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reetings from Australia. 

Welcome to this Red-Letter Day. Below you will find today's global celebrations, birthdays and events.

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Pip Wilson

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Carpe diem! 30 Yesterday | Tomorrow | Search Open links in a New Window

Today is

There is no 'other world.' I only know what I've experienced. You must be hallucinating.
Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all.
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
Empty of its furniture.
Still treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
Meet them at the door laughing,
And invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond.
Rumi

It was by my account the 30th of September, when, in the manner as above said, I first set foot upon this horrid island; when the sun, being to us in its autumnal equinox, was almost over my head; for I reckoned myself, by observation, to be in the latitude of nine degrees twenty-two minutes north of the line.
  After I had been there about ten or twelve days, it came into my thoughts that I should lose my reckoning of time for want of books, and pen and ink, and should even forget the Sabbath days; but to prevent this, I cut with my knife upon a large post, in capital letters-and making it into a great cross, I set it up on the shore where I first landed – "I came on shore here on the 30th September 1659."
Daniel Defoe; Robinson Crusoe, Chapter 4

The rainy season of the autumnal equinox was now come, and I kept the 30th of September in the same solemn manner as before, being the anniversary of my landing on the island, having now been there two years, and no more prospect of being delivered than the first day I came there, I spent the whole day in humble and thankful acknowledgments of the many wonderful mercies which my solitary condition was attended with, and without which it might have been infinitely more miserable. I gave humble and hearty thanks that God had been pleased to discover to me that it was possible I might be more happy in this solitary condition than I should have been in the liberty of society, and in all the pleasures of the world; that He could fully make up to me the deficiencies of my solitary state, and the want of human society, by His presence and the communications of His grace to my soul; supporting, comforting, and encouraging me to depend upon His providence here, and hope for His eternal presence hereafter.
Daniel Defoe, ibid, Chapter 8

Of course no writers ever forget their first acceptance...one fine day when I was 17 I had my first, second, and third, all in the same morning's mail. Oh, I'm here to tell you, dizzy with excitement is no mere phrase.
Truman Capote, US novelist, born on September 30, 1924

It is in order to shine sooner that authors refuse to rewrite. Despicable. Begin again.
From the notes of French auteur, Albert Camus, September 30, 1937

September 30 is the 273^rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (274^th in leap years), with 92 days remaining.
Last day of the year, alphabetically speaking  :)
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Celtic tree month of Gort (Ivy) commences (Sep 30 - Oct 27)

Like other Iron Age Europeans, the Celts were a polytheistic people prior to their conversion to (Celtic) Christianity. The Celts divided the year into 13 lunar cycles (months or moons). These were linked to specific sacred trees which gave each moon its name. Today commences the Celtic tree month of Gort.

Hedera, English name Ivy (plural, Ivies), is a genus of about 10 species of climbing or ground-creeping evergreen woody plants in the Araliaceae, native in the Atlantic Islands, Europe, North Africa and across Asia east to Japan. On suitable surfaces (trees and rock faces), they are able to climb to at least 25 - 30 m above the basal ground level.

In typography, 'hedera' is the name of a horticultural dingbat shaped like an ivy leaf.

Folklore of ivy

Ivy symbolizes healing, protection, love, fidelity, cooperation and exorcism, and is the tree of resurrection. Its elemental association is water, and planetary association, Saturn. In folklore, ivy is protective of milk. Wreaths made of ivy, woodbine and rowan were placed over the lintels of cow shelters for this purpose. In Britain, the last farmer to harvest his crops was given a sheaf bound with ivy; this sheaf was called the Ivy Girl, Harvest Bride or Harvest May.

The Green Lady of Caerphilly Castle in Wales is a fairy, one of the Green Ladies (Dames Vertes) who takes on the appearance of ivy when she is not walking through the ruined castles she haunts.

In Trieste, Italy, an ivy branch hanging near a house by the roadside indicates that the dwelling is an osmizze, or wayside tavern or inn. "The Osmizze date back to the Austro-Hungaric Empire, when farmers were allowed to sell wine and other goods directly to anybody for a period of 8 days. In Slovakian language in fact, ozem means eight: from there came the name Osmizze" (Source). Similarly, English taverns used to show over their doors the sign of an ivy bush, to indicate the excellence of the beverages sold within: hence the saying 'Good wine needs no bush'. 

A man will have prophetic dreams that show his wife-to-be, by taking ten ivy leaves that were picked on October 31 (Samhain/Halloween) and placing them under his pillow. Another old tradition was to give ivy and holly to newlyweds as good-luck charms. While picking the ivy, the female says, "Ivy, ivy, I love you, In my bosom I put you, The first young man who speaks to me, My future husband he shall be".

In some parts of Athitos (Aphitos; Aphytos), Greece, on the Mediterranean, the St John's Eve custom of jumping through bonfires is sometimes called Klidonas (ivy) because the revellers do so wearing ivy crowns.

