 |
| Odin the Wanderer (Wikipedia) |
Note: Read more about the days of the week and where their names come from--including "Wednesday"--in Lesson #01-059. Here we take a closer look at one of them.
Get Ready: Do you know much about the "real" stories of the Norse gods (not just what you can learn from the Marvel movies)?
 |
| Earth at the equinoxes (Wikipedia) |
Note: The March equinox, called by some the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere, is the cue for several other observances as well.
Get Ready: Do you participate in Earth Hour or any other events around the March equinox?
|
| Earth at the equinoxes (Wikipedia) |
Note: Each of the four great turning points--solstices and equinoxes--is widely celebrated across cultures. Let's look at some springtime celebrations.
Get Ready: Does your culture or region have a special celebration for Spring Equinox? If so, what do you do?
 |
| Day and Night (Wikipedia) |
Note: Morning becomes afternoon at 12 noon, but the other periods of the day are a little more slippery. Learn the different ways of dividing them.
Get Ready: What is your favorite time of day? Why do you like it?
 |
| Hindu goddess Radha celebrating Holi (Wikipedia) |
Note: Where did we get the tradition of "pranking" people on April Fools? This may once have been the date of New Years, a "liminal time" when the usual rules of polite society are suspended.
Get Ready: Have you ever "pranked" anyone--that is, played a trick on them?
 |
| Detail from The Death of Caesar by Vincenzo Camuccini (Wikipedia) |
Note: March 15 (like the 15th of every month) was meant to be a "lucky day" for Romans--but it sure wasn't for Julius Caesar! Learn some Shakespeare quotes from his play, Julius Caesar, as well as some Roman calendrics.
Get Ready: Do you know what phase the moon is in as you read this? Is it nearer to full, or to new? Is it waxing or waning?
 |
| Illustration from an 1873 magazine: Sunday at the top, Saturday at the bottom. Note that some days have switched attributes. (Wikipedia) |
Note: Not so long ago, people believed that when you were born--even the day of the week--would determine your personality. There's a little poem that will help you understand.
Get Ready: Do you know what day of the week you were born on?
 |
| The Roman gods of the days of the week, starting with Diana the Moon Goddess (Monday) (Wikipedia) |
Note: Sometimes the meanings of names are hidden away. But in fact, throughout European cultures and sometimes even in others, the names of the seven days of the week are directly tied to a fixed set of what were called "the seven visible planets" (including the Sun and the Moon). Find out the others!
Get Ready: Sunday, Moonday, and Saturnday are easy. But can you guess which planets the other days were named for?
 |
| Maia (Wikipedia) |
Note: The name of each month has its own story. While the last four months are basically numbers (seven, eight, nine, and ten), some of the middle months' names have more "august" origins!
Get Ready: When you think of May, June, July, and August in the northern hemisphere, what sort of weather do you think of? What's happening in nature?
 |
| Janus (Wikipedia) |
Note: Few of us stop to think about where the months of the year (or the days of the week) got their names, but there are some fascinating stories behind them! Here are the first four months in the modern calendar.
Get Ready: When you think of January, February, March, and April in the northern hemisphere, what sort of weather do you think of? What's happening in nature?
 |
| In many countries, school starts in September (Wikipedia) |
Note: September. For many people, it means the start of a new school year. (After 18 years as a student and 26 as an educator, I have come to feel that "New Years Day" must be some time in September!)
Get Ready: Does September have any special significance for you? What month do you think is most important?
Note: Like #01-001 and the next three through #01-005, this was submitted in August of 2007 as I was applying to write lessons for the Shenzhen Daily. It was HOT, so all of my initial columns were about the heat!
Get Ready: Do you know why some people call the hot weather in August "The Dog Days"?
.jpg){kind=link}
_(1873)_(14596944999).jpg){kind=link}
