#megalesia

[flaroh]

Magna Mater Cybele 👑💟🦁 Each year from April 4-10, the Romans celebrated the Megalesia, a Phrygian festival celebrating the Anatolian goddess Cybele ✨ Celebrations included plays written in her honour and chariot races in the Circus Maximus. I created this illustration last year for my patrons. It depicts Cybele with her mural crown and tympanon drum, which was one of her main symbols in Rome. Behind her is her iconic lion, which I modelled off of lion statues from Anatolia, where she originated.

[previously-bookie]

Happy Easter (if you celebrate) and happy Sunday!

thank you for the well wishes, but as a roman pagan, i don't celebrate easter. however, I appreciate your kindness!

[jupitermelichios]

The Outcry of Wolves

Chapter 25: Megalesia

Fandom: Teen Wolf

Ships: Stiles/Derek, Scott & Stiles & Allison pack bonding, Stiles & Erica bromance

Tags: creature!Stiles, season 2 rewrite, slow burn, vampire-adjacent Stiles

When he’s done, Lydia directs him to pick up the tambourine. Oddly, it actually makes him feel a little better. Probably someone, somewhere, has died while playing a tambourine, but he can’t picture it. It’s such an absurd instrument that the part of him that still expects the world to make sense, even after so long, is certain that he’s going to survive, because dying holding a red plastic tambourine would be so ridiculous.

[Read on AO3]

[jamieroxxartist]

#Shriekback - #Nemesis #AncientRome #Megalesia! #Romans

[zmaragdos]

Reading about the Megalesia while making the Ovid Daily April calendar and lo and behold, Clodius and Cicero show up. Apparently Clodius attempted to disrupt the Megalesia by employing enslaved people to disrupt the festival (enslaved people were forbidden by Roman law from witnessing the rites/procession of the Megalesia). The more you know...

Cicero, De Haruspicum Responsis, 1, 1 & 11, 22.

[ovid-daily]

Apr 4 | F C LUDI • MATR • MAG | Pr. Non.

After witnessing Magna Mater's loud procession through the streets of Rome, Ovid has an enlightening conversation with the Muse Erato about the origins of the rites and rituals of the Megalesia festival.

M's translation

[paganizmturkiye]

Önemli Roma Bayramları/Festivalleri

Her ayın başlangıcı: Kalendler

Romalılar her ayın başlangıcını kalendlerden biri olarak kutlardı. Özellikle Ocak ayındaki kalendlerin hem Noel hem de modern Yule kutlamaları üzerinde büyük etkisi olmuştur. Bu kutlamaların her biri hakkında daha fazla bilgi çevrimiçi olarak bulunabilir.

13 Şubat: Parentalia

13 Şubat'ta başlayan ve bir hafta süren bir kutlama olan Parentalia, kişinin atalarını kutlama zamanıydı.

15 Şubat: Lupercalia

Lupercalia doğurganlık ve arınmaya adanmıştır. Birçok modern Paganlar yanlışlıkla bu festivalin daha modern bir kutlama olan Sevgililer Günü'nün öncüsü olduğuna inanmaktadır.

17 Mart: Liberalia

17 Mart'ta düzenlenen bir Roma festivali olan Liberalia, erkek çocukların genç erkeklere dönüşümünü kutlardı. Aynı zamanda, daha sonra Romalı Bacchus ve karısı Libera ile bir tutulan tanrı Liber Pater için de kutsaldı.

Nisan başları: Megalesia

Roma ana tanrıçası Magna Mater onuruna düzenlenen bu festival bir hafta sürerdi.

7-15 Haziran: Vestalia

Bu, ocak tanrıçası Vesta onuruna düzenlenen bir Roma festivaliydi.

24 Haziran: Fors Fortuna Festivali

Bu Roma festivali 24 Haziran'da iyi şans tanrıçası Fortuna onuruna kutlanırdı. Kutlaması aynı zamanda Yaz Gündönümü kutlaması olarak da ikiye katlanmış olabilir.

6-13 Temmuz: Ludi Apollinares

6-13 Temmuz tarihleri arasında bir hafta süren bir Roma kutlaması olan Ludi Apollinares oyunları, oyunlar, atletik yarışmalar ve danslar için bir zamandı.

23 Temmuz: Neptunalia

Şaşırtıcı olmayan bir şekilde, Neptunalia Neptün onuruna düzenlenen bir Roma kutlamasıydı.

19 Ağustos: Vinalia Rustica

Jüpiter ve Venüs onuruna düzenlenen bu Roma kutlamasında üzüm hasadının başlaması anılırdı. Daha küçük bir kutlama olan Vinalia Urbana, büyük olasılıkla bir önceki yılın şarap bağlarını kutlamak için 23 Nisan'da kutlanırdı.

23 Ağustos: Vulcanalia

Bu, Romalı Vulcan'ın onuruna kutlanan bir bayramdı. Vulcanalia, neşeli bir yaz kutlaması olmak yerine, kişinin evini ve şehrini yangın tehdidinden korumak için Vulcan'a kurban verme zamanıydı.

13 Eylül: Epulum Jovis

Bu kutlama Roma tanrısı Jüpiter'in onuruna düzenlenen ritüel bir şölendi.

13 Ekim: Fontinalia

Bu, çeşmelerin ve kaynakların ve bu alanlarda ikamet eden tanrıların bir Roma kutlamasıydı. Özellikle kuyuların tanrısı olan Roma tanrısı Fons için başlamıştır.

1 Kasım: Pomona Festivali

Roma Pomona Festivali, meyve bahçesi tanrıçası Pomona onuruna düzenlenen bir hasat festivaliydi. Pomona kutlamaları genellikle İrlanda-Kelt Samhain'i ile ilişkilendirilir.

