49) between the fleets of Carthage and the Roman Republic, fought during the First Punic War.

The restoration of this temple was begun by Augustus and completed by Tiberius in 17 CE, but the dedication day of the restored structure was October 18. According to Pliny (NH xxxvi.28) Augustus dedicated in this temple a statue to Janus which was brought from Egypt, the work either of Scopas or Praxiteles.

The association of Portunes with Janus is almost an alter ego aspect, the former being associated with doors and the latter with gates, and both with keys and the act of opening. Portunes's temple (Fortuna Virilis) was situated near the port of the Tiber, which river was celebrated in the festival of the Tiberinalia on December 8.  

Deities of many cultures in the Book of Days

Queen Amenartus, Queen-Initiate, ancient Egypt   Source

Feast day of Amenartus, Egyptian calendar
"Rituals were held in the Temples of Amen-Ra, and also in the houses of Horus and Osiris."   Source

Greater Panathenaea, ancient Athens, in honour of goddess Athena (c. Aug 8 - 17)
Tenth day: boat race.

Heraclia in Kynosarges, ancient Greece (Aug 12 - 19)

Deities of many cultures in the Book of Days

Feast day of St Clare of Montefalco

Feast day of St Donatus

Feast day of St Drithelm

Feast day of St Hiero

Feast day of St Hyacinth

Feast day of St James the Deacon

Feast day of St Jeanne Delanoue

Feast day of St John of Monte Marano

Feast day of St Juliana

Feast day of St Liberatus, abbot, and six monks, martyrs

Feast day of St Mamas (Mamus)
(Snapdragon toadflax, Antirrhinum linaria, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.)

Feast day of St Myron

Feast day of St Paul

Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints

Shab-e-Bara'at, The Night of the Tree of Extremity (Lote-Tree of Extremity), Islam
On the dating of items in the Almanac

The Tree of Extremity has a leaf with a name on it for every person on earth; it grows in the seventh and highest heaven, but has its roots in the sixth. On this night (also known as the 'Night of Forgiveness' or 'Mid-Sha'ban') it is shaken; if your leaf falls, you will die in the coming year. It is said that on this night Allah Himself descends to the lowest heaven, forgiving the sins of those true penitents who turn their faces towards him. Many prayers are said in mosques. Mid-Sha'ban is the 15^th day of the month of Sha'ban in the Islamic calendar. Supporters of observing this time recommend fasting during the month; however, they believe fasting during Sha‘baan should not interfere with fasting during Ramadan. Some Sunnis, however, deem the event as a reprehensible innovation, or bid'ah, contending that the event has no religious or textual basis.

"Whichever child is to be born during the coming year is written down on the list on this night, and the name of whoever is going to pass away in the coming year is deleted from the list."   Source

More

Folklore Holidays, Koprivshtitsa, Bulgaria (Aug 15 - 17)

Celebration of the birth of Marcus Garvey, Rastafarianism

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

1601 Pierre de Fermat, mathematician

1629 John III of Poland (d. 1696)

1761 William Carey (d. June 9, 1834), English missionary and Baptist minister

1786 Davy Crockett, American frontiersman, warrior against the Creek Indians, and Congressman (d. March 6, 1836).

Although a real person, he is now almost a legendary hero. One of his sayings, which were published in almanacs between 1835 and 1856 (along with those of Daniel Boone and Kit Carson) was, "Be always sure you are right, then go ahead".

1882 Samuel Goldwyn (born Shmuel Gelbfisz; d. 1974), Polish-born American film producer, co-founder of MGM.

"Famed for his relentless ambition, his bad temper and his genius for publicity, Goldwyn became Hollywood's leading 'independent' producer – largely because none of his partners could tolerate him for long. Born Shmuel (or Schmuel) Gelbfisz, probably in 1879, in the Jewish section of Warsaw, he was the eldest of six children of a struggling used-furniture dealer. In 1895, he made his way to England, where relatives anglicized his name to Samuel Goldfish. There he begged or stole enough money for a ticket in steerage across the Atlantic. He reached the United States, probably via Canada, in 1898. Goldfish gravitated to Gloversville, New York, in the Adirondack foothills, then the capital of the U.S. leather glove industry; he became one of the country's most successful glove salesmen. After moving his base of operations to Manhattan and marrying the sister of Jesse L. Lasky, who was then a theatrical producer, Goldfish convinced Lasky and 'Cecil B. DeMille' to go into movie producing. The new company's first film, Squaw Man, The (1914), was one of the first features made in Hollywood; the company later became the nucleus of Paramount Pictures."  Source