The dried young leaves of ivy may be used in a hot infusion which some say is efficacious in cases of gout, rheumatic pain, coughs, and whooping cough. Warm compresses, applied to burns and suppurating cuts, are said by some to be helpful. Culpepper wrote of the ivy: "It is an enemy to the nerves and sinews taken inwardly, but most excellent outwardly". According to the ancient English Leechbook of Bald, to remove sunburn, smear the face with tender ivy twigs boiled in butter. To aid with their addiction, alcoholics used to be advised to drink from a cup carved from ivy wood.

Ivy was sacred to the god Attis, and his eunuch priests were tattooed with a pattern of ivy leaves. According to Plutarch, to the Egyptians it was called Chenosiris, the plant of Osiris.

The holly and the ivy

"Traditionally at Christmas time a man was dressed up and covered in Holly branches and leaves, and a woman was likewise dressed in Ivy (the female counterpart of Holly). Together they would be paraded through the streets hand in hand leading the old year into the new. This is symbolic of the fertile interaction of the goddess and god during natures decline and the darkest time of the year, from which the new light of the sun-god springs forth encouraging fresh growth and renewed vegetation during the coming new year. Today the Holly King has been stylized by the figure of Santa Claus."   Source

More lore

"The eleventh moon of the Beth-Luis-Nion Celtic lunar calendar is Gort (Ivy). Ivy has long symbolized rebirth and resurrection. It is one of the two sacred plants that grows spirally (the other being Vine). The spiral, a symbol of the Goddess, gives us a visual representation of the process of reincarnation--not only from lifetime to lifetime, but from minute to minute, day to day. Vine was a moon of lessons; a moon of difficulty for many. Now, in Gort, we are given a vision of continuation. The lessons learned (and unlearned) during Vine may have thrown us asunder, losing any grasp of hope. Ivy is here to show us that all lessons and difficulties are nothing more than transitional phases, just as death is a transition from lifetime to lifetime. The desperation and frustration leading into Ivy becomes renewed hope once we see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Life has not come to a dead end; we were simply dealing with needed lessons, and now we move on."   Source

"In England the best-known example of these leaf-clad mummers is the Jack-in-the-Green, a chimney-sweeper who walks encased in a pyramidal framework of wickerwork, which is covered with holly and ivy, and surmounted by a crown of flowers and ribbons. Thus arrayed he dances on May Day at the head of a troop of chimney-sweeps, who collect pence."
Sir James George Frazer (1854 - 1941), The Golden Bough, 1922, Ch. 10

"On Christmas Day or St Stephen's Day the boys hunt and kill the wren, fasten it in the middle of a mass of holly and ivy on the top of a broomstick, and on St. Stephen's Day go about with it from house to house, singing ..."
Frazer, ibid, Ch. 54

Ground ivy

[Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) is not a true ivy (in fact it is a member of the mint family) but named for its similar appearance to hedera. It is often thought of as a weed, but has many medicinal uses in the herbarium. It's diuretic, astringent, tonic and gently stimulant. Names for this plant include Alehoof, Cat's-foot, Creeping Charlie, Field Balm, Gill-over-the-ground, Haymaid, Hedgemaid, Lizzy Run-up-the-Hedge, Robin-Run-in-the-Hedge, and Tunhoof.]

Ivy folklore    American Ivy: See Virginia creeper    'Holly & The Ivy', Neopagan versions    More

Feast day of Meditrinalia, Roman Empire

Today was the Meditrinalia (from Latin mederi, 'to heal'). Varro derives the name of the festival from the healing power of the new wine, but Festus says there was a goddess named Meditrina ('healer'), goddess of health, longevity and wine. It was the day on which people sampled old and new wine. It is, in fact, a harvest festival.

Meditrina roughly equated with the Greek goddess Jaso, but differed from Medetrina's sister Hygieia (they, and Panacea, were daughters of Asclepius and Salus) in that while the Greek goddess preserved good health, Meditrina's role was to restore it.

Jupiter as well, as a wine god, was honoured on this day. Feasting and games were in order for this and the next several days. September 30, October 3 and October 11 are given by some sources as the three days of the Meditrinalia.

The following verse was recited, revealing a belief (or hope) in the efficacy of wine as a medicine:

Novum vetus vinum bibo:
novo veteri morbo medeor
I drink new and old wine,
I cure new and old disease.

A ritual for Meditrinalia    Ancient Roman festivals

See also Vinalia priora; Vinalia rustica; ; Saturnalia; the Lênaia and the Dionysian (Bacchanalian) festivities

Roman festivals and notable days in the Book of Days    Deities of many cultures in the Book of Days

