4/1 (Thu) Pesach, the Jewish feast of Passover, commemorating the
night on
which the Jews of Egypt painted the doorposts of their homes
with lamb's blood, as a sign that the Angel of Death was to
spare the family from the death of their firstborn. This
was the
last and most terrible of the seven plagues visited upon
Pharoah, and the one that convinced him to release the
Hebrews
from bondage.
In 1999 this day is also Holy Thursday, the "Last Supper" at
which Jesus celebrated Pesach with his disciples. It is one
of
the wonderful synchronicities of this year leading to the
Millennium that Passover and the day on which Jesus
observed it
for the last time fall on the same date.
This year 4/1 is also Vardhamana Mahavira Jayanti, the day
on
which the founder of the Jain religion was born in 599 BCE.
In the ancient Egyptian calendar, this day begins a major
four-day festival cycle honoring the Neters, or "gods", as
keepers of cosmic order.
The feasts and ceremonies were:
4/1 Festival Day of Hathor in her role as sky goddess
whose
cow horns embrace the Sun. Hathor, whose name means
"house of Horus", was, along with Isis, one of two
goddesses who were honored as mother of the solar
deity
and divine hero Horus. Hathor is also identified in
this
spring festival with Aphrodite/Venus, goddess of
love.
(Month of Pachons, day 17)
4/2 Festival of the Ennead--the nine "old gods" and the
boat
of Ra, which maintained order in heaven and earth by
sailing each day through the sky and the duat, or
underworld. (Pachons, day 18)
4/2 Festival of the union of Thoth, neter of letters and
learning, with Ma'at, neter of Truth. It was said
that
Thoth's understanding of numbers, and of
mathermatics as
a principle of civil and universal order, was born
of
the inspiration he received from Ma'at. (Pachons,
day
19)
4/3 Feast of Ma'at as judge of souls. (Pachons, day 20)
And in America, it's April Fool's day, derived from the old
Teutonic Feast of Fools ruled by Loki, the trickster god.
4/2 (Fri) Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and entombment of
Jesus
4/3 (Sat) Mercury reverses its retrograde motion of the last 3 weeks,
and
moves direct again in late Pisces. Obstacles and
difficulties
that have recently plagued the Mercury-ruled areas of
commerce,
transportation and communications now become easier.
4/4 (Sun) Easter, the most solemn of all Christian feasts,
commemorating
the resurrection of Jesus. Ever since Christianity became
the
state religion of the late Roman empire, the timing of
Easter
has always been reckoned as the Sunday after the first Full
Moon
following the Spring Equinox.
For some Christians, this arrangement had the additional
advantage of insuring that Easter and Passover would not
fall on
the same day.
Curiously, the timing of Easter coincides exactly
with
the time of the ancient festival mourning the death of
Adonis,
the doomed lover of Aphrodite. To avoid associating Jesus
with
Adonis or any other "pagan" figure, the earliest Christians
observed Mors Christi, the death of Christ, on March 25, and
celebrated Easter two days later. After the mid-4th century
CE,
when Christianity grew strong enough to suppress other
faiths.
Easter reverted to its natural timing, keyed to the Spring
Equinox. "Pagan" elements survive, however, in popular
fertility
symbols such as eggs and rabbits, which were common to the
Adonis festival and other ancient rites of the dead and
risen
Savior.
In ancient Rome, 4/4 was the first day of the week long
Megalesia festival in honor of Cybele, the Magna Mater
(great
mother) worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. Megalesia
was
said to have marked the arrival in Rome of Cybele's image,
sent
from her home temple in Phrygia (in the western region of
modern
Turkey).
4/5 (Mon) Roman festival of Fortuna, honoring the goddess of luck and
chance symbolized by wings, the Moon, a cornucopia and a
ship's
rudder.
4/8 (Thu) Celebrated in some countries, according to the solar
calendar,
as the birthday of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who would
become
the Buddha. This date is most consistently observed in
cultures
which attribute to the Buddha the physical and psychic
qualities
of Aries, the Ram. The Chinese, Tibetan and other Asian
lunar
calendars, on the other hand, place the Buddha's birthday
on the
Full Moon of the 4th lunar month known in the West as the
"Full
Moon in Taurus". See 4/30 below.
4/9 (Fri) Baha'i festival honoring the Deity as Jalal (Glory).
4/11 (Sun) One of the year's most important astrological aspects of the
year forms at this time. Uranus in Aquarius is within three
degrees of opposition to the Moon's Node, or Dragon's Head,
in
Leo from now through the end of September. The influence is
strongest in May and June, and begins to fade in July. In
general terms, this combination involves the experience of
shocking, upsetting, revolutionary events by entire com-
munities, including whole nations and the collective
society of
the planet. As Uranus is the ruler of electrical energy, and
therefore of electronic systems of manufacturing,
transportation
and communication, we can fully expect that the electronic
media
will continue to stage the panic festivals that they do
best;
that media-addicted people will respond predictably; and
that
keepers of more serene frequencies will have their work even
more clearly cut out for them.
4/12 (Mon) First day of the eight-day Roman festival of Cerealia, in
honor
of the goddess Ceres (= Greek Demeter) and her blessings of
abundant harvest, peace and good government.