17-23 Aralık: Saturnalia

Başlangıçta bir günlük bir kutlama olan, daha sonra üç güne uzatılan ve son olarak da tam bir hafta süren ziyafet ve içkiyle dolu Saturnalia, tüm Roma bayramları arasında en etkili olanı olabilir. Saturnalia için Romalılar evlerini çobanpüskülü ve yaprak dökmeyen dallarla süsler ve hediye alışverişinde bulunurlardı. Bu aynı zamanda sosyal düzeni tersine çevirmekle ilgili bir bayramdı. Saturnalia'nın Hıristiyan Noel'i üzerinde büyük bir etkisi olmuştur. Eğer ziyafet çekiyor, çok fazla içki içiyor, ilahiler söylüyor ve kendinizi son derece cömert buluyorsanız, bayramı bir Romalı gibi kutluyorsunuz demektir.

Kaynak: Modern Witchcraft with the Greek Gods: History, Insights & Magickal Practice - Jason Mankey and Astrea Taylor.

[brookston]

Holidays 4.4

Holidays

Antitrust Day

Arrestmas

Art Deco Day

Atlanta Day

Auditory Processing Disorder Awareness Day

Ballroom Dance Day

Basque Day (Spain)

Bee Day (French Republic)

Bewitching Day

Bonza Bottler Day

Calypso Asteroid Day

Cat’s Day (Taiwan)

Chicago Flag Day (Illinois)

Children’s Day (China, Taiwan)

Clear and Bright Day (Farmer’s Calendar; China)

404 Day

Flag Day (Chicago, Illinois; Monaco)

HIE Awareness Day

Hug a Newsperson Day

International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action (UN)

International Day to Defend Amina

International Rock Beat Day

Jeep 4x4 Day

Liberation Day (Hungary)

Maya Angelou Day (Boston)

Microsoft Day

Mourning Day for Covid-19 Martyrs (China)

National Dillon Day

National Horse Rehabilitation Day

National Lunchbreak Day (UK)

National Pansy Day

National School Librarian Day

NATO Day

1984 Day (1984)

Ose Matsuri (Japan)

Peace Day (Angola)

Red Crown Imperial Day

Refugee Rights Day (Canada)

Sarhul (Jharkhand, India)

Square Root Day

Swedish-American Friendship Day

Tell-A-Lie Day

Victims of Violence Wholly Day

Vitamin "C" Day

Walk Around Things Day

Women in Tech Day

World Drummers Day

World Plagiocephaley Day

World Rat Day

World Stray Animals Day

Yukon Gold Discovery Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Milk Powder Day (a.k.a. Powdered Chocolate Day)

Homogenized Milk Day

International Carrot Day

National Cordon Bleu Day

National Pub Day (UK)

National Ramen Noodle Day

1st Thursday in April

Glarus Festival (Näfelser Fahrtfest; Switzerland) [1st Thursday] 

International Road Maintenance Day [1st Thursday]

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

National Alcohol Screening Day [Thursday of 1st Full Week]

National Burrito Day [1st Thursday]

National GOOS Paper Day (Canada) [1st Thursday]

RAINN Day [1st Thursday]

Tell a Lie Day [1st Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 4 (1st Week)

Hate Week [thru 4.10]

National Dental Hygienist Week [thru 4.10]

Independence & Related Days

Chinese Republic in Tibet (Proclaimed; Tibet; 1912)

Jacktoopia (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Senegal (from France, 1960)

Sorrenia (Declared; 2013) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning April 4, 2024

Artifact Small Format Film Festival (Calgary, Canada) [thru 4.6]

Art Paris Art Fair (Paris, France) [thru 4.7]

Brussels Book Fair (Brussels, Belgium) [thru 4.7]

Clay County Agricultural Fair (Green Cove Springs, Florida) [thru 4.14]

Diagonale Film Festival (Graz, Austria) [thru 4.9]

Kansas Ag Expo (Hutchinson, Kansas) [thru 4.6]

Mule Day (Columbia, Tennessee) [thru 4.7]

North American Alpaca Show (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) [thru 4.7]

Oklahoma City Farm Show (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) [thru 4.6]

Ozark Mountain Soul Fest (Eureka Springs, Arkansas) [thru 4.8]

Ragnarok Festival (Lichtenfels, Germany) [thru 4.6]

Romics (Rome, Italy) [thru 4.7]

Feast Days

Aequinoctium Vernum VI (Pagan)

Agathopus and Theodulus (Christian; Martyrs)

Ambrose (Christian; Saints Commemoration)

Benedict the Moor (Christian; Saint)

Dabucuri pataub, (Initiation Rites of the Young Men; to Jurupari, South American Guarani/Tupi God)

Dan Simmons (Writerism)

Feast of No Saints Day (Pastafarian)

Gaetano Catanoso (Christian; Saint)

Isidore of Seville (Christian; Saint)

The Kangaroo Rat (Muppetism)

Katori Jingu Otaue-sai (Rice Planting Festival; Japan)

Magna Mater begins (aka Megalesia / Great Mother Festival; Ancient Rome)

Martin Luther King Jr. (Episcopal Church (USA))

Maurice de Vlaminck (Artology)

Maya Angelou (Writerism)

Megalesia (Mother of Gods Festival; Phrygian)

Mahavir Jayanti (a.k.a. Janma Kalyanak; Jainism)

Näfelser Fahrtfest (Glarus Canton, Switzerland)

Pierre-Paul Prud´hon (Artology)

Plato (Christian; Saint)

Portfirio Diaz Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Reginald Heber (Anglican Church of Canada)

Theodisius of Bithynia (Positivist; Saint)

Tigernach of Clones (Christian; Saint)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Tomb Sweeping Day (掃墳節) [Begins At the Qingming solar term, solar longitude of 15°, 15th days after Chunfen] (a.k.a. …

Ancestors' Day

Cheng Ming (macau)

Chinese Memorial Day

Ching Ming Festival (清明節; China; Hong Kong)

Chungmyung Day (North Korea)

Clear and Bright Festival

Qingming Jie (清明节; China)

Qingming Festival

Shīmī (Ryukyu Islands)

Tomb Sweeping Day (Taiwan)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unluckiest Day of the Year (China)

Premieres

Alice’s Auto Race (Disney Cartoon; 1927)

Aloha From Hawaii, by Elvis Presley (TV Concert Special; 1973)

Anna Karenina (Film; 1997)

The Blow Out (WB LT Cartoon; 1936)

