August Observances

Thanks to The Daily Globe: "J" WORLD

1st Festival of Xiuhtechuhtli/Homowo/Lammas/Lugnasad

A festival in honor of Xiuhtechuhtli, Aztec god of fire and the calendar.

This festival is known as "hooting at hunger." The Ghana people celebrate Homowo during the entire month of August. Once, long ago, these people had suffered a famine and now they "hoot" at the hunger that caused them to suffer. Milled corn and fish are the special foods served at this festival and musical instruments, singing, and dancing add to the celebration.

Lammas or Lugnasad marks the start of the harvest season and is a time when the fertility aspect of the union between the Goddess and the Horned God is honored. Also the festival of Lugh, the Celtic hero god.

2nd Feast of Anahita/Nuestra Senora de los Angeles

A feast in honor of Anahita, goddess of love and lunar powers in Persia.

The Nuestra Senora de los Angeles story begins 300 years ago when an Indian girl was looking for firewood near Cartago, Costa Rica. She found a black stone which bore the image of the Virgin Mary. The stone was taken to her home but it disappeared by the next morning. The stone was found in the same spot where the little girl had found it the day before. When she took it home again, the same thing happened. The priest felt it was a sign the Virgin wanted a church built at Cartago. So every year, thousands of Costa Ricans walk from San Jose to Cartago to visit the church of "Our Lady of the Angeles."

3rd Festival of Artemis/Aomori Nebuta

In Japan, Aomori Nebuta is a feast signaling the beginning of the harvest season. Bamboo effigies with grotesquely painted faces are paraded through the streets in order to drive away the spirits of sleep.

4th Loch-mo-Naire Blessing

The waters of Scotland's Loch-mo-Naire become charged with magical powers to heal all who drank from or bathe in it. It was custom for those who visited Loch-mo-Naire to toss in a coin as an offering to the benevolent spirits of the lake.

5th Salus Day/Dedication Feast of the Basilica of Saint Mary

This day was dedicated to Salus, the roman abstract deification of Health and Wealth.

Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major - feast in honor of the great church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

6th Peace Festival/Festival of Thoth/Tan Hill Festival

On August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and helped to bring an end to World War II. This day is set aside as a Peace Festival to remember the thousands who died as a result of the bombing. Prayers are said in the hopes that the atomic bomb will never be used again in international warfare. A bombed out building shell still stands as a reminder to the world of the bomb's destructiveness.

7th Opet Festival

Breaking of the Nile, or the Opet Festival. The original festival lasted 11 days but was later extended to 27 days. The statue of Amun, the state god of Egypt, was taken in a floating procession from Karnak to Luxor.

8th Festival of Venus/Tij Day

The Festival of Venus is where the goddess of love, Venus, was honored and invoked with prayers, love songs, libations, and passionate lovemaking.

9th Festival of the Sun

Festival of the Sun is held in honor of Sol Indiges, the solar deity. A public sacrifice was made by the priests on the Quirinal. The animals sacrificed by the temples were provided by the wealthy, or by temple donations, and afterwards they were used to provide free meals to the people attending the ceremonies, or to any poor or homeless people in the streets.

10th Ghanta Kharna Day

Ghanta Kharna Day celebrates the death of Ghanta Karna, a blood-thirsty demon who haunts crossroads and is the enemy of the God Vishnu in Nepal.

11th Puck Fair/Santeria/The Perseids

The Irish Puck Fair ia a medieval type festival which pays tribute to the spirit of the wilds, Robin Goodfellow. Fair continues for three days.

Santeria is the day of honor for Oddudua, the Mother of All Gods.

The Perseids or "The Night of the Shooting Stars" is another name for this event that has taken place since the year 830. The annual meteor shower seems to originate from the constellation Perseus. August 11 is the peak night for this event to occur and may be viewed world wide except at the South Pole.

12th Festival of Hercules

In Rome during the Festival of Hercules, romans sacrificed oxen to Hercules and held a public feast. Women were excluded from sharing the sacrificial meat.

13th Vertumnalia Day

Vertumnalia is sacred to the god Vertumnus and the goddess Pomona. They are the patron deities of gardens and fruit orchards. Vertumnus was believed to be able to change shape, similar to the changing of fruit trees through the season. The name Pomona comes from pomus (fruit).

14th Day of the Burryman

Scotland's Day of the Burryman is celebrated with a "burryman" (a man wearing a costume of thistle burrs, and representing an ancient fertility God) walking through the streets of the many fishing villages along the coast of Scotland, collecting donations from Villagers.

15th Festival of Vesta/Assumption/Chinese Moon Festival

The Festival of Vesta is a celebration in honor of the goddess Vesta, patron of the hearth and home.

