Liber ab Solemnitas (The Book of Holidays)^191
Aprilis 5 Fortuna Publica—‘Luck of the People’ Sacred to Fortuna.
Aprilis 10 Last day of the Megalensia—On the last day of Megalensia a closing
procession is conducted in honor of Apollo, Castor, Ceres, Bacchus,
Mars, Minerva, Neptune, Pollux, Venus and Victoria.
Aprilis 11–19 Festival of Ceres (ends on the Cerialia).
Aprilis 13 Ides of Aprilis—Sacred to Jupiter.
Aprilis 13 Festival day of Libertas.
Aprilis 15 The Fordicalia—Honoring Tellus Mater. Sacrifices were made to Tellus
Matter in the hopes that she would bless the growing season with fertil-
ity. Historically, these sacrifices involved the slaughter of dozens of preg-
nant cows, hoping their fertility would transfer directly to the land.
Perhaps this can be used as a day to build and tend a compost pile.
Aprilis 19 The Cerialia—Honoring Ceres. The Cerialia is the last and most grand
day of the Festival of Ceres. The entire eight-day festival was conducted
with games with the participants wearing finest white cloths worn. It cul-
minated at the Cerialia with chariot races and sacrifices made to bring
blessings of peace and a good grain harvest. Ceres is particularly fond of
milk, honey, and wine. Her offerings were walked about the circumfer-
ence of the festival three times in an effort to keep out spirits that would
disrupt the peace associated with Ceres. This custom may be the origin
of the casting of the Circle in the Wiccan religion. Consider the Wiccan
Rede: “Cast the Circle thrice about to keep all evil spirits out.” (Com-
monly cited as line three of the Wiccan Rede.)
Aprilis 21 The Parilia/Palilia—Honoring Pales. Historically, this was a day in which
Pales was honored in the hopes that he would continue to smile on the
shepherd. At first light, the shepherd’s sheep were cleaned and tended
and purified in sulfur smoke. Olive and pine woods were used to build a
ritual fire stoked with bay branches and leaves. The shepherd, some-
times accompanied with one sheep at a time then leapt the fire hoping
that its sacred flame would purify both. In a modern context, this is a day
to honor our sacred kin familiar. While leaping a bonfire might be be-
yond the expectations of many of the animals we keep, especially the
smart ones, sharing a ritual bath containing an infusion of bay leaf is
certainly a good way to commune with our furry friends. Okay, maybe
fitting them into a bathtub with yourself is not a bright idea, but a kiddy
pool will do just fine. Traditionally wine and milk (both warm) were
shared by sheep and shepherd. I am not sure giving a pet wine will be
appreciated, but for those who don’t appreciate baths (cats come to mind)
sharing warm milk might be in order. No, its not the best thing to give a
cat but once a year certainly is not excessive.
Aprilis 23 The Vinalia Priora—Honoring Venus and Jupiter. Festival of the first
wine. On this day the first wine of the year was opened and offered to
Jupiter. Only after this offering could it be consumed by humanity in the
further celebration of the goddess Venus. Note that wine was generally avail-
able year round. The first wine refers to the wine that was set aside the
previous year for fermentation. See also Vinalia Rustica on August 19th.r WB Chap 10.p65 191 7/11/2003, 5:54 PM