Category: Celtic History

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The Horned God & Preparing for Guy Fawkes Day November 4th

medieval monks seat showing carving of a Horned man (with Ram's Horn) at Stratford on Avon Holy Trinity Church) Photo: K Flude
Horned God (with Ram’s Horn) at Stratford on Avon Holy Trinity Church) Photo: K Flude. Carving of a dolphin to the left (symbol of Christ) a goat to the right (symbol of the damned – as Christ divides the sheep from the goats who are going to hell)

Horned Gods

November 4th is dedicated to hunting gods such as Herne, the Horned God, Cernunnos, The Green Man and Pan.

Herne the Hunter first appears in Shakespeare:

There is an old tale goes, that Herne the
Hunter
(sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest)
Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight
Walk round about an oak, with great ragg’d horns;
And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,
And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner.
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Receiv’d, and did deliver to our age
This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.

William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 4, scene 4

I have recently seen a brilliant staging of the Merry Wives of Windsor at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. I saw it three times and think it one of the best Shakespeare productions I have seen. The lead actor, John Hodgkinson, with whom I used to play cricket, was a fantastic Falstaff.

Cernunnos

Cernunnos comes from karnon which means “horn” or “antler”. This may be the source of the name ‘Cerne’. (Please note that the Cerne Abbas Giant has just been redated from the Celtic to the Anglo-Saxon period.) Cerney and Cirencester in Gloucestershire might have similar origins for their names.

Ginger Cake

Felicity Cloake The Guardian Parkin

Ginger cake is the traditional accompaniment to a cold night watching the Fireworks. There is a good recipe in Markham’s The English Housewife of 1683. But I’m suggesting you use this recipe from the Guardian for Parkin Cake. ‘Parkin is a gingerbread cake traditionally made with oatmeal and black treacle, which originated in Northern England.’ (Wikipedia).

For my post on November the 5th look here.

London picture Penny for the Guy on Guy Fawkes Day

I haven’t seen children asking for ‘a penny for the Guy’ for a while. But it was part of my childhood. We would create a ‘Guy’ out of old clothes and take it into the streets to raise money. The Guy is named after Guy Fawkes, who was discovered on 5th November 1605 in a cellar under Parliament. He was by a pile of barrels of gunpowder with a slow match. The plan was to blow up the King and Parliament, on the occasion of the Opening of Parliament on the 5th of November.

Once the plot had been broken and the plotters hanged, drawn and quartered, the King ordered that November 5th should be commemorated throughout the Country. Bonfires were a part of the seasonal celebrations at the time, used at Halloween, but this aspect was transferred to November 5th and continues as a major British event every year.

The money we raised, we spent exclusively on ‘bangers’ loud explosive fireworks not pretty fountains, Roman candles nor rockets. The bangers just made a horrendously loud bang. One stunt we experimented with was to cycle through the streets and to put a lit banger into the handle bars, which would act as a rocket launcher! Don’t try this at home.

Meanwhile, we would collect wood for the village bonfire:

A stick and a stake
For King George’s sake
Will you please to give us a faggot
If you won’t give us one, we’ll steal you two
The better for we and the worse for you.

English Folk Verse (c.1870)

First published 4th November 2021, republished 4th November 2024, 2025

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Sliding Ducks & the Equivocation of Prophecy – November 3rd

Ducks in Winter Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@timromanov?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Timur Romanov</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/ducks-on-water-a5U8v7Pm-yg?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>
Sliding Ducks? or Swimming Ducks? Timur Romanov, Photo from Unsplash

Folklore is full of ways of predicting the future – mostly about the weather or love. The Perpetual Almanac by Charles Kightly features many of these in rhyme form of the ‘Sky at Night Shepherd’s Delight’ type. Here is a seasonal one.

If ducks do slide at Hallowentide
At Christmas they will swim
If ducks do swim at Hallowentide
At Christmas they will slide

From my experience, in the south of the UK, this is simply not true as we very rarely get ice in early November. Nor do we get snow at Christmas that often. But maybe, the further north you go, the truer this becomes.

Macbeth & Prophecy

But, as far as taking prophecy seriously, it’s good to remember what Macbeth said on seeing the wood moving to Dunsinane.

‘(I) begin to doubt the equivocation of the fiend, that lies like truth.’

