The name of this month comes from the Latin word aperire, "to open." This is appropriate for a month of blossoming flowers dedicated to Aphrodite.
The Anglo-Saxon name for this month is Eastermonath, the month of Eostre the goddess of Spring and origin of Easter. The Irish word for April is Aibrean or an Giblean. The end of April is known as Seachtain an t-Sionnaich, end of the winds. The Franks called it Ostarmanoth. The Asatru and many other Pagans call it Ostara.
The first Full Moon of this month is called Seed of Planting Moon, Budding Tree Moon, Egg Moon, or Growing Moon. Tribes in coastal areas referred to this as the Fish moon when Shad would come upstream to spawn. It is also referred to as Pink Moon for wild ground phlox, one of the earliest and widespread flowers of the spring, Full Sprouting or Green Grass Moon, Planter or Planting Moon, and Hare Moon, names it shares with May's Moon. It also shares the name, Wind Moon, with March. April's moon is also the Paschal Full Moon, the first full moon of the spring season.
April Spring Lore
We all know that April showers bring May flowers, but what other gems of wisdom does folklore have to offer us in the spring?
Well, in fact we can watch the world at this time to know what the rest of the year might be like.
When April blows his horn, it’s good for both the hay and corn.
A wet spring means dry harvest weather.
A rainy spring forecasts a hot, dry summer.
If the spring is windy, the summer will be cool.
If it is a dry spring, it will be a wet summer.
A mild winter precedes a cool spring.
When dandelions bloom late, summer will be dry.
Also, give this neat bit of folk wisdom a try:
Listen to the sound of a cricket chirping.
Count the number of chirps you hear in fourteen seconds and you will know the temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, where the cricket is. ~Kristin Madden
On April 20th, the zodiac turns from Aries to Taurus. April's stone and the birthstone of The sweat pea is the flower for April children. Aries is the diamond, though on some older lists, sapphire is the stone for the month of April. The birthstone for Taurus is the emerald. Aries also lays claim to amethyst, carnelian, garnet, fire agate, pink tourmaline, and topaz, while aquamarine, lapis lazuli, kunzite, rose quartz, and sapphire are associated with Taurus.
The Christian holiday of Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon of the spring equinox. Though one of the most important Christian holidays, it was drawn together from many pagan traditions, and its name came from the goddess of Spring, Eostre. The Easter Bunny is a fertility symbol of Teutonic origin, and the hare was an emblem of Eostre. Eggs, a major part of the celebration, also have their origin as fertility symbols.
Days to Remember
1ST
The tradition behind April Fool's Day is uncertain. Though sometimes linked to a tradition of releasing insane people for one day a year for the amusement of "normal" folk, it is also considered sacred to Loki, the Norse trickster god, and it is acceptable to play tricks on people till noon. The day may even have evolved from the festival of Cerelia. An ancient Roman feast, it celebrated the story of Proserpina. Due to the hopelessness of Ceres' quest to find her daughter, it has been called a "fool's errand."
Some believe the celebration of April Fool's Day began many years ago in France. It may even relate back to the ancient festivals held on the vernal Equinox, March 21st. This was the beginning of the new year according to the pre-Gregorian calendar. In France when the Gregorian calendar was changed by Charles IX in 1564, the beginning of the new year was changed and celebrated on January first. Those people who still celebrated the day on the first of April were then known as April Fools'.
Prior to the change of the date it was customary to give gifts on the first day of the year. When the date was changed, people began sending mock gifts to other people on April, making them April fools. In France, a person who resisted in changing the date of the new year was victimized by pranksters who played practical jokes on him. This person became a poisson d'avril, an April Fish.
Some believe the origin lies in the weather of the vernal equinox which seems to fool all of mankind.
The festival of Veneralia or Festum Verneris honors Venus "Goddess of Beauty, Mother of Love, Queen of Laugher, Mistress of the Grapes." This is a time for women to seek good relations with men. During the, married women invoked the goddesses Concordia, Venus, and Fortuna. The jewelry and decorations of Venus was removed from her statue. The figure was washed, dried, and the golden necklaces restored. Offerings of roses and other flowers, myrtle and incense were given. English folklore says myrtle won't grow unless planted by a woman. Fortuna Virilis is also held today in honor of Fortuna. Today was a festival of good luck honoring the goddess Fortuna, Lady Luck, to whom all gamblers pray whether they know it or not.
