15 March: Canna intrat, Procession of the Reed-Bearers to the Temple... Passion plays and music commemorate the story of Attis, the youthful Divine Shepherd, as a babe abandoned in the reeds by the River Gallos. This day also marks the Roman festival of Anna Perenna. 16 March: Nesteia, a nine-day abstinence from bread and wine, fish and fowl, accompanied by meditation on the Mother's grief 22 March: Arbor intrat, Procession of the Sacred Pine Tree, adorned with magenta ribbons, violets, and images of Cybele and Attis 23 March: Dies Maeroris, a day of mourning for the fallen Sun-child, accompanied by ululations and the beating of the tambourine (tympanum). One legend speaks of Phrygian Marsyas, slain in musical contest with Apollo. To others, he is Dionysos of the Maenads, Adonis, Mithras, or later, the Christ. Following tradition of great antiquity, the Roman priests of Mars (Salii) dance and beat upon their figure-eight-shaped ceremonial shields. A great procession of Curetes (Korubantes), celebrating Attis, circumambulates the Mêtrô'on, accompanied by the regal music of trumpets. 24 March: Sanguem or Dies Sanguinis, the Day of Blood, sacrificial scourging and rite of passage, commemorating the emasculation and death of Attis beneath the Pine. Thus the Galla is initiated to the mysteries, with the transforming rite of castration. The fasting ends in the midnight vigil (mesonyctium): "Be of good heart, ye novices, because the god is redeemed! Deliverance from distress will also come for us!" 25 March: Hilaria, Joyful feast of Attis, reborn in splendor on the third day as a new daughter of the Divine Mother. "Behold, I have eaten from the tympanum; I have drunk from the cymbal; I have entered into Her Sacred Presence." To the Hellenes, this festival is the Dionysia observed in the springtime month of Elaphêboliôn. 26 March: Requietio, A Day of Rest and contemplation 27 March: Lavatio, Ritual ablution of Cybele's icon. Her silver statue, containing the meteoric stone, is carried from the Palatine Mêtrô'on down the Appia Via to a small sanctuary on the Almo river. The collegium of the fifteen magistrates will bid Her to return quickly to Rome for the approaching festivities in Her honor. Amid flowers, singing, and dancing, Magna Mater returns to her beautiful abode 28 March: Initium Caiani, celebrated at the Phrygianum on the Vatican, where the great Basilica stands today. The observance typically includes a criobolium or taurobolium (sacrifice of a ram or bull) followed by a great banquet marking the arrival of another renewal of the world in springtime glory. 4 April: MEGALENSIA, the anniversary of the reception of Cybele's image at Ostia by Claudia Quinta, (204 B.C.E.) as mandated by the Cumaean Sibyl; observed as an ambarvalia, a procession to the music of cymbals, flutes, and drums. Her image, carried in a beautiful cart, imparts blessings to the fields and dwellings along the journey, as we bless all in our own life's journey. Romans observe the Megalensia among the great Ludi: games, chariot races, banquets, plays, sacrifices, and social calls. A dazzling statue of Cybele graced the spina of the Circus Maximus, where the chariot races were held. During the festivities, celebrants share moretum, a mixture of feta cheese, garlic, celery seed, rue, coriander, oil, and vinegar. This delicacy honors Cybele's gifts of herbs and simple foods which nourished us in the childhood days of human existence. 10 April: Cybele's Birthday, closes the week of the Megalensia as the anniversary of the consecration of Her temple (Mêtrô'on) on the Palatine, in 191 B.C.E. Among the Hellenes, this day is celebrated as the Galaxia, named for votive offerings to Rhea/Cybele of barley cooked in milk. 21 April: Parilia, Feast of Flocks, commemorating the founding of Rome in 753 B.C.E. This day honors Pales, a shepherd-goddess of ambiguous gender, not unlike the Phrygian Attis. 5 May: Mounuchia, offering of special cakes to Artemis, observed on the sixteenth day of the Hellenic month of Mounuchiôn. 25 May: Artemesia, the birthday of the Great Goddess of Ephesos, observed as a grand procession on the sixth day of Thargêliôn, the day prior to the festival of first-fruits, for which the Hellenic month is named. At Her world-renowned Temple, She was served by women and gender-variant priestesses, not surprising considering the proximity of Ionia to Phrygia. So great was the prominence of the Goddess here that Iônikòs often became synonymous with "effeminate". The sixth day of each month, originally marking the lunar first quarter, was dedicated to Artemis, much as the last day to Hecátê. 