Since Shakespeare's release of Julius Caesar, the Ides of March came to be associated with gloom and doom and betrayal ("et tu, Brutto?") The Emo band Silverstein asserts that "Sometimes betrayal can make you happy". Ovid's Libera (aka Ariadne, whose betrayal by Theseus resulted in her meeting a much more enticing lover) might agree with that, but most of us would just as soon avoid this misfortune, thank you very much. Perhaps Caesar would have avoided it if he had been out picnicking instead of hanging around the statue of Pompey. Perhaps if he had instead given honor to Anna Perenna , whose festival is on this day.
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Her name means "enduring year". Her persona is that of a bawdy, delightfully jolly old matron, who was once a flesh and blood woman comforting the refugees of the Roman aristocracy with food and good cheer. She lives on as a goddess archetype of benevolence, random acts of kindness - and shapeshifting mischief!
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She heralds spring by inspiring men and women to loosen our inhibitions and prompting us to engage in frolic and play, calling us from cabin fever to outdoor picnics with family, friends, lovers, dogs and kites.
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It is her spirit that guides my hand in writing these Feriae. Goddess of the eternal cycles of time, the seasons and cycles of nature and our own lives, a well-seasoned Horae is She
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Mid-March is also the time of the Roman Liberalia, a time of parades, comedic drama contests and drunken orgies during which people raised toasts to ivy-crowned Liber-Bacchus-Dionysos and his consort Libera (Ariadne, et.al), Mars Silvanus, and Anna Perenna, praying to be granted as many years of life as cups of wine they could drink during this festival. Today we have the Oscars and St. Patrick's Day parades, something about this time of year continues to bring this out (and in the midst of Lent too - what paradox!)
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Speaking of parades, an interesting root given for the word Carnival could be carrus navalis, the parade of floats featured at many Mediterranean festivals, notably the Isis Navigium . What would really rock (at least in my opinion) is to see an actual procession of carrus navale where the floats are the Tarot trumps...
This week's card is the Nine of Cups (a cup card again!) Although the traditional meanings of this card are reflected in the parts of my life I'm so grateful for, the picture is of a self satisfied, even smug person whose crossed arms indicate a potential tendency of hoarding rather that sharing the cups. I like better the chap in the Gilded Tarot:
This week's card is the Nine of Cups (a cup card again!) Although the traditional meanings of this card are reflected in the parts of my life I'm so grateful for, the picture is of a self satisfied, even smug person whose crossed arms indicate a potential tendency of hoarding rather that sharing the cups. I like better the chap in the Gilded Tarot:
Ciro Marchetti links all the minor arcana nines to the IX Hermit trump card. In the nine of cups, the recluse comes back into the world to share his discoveries and the good life with others. Just like Anna Perenna. This hermetic soul (me) is also willing to share, but I've learned the hard way that too much publicity is, for some of us with lynx medicine, misleading and not a good thing. Lately I've been acting out of character with my authentic self, revealing too much of what I know, and acting impetuously (Strength card reversed). I've learned long ago that people and things are not always what they seem and not to believe everything you hear. I have indeed experienced malicious gossip, untrue rumours, betrayals, and shenanigans - but it's a new moon, things are balancing out now and my conscience is clear. I raise my cup in a toast to my true friends, and to any and all who have risen like a phoenix from the fire:
Cheers! Life is good.