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Feast of St Jerome, Doctor of the Church, Father of the Church (Golden amaryllis, Amaryllis aurea, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.) Jerome (c. 340 - September 30, 420), (full name Eusebius Hieronymus Sophronius) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. Jerome's edition, the Vulgate, stood as the standard sacred text of Christianity for more than a milliennium, and is still the official biblical text of the Roman Catholic Church. He was born at Štrigova (Stridon), on the border between Pannonia and Dalmatia (near modern Ljubljana, Slovenia), in the second quarter of the 4th Century, and died near Bethlehem on September 30, 420. During Lent, 375, Jerome faced legal charges that he preferred pagan to Christian texts. "Ciceronianus es, non Christianus," ("You are a follower of Cicero, not of Christ") said his judge. Jerome went to Palestine in 386 and founded a monastery in Bethlehem. He translated the Bible from the original tongues into the common (Vulgate) Latin of his day (less well known is that a large part of the work was actually done by St Paula and her daughter, St Eustochium; monks erased their names and substituted the words 'learned brothers). Jerome's labours on the Vulgate lasted for 23 years, and in 1546 the Council of Trent declared it the only authentic Latin text of the Scriptures He is often depicted in art with a lion, because of the legend that he helped a wounded lion which stayed with him as his pet. He gave the lion charge of guarding his donkey. One day, the donkey disappeared, and St Jerome scolded the animal for his negligence. The shamed lion traced down the donkey that had been stolen, retrieved it, and brought it home. He is often also depicted with a cardinal's hat because of his services to Pope Damasus I. He is usually shown as elderly, sometimes as an aged monk in the desert, or with a bible, or in his study with books around, or else as as a half-clad anchorite, with cross, skull, and Bible for the only furniture of his cell. Sometimes in art, Jerome is depicted by the side of St Augustine of Hippo, St Ambrose, and Pope Gregory I. Jerome and the Apocalypse According to medieval legend, Jerome prophesied 15 signs to precede the end of world: The first day the sea was to rise as a wall higher than the hills; the second, to disappear entirely; on the third, great fishes were to rise from it, and 'yore hideously;' the fourth, the sea and all waters were to be on fire; the fifth, a bloody dew was to fall on all trees and herbs; on the sixth, churches, cities, and houses were to be thrown down; the seventh, the rocks were to be rent; the eighth, an earthquake; on the ninth, the hills and valleys were to be made plain; on the tenth, men who had hidden themselves in the caves were to come out mad; the eleventh, the dead should arise; the twelfth, the stars were to fall; the thirteenth, all men should die and rise again; on the fourteenth, earth and heaven should perish by fire; and the fifteenth would see the birth of the new heaven and new earth (Source). Jerome is a patron of archaeologists, archivists, Bible scholars, librarians, libraries, schoolchildren, students and translators and interpreters. "In 382 he was summoned to Rome to be secretary and one possible successor to Pope Damasus. But during his short three-year stint there, Jerome offended the pleasure-loving Romans with his sharp tongue and blunt criticism. As one historian put it, 'He detested most of the Romans and did not apologize for detesting them.' He mocked the clerics' lack of charity ('I have not faith and mercy, but such as I have, silver and gold—that I don't give to you either'), their vanity ('The only thought of such men is their clothes—are they pleasantly perfumed, do their shoes fit smoothly?'), their pride in their beards ('If there is any holiness in a beard, nobody is holier than a goat!'), and their ignorance of Scripture ('It is bad enough to teach what you do not know, but even worse ... not even to be aware that you do not know')."   Source Images of Jerome    More   Hekate, or Hecate "The last day of each month is sacred to the Goddess Hekate. In ancient times, worshippers would leave a 'Hecate's Supper' with specially prepared foods as offerings to Hecate. The offerings were also gifts to appease the restless ghosts, called apotropaioi by the Greeks. These offerings are best prepared for the goddess on the eve of the new moon, to be left behind at crossroads at night, without looking back."   Source   Feast day of St Antoninus of Piacenza Feast day of St Conrad of Urach Feast day of St Frederick Albert Feast day of St Gregory, bishop, surnamed Apostle of Armenia, and the Illuminator Feast day of St Honorius (Honoratus), Archbishop of Canterbury Feast day of St Sophia Feast day of St Tancred Feast day of St Torthred Feast day of St Tova Shop Saints Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days Pack Rag Day Today is the day on which, traditionally, English servants left one job to take another, packing their belongings with them. Maîtresse Délai (a very important mystère who 'walks' with the hoin´tor: the voodoo tambourine player), Voudon (Voodoo)   Source Oktoberfest (Sep 20 - Oct 5) Festival of Tereteth, Goddess of the Coconut Toddy, Yap Island, the Carolines, Micronesia Feast of Soma, the God of Ambrosia and Immortality, India Festival of Maheo, God of the Void, Cheyenne Indians, Western Plains states, USA Maheo, god of the Plains Indians, he who existed before existence itself. He is the creative essence of the universe. (Source of date unknown.) "He started with a beakful of mud from a coot. So of course he made the rest of the birds first, then some sea and eventually a turtle to rest the world on."   Source "The highest and most sacred of the Cheyenne spirits is Maheo, manifested in the Sun and the Moon and in the spirits of cardinal directions , who are in turn represented by such lesser manifestations as the rain spirit: Hoimaha and Nemevota."   Source More Independence Day, Botswana  (1966) Agricultural Reform (Nationalization) Day, São Tomé and Príncipe Public holidays in São Tomé and Príncipe International Translation Day St Jerome's Day, as International Translation Day is commonly known, is celebrated on September 30.       On which day of the week were you born? Find out here 1207 Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (d. December 17, 1273)