JULY, 2008

7/1 - 12:

7/1 (Tue):

The Romans called this month September ("seventh") until it was renamed in honor of the famous gangster-politician Julius Caesar by his adoptive son Octavian, who would claim the title Augustus and rename the eighth month for himself, thereby pushing September to its present position as the ninth month. Among the many creative acts that made Caesar one of history's most acclaimed artists of power was his reform of the Greek (originally Egyptian) solar calendar into the Julian calendar that was to be the timekeeping standard for the ancient Mediterranean and Christian world for the next 1600 years.

From ancient times, when the Romans called this day the Kalends of July and through the middle ages as well, it was said that if rain came on the first of July, the next four weeks would be rainy too.

 

This date has gained additional importance in modern times as the anniversary of the day (1968) when the nations of the world committed themselves to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Mars enters Virgo. Like Venus in Cancer, Mars is considered to be neither advantaged nor afflicted in Virgo, but this is not his most comfortable placement. In the sign of meticulous mentality, detail and organization, Mars is about as happy as a jock in a library or a mafioso compelled to keep receipts. The upside is that Mars' driving, aggressive energy is available for projects that require brainwork. This goes well as long as Mars gets enough air, as he feels smothered by Virgo earth if does not have room to move. This is especially true when Mars overtakes Saturn in Virgo this month, most acutely on July 10; early next month when he opposes Uranus in Pisces, notably on Aug. 6, and when he squares Pluto (at 90°) on Aug. 16 before he moves into Libra on the 19th.

7/2 (Wed):

Roman Catholic feast of the Visitation. This holy day commemorates the moment when Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, perceived the mission accepted by the Virgin Mary in bearing divinity into the world, and catalyzed one of the great feats of poetic inspiration in history. It is said that when Elizabeth grasped the nature of Mary's future and praised her as exalted among all women, Mary fell into a silence of humility and bliss, then joyously chanted for the first time the words of the divine love poem known in Latin as the Magnificat.

7/2 (Wed), 4:20pm HT; 7/3 (Thu), 2:20pm UT:

New Moon conjunct sun in Cancer. Intense, but joyous and useful blending of female and male energies, especially in domestic relationships. In European countries influenced by Greco-Roman customs, this was traditionally the time of housewarming after marriage and the honeymoon in June. Women are in their element, men unusually flexible and receptive, at this New Moon.

In the Beth-Luis-Nion Celtic tree calendar used by devotees of the faerie path, this seventh New Moon following the Winter Solstice begins Duir, or oak month, favoring visions, shamanic journeys and all communications between worlds.

7/2 - 5 (four days):

Among the Iroquois nations of the American Northeast, the Cancer New Moon begins the Green Bean Ceremony, celebrated with dance, rituals of atonement and thanksgiving for the maize harvest.
Over these same four days, the Pueblo and Zuni peoples of the American Southwest celebrate the Corn Dance, when the fields are blessed with prayers for an abundant summer harvest.
7/3 (Thu):
 The dog days, in which the Sun aligns with the position of the Dog Star Sirius, traditionally the hottest time of the year, begin today.

 

This day is Rosa Mundi (Rose of the World) day in the Palestinian Calendar.

7/6 (Sun):

Birthday (332 CE) of the Roman emperor, military genius and stoic philosopher Flavius Claudius Julianus, who was also a prolific author said to exceed all the Augusti except Marcus Aurelius in beauty of writing. He is best known to history as Julian the Apostate for his having attempted to restore the old Olympian religion some 40 years after Constantine had named Christianity the state religion of the Roman empire. From the day he died at 29, in battle outside the Persian capital of Ctesiphon, it has been unclear whether the fatal blow came from the enemy cavalry, or from a Christian soldier in Julian's own ranks.

Also the birthday of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama (1935), living incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva of Compassion.

7/7 (Mon):

In Japan, this day is Tanabata, festival of the lovers, sacred to the kami of the stars. For more on this myth, see Crossing the Water.

