 Odin's Ordeal
(Aug 17
- Aug 25); final day
Today,
the
final day of the nine days of his ordeal is the Festival of the
Discovery of the Runes, when Odin fell screaming from the tree,
having gained the knowledge he sought.
Odin's ordeal bears similarities to the stories of both
Jesus
Christ and the
Buddha.
This feast day
was formerly observed at Uppsala, Sweden, by the
sacrifice of men and animals which were hanged in trees (pictured), while devotees were burnt on pyres.
According to Adam of Bremen
the Swedish kings sacrificed male slaves every ninth year during the
Yule
sacrifices at the Temple at
Uppsala.
In Norse
mythology (Ásatrú),
Odin (Woden; Wuotan; Wodhanaz; Óđinnp; Oden;
Wodan; Othin), Nordic (Icelandic) and Germanic, is the supreme god,
and god of war and death, but also the god of poetry and wisdom. He
was the patron of a fanatical warrior cult, the Berserks. He is thought to be a
syncretisation of the Germanic War gods Wodan and Tiwaz. His role,
like many of the Norse pantheon, is complex: he is both god of
wisdom and war, roles not necessarily conceived of as being mutually
sympathetic in contemporary society. His name has roots in the Old
Norse word óđr, meaning 'inspiration, madness, anger'
...
Read on
at the Odin's
Ordeal page in the Scriptorium
Festival of Sleipnir, Odin's magickal steed, July 26 in
the Book of Days
Lindisfarne Day, a day for Odin, June 8 in
the Book of Days
Viking
treasure at the Wilson's Almanac Scriptorium
Nativity
of Horus, ancient Egypt
In Egyptian mythology, August 25
was the Nativity of Horus, the falcon-headed
god, son of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut, and
the brother of Isis. The Fellowship of Isis also calls today
a festival of Isis.
Source
of date Egyptian calendar
On the
dating of Egyptian festivals and rites
Ancient
gods and saviours and their similarities to Jesus
Feast day of St Ebbe the
Elder (Ebba; Aebbe; Tabbs), virgin and abbess
Daughter of the pagan King Aethelfrith the Ravager of
Bernicia and Princess Aacha of Deira;
niece of St Audrey
and friend of St Cuthbert.
"Founded the monastery of Ebchester (i.e.,
Ebbe's castle or Ebbe's camp) on an old Roman camp on the
River Dawent, in County Durham, land given her by
her brother Oswiu. Later, during one of the disruptions in the
kingdom, Aebbe was captured, but escaped, fleeing in
a small boat down the
River Humber and out to sea. A supernatural being then sailed the
craft safely through dangerous seas till it landed on a spit of
land in Berwickshire, defended on three sides by the sea, and on
the forth by swampy land. A group of monks, singing in a church that was
later renamed for Ebbe, witnessed this, and became some of the
first brothers at the large double monastery she founded there …
One of the brothers, Adomnan, received a vision prophesying that
the monastery would burn to the
ground; it did, not long after Ebbe's death." Source
Feast day of St Eusbius
Feast day of St Genesius of
Arles
A notary martyred under Maximianus in 303
or 308.
He is honoured as the patron saint of notaries, and invoked against
chilblains and scurf.
A legend that appears in a manuscript dating from 1243, Liber
Sancti Iacobi, states that the martyr of
Arles,
France was buried
at Arles but that his head was transported miraculously "in the
hands of angels" to Cartagena,
Spain, thus linking
this saint to St Ginés de la Jara (see below).
Feast day of St Genesius of
Rome, comedian and martyr
It is said that this Genesius was an actor hired to
work in a play that made fun of Christian baptism. However, halfway
through a performance he suddenly received some kind of sign from
God, and converted to Christianity on stage. Because he refused to
remounce his new faith, he was martyred during the widespread
persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor
Diocletian,
and beheaded c. 303
at Rome.
Diocletian had been in the audience when Genesius had his change of
heart and was enraged when the actor began preaching Jesus
Christ. Or, so
it is said.