2ND
The day following All Fool's Day is Preen-tail Day or Tailie Day in Scotland. Paper tails were attached to the backs of unsuspecting people as a joke.
3RD
Cybele, the Magna Mater, was honored with a Phrygian festival called the Megalesia which begins tonight. On the advice of the sibylline oracle on how to end the Punic wars, a meteorite which represented Cybele was brought from Phrygia to Rome in 204 BCE where it was installed in the Temple of victory on April 4th. The harvest that year was wonderful and the war ended the following year, giving rise to a parade in her honor in which her image was carried through the streets in a chariot drawn by lions, her animals. The castrated priests who served her, danced alongside, playing timbrels and cymbals and gashing themselves.
This is the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson.
4TH
This is the first day of the Megalensia or Megalesia, a festival in honor of the Magna Mater, Cybele. In commemoration of the arrival of the holy stone image of Cybele at Rome, the people held processions and games. From the fourth to the tenth of April at her temple on the summit of the Palatine, scenic plays, Ludi Megalenses, were held in her honor.
5TH
This is the second Day of the Megalesia.
6TH
This is the third Day of the Megalesia.
7TH
This is the fourth Day of the Megalesia.
The Church of All Worlds was founded in 1972.
8TH
This is the fifth Day of the Megalesia.
9TH
This is the sixth Day of the Megalesia.
10TH
My Birthday (1968)
This is the seventh and last day of the Megalesia. An array of the deities was carried through a procession, and horse races were held with the prize of the first palm.
According to ancient Celtic folklore, the Sun dances each year on this day. In many parts of Ireland, people arise at the first light of dawn to watch the Sun "dance" in a shimmering bowl of water.
11TH
The Ludi Cerealici or Cerealia begins tonight. Cross inscribed loaves of bread are traditionally baked in honor of the Roman goddess Diana. In Greece, branches of evergreen, myrtle, or bay were worn by children for protection against the evil eye.
12TH
This is the first day of the Cerealia. Games introduced at the founding of the temple of Ceres were held from the twelfth to the nineteenth of April. In later times, another festival to Ceres was established in August. While the Megalesia was mainly a patrician holiday, the lower classes had the Cerealia. This was a time to pray for peace. Offerings of grain (spelt), salt, and incense were left on the hearth. White is Ceres' proper color. She was prayed to for peace, good government, and abundance.
13TH
This is the second day of the Cerealia.
The Spring festival of Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty, was held today. Libertas commemorated the creation of the Atrium Libertatis, the temple of the goddess Liberty.
14TH
This is the third day of the Cerealia.
According to the Norse calendar, Sommersblot welcomes the summer half of the year. According to superstitious belief, the fourteenth day of April is a very unlucky time for travel, especially by ship. (It was on this date in the year 1912 that the ocean liner Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the sea.) Whether the Titanic tragedy spawned the superstition or merely served to reinforce it is unknown.
15TH
This is the fourth day of the Cerealia.
The Pi-Puppids meteor shower begins today and ends on the twenty-eighth, peaking on the twenty-third. This is a relatively young stream, only been detected since 1972, and produced by the Comet P/Grigg-Skjellerup. It is best viewed from the southern hemisphere.
16TH
This is the fifth day of the Cerealia.
The god Apollo was worshiped by his faithful cult in ancient Greece during an annual festival called the Hiketeria.
It was customary to begin weeding the crops today.
17TH
This is the sixth day of the Cerealia.
18TH
This is the seventh day of the Cerealia.
19TH
This is the eighth and last day of the Cerealia. This is the same as the Thesmophoria of the Greeks.
