August -- Augustus Caesar's month

DATE	HOLIDAY	DESCRIPTION
August 1	Lammas	A festival in memory of St. Peter's imprisonment and his miraculous deliverance [in 1753?]. Also known as Feast of St. Peter's Chains.
August 1	Lughnasadh Feast of the Sun God	Lughnasadh is named for the Celtic sun/fire god Lugh and also marked the beginning of the harvest season, and is celebrated with bonfires. Lugh is the son or maybe grandson of Baal; on his mother's side, he is the grandson of Balor. In Wales, he is called Llew Llaw Gyffes. Lughnasadh takes place August Eve (July 31) and August first. It is still celebrated in some form in parts of the British Isles as Lunasa (August) in Ireland: Lunasda, Lunasdal, and Lunasad in Scotland; Laa Luanys and Luanistyn (August) in the Isle of Man; Gwl Awst (August Feast) in Wales. Games in honor of Lugh's foster-mother, Taillte, who died clearing forest land for planting, occur on August first. In Ireland, this holiday is still sometimes called the Tailltean Games; year-long unofficial trial marriages arranged on Lughnasadh are called Tailltean marriages. These games were a gathering of the tribes and a mixture of business, horse racing, athletic contests, and ceremonies. They survived Christianity disguised as medieval craft guild festivals. Today, many country fairs take place around this time. With the coming of Christianity Lughnasadh became Anglo-Saxon Lughomass ("Lugh's Mass") and later Lammas (from Old English half-mas or 'loaf mass'). Loaves of bread made from the first grain harvested were placed on the altar to be blessed. Wiccan/neo pagan observance of first harvest of the year involving agricultural festivals and prosperity magic. The Christian name of Lammas is sometimes used. ( blood and harvesting holiday Animal and/or Human Sacrifice
August 1	Apple Day
August 2	Bank Holiday Civic Holiday	(Scotland) (Canada)
August 3	Satanic Revels	(sexual holiday - oral/anal/vaginal - use females 7-17)
August 3	Raksha Bandhan	Hindu festival honoring the loving ties between brothers and sister in a family. One of the brother-sister holidays. The sister ties a thread (rakhi) to her brother as a symbolic bond, and he promises to protect her.
August 6	Transfiguration of Jesus	Christian commemoration of the experience on Mt Tabor when Jesus' physical appearance became brilliant as his connection with traditional Jewish holy figures became evident to the disciples. Observed by Lutherans on the sixth Sunday after Epiphany
August 8	Festival of the Sun	Pantheist, Polytheist: This day is sacred to Sol Indiges, the solar deity. The priests on the Quirinal made a public sacrifice. The animals sacrificed by the temples were provided by the wealthy, or by temple donations, and afterwards they were used to provide free meals to the people attending the ceremonies, or to any poor or homeless people in the streets.
August 9	International Indigenous People's Day
August 15	Assumption Day Assumption of the Virgin	Roman Catholic Christian observance commemorating the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life
August 15	Dormition of the Theotokos	Orthodox Christian observance of the death, burial, resurrection and transfer to heaven of the Virgin Mary. (falling asleep)
August 15	Lunasa	Neo Pagan: Lunasa is the Irish word for August. In Wales, the first August full moon is Arianrhod, "silver wheel." In Scotland, it is Gealach, the "bright white moon of the seasons."
August 16	Festival of the Palio	(honors the Catholic Virgin Mary in Italy)
August 17	Portunalia	Pantheist, Polytheist: The Portunalia is a festival sacred to Portunis, an alter-ego of the god Janus. The temple of Portunis was built at the port on the Tiber, and this is one of the so-called the Tiberinalia, or the festival of the Tiber river, as Portunis is the god of the Tiber. Portunis is also known as the god of keys, or the opening of locked gates, while as Janus he was the god of doors. On this day old keys were burned in the hearth as a sacrificial offering.
