“Politics of the Tantrum and the Hissy Fit”

From FB:

“Historically, fascism is of necessity and by design a form of youth movement, and all youth movements have more than a whiff of fascism about them. The exaltation of passion over reason, action over deliberation, is a naturally youthful impulse. Treating young people as equals, ‘privileging’ their opinion precisely because they lack experience or knowledge, is an inherently fascist tendency, because at its heart lies the urge to throw off ‘old ways’ and ‘old dogmas’ in favor of what the Nazis called the ‘idealism of the deed.’ Youth politics – like populism generally – is the politics of the tantrum and the hissy fit.”

– Jonah Goldberg

Saint Mark the Evangelist

From FB:

“March 28th is the final of a three day period after the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist. Mark is the traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark and is said to have founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most important episcopal sees of early Christianity.

It was the custom in villages in England, from the 17th century to the late 19th century, to sit in the church porch on St. Mark’s Eve. Those sitting had to keep silent between the bell tolling at 11.00 p.m. until the bell struck 1.00 a.m. In Yorkshire it was necessary to keep vigil for three successive nights. On the third such sitting, it was said that the ghosts of those to die during the year would be witnessed passing into the church.

Some accounts of the custom state that the watchers must be fasting, or must circle the church before taking up position. The ghosts of those who were to die soon would be the first observed, while those who would almost see out the year would not be witnessed until almost 1.00 a.m. Other variations of the superstition say that the watchers would see headless or rotting corpses, or coffins approaching.”

Biloxi, Mississippi (2000)

From FB:

“On the way to New Orleans for the Nokia Sugar Bowl to watch Michael Vick lead the underdog Virginia Tech Hokies against the eventual champion Florida State Seminoles.

This pic reflects the morning after a night of debauched lunacy in Biloxi, MS that began with Keith Pope singing karaoke to Clarence Carter’s “Strokin'” to a casino-ful of geriatric emphysema patients and ended (as many pre-marriage drunken nights invariably did) at the Waffle House.”

Britannia

From FB:

“March 24th marks the feast day of the Norse god Heimdall, the Christian Archangel Gabriel, and the Celtic goddess Britannia.

Britannia is best known as a national personification of the United Kingdom. The name is a Latinisation of the native Brittonic word for the island, Pretanī, which also produced the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Britain. In Modern Welsh the name remains Prydain.

After the Roman conquest in 43 AD, Britannia meant Roman Britain, a province covering the island south of Caledonia (roughly Scotland). Britannia is the name given to the female personification of the island, and it is a term still used to refer to the whole island.

In the 2nd century, Roman Britannia came to be personified as a goddess, armed with a trident and shield and wearing a Corinthian helmet. After centuries of declining use, the Latin form was revived during the English Renaissance as a rhetorical evocation of a British national identity. The personification of the martial Britannia was used as an emblem of British maritime power and unity, most notably in “Rule, Britannia!”.

A British cultural icon, she was featured on all modern British coinage series until the redesign in 2008, and still appears annually on the gold and silver “Britannia” bullion coin series. In 2015 a new definitive £2 coin was issued, with a new image of Britannia.

The goddess Britannia was often associated with the Roman goddess Minerva, who was herself the Roman appropriation of the goddess Athena. Both Minerva and Athena are based upon the ancient Phoenician goddess Barati, recognised in the Indian Vedas as Goddess of the Waters. Athena and Minerva were goddesses of arts, trade, strategy in war, and wisdom. As the overseas and furthest territory of the Roman Empire, the British Isles soon became identified with the goddess of warfare and water. Her feast day is considered to be a day of orderliness and protection.”

Martius

From FB:

“The name of March comes from Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. It was named after Mars, the Roman god of war, and an ancestor of the Roman people through his sons Romulus and Remus. Martius was the beginning of the season for warfare and the festivals held in his honor during the month were mirrored by others in October, when the season for these activities came to a close.

Mars is similar to the Greek god Ares, Tiu or Twaz of Central and Northern Europe, Teutates of the Celts, and Tyr of the Norse. While Mars was worshiped in Rome as a god of war, he was also the protector of the ‘most honorable pursuit,’ agriculture.

March is considered a month of renewal. This aspect of growth is present in the Frankish name for March, Lentzinmanoth (literally ‘renewal month’). The full moon of this month (March 9th) is called the Worm or Sap moon in the American backwoods tradition.” 

March 1, 2023

From FB:

“March, the third month of the year, takes its place from Mars (Latin “Martius”), the god of war – this is the month when military campaigns generally began after the end of winter. In the early Roman calendar it was the first month of the year.

‘I Martius am! Once first, and now the third!

To lead the Year was my appointed place;

A mortal dispossessed me by a word,

And set there Janus with the double face.

Hence I make war on all the human race;

I shake the cities with my hurricanes;

I flood the rivers and their banks efface,

And drown the farms and hamlets with my rains.’

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ‘The Poet’s Calendar’

It is often regarded as the first month of Spring, but astronomically straddles the seasons with the first 20 days belonging to winter.

‘Lide’ – an early name for March – is derived from the Old English ‘Hlyda’ which referred to the loudness of the wind in this month. The Anglo-Saxons named it ‘Lenetmonath,’ which refers to the lengthening of the days and is also related to the words ‘Lenten’ and ‘Lent.’

All in all, March is often not a pleasant month, as Garrison Keillor once remarked:

‘March is the month that God designed to show those who don’t drink what a hangover is like.'”