Genesius's
patronage includes actors, attorneys, barristers, clowns, comedians, comediennes, comics, converts, dancers, epileptics, lawyers, musicians, printers, stenographers and torture victims.
Feast day of St Geruntius
of Italica
Feast day of St
Ginés de la
Jara; Ginés de la Xara; Ginés el Franco; Genesius Sciarensis)
A semi-legendary saint of
Spain, associated
with the region surrounding the Spanish town of
Cartagena,
of which he is co-patron.
Pre-Christian or Muslim origins for the cult of Saint Ginés have
been suggested, including identification with the cult of an Islamic
jinn (genie)
and/or a Roman
genius,
as well as with an ancient
Carthaginian
site dedicated to the god
Ba'al.
Some scholars believe the saint may be identical with St Genesius of
Arles (see above), in Spanish known as San Ginés de Arlés. A legend
has it that after he was
decapitated
in southern France, he
picked up his
head and threw it into the
Rhône.
Feast day of St Gregory,
Administrator of the diocese of Utrecht
Feast day of St Gurloes
Feast day of St Hunegund
Feast day of St Joseph
Calasanz (Joseph Calasanctius)
St Joseph (September
11, 1556
- August 25, 1648)
was the founder of the Piarists.
Feast day of St Julian
Feast day of St Louis IX,
King of France
(Perennial
sunflower, Helianthus multiflorus,
is
today's plant, dedicated to this saint.)
Louis IX (1214/1215 -
1270)
was only was eleven years old when he was crowned in
1226 in the
cathedral at Reims.
He went on crusade
twice, in 1248
(Seventh Crusade) and then in 1270 (Eighth Crusade). He died near Tunis
during the latter expedition on August
25, 1270
during an outbreak of plague. His finger is interred at Saint Denis Basilica, but most of
his body is buried in Tunisia.
Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the canonization of Louis in 1297; he
is the only French monarch ever to have been made a saint.
The city of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA, Lac Saint-Louis in Quebec,
Canada, and the Mission San Luis Rey de
Francia in California, USA, are named for him.
In art he is usually depicted holding
the crown of Christ and the cross; sometimes with a pilgrim's staff, sometimes with the standard of the cross, both allusions to the Crusades.
Source:
Wikipedia
Feast day of St Lucilla
Feast day of María del
Tránsito de Jesús Sacramentado
Feast day of St Mary of
Jesus Crucified
For 40 days she was demon possessed, but managed to
fight off her tormentors. Mary received the stigmata, was seen to levitate, had
the gift of prophecy and knowledge of consciences, and channelled a
guardian angel.
Feast day of St Nemesius
Feast day of St Patricia of
Naples
Feast day of St Peregrinus
Feast day of St Pontian
Feast day of St Vincent
Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days Shop saints
Ganesh
Chaturthi (Hinduism; date
varies annually, approx.
Aug 20
to Sep 15)
Feast
of the Green Corn, Lake Champlain, New York
A pageant presented by the Society for the Preservation of
Indian Lore, performed by actors from the six Iroquois nations.
Source: The Daily Bleed
Canadanaigua,
New York State
Native American Festival of Lights,
ritual of harvest and thanksgiving.
Source: The Phoenix and
Arabeth 1992 Calendar
Communion table
for Dan Wédo (Dan Wezo; Saint Louis, King Louis IX of France), Voudon
(Voodoo) More
National
Day, Uruguay
Commemorates independence from
Brazil in 1825.
Awa Odori Dance Festival, Tokushima, Japan (Aug 22 -
25)
National Heroes' Day, Philippines
On which day of the week were you born? Find out here
1530 Ivan IV of Russia ('Ivan the
Terrible'; d. 1584).
He was succeeded on his death by his
feeble-minded son Feodor I
(Fyodor I) as 'Tsar of All the Russias'. Russia
was then governed by a regency council dominated by his
brother-in-law Boris
Godunov. Feodor was to be the last tsar of the
Rurikid dynasty.
