The Beauty of Names

La Vie Parisienne, September 23rd 1916 September is the ninth month of the year. The name September comes from the Latin septem , which means "seventh", as it was originally the seventh out of ten months. There were many festivals celebrated during September, from Ludi Romani, which consisted of different games in honor of the God Jupiter , to the obscure Septimontium, celebrated by montani , people of the seven hill communities of ancient Rome. In Charlemagne's calendar it is called the " harvest month", which coincides with the Anglo-Saxon's name for it - Gerstmonath , " barley month". The birthstone of September is the sapphire ; the flowers are forget-me-nots, morning glory , and  aster . Virgo and Libra are the Zodiac signs for this month. Virgo is based upon Astraea , the last immortal to leave Earth after the other Gods fled to Olympus. Libra is personified by the Greek Goddess Themis ' scales of justice, or in Roman mythology,  ...

The American Girl, August 1935 Yikes, I got sidetracked again! I'm so sorry and I'm definitely finishing these this time! August is the eighth month of the year. Originally called Sextillis , as it was the sixth month of the original Roman calendar, it wasn't until 8 BC that it became the eighth month and was renamed after Augustus . It was a month of many festivals, like Tiberinalia, which honored the god "Father Tiber" or Tiberius, and celebrated agricultural bounty, or Nemoralia, the "festival of torches", which celebrated the goddess Diana Nemorensis or Diana of Nemi , "Diana of the woods". This festival was later adapted into The Feast of Assumption. During August there are several meteor showers that are visible, like the Kappa Cygnids, and the Southern Delta Aquariids, named after the brightest star, Delta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius. The birthstones of August are peridot and sardonyx, a type of red onyx. Flowers are ...

The Saturday Evening Post, July 25th 1914 I'm so sorry I haven't been keeping up with the month posts but I've recently gotten a job and I'm still adjusting to it and trying to get back to doing anything outside of work! So I'm going to quickly try and catch up starting with July. July is the seventh month of the year. It was named after Julius Caesar, as it was the month he was born in, and was previously known as Quintilis, which meant "fifth" (the Romans originally had only ten months in the calendar - starting with "Martius" or March). He was born Gaius Julius Caesar of the ancient and powerful Julia family, which boasted the claim that they were derived from Iulus , a son of the Trojan Prince Aeneas, which in legend was said to be the son of Venus. The Romans celebrated the festivals Poplifugia and Ludi Apollinares, the latter celebrating the God Apollo  by playing "ludi" or games, which were held at the Circus Maximus, an...

Women's Home Companion, June 1916 June is the sixth month of the year. Junius or Iunius  is what the Romans called it, and there are a few differing tales as to how it's name came to be. Ovid gives two different ideas: one, that it came from the name of the Goddess Juno , wife of Jupiter, the supreme deity, and two, that it was inspired by the word iuniores which meant "younger ones", as it followed May, which might have been inspired by maiores , "elders". Ovid also claims that mid-May through mid-June is not an ideal time for marriages, as instructed by the high Priestess of Jupiter, but Plutarch thinks that the entirety of June is better than any of May for a wedding. There were multiple festivals held during June, one being the festival of the Goddess Bellona . Similar to Athena, Bellona, originally called Duellona, was the Goddess of the destructive and belligerent parts of war and consort to the God Mars. Often depicted holding a sword or spear, al...

The American, May, 1923 I'm sorry I didn't actually get to post this in May but right when I was going to I got really ill and couldn't even get on the computer. May is the fifth month of the year. May was named for the Greek Goddess Maia , a daughter of Atlas, a Pleiade, and the mother of the God Hermes, whose Roman counter part was the fertility Goddess Bona Dea, whose festivals were held during the month. The festival allowed women to make blood sacrifices and use strong wines, which was forbidden at the time. Men were not allowed to know her "mysteries" or her true name. Ovid gives us another idea - that May came from the Latin word maiores , which meant "elders", and that the following month, June, was named for the "young people". The birthstone for May is the emerald , and the birth flower is the lily -of-the-valley and the common hawthorn . Epigaea repens, commonly referred to as the mayflower , is for us North Americans, the si...

La Vie Parisienne, April 26, 1924 April is the fourth month of the year. The Romans called it  Aprillis , thought to come from the verb apeirre , meaning "to open", in reference to the opening and flowering of plants. April was sacred to the Goddess Venus , her festival, Veneralia, being celebrated on the first day of the month, and it was thought that maybe April was originally Aphrillis , taken from her Greek counter-part Aphrodite . The Anglo-Saxons knew April as   ēastre-monaþ , named after the Goddess Eostre , and this word,  ēastre, later became Easter , the name of the Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. St. Mark 's Eve takes place on the 24th, and superstition says that the ghosts of the people doomed to die that year will pass into the local church. The Finnish word for April is huhtikku , meaning "slash-and-burn moon", referencing the slashing and burning of plants to make fields.  The birth flower for April is the...

The Saturday Evening Post, March 20, 1943 March is the third month of the year. The name of March comes from the Latin Martius, the first month in the earliest Roman calendar. It was named for the Mars , the Roman God of war and a guardian of agriculture, who was believed to be a common ancestor of the Romans through the founders Remus and Romulus. Martius was the beginning of both agriculture and warfare season, perfect for the God of both. In Slovene, the traditional name is  sušec , which refers to the ground finally becoming dry enough to cultivate. In Ukranian Czech, and Slovene, there are other names, all referring to it as " birch month".  The birth flower for March is the daffodil , also known as the narcissus . Gemstones are aquamarine and bloodstone. Zodiac signs are Pisces  and Aries , the ram that provided the golden fleece. March's most famous holiday is St. Patrick 's Day, a celebration and feast day for the Irish saint. It celebrates the day St. ...

Photoplay, February 1921 February  is the second month of the year. It is the shortest month and the only month with fewer than thirty days in it. The Romans called the month  Februarius  which came from the Latin  februum , which means "purification". Februa was a purification festival held by the Romans from the 13th of February to the 15th, which was sort of a "spring cleaning" type of ritual. A God,  Februus , who personified the month and purification, came afterwards, and may have even gone on to become  Febris,  (meaning "fever") a Goddess of her namesake and malaria. In Finland February is called  Helmikku , which means "month of pearls", referring to the snow droplets on branches that freeze into something resembling pearls. It's birth flower is the  Violet  and common  Primrose . The birthstone is the  Amethyst , a gem thought to protect one from becoming drunk, and the Zodiac signs are  Aquarius , the wat...

Vogue, January 15th 1919 I'm going to be doing a series of posts on all the months, focusing on names that are associated and inspired by said month, which for today, is January . January is the first month of the year, and is thirty-one days long. January was named after  Janus , the Roman God of beginnings and doorways. He is normally depicted with two faces, which is why cats with Diprosopus, a rare congenital disorder where the person or animal has essentially multiple faces, are commonly referred to as "Janus cats". The birthstone for January is the garnet , the flower is traditionally the pink  carnation , but sometimes it is the galanthus or snowdrop . In China the flower is a plum blossom and in Japan, the camellia . The zodiac signs are Capricorn , the sea goat (a goat with the tail of a fish), and Aquarius , the water carrier Ganymede . January in Other Languages: Janvier (French), Tammikuu (Finnish) January as a Name: Januarius, Januaria, and of co...