This is the day in history when Roman Catholics believe that Mary, mother of Jesus, died and was "assumed," body and soul, into heaven. This day is celebrated with a feast. The Anglicans refer to this day as the Feast of St. Mary the Virgin.

16th Festival of the Minstrels/St. Roch's Day/Arrianrhod's Day

17th Portunalia/Diana's Feast

Portunalia is a festival sacred to Portunis, an alter-ego of the god Janus. Also called the Tiberinalia, or the festival of the Tiber river, as Portunis is the god of the Tiber. Portunis is also known as the god of keys, or the opening of locked gates. On this day old keys were burned in the hearth as a sacrificial offering.

18th Festival of Hungry Ghosts/St. Helena's Day

China has the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, a festival with burnt offerings to the spirits of the dead.

19th Buhe'/Egyptian New Year/Asalha Puja

The Ethiopian church celebrates the transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor as Buhe'. During the transfiguration, Jesus' robe became white and glistening and His face became transfigured. Moses and Elijah were there talking with Jesus and a voice came out of a cloud and said, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!". Adults bake special small loaves of bread and children go around from house to house to collect the bread. Afterward the children go as a group to eat the bread and play games.

20th Innana's Day/Muhammad's Birthday

In Mesopotamia, Innana was the mother goddess, the queen of heaven and earth.

Even though the Muslim calendar is strictly based upon lunar cycles, Muhammad's birthday corresponds to August 20, 570 A.D. by the Western calendar. His birthday was not celebrated until about four centuries after his death. Muslims not only celebrate the day but also the month of his birth. Muslims consider Muhammad's birthdate to be one of the most important events in history because he was the last prophet as well as receiver of the Koran. Huge processions honor Muhammad on this special day. Sixty-three years later, Muhammad died on this very same date.

21st Consualia

Consualia, a roman festival which honors Consus, the god who protects the harvest which is now in storage. The harvest grains were stored in underground vaults, and the temple of Consus was also underground. This shrine was covered with earth all year and was only uncovered for this one day.

22nd Queenship of the Virgin Mary/Aedesia's Day

Queenship of the Virgin Mary is the feast in honor of Mary being "exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords (Rv 19:16) and conqueror of sin and death".

23rd Volcanalia/Day of Nemesea

Greece holds the Day of Moira (Doom) and the Day of Nemesea (Revenge).

Volcanalia is a festival sacred to Volcanus (Vulcan), the fire god. On this day great bonfires were lit at night in his honor and feasts were held. Into the fire the Romans would throw pro animus humanis fishes from the Tiber that were caught in the area Vulcani.

24th Mania/Mundus Cereris

25th Opiconsivia/Paryushana Parva

Opiconsivia is sacred to Ops Consivia, or the earth-goddess, considered to be the wife of Saturn. On this day the Vestal Virgins would have opened the room of sacred objects and performed rites unknown. The purpose of the rites was to ensure the fertility of the earth.

26th Women's Equality Day/Feast of Ilmatar

While this day is not a national holiday in the United States, in 1920 the ratification of the 19th Amendment took place. This amendment gave the women of the United States the right to vote.

In Finland the Feast of Ilmatar (Luonnatar) is a feast in honor of the goddess Ilmatar, the daughter of Air who created the Earth, sky, and Sun from Teal eggs.

27th Festival of Krishna/Nativity of Isis

Festival of Krishna - festival in India in celebration of the rebirth of the mighty god Krishna.

29th Pardon of the Sea/Gelede

Pardon of the Sea - pre-Christian festival in honor of Ahes, a goddess of the sea. The festival was later Christianized into the Feast of Saint Anne.

In Nigeria the Gelede is a Yoruba ritual of dancing and wearing of masks to drive away evil sorceresses.

30th Santa Rosa de Lima/Tari Pennu Day

Rose wanted to enter a convent but her parents would not allow her to do so. So she put on a nun's robes and lived in her parents' summerhouse. She only left the house to help the sick, the poor, the Indians, and the slaves. On this special day, the people of Lima take the silver statue of St. Rose from Santo Domingo and carry to the city's cathedral. Children sing hymns and adults carry lighted candles.

Gruesome human sacrifices to the earth-Goddess Tari Pennu were made annually on this date in Bengal, India as late as the mid-nineteenth century. After the sacrifice, a shaman would eat a bit of the victim's flesh, and then the rest of the remains would be dismembered, burned, and scattered over a plowed field to ensure the fertility of future crops.

31st Anant Chaturdasi

Anant Chaturdasi is a Hindu women's purification festival held to honor the Goddess Ananta.

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