Question: What links Fixed Star Rigel, late January/early February, and the name Samantha?
Answer: The Feriae Sementivae or Paganalia in ancient Rome and rural Italy. A festival of seed-times, the sowing of seeds and praying for a good crop. This took place on two days, seven days apart. Offerings were made to Tellus, better known as Mother Earth (below right) on the first day, and to Ceres (bottom right) a week later.
Sementivae was one of those "moveable feasts", the actual dates declared by priests, year by year. Most sources have 24 to 26 January as choices for the first day of the festival. The reason for choice of dates relied on the weather, and the weather forecasts were calculated by the sidereal calendar used in rural areas, based on the rising and setting of specific stars, in this case Rigel.
In ancient Roman times we are told that Rigel set just before dawn on what was the night of 24/25 January. The sky has moved on now, of course, due to precession of the equinoxes, and our calendars vary from those used in Roman times. Current equivalent dates would be around first/second week of February.
And Samantha? The name derives from Sementivae. Female children born around the period of a Sementivae festival were given this name, it means 'one who bestows plenty of food.'
Links:
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/86555
http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Paganalia
Answer: The Feriae Sementivae or Paganalia in ancient Rome and rural Italy. A festival of seed-times, the sowing of seeds and praying for a good crop. This took place on two days, seven days apart. Offerings were made to Tellus, better known as Mother Earth (below right) on the first day, and to Ceres (bottom right) a week later.
Sementivae was one of those "moveable feasts", the actual dates declared by priests, year by year. Most sources have 24 to 26 January as choices for the first day of the festival. The reason for choice of dates relied on the weather, and the weather forecasts were calculated by the sidereal calendar used in rural areas, based on the rising and setting of specific stars, in this case Rigel.
In ancient Roman times we are told that Rigel set just before dawn on what was the night of 24/25 January. The sky has moved on now, of course, due to precession of the equinoxes, and our calendars vary from those used in Roman times. Current equivalent dates would be around first/second week of February.
And Samantha? The name derives from Sementivae. Female children born around the period of a Sementivae festival were given this name, it means 'one who bestows plenty of food.'
Links:
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/86555
http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Paganalia
