Liber ab Solemnitas (The Book of Holidays)^197
September 23 Sacred to Apollo, Ceres and Latona.
September 26 Sacred to Venus.
September 30 Sacred to Meditrina.October—October—Sacred to the god Mars
October 1 Sacred to Ceres and Fides.
October 4 and 5 The Mundus Cereris—Honoring Ceres. Meaning ‘Opening of the Earth
Gate,’ the Mundus Cereris was celebrated with games of endurance and
the marking of trials of endurance that have been survived. Honors were
given to the victims of rape and similar crimes for having endured and
overcome. The order in this is to state firmly that survival is good.
October 7 Sacred to Jupiter and Juno.
October 9 Sacred to Felicitas and Venus.
October 10 Sacred to Juno.
October 11 The Meditrinalia—Honoring Meditrina. A holiday celebrating the last
harvest of grapes or the wine harvest. This is a healing festival which
draws its name from the same source as the deity Meditrina, the word
meden, which means ‘to heal.’ This holiday is celebrated with toasts to
one’s health.
October 12–13 The Fortunalia—Honoring Fortuna. This day celebrates reunions. Un-
like some of her other festivals, this festival welcomes both men and
women to celebrate safe returns from travel and to pray for future safe
returns.
October 14 Feast of the Penates—At each meal of other days, a portion of each
meal was made sacrifice to the Penates so they would continue to pro-
tect the home. On October 14th, an evening feast was held and an entire
portion of each item in the feast was made sacrifice by tossing it into the
home’s fireplace.
October 19 The Armilustrium—Honoring Mars. On this day the weapons of war
were cleaned, purified, and made ready for storage over the winter
months. In a modern context, this reflects the Wiccan principle that new
ground is not taken during the dark half of the year. In business terms,
this means new acquisitions are not made during this time. Instead it is a
time to be sure that inventory has been acquired and made ready for the
holiday season, which can make or break a business.
October 26– The Ludi Victoriae Sullanae—Honoring Victoria.
November 1 These games honored Victoria and served as competition to replace
war but also commemorating victory at war.r WB Chap 10.p65 197 7/11/2003, 5:54 PM