He has just realised that prophecy is a double-edged sword which has led him to his doom. He had been told by the Three Witches that he:

‘shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him’

Still, as he heads to the final battle, Macbeth knows he is invincible and that

‘none of woman born shall harm Macbeth’.

But in his savage fight with Macduff, he is told that Macduff was not of woman born, but was:

‘from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped’.

So Macbeth is killed.

Google Map showing Birnam (Scotland), top left, and Dunsinane Hillwith red markers in the middle. Note Scone is where Macbeth is Macbeth was crowned

King Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích) 1040 – 1057

In reality, Macbeth, was a successful King who reigned for 17 years. He was one of the last Gaelic Kings as Scottish society was changing with contact with England.

This is a draft of the text that (edited) forms part of my best-selling book ‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died’ The Kings and Queens of Britain in Bite-sized Chunks’

Macbeth was nicknamed the Red King. He was a Gaelic speaker, descended from the Kings of Dal Riata. Macbeth’s father, Finlay MacRory, was Mormaer (Grand Steward) of Moray and was was murdered by Gillacomgain. He took MacRory’s title. Gillacomgain was burnt to death with 50 of his followers, probably by Macbeth, who thus not only regained the title as ruler of Moray but married his dead rival’s widow, Gruoch. She was the granddaughter of Kenneth II. Macbeth was also himself descended from the Kings of Scotland via his mother Donada probably daughter of Malcolm II.

His claim to the throne was therefore strong, and following the disasters of King Duncan’s reign, Macbeth seized the opportunity to take the throne for himself.

He ruled well for nearly 2 decades imposing a strong sense of law and order, encouraging Christianity and leading successful raids across the border into England. In 1050 he went on pilgrimage to Rome. Exiled Normans, supporters of Edward the Confessor were settled in Scotland in Macbeth’s reign. There is no evidence that Macbeth was any more evil then the rest of the early Scottish Kings.

In 1057 Macbeth was killed in battle against Duncan I’s son who became Malcolm III. Macbeth is buried on Iona. He and Gruoch had no children but Guoch’s son, Lulach, son of Gillacomgain briefly followed Macbeth as king before being assassinated by Malcolm III

‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died’ The Kings and Queens of Britain in Bite-sized Chunks’ for more details look here.

Prophecy ‘lies like the truth’ a trope that is used in many ancient tales such as Oedipus Rex.

On this Day

Hilaria

The 3rd of November is also the Hilaria, the last day of the festival of Isis/Osiris. This is the day of the rebirth of Osiris. He was ‘the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation.’ Isis was the wife (and sister) of Osiris God-King of Egypt. Osiris was killed by his brother. Set. Isis restored his body to life for long enough to conceive their son Horus.

Horus revenged his father, regained the throne, restored Cosmic Order and completed the resurrection of Osiris. Isis is normally shown holding the baby Horus in a pose that may have influenced images of the Virgin Mary. Londinium would have had a celebration on this day as there is a pot found near London Bridge inscribed ‘At London, at the Temple of Isis).

Roman pot with Isis inscription, London

Head Graft and St Winifred

Stained glass depiction of St Winifred, designed by William Burges, at Castell Coch, Cardiff. Wikipedia Hchc2009 – Own work

St Winifred’s Day She was beheaded by Caradog who would not accept her refusal to have him because of her religious views. She was restored to life by St Beuno, or St Bono. Head and all. Where her head fell their slowed a spring. This is on the North Welsh Coast, and called Holywell. It was one of the Seven Wonders of Wales, and called the Lourdes of Wales.

First Posted on 3 November 2021. Revised 3 November 2023 & 2024 & 2025

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All Hallows Day – November 1st

chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums Flowers for the Dead (the author’s back garden)

How the Celtic festival that marked the beginning of Winter became All Hallows is not clear. Some say the Church set up its own festival independent of the Northern European traditions. But it is as likely that the Church adopted existing pagan festivals, and gave them a Christian spin.

Samhain, on October 31st, was, for Celtic religions, not only the beginning of Winter but also the beginning of the Year. As I noted on my Halloween post the Festivities began in the evening before the day because Celtic and Germanic traditions began their day at Dusk. So Halloween is not, in fact, the evening before, it is the start of the day of the festival.

Facebook Image giving the words for Samhain in Celtic languages

The Church adopted the Roman tradition of the day beginning not at Dusk but at Midnight. So the festival of All Hallows is on November 1st not October 31st. But the Church mimicked the old ways of doing things by celebrating the evening before as the Vigil of All Hallows’ Day. This was called All Hallows Evening or Halloween.