Brilliant Corners, by Thelonius Monk (Album; 1957)

Bye Bye Birdie (Film; 1963)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Film; 2014)

Cat Carson Rides Again (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1952)

Chasing Amy (Film; 1997)

Combatants Will Be Dispatched (Anime TV Series; 2021)

Cool for Cats, by Squeeze (Album; 1979)

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (Anime Film; 2003)

The Double (Film; 2013)

Drum Roll, featuring Hector Heathcote (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1961)

Fiesta Time (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1945)

Finnegan’s Flea (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1958)

Flies Ain’t Human (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1941)

Follies, by Stephen Sondheim (Broadway Musical; 1971)

Fowl Weather (WB MM Cartoon; 1953)

The Good Life, a.k.a. Good Neighbors (UK TV Series; 1975)

Heap Big Hepcat (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1960)

High Fidelity, by Elvis Costello (Song; 1979)

How Right You Are, Jeeves (a.k.a. Jeeves in the Offing), by P.G. Wodehouse (Novel; 1960) [Jeeves #12]

Jonny’s Golden Quest (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Special; 1993)

Leatherheads (Film; 2008)

Man’s Best Friend (Disney Cartoon; 1952)

Microsoft (Computer Company; 1975)

The Mouse That Jack Built (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Mutts About Racing, featuring Droopy (MGM Cartoon; 1958)

Nim’s Island (Film; 2008)

Oliver’s Story, by Erich Segal (Novel; 1977)

The Party (Film; 1968)

Perils of Pauline (Film Series; 1914)

Pink Quackers (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1979)

Rio Bravo (Film; 1959)

The Saint (Film; 1997)

Ship of the Line, by C.S. Forester (Novel; 1938)

Toro Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1979)

Two Little Pups (Happy Harmonies Cartoon; 1936)

Ups ’n Downs (WB LT Cartoon; 1931)

What a Girl Wants (Film; 2003)

Today’s Name Days

Isidor, Konrad (Austria)

Benedikt, Izidor, Platon (Croatia)

Ivana (Czech Republic)

Ambrosius (Denmark)

Ambrus, Arbo, Arp, Arpo (Estonia)

Ukko (Finland)

Isidore (France)

Isidor, Konrad, Kurt (Germany)

Izidor (Hungary)

Isabelle, Isadora, Isidoro (Italy)

Herta, Valda (Latvia)

Algaudas, Ambraziejus, Eglė, Izidorius (Lithuania)

Nancy, Nanna, Nina (Norway)

Ambroży, Bazyli, Benedykt, Izydor, Wacław, Wacława, Zdzimir (Poland)

Iosif (Romania)

Izidor (Slovakia)

Benito (Spain)

Ambrosius, Marianne, Marlene (Sweden)

Cedric, Cedrica, Plato, Tiernan, Tierney (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 95 of 2024; 271 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 14 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 26 (Wu-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 25 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 25 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 5 Cyan; Fryday [5 of 30]

Julian: 22 March 2024

Moon: 23%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 11 Archimedes (4th Month) [Hero]

Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 10 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 17 of 92)

Week: 1st Week of April

Zodiac: Aries (Day 15 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 4.4

Holidays

Antitrust Day

Arrestmas

Art Deco Day

Atlanta Day

Auditory Processing Disorder Awareness Day

Ballroom Dance Day

Basque Day (Spain)

Bee Day (French Republic)

Bewitching Day

Bonza Bottler Day

Calypso Asteroid Day

Cat’s Day (Taiwan)

Chicago Flag Day (Illinois)

Children’s Day (China, Taiwan)

Clear and Bright Day (Farmer’s Calendar; China)

404 Day

Flag Day (Chicago, Illinois; Monaco)

HIE Awareness Day

Hug a Newsperson Day

International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action (UN)

International Day to Defend Amina

International Rock Beat Day

Jeep 4x4 Day

Liberation Day (Hungary)

Maya Angelou Day (Boston)

Microsoft Day

Mourning Day for Covid-19 Martyrs (China)

National Dillon Day

National Horse Rehabilitation Day

National Lunchbreak Day (UK)

National Pansy Day

National School Librarian Day

NATO Day

1984 Day (1984)

Ose Matsuri (Japan)

Peace Day (Angola)

Red Crown Imperial Day

Refugee Rights Day (Canada)

Sarhul (Jharkhand, India)

Square Root Day

Swedish-American Friendship Day

Tell-A-Lie Day

Victims of Violence Wholly Day

Vitamin "C" Day

Walk Around Things Day

Women in Tech Day

World Drummers Day

World Plagiocephaley Day

World Rat Day

World Stray Animals Day

Yukon Gold Discovery Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chocolate Milk Powder Day (a.k.a. Powdered Chocolate Day)

Homogenized Milk Day

International Carrot Day

National Cordon Bleu Day

National Pub Day (UK)

National Ramen Noodle Day

1st Thursday in April

Glarus Festival (Näfelser Fahrtfest; Switzerland) [1st Thursday] 

International Road Maintenance Day [1st Thursday]

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

National Alcohol Screening Day [Thursday of 1st Full Week]

National Burrito Day [1st Thursday]

National GOOS Paper Day (Canada) [1st Thursday]

RAINN Day [1st Thursday]

Tell a Lie Day [1st Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 4 (1st Week)

Hate Week [thru 4.10]

National Dental Hygienist Week [thru 4.10]

Independence & Related Days

Chinese Republic in Tibet (Proclaimed; Tibet; 1912)

Jacktoopia (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Senegal (from France, 1960)

Sorrenia (Declared; 2013) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning April 4, 2024

Artifact Small Format Film Festival (Calgary, Canada) [thru 4.6]

Art Paris Art Fair (Paris, France) [thru 4.7]

Brussels Book Fair (Brussels, Belgium) [thru 4.7]

Clay County Agricultural Fair (Green Cove Springs, Florida) [thru 4.14]

Diagonale Film Festival (Graz, Austria) [thru 4.9]

Kansas Ag Expo (Hutchinson, Kansas) [thru 4.6]

Mule Day (Columbia, Tennessee) [thru 4.7]