4/14 (Wed) The Norse festival of Sommarsblot, marking the approach of
summer.
4/15 (Thu) Ancient Egyptian month of Payni, sacred to Horus, begins
with
feasts of Horus and of Bastet, the cat-headed neter who is
the
benign form of the formidable lion goddess Sekhmet.
Birthday of Leonardo da Vinci (1452).
4/16 (Fri) New Moon conjunct Sun in Aries. This may be the most
powerful and 4:23am UT passionate of all new moon combinations, as the
impulsive Aries 2:43pm HT fire ignites both masculine and feminine
energies, and may
undermine the enthusiasm and boldness of the new beginning
with
misunderstandings, quarrels and rash actions that will soon
demand repair. This is why, when the New Moon in Aries
precedes
the Full Moon, as it does this year, the slower mental and
emotional tempo that follow a Full Moon in Pisces can best
be
used for careful preparation of initiatives to follow at the
Aries New Moon. In 1999, this means that 4/1 - 15 are for
for fitting and leakproofing the ship, 4/16 for launching
it.
4/16 is also the first day of the four-day Iroquois
corn-planting ceremony, honoring Awenhai, the sky goddess
who
fell into the waters and landed on Turtle, on whose back she
fashioned the Earth.
4/18 (Sun) In the Islamic year, first day of Muharram, the ten-day
festival
commemorating the martyrdom of the Iman Hussain, grandson
of the
Prophet.
4/20 (Tue) In some Native American calendars, Month of the Beaver
begins
4/21 (Wed) Sun enters Taurus, which represents both the Bull and the
Cow
venerated as nurturer since the time of the ancient Goddess
religions.
The founding of Rome in 753 BCE was celebrated annually on
this
day. It was also the day of the Parilia, a festival honoring
Pales, the god who safeguarded sheep from illness and
wolves.
Fires were made of green branches, and sheep were herded
through
the smoke to purify and protect them.
In the ancient Egyptian calendar, this day was the feast of
Wadjet, the cobra goddess who appeared in the uraeus
serpent on
Pharoah's crown and other regalia as the protector of the
king
and his people. (Payni, day 7)
In the Baha'i calendar, this is the first day of Ridvan, the
twelve-day festival commemorating the announcement by
Baha'u'llah, founder of the Bahai' faith, that he was the
new
Prophet.
4/21 is also Earth Day.
4/22 (Thu) The Lyrid meteror shower, which usually lasts some five
days,
peaks tonight. This is one of the year's less notable
storms,
with only some 15 meteors per hour. This year the waxing
Moon,
now half-full, interferes.
Birthday of the celebrated environmentalist and animal
communicator St. Francis of Assisi.
4/23 (Fri) In Rome, the festival of Jupiter and Venus was celebrated on
this day.
In England, the feast of St. George. This day has actually
been
sacred to warrior heroes since ancient times. The Greeks
honored
Bellerophon, slayer of the Chimera, on this day; and the
ancient
Norse peoples honored Sigurd, or Siegfried, also a dragon-
slayer. The symbolism of the spiritual warrior, whose lance
or
sword striking the serpent represents the victory of wisdom
over
the appetites of the flesh, is universal.
April 23 is also the birthday of William Shakespeare (1564).
4/24 (Sat) St. Mark's Eve, traditionally a day for divining the future,
especially in matters of love
4/25 (Sun) Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist.
4/26 (Mon) In the Mayan festival calendar, first day of the eight day
Rain
Festival of prayers and welcoming ceremonies for rain and
the
new fruits of the Earth.
4/28 (Wed) In cultures throughout the planet, this day begins a kind of
universal pre-festival leading up to the great mid-spring
festival beginning on May 1. The Roman festival of Floralia
began each year on 4/28, and continued in three days of
revelry
and sexual license unusual even by the standards of ancient
Rome. Flowers were naturally associated with youthful
beauty and
vitality; phrases such as "Gather your rosebuds while ye
may"
and "Carpe diem" (pluck the day) are echoes of joyous
Floralia
litanies.
4/29 (Thu) First day of Golden Week, Japan's great spring holiday.
4/30 (Fri) Full Moon in Scorpio, opposite Sun in Taurus. The "lusty
month
2:56pm UT of May" that begins now owes some of its sensuousness to the
5/1 (Sat) presence of the Moon in the sign that rules sexuality, at
the 12:56am same time that the Sun is in the sign ruled by Venus.
Alchemic-
ally and esoterically, the Scorpionic power of rebirth and
transformation, beginning at the Full Moon, combines with
the
earthy tenacity and drive of Taurus to lend this season its
uncommon juice and stamina. Saturn is conjunct the Sun at
this year's Full Moon, however. This connotes a temporary
inhibition and weakening of solar energy, for which lunar
energy
may have to compensate--in other words, some men, like it or
not, will have to let their female sides carry them for a
few
days.
In Asian lunar calendars, the Birthday of the Buddha is
celebrated at the Full Moon of the fourth lunar month,
while the
Sun is in what the West calls Taurus. Among Tibetan
Buddhists
the feast of Saga Dawa, commemorating the Buddha's
enlighten-
ment, is celebrated for 3 - 5 days following his Birthday.