All Hallows by the Tower, London

Engraving of All Hallows Barking

In London, there is a Church called All Hallows, on Tower Hill. It is associated with Barking Abbey, founded in the 9th Century. Therefore, it is known as All Hallows Barking or All Hallows by the Tower. The Church has a prominent position on Tower Hill, which would have been visible from boats coming up the Thames. Also in the Church is the earliest Post-Roman arch in a Church in the City of London. This is made of reused Roman bricks. Moreover, in the crypt are Roman tessellated floors.

Letter from Pope Gregory to St Augustine

Now, I don’t want to be shot down in flames because there is no evidence that there was a Roman Temple here. Nor indeed a Roman or immediately Post-Roman Church. But it is one of the earliest Churches in the City of London. There must have been Christian Churches in Roman London, and this would be on my list of candidates. It is simply that the attribution to All Hallows provides a possible link to Celtic festivals. So speculation rather than anything else. The letter above, gives a context for the conversion of a pagan Temple to a Christian Place of Worship.

An Uncanny Day to Hallowed Day

For the Celts, Samhain was an uncanny day when all the sprites and spirits are alive and in the world. The Church took that, and span in on its head. So it became a ‘hallowed’ holy day when all Saints are celebrated and alive to us. Celebrated on October 31st and November 1st.

A celebration of All Saints was originally in May in the Church but was changed to the 1st November in the 7th Century by Pope Boniface. Later it was swapped back to May. But fixed again on the 1st November in the 9th Century. It is followed on the 2nd by All Souls’ Day. (see my post on All Souls Day here.

So on the 1st November, those celebrating the pagan festival would be in full swing after a hard night of celebration. The embers of the Fire would be still burning, stones left around the fire would be inspected for the prophecy they told of the future. Each person had a stone, and if it was still intact it was good luck, if it had disappeared the future was not good.

La Toussaint et Dia de Todo Los Santos

In France, All Hallows or All Saints is called La Toussaint, and flowers such as Chrysanthemums, which blossom in late October, were put on the graves. In Spain, it is Dia de Todo Los Santos and is a national holiday upon which people put flowers on the graves of the dead.

In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos celebrates Holy Innocents on the 1st. People create altars to the lost ones, with their favourite flowers, toys, food stuffs,, photographs. People argue about the pre-colombian aspects of the festival as there are similarities to European All Saints Days celebrations. But Quecholli, was a celebration of the dead that honoured Mixcóatl – the god of war. It was celebrated between October 20th and November 8th.

A correspondent in Mexico has sent back these pictures of the festivities in Mexico.

Day of the Dead in Mexico. Photos by S. Morice

The female figure to the left is La Catrina. This image was popularised by an early 20th Century design by José Guadalupe Posada and developed in a mural by Diego Rivera. For more details click here.

A Day Off for the English

In the Laws of King Alfred the Great, this day was a day off for freemen. See my post on Days off in the Anglo Saxon Calender on August 15th.

First published in 2022, revised in 2023, 2024, 2025

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Halloween October 31st

From the Perpetual Almanack of Folklore by Charles Kightly

I began my perpetual Almanac of the Past four years ago on the 31st October 2021. This was the first line:

‘This blog is to celebrate the Year. I will post, hopefully, once a day, so we can follow the seasons, as they happen naturally, and as people in Britain and Ireland have responded to the changes in the year.’

It was inspired by Charles Kightly’s book, which is a pot-pourri of folklore taken mostly from old Almanacs. I haven’t managed, yet to create a post for every day of the year, nearly managed it in the winter but falling behind in the Summer when I take Road Scholar groups around the UK. My plan is to fill in the gaps, improve posts and get rid of typos. Another aim is to add more London-specific content.

Cover of Charles Knightly's Perpetual Almanac
Cover of Charles Kightly’s Perpetual Almanac

I started on Halloween because Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) was the beginning of the year for the Celtic world. It may mean Summer’s End. In Wales, it is Calan Gaeaf (first day of winter) and Kala Goafiv (beginning of November in Brittany).

Why did the Celts start their year at such an unlikely time? A clue is that they began the next day at dusk. The Sun dies at dusk so it is the end of the day, and the next day begins with the death of the old day. 