North American Alpaca Show (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) [thru 4.7]

Oklahoma City Farm Show (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) [thru 4.6]

Ozark Mountain Soul Fest (Eureka Springs, Arkansas) [thru 4.8]

Ragnarok Festival (Lichtenfels, Germany) [thru 4.6]

Romics (Rome, Italy) [thru 4.7]

Feast Days

Aequinoctium Vernum VI (Pagan)

Agathopus and Theodulus (Christian; Martyrs)

Ambrose (Christian; Saints Commemoration)

Benedict the Moor (Christian; Saint)

Dabucuri pataub, (Initiation Rites of the Young Men; to Jurupari, South American Guarani/Tupi God)

Dan Simmons (Writerism)

Feast of No Saints Day (Pastafarian)

Gaetano Catanoso (Christian; Saint)

Isidore of Seville (Christian; Saint)

The Kangaroo Rat (Muppetism)

Katori Jingu Otaue-sai (Rice Planting Festival; Japan)

Magna Mater begins (aka Megalesia / Great Mother Festival; Ancient Rome)

Martin Luther King Jr. (Episcopal Church (USA))

Maurice de Vlaminck (Artology)

Maya Angelou (Writerism)

Megalesia (Mother of Gods Festival; Phrygian)

Mahavir Jayanti (a.k.a. Janma Kalyanak; Jainism)

Näfelser Fahrtfest (Glarus Canton, Switzerland)

Pierre-Paul Prud´hon (Artology)

Plato (Christian; Saint)

Portfirio Diaz Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Reginald Heber (Anglican Church of Canada)

Theodisius of Bithynia (Positivist; Saint)

Tigernach of Clones (Christian; Saint)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Tomb Sweeping Day (掃墳節) [Begins At the Qingming solar term, solar longitude of 15°, 15th days after Chunfen] (a.k.a. …

Ancestors' Day

Cheng Ming (macau)

Chinese Memorial Day

Ching Ming Festival (清明節; China; Hong Kong)

Chungmyung Day (North Korea)

Clear and Bright Festival

Qingming Jie (清明节; China)

Qingming Festival

Shīmī (Ryukyu Islands)

Tomb Sweeping Day (Taiwan)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unluckiest Day of the Year (China)

Premieres

Alice’s Auto Race (Disney Cartoon; 1927)

Aloha From Hawaii, by Elvis Presley (TV Concert Special; 1973)

Anna Karenina (Film; 1997)

The Blow Out (WB LT Cartoon; 1936)

Brilliant Corners, by Thelonius Monk (Album; 1957)

Bye Bye Birdie (Film; 1963)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Film; 2014)

Cat Carson Rides Again (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1952)

Chasing Amy (Film; 1997)

Combatants Will Be Dispatched (Anime TV Series; 2021)

Cool for Cats, by Squeeze (Album; 1979)

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (Anime Film; 2003)

The Double (Film; 2013)

Drum Roll, featuring Hector Heathcote (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1961)

Fiesta Time (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1945)

Finnegan’s Flea (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1958)

Flies Ain’t Human (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1941)

Follies, by Stephen Sondheim (Broadway Musical; 1971)

Fowl Weather (WB MM Cartoon; 1953)

The Good Life, a.k.a. Good Neighbors (UK TV Series; 1975)

Heap Big Hepcat (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1960)

High Fidelity, by Elvis Costello (Song; 1979)

How Right You Are, Jeeves (a.k.a. Jeeves in the Offing), by P.G. Wodehouse (Novel; 1960) [Jeeves #12]

Jonny’s Golden Quest (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Special; 1993)

Leatherheads (Film; 2008)

Man’s Best Friend (Disney Cartoon; 1952)

Microsoft (Computer Company; 1975)

The Mouse That Jack Built (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Mutts About Racing, featuring Droopy (MGM Cartoon; 1958)

Nim’s Island (Film; 2008)

Oliver’s Story, by Erich Segal (Novel; 1977)

The Party (Film; 1968)

Perils of Pauline (Film Series; 1914)

Pink Quackers (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1979)

Rio Bravo (Film; 1959)

The Saint (Film; 1997)

Ship of the Line, by C.S. Forester (Novel; 1938)

Toro Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1979)

Two Little Pups (Happy Harmonies Cartoon; 1936)

Ups ’n Downs (WB LT Cartoon; 1931)

What a Girl Wants (Film; 2003)

Today’s Name Days

Isidor, Konrad (Austria)

Benedikt, Izidor, Platon (Croatia)

Ivana (Czech Republic)

Ambrosius (Denmark)

Ambrus, Arbo, Arp, Arpo (Estonia)

Ukko (Finland)

Isidore (France)

Isidor, Konrad, Kurt (Germany)

Izidor (Hungary)

Isabelle, Isadora, Isidoro (Italy)

Herta, Valda (Latvia)

Algaudas, Ambraziejus, Eglė, Izidorius (Lithuania)

Nancy, Nanna, Nina (Norway)

Ambroży, Bazyli, Benedykt, Izydor, Wacław, Wacława, Zdzimir (Poland)

Iosif (Romania)

Izidor (Slovakia)

Benito (Spain)

Ambrosius, Marianne, Marlene (Sweden)

Cedric, Cedrica, Plato, Tiernan, Tierney (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 95 of 2024; 271 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 14 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 26 (Wu-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 25 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 25 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 5 Cyan; Fryday [5 of 30]

Julian: 22 March 2024

Moon: 23%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 11 Archimedes (4th Month) [Hero]

Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 10 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 17 of 92)

Week: 1st Week of April

Zodiac: Aries (Day 15 of 31)

[kydistortion35]

[doux-amer]

megalesias replied to your post: “stickmarionette: “There is no doubt who the leading man is, certainly...”

yooouuu can also watch it to cry about David Silva's preemie son 😭😭 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmi6b8Qgd_1/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=bzbh05o0vrnb

HMMMMM JSYK I WATCHED THAT VIDEO AT 2:28 AM AND GOT EMOTIONAL. I remember his tweets about his son and dying over how cute his little baby was and died some more watching him in the video. I’m so happy everything worked out and that Pep and City were so accommodating. ACTUALLY KEELING OVER BECAUSE OF HOW PASSIONATE AND LOUDLY PEP SHOUTS THAT THEY HAVE TO WIN FOR DAVID. LEAVE ME ALONE AND DON’T TOUCH ME AS I CRY OVER HIM, DAVID, AND DAVID’S ITTY BITTY SON.

