Liber ab Solemnitas (The Book of Holidays)^185
Poseideon (lesser)—December Continues—December 16–26
The lesser month of Poseideon is a short month, perhaps not a month at all,
with approximately 10 days. It was used for the purpose of rectifying the
discrepancy between the solar year and lunar months.Poseideon 6 Lesser Asclepieia—Festival honoring Asklepios, Apollo and Hygeia.
Poseideon 10 Heracleia—Festival honoring Hercules. Could last three nights.The Ancient Roman Calendar
Please note that the ancient Roman year started with March; however, I have ar-
ranged the year here starting in January for easier reference. In fact, depending on
how one wants to use the word ancient we can also state that the ancient Roman calen-
dar started in January, the change being made by Gaius Julius Caesar to align better
with the solar year. The Roman calendar does not use the simple numbering system
that we use today. Instead, it addressed the problem of lunar months not aligning to the
solar year by ordering the months of each day to the Calends, Nones, or Ides of each
month.Calends: The new moon marks the first day of the month.
Ides: The 15th day of March, May, July, or October and the 13th day of all other
months. Sacred to Jupiter.
Nones: The seventh day of March, May, July and October, but the fifth day of all
other months.Roman Holidays
Januarius—January—Sacred to the god Janus
Januarius 1 Anno Novo—Sacred to Janus and Asklepios.
This day is sacred to Janus, who is often depicted as having two faces,
one looking forward to the future and one looking backwards to the
past. It is a day of both reflection and planning. Ovidius asked of Janus,
“Why do we now celebrate the New Year in the middle of W+inter
rather than as it was celebrated in the past during the spring?” Janus
answered: “Midwinter is the beginning of the new Sun and the end of
the old one. Phoebus and the year take their start from the same point.”
(Ovidius Fasti, classic tale). Phoebus is the Sun.r WB Chap 10.p65 185 7/11/2003, 5:54 PM