So the New Year begins with the Death of the Old Year. Now that might suggest the Winter Solstice as the best time to start the year as this celebrates the death of the old Sun. (see my winter solstice post here :) But, the end of October has, perhaps a better claim. The harvest is in, the fruits in the trees and the nuts are harvested, all the growth of the Summer is over and collected.  Plants are mostly dead or dormant, except some evergreens. It is the end of the growing year. The seeds have fallen from the trees and shrubs and are nestling in the soil, ready to begin their cycle again. All is over and all is ready for the new year. Makes sense?

The Celtic way also explains eves; Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, May Eve, All Hallow’s Eve.  They are not the night before the day, they are the beginning of the day.  This is when you begin the celebration.

For the Romans, today is the day that Adonis is injured hunting a wild boar. Against his lover’s (Venus)  advice, he descends to the underworld. Nature withers and dies until he returns from the underworld. His blood stains a flower and was transformed into the Crimson Anemone. There is a similar story in Babylon of Ishtar and Tammuz.

By Alexander Marshall, crimson and other anemones
Binyon 1898-1907 / Catalogue of drawings by British artists, and artists of foreign origin working in Great Britain (5(c))

Adonis comes back on May Day when he meets Venus again, so the world flourishes and is bright and warm.

Julius Caesar says the Gauls venerated the God Dis Pater on this day – an aspect of Pluto, the God of the Underworld, ruler of the Dead. There was a Roman Festival on the Kalends of November dedicated to Pomona, the goddess of the fruit of trees. This may influence the use of Apples, which are prominent in Halloween festivities.

For more about the origins of Halloween, please look at my post on All Hallows Day here:

First written in 2021, and revised 2023, 4 and 5.

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October – Winterfylleth, Hydref, or Deireadh Fómhair

October from the Kalendar of Shepherds

Kalendar of Shepherds

The 15th Century French illustration in the Kalendar of Shepherds shows October as a busy month. It is the time when the cereals are being flailed, the fields ploughed and sown. Perhaps winter wheat or barley or peas and beans?

The 16th Century English text of the Kalendar of Shepherds (read the illustration) shows what a busy month it was, but the writer comes down hard against the month as ‘a messenger of ill news’ the harbinger of cold dark nights.

About the Kalendar of Shepherds.

The Kalendar was printed in 1493 in Paris and provided ‘Devices for the 12 Months.’ I’m using a modern (1908) reconstruction of it using wood cuts from the original 15th Century version. It includes various text from 16th and 17th Century sources. (Couplets by Tusser ‘Five Hundred Parts of Good Husbandrie 1599. Text descriptions of the month from Nicholas Breton’s ‘Fantasticks of 1626. This provides an interesting view of what was going on in the countryside every month.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/f4824s6t To see the full Kalendar, go here:

Astrological October

The star signs of October are the Scales of Libra and the Scorpion of Scorpio.

The star signs of October

Angelic October

Michael is the Angel of Autumn, the Angel of Judgement Day, and the Weigher of Souls. Uriel is the Angel of Libra and was sent by God sent to warn Noah. So the protector against, floods, fire and natural disasters. Scorpio’s Angel is Barbiel, he looks over health, genitalia and doubtful things. (‘An Angel Treasury’, Jacky Newcomb).

You might like to look at my post on Michaelmas here.

Roman October

In the Roman world it was, originally, the 8th Month (octo=8) but then they added January and February to the year. So it became the 10th Month. It was their time to celebrate the new wines of the Harvest. In Britain, the wine harvest is late September to October, but in hotter climes can be from July. But the grapes need to be processed, and the Romans thought that new wine was health giving and celebrated it in October.

Rustic October

But for many people, October is a beautiful month. The dying leaves bring a sophisticated array of rustic colours, which makes the wooded countryside exceptionally beautiful.

Autumn in Haggerston Park, London (photo Kevin Flude)

It can still be warm enough to go for pleasant walks. And the surfeit of the harvest and the culling of animals meant there was plenty to eat before winter austerity begins.

Anglo-Saxon Winter Fall

The Venerable Bede tells us that the month was called Winterfylleth, in the 8th Century. The English divided the year into Summer and Winter. And Winter began for the Anglo-Saxons on the first full moon of October. This means that this year winter begins on 7th October. This is the Harvest or Hunter’s Moon, which is also a supermoon, the first of 3 ending the year.

