Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/617

* FESTIVALS. 561' FESTIVALS. acter. The Mexicans had their chief feasts in May, June, and December. The Peruvians, besides the new 11 j< ,. mr-, also celebrated the summer and winter solstices and the equinoxes. The Chinese have a very elaborate system of festivals. Of these the most important is the one celebrated in honor of the dead a1 the winter solstice. Even the Buddhists of China have their feasts com- memorating the birth of Gautama Buddha, his departure from home, and his entrance into Nirvana. The Karens have an annual feast in honor of the departed, wliile the Nagas of Assam make their offerings to the dead each moon. In Siaiu the 8th and loth of every month are con- sidered sacred. From the Yajur Veda period to the present day numerous feasts have been ob- served in India. The Holi at the vernal equinox and the Dasahara in the autumn are mentioned as early as Aitareya Brahmana. In honor of Vishnu, Siva, and Indra, the Ganges, and the goddess Kali, festivals are still held. The ancient Persians had four solar feasts, at the solstices and the equinoxes, an annual funeral feast in February, a celebration of the five intercalary days, and several festivals to which a historic significance was given, as celebrations of vic- tories like that of Iran over Turan, and of Feri- dun over Zohak. The Fravardigan, or New Year's Feast, had distinctly animistic features. With the Mithra cult its great feast on the 25th of December passed to Asia Minor and the West. The Asianic peoples seem to have had their fes- tivals at the equinoxes. Thus the Phrygians cele- brated the sleep and the awakening of the sun- god in the fall and the spring. The intense wor- ship of the mother-goddess in Asia Minor no doubt influenced profoundly the festivals of the Ionian Greeks. In Greece each demos had its peculiar calen- dar. But the topr-q, or new-moon feast (Odyssey, xx. 156) was probably kept very generally in earlier times. A harvest festival, and an ancestral feast in honor of Erechtheus also go back to a high antiquity (Iliad. ix. 533; ii. 550). The Athenian calendar which is best known contains one or more festivals each month. In January the Lenwa, or wine-press feast in honor of Dionysus was celebrated (see Bacchus) ; in February the Anthesteria of Dionysus, the Diasia of Zeus, and the lesser Eleusinia (see Eleusinian Myster- ies) ; in March the Pandia of Zeus, the Elaphe- bolia of Artemis, and the greater Dionysia ; in April the Munychia of Artemis, and the Del- phinia of Apollo; in May, the Thargelia of Apollo, and the Plynteria and Oallynteria of Athene; in June, the Diipolia of Zeus, and the Scirophoria of Athene; in July, the Cronia of Cronus, and the Panathenwa (q.v. ) of Athene; in August, the Metageitnia of Apollo; in Septem- ber, the Boedromia of Apollo, the Nemeseia, and the greater Eleusinia; in October, the Pyanepsia of Apollo, the Oschophoria of Dionysus, the Athencea of Athene, the Thesmophoria of Deme- ter, and the Apaturia; in November, the Maima- ktrria of Zeus; and in December, the lesser Dionysia. The Nemeseia was an ancestor feast ; historic associations clustered about other festi- vals, while still others were nature-feasts. Great significance was acquired by the national feasts. of which the games and dramatic performances became the leading attractions. See Isthmus; Nemea; Olympia; Olympiad; Olympic Games; Pythian Oames. As in Greece, so in Italy, the festivals were in earlier times comparatively few in number. Among them wen- distinctly animistic fea ts such as the Lemuralia and the Feralia. The Roman receptivity to foreign religious customs subsequently led to a great increase, and a con- stant fluctuation in their number. At the be- ginning of the Christian Era the most impor- tant were the following: In January, New tear's Day, the Agonalin and the Cariiu-nlulio : in Feb- ruary, the Faunalia, the Lupercalia, the Quiri- nalia, the Feralia, the Terminalia, the Fugalia, and the Equiria; in March, the Matronalia, the Liberalia, and the Quinquatria J in April, the Megalesin, the Crmiliu, the Palilia, the I 'inalin, the Robigalia, and the Floralia; in -May, the Lemuria, and the Lmli Martialesj in June, the feast of Semo Sanctis, the Vestalia, and the l/<;- tralia; in July the Apollinaria and Neptunalia; in August, the Nemoralia, the Consualia, the Vinalia Kustiea, and the Vulcanalia; in Septem- ber, the Ludi Magni in honor of Jupiter. Juno, and Minerva; in October, the Meditrinalia, the Faunalia, and the Equiria; in November, the Epulum ./oris; and in December, the last Fau- nalia, the Opalia, the Saturnalia, and the Laren- talia. Under the emperors the number of festi- vals increased to such an extent that at one time there were more feast days than days of work. The Germanic nations had important fes- tivals at the winter solstice and the vernal equi- nox, the Yule-tide devoted to Frey, the Easter to the goddes Ostara, and there are also traces of neomenia. Evidence of original ancestor-worship is found in connection with some Celtic and Slavonic feasts. In ancient Egypt each nome had originally its own cycle of feasts, and the character of the festivities was determined by the nature of the divinity worshiped at its chief sanctuary. Lunar feasts in honor of the dead were appar- ently celebrated everywhere, and even the solar feasts were likely to be of an animistic character. Since the fertility of the soil depended wholly upon the inundations of the Nile, it is natural that its rising should be celebrated throughout the valley. Where worship of the solar deities forms so large a part of the religious life as in Egypt, and in the epic of the myths all other gods and departed spirits are brought into relation with them, it is natural that the life-producing energy of the sun should be bodied forth in sym- bolic acts. Sexual excesses were therefore apt to characterize especially the celebration of the great goddesses, Neith, Nut. Hathor, and Isis. In later times, however, a pantheistic philosophy and a mystic mood seem to have given the Isis festivals a more spiritual character. In Babylonia each great sanctuary also de- veloped its own calendar. Extant inscriptions do not give a full account of any system ; but it is evident that some of the greatest festivals, such as the Zakmuk, or New Year's feast at the vernal equinox, and the Saesea possibly at the summer solstice, were kept throughout the land. At the former, the destinies of men were fixed for the coming year. It seems to have been a Marduk festival. A procession between the neighboring shrines of Babylon and Borsippa took place at this time, and the King "seized the hands of Bel," by which ceremony he was formally in-