[ikemoths]

Hypopra megalesia! Moths from the hypopra family are going to be quite common on my page as i find them perticularily cool - they can blend almost perfectly with leaves on the ground :) this specific species is characteristic of its small black dots on the wings, and a beautiful yellowish stripe all along. This specific moth is native to madagascar

Hypopra megalesia

[blootooth]

Happy June! 

- - -

protinus inflexo berecyntia tibia cornu

flabit et idaeae festa parentis erant

Let’s keep going: a foreign flute made of curving horn

will be played, and the Festival of the Trojan Mother will begin

— P. Ovidius Naso, Fastorum Libri Sex, lib. IV, 181-2

- - -

The Megalesia (The Festival of the Trojan/Idean Mother/Parent, i.e. the Phrygian goddess Magna Mater) was a Roman holiday that occurred every year from April 4th to 10th, consisting primarily of a musical and floral procession of the goddess’ image, religious plays performed both in theaters and on the steps of her temple, lavish, rotating dinner parties, and a final day culminating in a chariot race. The holiday was exclusively celebrated and viewed by the patrician (aristocratic) class — so much so that enslaved people were forbidden from viewing the procession and ordinary citizens were not permitted to participate in the rites and festivities.

April 4th is the anniversary of Magna Mater’s arrival in Rome. She was initially brought to the city in 204 BC after the Roman senate, concerned about Rome’s success in the midst of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), consulted oracles and were informed that they needed to retrieve the “mother goddess.” Roman aristocrats painted themselves as the descendants of the Trojans, so they exported a mother goddess cult from Anatolia (modern-day central Turkey, a far cry from coastal Troy). However, this ended up being slightly more than the Roman elites had bargained for, because with the goddess came her castrated priests (castration was a major taboo during the Roman Republic) and their unusual rites, which included “foreign” music, (such as the aulos flute pictured above and leather drums) and begging for small change.

The aulos is a double reed wind instrument that produces a piercing tune, not unlike a bagless bagpipe. The aulos is deeply associated with the Greek world (or, more generally “the East”) and would have made the Megalesia procession sound suitably “foreign” for its imported god.

- - -

Interested in learning more?

Read Ovid’s Fasti, book IV. Lines 179-392.

Don’t read Latin? This is my preferred, published translation.

One definition of the Megalesia. And another.

As well as some information about Magna Mater. And her Roman sanctuary.

[jamieroxxartist]

#Shriekback - #Nemesis #AncientRome #Megalesia! #Romans

[zmaragdos]

Pridie Nonae Aprilis | April 4th

Three times the sky turns on its eternal axis. Titan, the sun, three times harnesses and three times releases his horses.

Let’s keep going: a foreign flute made of curving horn will be played, and the Festival of the Trojan Mother will start. The Castrated Priests process and they beat hollow drums, their clashing copper cymbals make the air ring: the Mistress herself will be carried, sitting, on the weak necks of her attendants. They howl and scream as they march through the city streets.

The stage resounds, the games are calling you, go watch, Romans! Let the garrulous Forum be deserted by Mars Himself. It pleases the crowd to seek these pastimes, but the noise of the high-pitched air, that terrible sound from the curved reed flutes, terrifies me.

“Give to me, Goddess, those who I might consult.”

Venus considers her learnèd granddaughters, and commands them to address my questions: “Explain, you who are entrusted with remembering, Pupils of the Helicon, why the Great Goddess delights to hear such incessant noise.” And so, Erato and I return to that Venusian month, which has the name of Tender Love: “This fortune was given to Saturn: ‘Best of Tyrants, you will be driven from your Kingdom by your son.’ The fearful one devoured his own children, plunging them into his guts and holding them hostage. Rhea is always in mourning, so often pregnant yet never a mother. She curses her own fertility. Then Jupiter was born (antiquity is believed instead of a great eyewitness; stop changing the accepted truth.) The hidden rock in swaddling clothes settled in the gut of the Celestial: and so the father was ensnared in his fate.

“Immediately steep Mt. Ida echoed with ringing and noise, so that the baby might remain hidden, even when crying with his infant mouth. Part of his caretakers struck bronze shields with sticks, and the other part hit empty helmets: these caretakers and the Priests of Cybele do the same work. The baby escaped notice, and the imitations of the prior deed remain to this day: the attendants of the Goddess clash castanets and beat loud, leather drums, striking cymbals instead of helmets, drums instead of shields. The flute plays Trojan tunes, as they had been played long ago.” She finishes.

I begin: “Why do they depict her with the fierce species of lion, whose manes are unaccustomed to be yoked together?” I stop.

She starts: “It is believed that wildness is tamed through her; it seems true given the visual testimony of her own chariot.”

“But why is her head overloaded with a crown made of towers? Did she give towers to the first cities?”

Erato nods: “They come from her.”

I ask: “Where does the impulse to cut off their own cocks come from?”

When I am silent, the Muse begins to speak: “Long ago, there was a Trojan boy among the trees of the forest, remarkably beautiful. Attis was bound by a holy love to the Goddess Crowned with Towers. She wanted to keep him for Herself, so that he would protect Her temple, and so She said: ‘You must always want to remain a boy-virgin.’ He gives a guarantee in response to her command: ‘If I should lie, let Venus, who I failed, be my last lover.’

“He failed her, and lost himself in the nymph Sagaritis. It was what it was: for this reason the anger of the Goddess demanded punishment. The Mistress mowed down that Naiad in her tree-form and from those inflicted wounds, she died: the tree-form of the Naiad was doomed. Attis went crazy, and believing the ceiling of his rooms to be falling down, he fled, seeking the summit of Mt. Dindymon by running. Occasionally he would shout: ‘Raise the torches!’ and sometimes: ‘Stop the flogging!’ Frequently he swore that the local Goddess was present.