Celtic October

In Welsh, it is Hydref, which also means Autumn. For the Welsh it was the last month of Autumn and the last month of the year. The Celtic new year, and winter starts on 1st November. The same is true of the Irish Calendar. Autumn is called Fómhair, and October Deireadh Fómhair which means ‘End of Autumn’.

Astronomical & Meteorological Autumn

Astronomically, autumn ends at the Winter Solstice and meteorologically at the end of November. So the Celtic Autumn ends a whole month or more earlier than the other measures. My very personal view is that Winter begins on November 5th more often than not. This is an evening we often spend outside watching the fireworks displays to celebrate Guy Fawkes’ Night. It always seems to be the first time that you feel cold enough to need hat, gloves, and scarves.

First Published in Autumn 2024, revised 2025

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The Archaeology of London Walk

Roman layer opus signinum,
Roman layer opus signinum,

This is Kevin Flude’s Walk for London Walks. It normally starts in the early evening and from Exit 3 Bank Underground Station To See if the walk is running soon follow this link.

Legend says that London was founded as New Troy. Historians believed it was founded as Londinium after the Bridge was built by the legionaries of the Emperor Claudius in AD 43.   Archaeologists in the 1970s and 1980s discovered that London was refounded as Lundenwic in the 7th Century and again in the 9th Century when it was called Lundeburg.

This walk tells the epic tale of the uncovering of London’s past by Archaeologists. And provides an insight into the dramatic history of the Capital of Britannia, and how it survived revolts, fires, plagues, and reacted to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.  It became the foremost English City but with periods under Viking and Norman control.

We tell the story in the streets of the City of London, beginning in the valley of the River Walbrook by the Temple of Mithras, and visit many sites where important archaeological discoveries were made.

See my Roman London

Updated 7th October

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Autumn Equinox and the Jewish New Year September 22nd

Autumn Equinox in Haggerston Park.Photo by K Flude.

Autumn Equinox.

This is the second day of the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west. When the day and night are of equal length.  It is the beginning of the astronomical autumn.  It is determined by the 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth’s rotation in relation to the orbit around the Sun.

In the Jewish Calendar, and the French Revolutionary Calendars it marks the new year. Many cultures preferred spring. But autumn is the end of harvest, when seeds are sown and the food stores are full of food. Similarly, the Celts started their new year at Halloween, half way between the equinox and the solstice.

For more about autumn, look at my post here. For my post on the Spring Equinox, see here. For the Celtic New Year see this post here and for the French Revolutionary Calendar, my post is here.

Rosh Hashanah, September 22nd to 25th.

Rosh Hashanah is the New Year in Judaism. There are other new years in the Jewish calendar.  But this is for the Civil Year and to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Adam.

The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah. One of the High Holy Days, as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25. Like most New Years it is a time to reflect on life and put in place changes. It is after all a celebration of the beginning of the world.

Here is an excellent BBC web site which will tell you more.

First Published on September 22nd 2025

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September – ‘Winter’s Forewarning and Summer’s Farewell’

Kalendar of Shepherds illustration of September showing harvesting grapes and the astrological signs for Virgo (August 23 – September 22) and Libra (September 23 – October 22)

It is that time of the year when you say ‘Where has the Summer gone? It can’t be September already?’ But, meteorology, speaking, Autumn starts today. September 1st was chosen on a numerical basis for ease of measuring rather than any profound floral, agricultural or solar reason. So, there are three Gregorian Calendar months for each season, and each season starts on the first of the month. Autumn: September, November and December.

Autumn, Harvest, Fall

Autumn comes from Latin (autumnus) which went into French and then into English. The season was also called Harvest (which went into Dutch herfst, German Herbst, and Scots hairst -Wikipedia) or from the 16th Century: the ‘fall of the year’ or ‘fall of the leaf’ which spread to America as Fall.

Summer’s Ending

It still feels like summer. In England, we often have a glorious September, and what we can an ‘Indian’ Summer, an unexpectedly warm period in mid-September to October.

Solar Autumn

Of course, for the real Autumn, we have to wait for the Equinox, the beginning of Astronomical or Solar Autumn. This year, it is on Monday, September 22nd, 2025, 7:19 pm.

Astrological September

The star signs for astrological September are: Virgo which is linked to Aphrodite (Venus) the Goddess of Love and Libra which is linked to Artemis (Diana), virgin goddess of many things, including hunting, wild animals, children, and birth.