In the Celtic tree calendar, 7/7 begins Holly Month, said to be favorable for balancing the polarity of male and female.
For Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama's birthday is much more auspicious this year because it falls the day before the 4th day of the 6th lunar month. (This year, unusually, the Tibetan calendar is in synchrony with the Chinese and other East Asian lunar calendars). Today's feast is one of the four great sacred days of the Tibetan lunar year. This summer festival is called the Turning of the Wheel because it marks the moment when the newly enlightened Buddha spoke of the dharma for the first time to his five core disciples. This moment, on whatever day it is celebrated in various countries, is of cardinal importance because it represents the beginning of the Buddhist faith and the first actual formation of a sangha, or community of believers.
7/9 (Wed):
 In the Baha'i calendar, this date commemorates the martyrdom of the Bab.

7/10 (Thu):

On this day (1057), Lady Godiva pulled off, in more ways than one, an act of civil disobedience that remains among the most celebrated in history. Determined to persuade her husband Leofric to lift heavy taxes and other oppressive burdens from his people, the Lady rode skyclad through the town square, to the amazement and admiration of all. Leofric got the message. Tax cuts ensued.
Mercury enters Cancer. Astrologers consider this placement neutral -- but quick, restless Mercury is never quite comfortable in the watery, Moon-ruled sign of the home. It's not dull, though: gossip does tend to spike while Mercury's in the kitchen, through 7/26.
7/11 (Fri):
 Among the Cherokee and other Native Americans of the Southwest, the four-day festival of the Green Corn Dance, honoring the maize goddess Selu and praying for an abundant harvest, begins today, a week before the Capricorn Full Moon.

In the Roman Catholic calendar, feast of St. Benedict (born 480), the most influential founder abbot in the early monastic movement, whose order was invaluable in keeping the flame of learning and spirit alive during the Dark Ages after the fall of the Roman Empire. Benedict is said to have passed away on this day in 543.

As David Elkington notes, however, in In the Name of the Gods, Benedict may not have actually existed. His name may derive from the late Roman deity Apollo Benedictus -- blessed Apollo -- and the monastic rule ascribed to him may have been compiled by a body of monks who founded the Benedictine order.
In Mayan calendar systems, this day begins the Uinal of Earth, the second of the 20-day uinals in the cycle (8 Imix, Tzolkin 21). This uinal, symbolized by the Green Hummingbird, marks the growth of new life after the purifying Uinal of Fire at the beginning of the Tzolkin cycle.

7/11 - 18 (8 days):

Among Mahayana Buddhists, one of the year's great festivals of Tara/Kwan Yin/Kannon, honoring her qualities of compassion, mercy and healing. During these days, which culminate at the Full Moon of the 6th lunar month, devotees focus on their commitment to live in service and carry the principles of Tara into practice.

Om Tara Tu Tare Ture Soha.
7/12 (Thu):
 Venus enters Leo, and begins the most intense, careening third of her cycle through the zodiac. Leo, the five-star hotel of the Sun, is the easy part of her four-month ride through pride and passion, modesty and wretched excess that will take her through Virgo, where she is "in fall" (8/6 - 30); Libra, one of the signs she rules as Venus the Mother (8/30 - 9/24); and Scorpio, where she is "in detriment" (9/24 - 10/18). She is prone to love's illusions and disappointments at the end of this month, when she moves opposite Neptune in Aquarius.

Henry David Thoreau was born on this day in 1817.

7/12 (Sat):

In the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, this 10th day of the 6th lunar month is the birthday of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), the great teacher who founded the Old Sect (Nyingma-pa) lineage, revealed the Bardo Thodol, or Tibetan Book of the Dead, and the "direct path" method of enlightenment by intuitive realization.

The Tibetan lunar calendar is normally a month later than the Chinese calendar and other Asian calendars that align with it, but the Tibetan and Chinese calendars are in synchrony in 2008.
7/12 - 17 (five days):

The ancient Lithuanian people, who once lived throughout central Europe, celebrate the Binding of the Wreaths in the days just before the first Full Moon following the Summer Solstice (7/17 - 18). In this rite, couples who were about to marry at the Full Moon danced within wreaths made out of greenery and flowers, and wore flower crowns symbolizing the fertility of the God and Goddess newly united in marriage.
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Copyright 2008 Dan Furst. All Rights Reserved.

 

     

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