“He mangled his own body with sharp rocks, and he dragged his long hair in the filthy dirt, crying: ‘I deserve this! I surrender to my deserved punishment with my blood! Ah! Let these parts die, which so harmed me! Oh, let them die.’ He spoke to this point, then sliced off the burden of his dick, and suddenly, there was no sign left of a man.

“Their madness comes as an imitation, and so the emasculated attendants cut off their worthless cocks while tossing their hair.” With such a tale, and with the eloquent speech of a Heliconian Muse, she gave the reason for the madness I investigate.

“Might you instruct me, my Literary Guide, I beg you, on this, too: from where does the object of my questions come? Surely She has not always been in our City?”

“Mother always loved Mt. Dindymon, both Mt. Cybele and Mt. Ida, with Her source waters. She always loved Trojan strength: after Troy, Aeneas would have carried Her into Italian lands. The Goddess nearly followed on the boat carrying his Holy Things. But She had not yet felt the need to demand her Divine Will by Oracles to the Romans, and so She remained in Her original place.

“Then, when Rome was full of power and wealth, by now She had seen five centuries and lifted Her head over Her conquered world, the Priest inspected the fateful words of foreign Prophesy; such Oracles brought this news:

“‘Mother is away: I order you to seek Mother, Roman. When She arrives, She must be received by Holy Hands.’

“The Senators quibbled over the enigma of the obscure Prophesy; what Parent could be away? In what place must their seek Her? Apollo was consulted, and the God told them: ‘Go fetch Mother, She must be found on the summit of Mt. Ida.’

“Aristocrat-diplomats were sent. At that time, King Attalus held the scepter of Troy. He rejected the quest of the Italian men, but, let me rhapsodize about a miracle: the Earth shook with long rumbles and immediately after the Goddess spoke from Her sanctuary: ‘I myself want to be sought. Let there be no delay, send what I desire. Rome is a worthy place, to which the God of All might go.’

“The King quaked in fear at the noise.

“‘You all can proceed,’ he said. 'You will be part of us: Rome is brought back into Trojan ancestry.’

“Right away countless axes felled the pines, which Religious Aeneas had also used to flee. One thousand hands worked in tandem, and the hollow ship was painted with encaustic colors, holding the Mother of the Heavens. She was carried safely through the same waterways as Her son; She sailed near the vast swamp of Her foreign sister, and crossed both Troy’s greedy promontory and its stuck-out coast, both the little island and the one that held the former Kingdom of Eetion. They welcome the Cyclades, leaving Lesbos behind their back. What waves shatter in the Isle of Marble’s shallows! And She crosses the sea where Icarus drowned when he destroyed his gliding wings, and gave his name to the desolate water. Then, at the left is Crete, to the right the homelands of Pelops lift out of the waves, and She seeks Cythera, sacred to Venus. From here they reach the Sicilian Sea, where Brontes, Steropes, and Acmonides (Cyclopes) usually dip their iron, white hot from the forge. She traverses the African Sea, looking at the Sardinian Kingdom to her left; and finally they head for Italy, using the oars.

“She had reached Ostia, where the Tiber dissolves itself into the Sea and flows into the Open Ocean. Every Knight and influential Senator, alongside a dense crowd, came, looking at the mouth of the Tuscan River. As one, mothers, daughters, and brides processed, each cherished the Holy Hearth by keeping their chastity. The men tired their busy arms with tight rigging and ropes: with difficulty the foreign ship entered upstream waters. For a long time the ground had been parched, drought burning the grasses and herbs: the ship sat sinking into the muddy shallows.

“Everyone was present for the ordeal, working extra hard for their part, helping with strong hands and celebratory voices, just as the ferryboat stuck fast, sitting on an island in the middle of the river. The shocked men just stood there, afraid of the portent.

“Claudia Quinta, her family descended from the noble Claudian line (her beauty was not unequal to her nobility!), was indeed chaste, but was not believed. Unfair Rumor had hurt her, she was a defendant in a public trial of false accusation. She walked against the crowd to push forward, beautifully dressed and with diversely embellished hair, a speech ready at hand against the strict Senators. The knowledge of her innocence laughed at the well-known lie of Rumor; but we, the credulous crowd, are at fault.

“When she emerged from the procession of Chaste Mothers, she drank the pure water of the river with her hands, spilling it three times on her head, each time raising her palms to the sky (everyone that saw this thought she had lost her mind). On humble knees she fastened her gaze on the image of the Goddess and she spoke these words: ‘Kindly, Fertile Mother of the Gods, of Your suppliant, accept these prayers on a certain term: I am denied innocence. If You condemn me, I will admit to deserving it. May I, having been defeated, undergo punishment by death, by judge, by Goddess. But if there is no guilt, You will give confirmation, by Your actions, of my innocence. The Chaste Goddess will follow my Clean Hands!’ She said this, and with little effort dragged the rigging (a Miracle! But I vouch for it publicly.) The Goddess was moved, and followed Her leader, and showed Her approval by following. The Witness of Joy was hauled up and a shout was sent to the stars!

“They came to a bend in the river. Our forefathers say it was the Forecourt of the Tiber, where the river turns away to the left. Night was present: so they tied up the rigging to an oak stump and they gave food and easy sleep to their overworked bodies. Daylight was present: they loosened the rigging from the oak stump, however, before they did so, they set out an altar and burned incense. In front of this, they garlanded the stern of the ship and sacrificed a heifer without blemish, ignorant of work or sex.

“There is a place, where the slippery Almo flows into the Tiber, and the little stream destroys His name in the big river. There, a white-haired priest with a purple-red outfit bathed the Mistress and her Holy Items in the waters of the Almo. His attendants howled and screamed, and the frantic flute was blown, and emasculated hands struck bull-leather drums. Claudia, the most honored and famous, led the crowd, her face beaming. After such difficulty, at long last, her innocence was believed by the witnesses, by the Goddess; who Herself was seated on a wagon, as She was brought in through the Northern gate. Fresh flowers were strewn over the yoked cows that pulled Her. Nasica (a line of the Scipio clan) brought Her in, though the actual name of the founder of the temple did not stand the test of time. Now it is Augustus, before it was Metellus.”