Star signs for September

September

September gets its name from the Romans, for whom it was the 7th Month of the year (septem is Latin for seven). Later, they added two new months so it became our 9th Month. (For more on the Roman year, look at my post here).

It is called Halegmonath in the early English language, or the holy month, named because it is the month of offerings, because of the harvest, and the mellow fruitfulness of September? Medi in Welsh is the month of reaping, and An Sultuine in Gaelic which means the month of plenty.

Roman personification of Autumn from Lullingstone mosaic

Early Modern September and the autumn of Life

Here is an early 17th Century look at September from the Kalendar of Shepherds – for more on the Kalendar, look at my post here.

From the Kalendar of Shepherds

The Kalendar has an additional shorter look at September (see below). And it continues with its theme, linking the 12 months of the year with the lifespan of a man – 6 years for each month. So September is a metaphor for man at 56 years of age, in their prime and preparing for old age.

September from the Kalendar of Shepherds. The last sentence beginning ‘and then is man’ shows the link between September and the beginning of the autumn of life.

Season of ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness‘

John Keats (1795 – 1821) wrote a great poem called ‘To Autumn’:

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
  Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
  With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
  And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
    To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
  With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
    For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
  Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
  Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
  Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
    Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
  Steady thy laden head across a brook;
  Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
    Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
  Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
  And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
  Among the river sallows, borne aloft
    Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
  Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
  The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
    And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Written September 19, 1819; first published in 1820. This poem is in the public domain and available here:

First published September 2024, revised 2025

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August – Octavian’s Month

The Roman month

August was originally ‘sextilis’ or the 6th Month of the ten-month Roman Calendar. It became the 8th Month when January and February were added to the calendar to make a 12 month year.  By tradition, this happened during the reign of King Numa Pompilius. Originally set as a 29-day month but changed to a 31-day month in the reforms of Julius Caesar. It was subsequently renamed August by a sycophantic Senate trying to flatter the divine Octavian, Emperor Augustus. (more of my posts about the Roman Calendar here and here)

The Celtic August

In modern Irish, it is Lúnasa, which means the month of the festival of Lughnasa. It is a harvest festival, celebrating the ripening of wheat, barley, rye, and potatoes. In Ireland, it is the festival of the God Lugh, celebrated with games, fairs, and ceremonies. Lughnasa is 6 months after Imbolc. It marks the ending of lactation of lambs and the beginning of the tupping season. (impregnation of the ewes). It can be celebrated by climbing hills, visiting springs, wells, lakes and eating bilberries. (Myths and Legends of the Celts. James MacKillop).

In Welsh, it is Awst which comes from the Latin.  Called Calan Awst in Wales, it is the festival of August. In Gaelic Scotland it is called Lunasuinn, and Laa Luanistyn in the Isle of Man.

Lughnasa is one of the Celtic quarter days,. They are halfway between the Solstices and Equinoxes. They are: Samhain (1 Nov) Imbolc (1 Feb), Beltane (1 May) and Lughnasa (1 Aug). All are, or can be seen to be, a turning point in the farming year.

The Gallic Coligny ‘Celtic’ Calendar records August as a ‘great festival month’. The stone-carved Calendar was found near Lyon, whose Roman name was Lugodunum. The town is named after the Gaulish God Lugos. It is thought he is related to the Irish God, Lugh and the Welsh Llew Llaw Gyffes. He has an unstoppable fiery spear, a sling stone, and a hound called Failinis. The Romans associate Lugos with Mercury, and the Church associated Lugh with St Michael.

Lughnasa was founded by Lugh himself to honour his foster mother Tailtiu at Brega Co. Meath. Tailtiu became one of Ireland’s greatest festivals, springing from the horse races and marital contests set up by Lugh.

Anglo Saxon August

In Anglo-Saxon: the Venerable Bede, writing in the 8th Century, says August is Wēodmōnaþ or the Weed Month. Named because of the proliferation of weeds. Why does that seem such an unsatisfactory name for August? An early Kentish source calls the month Rugern – perhaps the month of the harvest of Rye? (Winters in the World by Eleanor Parker).

Lammas

For the Anglo-Saxons, August brings in the harvest period. This is the most important months of the year. The Harvest brings in the bounty of the earth. It needs to be carefully collected, enjoyed but not wasted. It begins with the festival of Lammas, which derives from the English words for bread and mass. The Bread Mass when bread made from the first fruits of the harvest is blessed.