8 June: Kallunteria, cleansing the shrines of the Goddess on the nineteenth day of Thargêliôn 17 June: Plunteria, on the twenty-eighth day of Thargêliôn in Hellenic tradition, ornaments are removed from the image of the Goddess. She is covered in a white cloth, and carried in procession to the sea for ritual cleansing (cf. lavatio.) She is then adorned in new robes and her jewellery restored. The feast is celebrated with the hêgêtêría, a cake of pressed figs. 30 June: Skirophoria, on the twelfth day of Skirophoriôn is the procession of the white booth, holding the Goddess. All is decked in white, brilliant under the midsummer sun. The skira signifies a mixture of powdered gypsum and white flour. 12 August: Luchnapsia, lighting of the lamps of Isis. 13 August: Ides of August, sacred to the Roman Diana Nemorensis, whose birthday festival was held in the sacred grove of Aricia. Hecate and Vertumnus also are honored on this date, corresponding closely to that of the Hellenic Panathenaia. 25 August: Adonia, veneration of Adonis by the river in Lebanon; Roman observance of the Opiconsivia. 4 through 11 October: Eleusinia, the Greater Mysteries at Eleusis, a week of initiation rites honoring Demeter and Kore, culminating on the twentieth day of Boêdromiôn with drinking of the Kukeon. "Hálade mústai! To the sea, ye mystics!" This is the call to purification of both initiate and offering on the fourth day. Baubo and Iambe reflect the mystery of gender transcendence in the Gephurismoi, "joking at the bridge" to dispel the Mother's grief. 28 October through 3 November: Inventio Osiridis, the cycle of grief and joy commemorating the search of Isis for Her Beloved, and ending in the recovery of Osiris from his scattered fragments on the last day (cf. kalligeneia). This observance also shares the motif of the March re-enactment of the death and resurrection of Attis. 1 through 3 November: Thesmophória, women's festival of "things laid down": sacrificial offering; laws and ordinances; binding spells. A day of descent and return (kathodos kai anodos); a day of fasting (nesteia); and a day of the beautiful newborn (kalligeneia). 25 December: Birth of Attis, the Divine Shepherd of the White Constellation (the Milky Way) ... Attis, identified with Adonis, Tammuz, Mithras, Eros, Sabazius, and by countless other names, is a Solar deity, child of the Great Mother, born at the winter solstice ... sacrificed and resurrected anew with every springtime. To the Hellenes, this is the Haloa, wine-feast of Dionysos, honoring also the Mother as Demeter/Semele. Romans celebrate the Saturnalia week, festivals connected in antiquity with the golden age of Rhea and Kronos. 1 through 3 March: Anthestêria, Hellenic festival of flowers and wine, focused on the drama of Dionysos. Beginning on the eleventh day of Anthestêriôn, the pithoigia is the opening of the jars, perhaps a metaphor of resurrection. The middle day is choes, named for the cups poured in honor of ancestors. The concluding day is chutroi, "pots". At Eleusis, the festival is connected with the cycle of the Lesser Mysteries, Dionysos a reflection of Kore (Persephonê) with but a hint of masculine overlay. Here is the recurring theme of the three-day mystery cycle, observed in a time of the year when departed spirits seem particularly close at hand. Compare the Roman festivals Lupercalia and Parentalia, falling in the latter half of February. 5 March: Navigium Isidis, the "Vessel of Isis", laden with offerings of precious spices and milk libations, is launched following a festive carnival procession. Sacred objects are carried: a winnowing basket of golden branches, an amphora, a libation of milk in a breast-shaped cup, and a lamp in the form of a tiny boat. I have used the more common Latin spelling of Cybele, though Kubélê would provide a better transliteration of the Greek. The classical pronunciations were identical, though there are many variants of Her name from yet more ancient tongues. The word sibyl most probably derives from one of these, as may Ka'aba from Hittite Kubaba. Attis has a variant form in Atys, seen occasionally. Dates of the Hellenic festivals given here are calculated from the calendar of Ephesos, apparently adapted (with changed month names) for the French Revolutionary calendar used between 1793 and 1805. There are numerous other festivals of the Hellenes and Romans which we have not listed, of course. Several, such as the Oschophória and the Lênaia, are particularly associated with the crossing of gender boundaries in ritual observance. Our purpose here is to offer a flavor of a time long ago, providing insight on forgotten meanings of time-honored symbols and practices, while encouraging a deeper study.

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