Here Erato stopped, and a pause arose, so I asked the rest of my questions:

“Tell me,” I said. “Why might She seek wealth by small donations?”

“The people gathered their pennies, thanks to which Metellus was able to build Her Temples,” she replied. “The custom of devoting donations has continued ever since.”

“Why might everyone attend banquets, having exchanged letters and invitations,” I ask. “At this time more than others? Why might they frequent publicized feasts?”

“Because luckily the Priests changed Her home,” she said. “Guests chase the same luck by changing houses.”

I press on: “Why might the First Games start with the Megalesia in Our City?”

Since the Goddess in fact felt my question coming, she answered: “She gave birth to the Gods, they yield to Her, and Mother has been given the honor of the Beginning.”

“Why then do we call those who raze themselves Galli, when Gallic ground is so distant from Troy?”

“Between,” she said. “Verdant Mt. Cybele and the high Celaenan peaks flows a river from a frantic spring, by the name ‘Gallus’. Those who drink from there go insane. Stay far from here, you who are anxious about your sane mind: those who drink from there go insane.”

“He is not ashamed to devote,” I said. “A herbaceous salad for the Mistress of the month. Perhaps Her own reasons underlie this?”

“It is said the Ancients enjoyed undiluted milk and herbs voluntarily and on their own if the land was producing something,” she replied. “White cheese is combined with crushed herbs, so that the Ancient Goddess might recognize ancient foods.”

—

Ter sine perpetuo caelum versetur in axe,

ter iungat Titan terque resolvat equos,

protinus inflexo Berecyntia tibia cornu

flabit, et Idaeae festa parentis erunt.

ibunt semimares et inania tympana tundent,

aeraque tinnitus aere repulsa dabunt:

ipsa sedens molli comitum cervice feretur

urbis per medias exululata vias.

scaena sonat, ludi que vocant, spectate, Quirites,

et fora Marte suo litigiosa vacent,

quaerere multa libet, sed me sonus aeris acuti

terret et horrendo lotos adunca sono.

‘da, dea, quem sciter.’ doctas Cybeleia neptes

vidit et has curae iussit adesse meae.

‘pandite, mandati memores, Heliconis alumnae,

gaudeat assiduo cur dea Magna sono.’

sic ego, sic Erato (mensis Cythereius illi

cessit, quod teneri nomen amoris habet):

‘reddita Saturno sors haec erat, ‘optime regum,

a nato sceptris excutiere tuis.’

ille suam metuens, ut quaeque erat edita, prolem

devorat, immersam visceribusque tenet.

saepe Rhea questa est, totiens fecunda nec umquam

mater, et indoluit fertilitate sua.

Iuppiter ortus erat (pro magno teste vetustas

creditur; acceptam parce movere fidem):

veste latens saxum caelesti gutture sedit:

sic genitor fatis decipiendus erat.

ardua iamdudum resonat tinnitibus Ide,

tutus ut infanti vagiat ore puer.

pars clipeos rudibus, galeas pars tundit inanes:

hoc Curetes habent, hoc Corybantes opus.

res latuit, priscique manent imitamina facti;

aera deae comites raucaque terga movent,

cymbala pro galeis, pro scutis tympana pulsant;

tibia dat Phrygios, ut dedit ante, modos.’

desierat. coepi: ‘cur huic genus acre leonum

praebent insolitas ad iuga curva iubas?’

desieram. coepit: ‘feritas mollita per illam

creditur; id curru testificata suo est.’

‘at cur turrifera caput est onerata corona?

an primis turres urbibus illa dedit?’

annuit. ‘unde venit’ dixi ‘sua membra secandi

impetus?’ ut tacui, Pieris orsa loqui:

‘Phryx puer in silvis, facie spectabilis, Attis

turrigeram casto vinxit amore deam.

hunc sibi servari voluit, sua templa tueri,

et dixit ‘semper fac puer esse velis.’

ille fidem iussis dedit et ‘si mentiar,’ inquit

‘ultima, qua fallam, sit Venus illa mihi.’

fallit et in nympha Sagaritide desinit esse

quod fuit: hinc poenas exigit ira deae.

Naida volneribus succidit in arbore factis,

illa perit: fatum Naidos arbor erat.

hic furit et credens thalami procumbere tectum

effugit et cursu Dindyma summa petit

et modo ‘tolle faces!’‘remove’ modo ‘verbera!’ clamat;

saepe Palaestinas iurat adesse deas.

ille etiam saxo corpus laniavit acuto,

longaque in immundo pulvere tracta coma est,

voxque fuit ‘merui! meritas do sanguine poenas.

a! pereant partes, quae nocuere mihi!

a! pereant’ dicebat adhuc, onus inguinis aufert,

nullaque sunt subito signa relicta viri.

venit in exemplum furor hic, mollesque ministri

caedunt iactatis vilia membra comis.’

talibus Aoniae facunda voce Camenae

reddita quaesiti causa furoris erat.

‘hoc quoque, dux operis, moneas, precor, unde petita

venerit, an nostra semper in urbe fuit?’

‘Dindymon et Cybelen et amoenam fontibus Iden

semper et Iliacas Mater amavit opes:

cum Troiam Aeneas Italos portaret in agros,

est dea sacriferas paene secuta rates,

sed nondum fatis Latio sua numina posci

senserat, adsuetis substiteratque locis.

post, ut Roma potens opibus iam saecula quinque

vidit et edomito sustulit orbe caput,

carminis Euboici fatalia verba sacerdos

inspicit; inspectum tale fuisse ferunt:

‘mater abest: matrem iubeo, Romane, requiras.

cum veniet, casta est accipienda manu.

