Festivals
All festivals of Juno were held on the kalendae of a month except two (or perhaps three): The Nonae Caprotinae on the nonae of July, the festival of Juno Capitolina on September 13, because the date of these two was determined by preeminence of Jupiter. Perhaps a second festival of Juno Moneta was held on October 10, possibly the date of the dedication of her temple. This fact reflects the strict association of the goddess with the beginning of each lunar month.
Every year, on the first of March, women held a festival in honor of Juno Lucina called the Matronalia. Lucina was an epithet for Juno as "she who brings children into light." On this day, lambs and cattle were sacrificed in her honor in the temple of her sacred grove on the Cispius.
The second festival was devoted to Juno Moneta on June 1.
Following was the festival of the Nonae Caprotinae ("The Nones of the Wild Fig") held on July 7.
The festival of Juno Regina fell on September 1, followed on the 13 of the same month by that of Juno Regina Capitolina.
October 1 was the date of the Tigillum Sororium in which the goddess was honoured as Juno Sororia.
Last of her yearly festivals came that of Juno Sospita on February 1. It was an appropriate date for her celebration since the month of February was considered a perilous time of passage, as then the cosmic year comes to an end and the limits between the world of the living and the underworld are no longer safely defined. Hence the community invoked the protection (tutela) of the warlike Juno Sospita, The Saviour.
Juno is the patroness of marriage, and many people believe that the most favorable time to marry is June, the month named after the goddess.
Read more about this topic: Juno (mythology)
Famous quotes containing the word festivals:
“This is certainly not the place for a discourse about what festivals are for. Discussions on this theme were plentiful during that phase of preparation and on the whole were fruitless. My experience is that discussion is fruitless. What sets forth and demonstrates is the sight of events in action, is living through these events and understanding them.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)