Just some of the many Goldwyn productions

Porgy and Bess (1959)    Guys and Dolls (1955)    Hans Christian Andersen (1952)

Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The (1947)    Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946)

1887 Marcus Garvey (d. June 10, 1940), publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and international proponent of black nationalism

1887 Emperor Blessed Karl of Austria (d. 1922). He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 3, 2004. This is the penultimate step before the declaration of sainthood by the Catholic Church and means that in the Catholic Church he is now referred to as 'Blessed'. The Pope also declared October 21, the date of Karl's marriage in 1911 to Princess Zita, as Karl's feast day.

Pope prepares Austrian emperor for sainthood

"The last emperor of Austria, Karl I, will be beatified by the Pope tomorrow amid fierce political and religious argument over how saintly he really was.

"While Austrian monarchists are delighted to see the first member of the defunct Habsburg dynasty set on the path to sainthood, critics claim that Karl I was an alcoholic adulterer who advocated the use of poison gas in the First World War.

"But the Vatican insists that he performed a miracle – the requirement for beatification. In 1960 a Polish nun based in Brazil was cured of severe leg sores and varicose veins after praying to him [What more proof do these skeptics want?! – PW]."
Source: Telegraph UK

"So why has the Pope beatified a man who seems to have done so little to have deserved it and so much – 10,000 dead, gassed Italians – to disqualify him? Is it, perhaps, because Karl was once titular Grand Duke of Kraków, and His Holiness was once Archbishop and Grand Metropolitan of the same city? Or is it simply because the time has finally come for the grand old man to retire?"   Source

Austria's last emperor was a saint, some say; others disagree

1893 Mae West (d. 1980), American sex symbol, actress and screenwriter

"Mae West was born in Brooklyn, New York to "Battling Jack" West and Matilda Doelger. She began her career as a child star in vaudeville, and later went on to write her own plays, including 'SEX' for which she was arrested. Though her first movie role was a small part in the 1932 film "Night After Night", her scene has become famous. A coat check girl exclaims, 'Goodness! What lovely diamonds!', after seeing Mae's jewlery [sic]. Mae replies, 'Goodness had nothing to do with it'. Her next film, in which she starred, was in 1933. 'She Done Him Wrong" was based on her earlier and very popular play, 'Diamond Lil'. Mae West went on to write and star in seven more films, including 'My Little Chickadee', with W. C. Fields. Her last movie was 'Sextette' in 1978, two years before her death."   Source

1904 Leopold Nowak, musicologist

1911 Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion

1913 W Mark Felt, FBI agent and top official of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). After 30 years of denials, Felt revealed himself in May 2005 to be the Watergate informant called 'Deep Throat'.

1920 Maureen O'Hara, Irish-born Hollywood actress (The Hunchback of Notre Dame; The Quiet Man)

1929 Jiang Zemin, President of the People's Republic of China

1929 Francis Gary Powers (d. 1977), U-2 pilot

1930 Glenn Corbett (d. 1993), actor

1932 VS Naipaul, Trinidadian-born writer

1939 Ed Sanders, American poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, novelist and publisher who has been called a bridge between the Beat and the Hippie generations

Wilson's Almanac Book of Days hip list    CounterCulture Wiki

1942 Shane Porteous, Australian actor (TV series A Country Practice)

1943 Robert De Niro, American actor (The Godfather; Cape Fear)

1958 Belinda Carlisle, singer, guitarist

1959 David Koresh (born Vernon Howell), Branch Davidian cult leader, who died along with 95 of his followers in a 1993 fire as law enforcement authorities ended a 51-day siege by storming their Waco, Texass, compound

1960 Sean Penn, American actor, director (Colors; Casualties of War)

1964 Colin James, blues musician

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