‘obscurae sortis patres ambagibus errant,

quaeve parens absit, quove petenda loco.

consulitur Paean,’ divum ‘que arcessite Matrem,’

inquit ‘in Idaeo est invenienda iugo.’

mittuntur proceres. Phrygiae tunc sceptra tenebat

Attalus: Ausoniis rem negat ille viris,

mira canam, longo tremuit cum murmure tellus,

et sic est adytis diva locuta suis:

ipsa peti volui, nec sit mora, mitte volentem.

dignus Roma locus, quo deus omnis eat.’

ille soni terrore pavens ‘proficiscere,’ dixit

‘nostra eris: in Phrygios Roma refertur avos.’

protinus innumerae caedunt pineta secures

illa, quibus fugiens Phryx pius usus erat:

mille manus coeunt, et picta coloribus ustis

caelestum Matrem concava puppis habet,

illa sui per aquas fertur tutissima nati

longaque Phrixeae stagna sororis adit

Rhoeteumque rapax Sigeaque litora transit

et Tenedum et veteres Eetionis opes.

Cyclades excipiunt, Lesbo post terga relicta,

quaeque Carysteis frangitur unda vadis.

transit et Icarium, lapsas ubi perdidit alas

Icarus et vastae nomina fecit aquae.

tum laeva Creten, dextra Pelopeidas undas

deserit et Veneris sacra Cythera petit,

hinc mare Trinacrium, candens ubi tinguere ferrum

Brontes et Steropes Acmonidesque solent,

aequoraque Afra legit Sardoaque regna sinistris

respicit a remis Ausoniamque tenet.

Ostia contigerat, qua se Tiberinus in altum

dividit et campo liberiore natat:

omnis eques mixtaque gravis cum plebe senatus

obvius ad Tusci fluminis ora venit.

procedunt pariter matres nataeque nurusque

quaeque colunt sanctos virginitate focos,

sedula fune viri contento brachia lassant:

vix subit adversas hospita navis aquas,

sicca diu fuerat tellus, sitis usserat herbas:

sedit limoso pressa carina vado.

quisquis adest operi, plus quam pro parte laborat,

adiuvat et fortis voce sonante manus,

illa velut medio stabilis sedet insula ponto:

attoniti monstro stantque paventque viri.

Claudia Quinta genus Clauso referebat ab alto,

nec facies impar nobilitate fuit:

casta quidem, sed non et credita: rumor iniquus

laeserat, et falsi criminis acta rea est;

cultus et ornatis varie prodisse capillis

obfuit, ad rigidos promptaque lingua senes,

conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit,

sed nos in vitium credula turba sumus,

haec ubi castarum processit ab agmine matrum

et manibus puram fluminis hausit aquam,

ter caput inrorat, ter tollit in aethera palmas (

quicumque aspiciunt, mente carere putant)

summissoque genu voltus in imagine divae

figit et hos edit crine iacente sonos:

‘supplicis, alma, tuae, genetrix fecunda deorum,

accipe sub certa condicione preces.

casta negor. si tu damnas, meruisse fatebor;

morte luam poenas iudice victa dea.

sed si crimen abest, tu nostrae pignora vitae

re dabis et castas casta sequere manus.’

dixit et exiguo funem conamine traxit (

mira, sed et scaena testificata loquar):

mota dea est sequiturque ducem laudatque sequendo:

index laetitiae fertur ad astra sonus,

fluminis ad flexum veniunt (Tiberina priores

atria dixerunt), unde sinister abit.

nox aderat: querno religant in stipite funem

dantque levi somno corpora functa cibo.

lux aderat: querno solvunt a stipite funem;

ante tamen posito tura dedere foco,

ante coronarunt puppem et sine labe iuvencam

mactarunt operum coniugiique rudem,

est locus, in Tiberim qua lubricus influit Almo

et nomen magno perdit in amne minor:

illic purpurea canus cum veste sacerdos

Almonis dominam sacraque lavit aquis,

exululant comites, furiosaque tibia flatur,

et feriunt molles taurea terga manus.

Claudia praecedit laeto celeberrima voltu,

credita vix tandem teste pudica dea;

ipsa sedens plaustro porta est invecta Capena:

sparguntur iunctae flore recente boves.

Nasica accepit, templi non perstitit auctor:

Augustus nunc est, ante Metellus erat.’

substitit hic Erato, mora fit; sic cetera quaero:

‘dic,’ inquam ‘parva cur stipe quaerat opes.’

‘contulit aes populus, de quo delubra Metellus

fecit,’ ait ‘dandae mos stipis inde manet.’

cur vicibus factis ineant convivia, quaero,

tunc magis, indictas concelebrentque dapes

‘quod bene mutant sedem Berecyntia,’ dixit

‘captant mutatis sedibus omen idem.’

institeram, quare primi Megalesia ludi

urbe forent nostra, cum dea (sensit enim)

‘illa deos’ inquit ‘peperit, cessere parenti,

principiumque dati Mater honoris habet.’

‘cur igitur Gallos, qui se excidere, vocamus,

cum tanto a Phrygia Gallica distet humus?’

‘inter’ ait ‘viridem Cybelen altasque Celaenas

amnis it insana, nomine Gallus, aqua.

qui bibit inde furit: procul hinc discedite, quis est

cura bonae mentis: qui bibit inde, furit.’,

‘non pudet herbosum’ dixi ‘posuisse moretum

in dominae mensis, an sua causa subest?’

‘lacte mero veteres usi narrantur et herbis,

sponte sua si quas terra ferebat’ ait.

‘candidus elisae miscetur caseus herbae,

cognoscat priscos ut dea prisca cibos.’

—

P. Ovidius Naso, “Fastorum Libri Sex,” Lib. IV 179-373

translated by @zmaragdos

[tattooed-alchemist]

This Roman springtime dish is a kind of cheesy pesto once eaten in honour of the Goddess Cybele, The Magna Mater (The Great Mother). And according to Ovid, Moretum descends from a time ancient people drank only pure milk and ate only “the herbs that the earth bore of its free will.” And as we’ll discover a little later on – it may have been the originator of pizza!

Moretum was traditionally served during Megalesia, an April festival which began with a procession carrying the image or a statue of Cybele through the streets in a chariot drawn by lions, her sacred animals. Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius wrote  “with bronze and silver they strew all the paths of her journey … and threw snow rose-blossoms over her.”