Kalendar of Shepherds

Kalendar of Shepherds, August
Kalendar of Shepherds, August

The 15th Century illustration in the Kalendar of Shepherds, above, shows that the Harvest is the main attribute of the Month, and the star signs, Leo and Virgo.

The 16th/17th Century text in the Kalendar of Shepherds gives an evocative insight into the month.

(For more about the Kalendar)

First Published in 2024, revised in August 2025

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St Germanus Day & Original Sin July 31st

St Germanus of Auxerre, Window in St Paul’s parish church, Morton, Lincolnshire, made by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris in 1914. Photo by Jenny of Jules & Jenny from Lincoln, UK (CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Photo by Jenny of Jules & Jenny from Lincoln, UK)

St Germanus is the source of one of the few contemporary references to Britain in the 5th Century (the Dark Ages). One of his followers wrote his life story. The Saint, a Bishop in France, was sent to Britain because the Pelagian Heresy was endangering the Catholic version of Christianity. Pelagius was a highly educated British (or possibly Irish) priest who moved to Rome in the late 4th Century. He lived by a strict moral code, attacking Catholic laxity and opposing St Augustine of Hippo’s theory of Divine Grace. By contrast, Pelagius promoted human choice in salvation and denied the doctrine of original sin. Wikipedia tells us that he:

considered it an insult to God that humans could be born inherently sinful or biased towards sin, and Pelagius believed that the soul was created by God at conception, and therefore could not be imbued with sin as it was solely the product of God’s creative agency.

17th Century print of Pelagius

Germanus was sent to Britain, where he confronted Pelagian converts in a public debate which is thought to have taken place in a disused Roman amphitheatre. The author is not interested in Britain, per se, so does not tell us which town it was, but, it is mostly assumed to be St Albans, although London is possible.

In the stadium, the Saint and his acolytes confound the heretics and, so, convert the town’s people sitting watching the debate. St Germanus goes to a nearby shrine of St Alban to thank God, falls asleep in a hut, and is miraculously saved from a fire. He then comes across a man called a Tribune, and helps defeat a Saxon army in the ‘Alleluia’ victory. The importance of all this is that it gives us a few glimpses of Britain, in about 429AD, two decades after the Romans have left.

The British Bishops were led in their heresy by someone called Agricola. The writer describes these bishops as ‘conspicuous for riches, brilliant in dress and surrounded by a fawning multitude’. The use of the title ‘Tribune’ in the story suggests Roman administrative titles are still in use 19 years after the date of the ‘formal’ end of Roman Britain, 410AD. The Alleluia victory over the Saxons also gives us an early date for Saxon presence in the country as an enemy.

St Albans is the favoured choice for the location of the event because, Bede tells us St Albans was born, martyred and commemorated in Verulamium, now called St Albans. Archaeology shows possible post Roman occupation of the town. And it has a famous Amphitheatre.

However, Gildas, who is writing 200 years or more before Bede, tells us St Alban was born in Verulamium but martyred in London. This makes sense as London was the late Roman Capital and more likely to be the site of a martyrdom. There is also a church dedicated to St Albans close to the Roman Amphitheatre, where Gildas tells us the execution took place. Unfortunately, the Church cannot be, archaeologically dated back to 429AD.

Bede’s account of the martyrdom of St Albans is also somewhat farcical, as God divides the waters of the River Ver for Alban to get to his martyrdom more quickly. The bridge was said to be full of people walking to witness Alban’s execution, and blocking Alban’s path to Heaven. But the Ver is but a piddle, and it would be easy to walk across without even needing wellington boats, let along a miracle. This story is much more impressive, in Gildas’ version who has the miraculous crossing over the River Thames.

Had Pelegius won, and the Roman Church had a more optimistic view of the human spirit, would it have made any difference? It’s a big question, but maybe it would have left less room for pessimism and guilt?

Frances Marsden on Quora wrote:

What were the effects of original sin? …. it damaged our relationship with God. He seemed distant, we became mistrustful. We lost sanctifying grace. The weakening of the will, making us more prone to temptation. The darkening of the intellect. Increased vulnerability to sickness and disease. Spiritual death.

Germanus died in Ravenna.

For more on Nick Fuentes and his theories on St Germanus, St Patrick and King Arthur click here:

For St Germanus and St Genevieve click here:

First written in January 2023, copied to its own page in July 2024, and republished 2025

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