More
on Ivan the Terrible
1635 Sir Henry Morgan (d. 1688), privateer
of Welsh
birth, who made a name in the Caribbean
as a leader of buccaneers
1724 George
Stubbs (d. July
10, 1806),
British
painter,
best known for his paintings of horses
1767 Louis
Saint-Just (d. July
28, 1794), French
revolutionary leader
1796 James
Lick (d. 1876), California land baron
1819 Allan Pinkerton
(d. 1884),
founder of the Pinkerton
National Detective Agency in the USA.
Some say his strike-breaking detectives ('Pinks') gave us the word 'fink'.
"A man of great power of observation
and courage, (Pinkerton) prevented an assassination attempt on
Abraham Lincoln; organized the first official Secret Service for
duty behind Confederate lines during the War Between the States;
and rode with lawmen along the Old Frontier, hunting down members
of Jesse James' gang, the Reno brothers and other desperadoes." Source
1836 Bret
Harte (d. 1902), author
1841 Emil Kocher, medical researcher
1845 King Ludwig II of Bavaria
1850 Charles Richet, scientist
1900 Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, scientist
1902 Stefan Wolpe (d. 1972), composer
1909 Michael Rennie (d. 1971), actor
1909 Ruby Keeler
(d. February
28, 1993),
Canadian actress,
singer, and dancer
1909
Michael Rennie (d. 1971), American actor
1912 Erich Honecker (d. 1994), head of state of East Germany
1913 Walt
Kelly (d. 1917), American comic strip artist (Pogo)
1916 Van
Johnson, American film
and television
actor
1917 Mel Ferrer,
American
actor,
film
director and film
producer
1918 Leonard Bernstein (d. 1990), American conductor, composer (West Side
Story)
"Leonard Bernstein's father was once
criticized for having failed to provide his talented son with more
encouragement as a youngster. 'How was I to know,' the man
replied, 'that he would grow up to be Leonard Bernstein?'" Source
1918 Richard
Greene, actor; TV series The Adventures of
Robin Hood (1955 - 1960)
Robin Hood, Robin
Hood, riding through the glen
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men
Feared by the bad, loved by the good;
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood!
1919 George Wallace (d. 1998),
Governor of Alabama, USA;
pro-segregation politician
1921 Monty
Hall, game show host
 1930 Sir Sean
Connery (born Thomas), Scottish actor best known for
his role in the James Bond movies (Oscar: The Untouchables).
Connery won
the role of James Bond after producer Albert R Broccoli
attended a screening of Sean in the 1959 kids' movie, Darby O'Gill and the
Little People (Broccoli was impressed with his on-screen
fist-fighting abilities). Connery has said that his favourite Bond
film (he starred in seven) was Thunderball.
Connery was ranked No. 14 in Empire (UK)
magazine's 'The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time' list (October
1997) and at the age of 69 was voted PEOPLE's 'Sexiest Man
Alive' in 1999.
The actor caused an uproar in a December
1987 interview with American interviewer Barbara Walters in
which he said it was all right to hit a woman if they deserved it or needed
it to keep them in line.
Connery turned down the role of Gandalf in The
Lord of the Rings series (The Fellowship of the
Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King)
because he didn't want to film in New Zealand for 18 months.
He also turned down the role of the Architect in The Matrix Reloaded
and The Matrix
Revolutions.
Ironically, Ian Fleming, the
creator of James Bond, originally did not want Connery cast as
Bond for Dr No
because he felt that he was too "unrefined".
1933 Regis Philbin, television
host
1933 Tom
Skerritt, actor
1933 Wayne
Shorter, jazz musician
1938 Frederick Forsyth, author
1938 David
Canary, actor
1941 Marshall Brickman, screenwriter
1944 Anthony Heald, actor
1945 John
Birch, soldier, missionary, first casualty of the Cold
War
1947 Anne
Archer, actress
1949 Gene Simmons, bassist
1949 Martin
Amis, novelist
1949 John Savage, actor
1952 Peter Wolf, singer, composer
1954 Elvis Costello, British
singer-songwriter (Oliver's Army)
1958 Tim
Burton, film director, producer, screenwriter
1961 Billy Ray Cyrus, singer
1962 Vivian Campbell
(Viv Campbell), Def Leppard guitarist
1964 Maxim | reetings from Australia.
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