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| In Celtic tradition, March was the traditional time for planting and sowing seeds. In Scotland the seed was sprinkled with clear, cold water for three days prior to planting, the person doing the ritual walking in a deosil direction. Then the seed was ritually consecrated and used in an ancient ritual to enhance the power of the sacred planting:
I will go out to sow the seeds, In the name of those who gave it growth I will stand before the wind And throw a handful in the air. Seed day, auspicious day The dew will come down to welcome Every seed that lay asleep Since the coming of the cold. Every seed will take root in the earth As the rulers of the elements desire. The grain will come forth with the dew It will inhale life from the gentle wind. Holiday lore: Why is March 15 so notorious? On this date in 226 BCE, an earthquake brought the Colossus of Rhodes-one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World-to its knees. But a more famous event likely accounts for the notoriety of the "Ides of March." Julius Caesar's rule, somewhere along the way, became tyrannical. In February of 44 BCE, Caesar had himself named Dictator Perpetuus-Dictator for Life. Brutus assassinated him on March 15. Caesar's murder was foretold by soothsayers and even by his wife, Calpurnia, who had a nightmare in which Caesar was being butchered like an animal. Caesar chose to ignore these portents and the rest, of course, is history. |
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