20TH
The Palilia or Parilia honors the goddess Pales and commemorates the day Romulus built his city. Later the Pales were a pair of familial pastoral deities who guarded cattle and sheep. At twilight, shepherds purified their sheep. First the ground was sprinkled with water, then the sheepfold was decorated with leaves and branches with a large garland at the door. The sheep were run through the smoke made by burning pure sulfur while olives and pine and laurel crackled at the hearth. A basket of millet and millet cakes were offer to the goddess with a pail of milk. As these things were offered, the worshipper requested that she look after the health of the livestock and shepherd alike and that he be forgiven for an unknowing trespass against the nature spirits of the area. The shepherd asked that his flock be numerous and their udders always full, that the cheeses from the milk bring him money and the wool of his sheep be soft. With this request he promised that should his prayers be granted, there would be great cakes for Palesevery year. This appeal said four times, facing the east, the shepherd washed his hands in dewy grass. After leaping over a bonfire three times, herdsmen would enjoy a feast in honor of the Pales. In Rome, the festival was celebrated with wine and merriment.
The Foundation of Rome is celebrated today as the Dea Roma or Natalis Urbis Romae. The walls of Rome were built during the festival of Pales. After the second century, Palilia was combined with Dea Roma and was celebrated as her birthday with processions and Circensian games, which continued till the 5th century.
On St. George's Day, a Christian equivalent of the Parilia, Southern Slovenian peasants crowned their cows with wreaths of flowers. Later in the evening, the wreaths were taken from the cows and fastened to the door of the cattle-stall, where they remain throughout the year till the next St. George's Day. St. George's Day is a continuation of an ancient fertility festival in England. He is a version of Bellerophon, slayer of the Chimera, and of Sigurd, the Norse dragon slayer. The Asatru honor Sigurd and their homeland.
22ND
The first Earth Day took place in 1970 as a result of the Ecology Movement. Since then, it has been held each year to help encourage recycling programs, the use of solar energy, and to increase community awareness of important environmental issues. As a day dedicated to Mother Earth, it is a time for witches throughout the world to perform Gaia-healing rituals.
The Lyrids meteor shower began on the sixteenth and will continue till the twenty-fifth. It peaks on or around this day and is associated with the comet Thatcher.
23RD
Daughter's Birthday (Referred to as Tiger on this Web site - 1998)
The Vinalia Priora was held in honor of Jupiter and Venus. The wine of the previous year was broached, and a libation from it poured on the grass. Later on August 19th, there was the Vinalia rustica. Astarte, Tanith, Aphrodite, and Venus Erycina were also honored. Myrtle and the mint were offered with bands of rushes hid in clustered roses by woman seeking the goddess' favor.
24TH
According to folklore, the ghosts of all men, women, and children destined to pass away in the next year could be seen floating by on this night if a person were brave enough to spend the night awake on the front porch. If they were unfortunate enough to fall asleep during the vigil, or if they failed to repeat it annually for the remainder of their life they would not wake up again the following morning.
St. Mark's Eve is a night for divining the future. A young woman wishing to discover the identity of her future lover would fast after sunset and make a cake during the night containing an eggshell of salt, wheat meal, and barley meal. Opening the door to her dwelling place, her future husband would enter to turn the cake.
25TH
St. Mark's Day coincided with the Roman festival of Robigalia. To protect crops from mold, Roman citizens proceeded to a grove outside the city each year and sacrificed a dog and a sheep to Robigus and Robigo (or Rubigo), the god and goddess of mildew. The goddess was asked to "gnaw" on the iron of swords rather than crops and farming implements because weapons were not needed in a world of peace.
Cuckoo's day heralds the arrival of migratory birds from the south, indicating a return of summer.
In the year 1989, USA Today reported that Patricia Hutchins, a military Wiccan stationed at an air force base in Texas, was granted religious leave by the United States Military in order to observe the eight Sabbats of the Wicca religion. She was the first Wiccan in history to have her religious holidays granted by the U.S. Air Force.
28TH
Six days of government sanctioned debauchery began today with the Roman festival of Floralia. Flora, originally a Sabine goddess spring and flowers, was offered prayers for prosperous ripe fruits of fields and trees. She was also regarded as a goddess youth and its pleasures. In later times, she was identified with the Greek goddess Chloris. Men decorated themselves and their animals with flowers, especially roses. Women put aside their usual clothes and wore festive dresses. The scene was one of unrestrained merriment. The first five days of the games were theatrical Performance
