Ante Diem XVIII Kalendas December

Modern Date : November 14th Market Day

Ante Diem XVIII Kalendas December
Eighteenth Day to the Kalends of December

This day is for special religious observance.

This day is sacred to Jupiter. This is the third and final day of the festival honoring the one deity given the title of God - Jupiter or Jove to the Romans and Zeus to the Greeks. Jupiter was a friendly, mostly happy god, not vengeful or destructive like Jehovah. From Jove comes our word jovial. Jupiter was born of Cronus (Saturn) and Rhea (Ops) and usurped the throne when his father proved an unfit ruler. As the father of gods and men, Jupiter arbitrated godly disputes, assisted men in just government, governed the four seasons, and watched with fatherly interest over the actions of men. Zeus was first worshipped at Epirus in Greece, where his voice was heard coming from a giant oak tree. His priests were called Helli and would assist suppliants who came to the shrine seeking advice or favors from Zeus. On this day festivities of the previous two days continued, with feasting, games, music, singing, dancing in the streets and wine-drinking.
The Greeks celebrated the Oschophoria Festival on this day.

On this day in 465 AD, Libius Severus, who had usurped the western empire, died, leaving no emperor in the West for 17 months while the emperor Leo ruled in the East.

November is the ninth month (after March) and is a lucky month which is almost free of religious obligation.


Mercury goes Retrograde
Mercury's long "in detriment" ordeal in Sagittarius (see Oct. 30) intensifies as he goes retrograde until 12/3. He will move back into Scorpio 11/26 - 12/12, then "go direct" through Sagittarius and exit into Capricorn in January. Thus he pays, for a second consecutive year, a long visit to his unhappiest placement, where he gets little respect from Jupiter, who rules the sign of the Archer. A period of Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius is best approached with maximum forgiveness. Those who make a very big deal of the Thanksgiving holiday are likely to comment this year that it has never been so weird, exasperating and chaotic. Best pour a little extra spirit in that egg nog this year, and be careful when carving.


Festival of Oschophoria
Festival of Oschophoria 'the festival of the carrying of the grape clusters,' when branches loaded with grapes were carried at the head of an all female procession. The festival featured a procession from a sanctuary of Dionysus (the god of wine) in Athens to the shrine of Athena Skiras at Phaleron, a nearby harbor town. Grape clusters are still symbolic of female genitals in Turkey, so this festival probably celebrated fertility and sexual pleasure. The other members of the procession carried baskets of food for the culminating event, a great feast.


St Dubricius
Feast day of St Dubricius (Dubritius; Dubric; Dyfig; Dyfrig; Devereux), bishop and confessor Dubricius (died c. 545) was a Celtic saint, and it was he who crowned King Arthur. Or, so it is said. His legend is associated with the Celtic pig goddess Moccas. He was an important church leader, probably a monk, in southeast Wales and western Herefordshire, and associated with St Illtyd.