August 19	Vinalia	Pantheist, Polytheist: This day was known as the Vinalia Rustica or the Vinalia Altera. On this day the first new wine was brought into the city. This day was a holiday specifically for the growers or kitchen-gardeners (holitores), and feasts and wine drinking were the order of the day.
August 21	Ludi Consualia	Pantheist, Polytheist: The Consualia is a festival which honors Consus, the god who protects the harvest which is now in storage at this time. The harvest grains were stored in underground vaults, and the temple of Consus was also underground. This shrine was covered with earth all year and was only uncovered for this one day. Mars, as a protector of the harvest, was also honored on this day, as were the lares, the household gods that individual families held sacred. Chariot races were held this day in the Circus Maximus, which included an odd race in which chariots were pulled by mules. As part of the ceremonies, the rex sacrorum would appear in full garb riding his horse-drawn chariot once around the Circus Maximus. On this day the Rape of the Sabine women took place under Romulus. Seeing a need to increase the population of Rome, Romulus authorized each Roman to forcibly take women from the visiting Sabines as their wives, but only as appropriate to their social status. A war to avenge this insult was avoided when the kidnapped Sabine women intervened and voluntarily accepted their Roman husbands, who had been careful to treat them honorably.
August 24	Volcanalia	Pantheist, Polytheist: The Volcanalia is a festival sacred to Volcanus (Vulcan), the fire god. On this day great bonfires were lit at night in his honor and feasts were held. The Romans learned the hard way that temples to Volcanus had to be built outside the city, as the bonfires and festivals could get out of control by excited participants. Into the fire the Romans would throw pro animus humanis fishes from the Tiber that were caught in the area Vulcani. Volcanoes, earthquakes and lightning were all the domain of Volcanus. In Greece this day was known as both the Day of Moira and the Day of Nemesea. Moira (Moros) was Doom, one of the twelve Fates. Nemesis (Adrasteia) was Revenge, one of the twelve Fates.
August 24	Festival of Vulcan	Pantheist, Polytheist: This day continued the Volcanalia, though unnamed as such, and the fires of the previous night were allowed to burn out, or put out if they had been buildings in the city. The rite of mundus was performed this day, in which an effigy representing the sky was placed upside down in a pit and covered with a large stone called the lapis manalis. Three times a year, including today, the stone was removed to allow the spirits of the underworld access to the upper regions of the earth. This day is also sacred to Ops, a goddess representing the fertility of the earth, also known as Consivia, whose festival begins tomorrow.
August 24	St Bartholomew's Day Mania	Observed by Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern churches. On this day in 1572 Catherine de Médicis initiated a slaughter of over 3,000 Huguenots, giving the incident the title Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre. (Great Sabbat and Fire Festival - large herb gathering) (opening of Nether World Gate)
August 24 - 27	Fundus Mundi	Dionysian, Pantheist, Satanist: Fundus Mundi seems to be a Greek/Roman mixture of Lammas and Halloween. It means "bottom of the world," or underworld, in Latin. It's a time of transition, when the gates of the underworld open for a few days, and hence has been used as a justification for ritual trials of endurance.
August 25	Opiconsivia	Neo Pagan, Pantheist, Polytheist: This day is sacred to Ops Consivia, or the earth-goddess, is associated with the god Consus, but is considered to be the wife of Saturn. The shrine to Ops Consivia was located in the Regia and on this day the Vestal Virgins would have opened the room of sacred objects and performed rites unknown. The purpose of the rites was to ensure the fertility of the earth.
August 28	Feast of Nephthys	Dionysian, Pantheist, Satanism: Nephthys was the Egyptian goddess of death. In the nineteenth century there was increased popular interest in mythology of all kinds, Far Eastern and Egyptian as well as Greek and Roman, on the part of occultists as well as the general public. Some abusive groups incorporated as many "dark" gods as possible into their rites and holidays. Such groups are generally referred to as pantheistic cults, (pan meaning all and theist meaning one who believes in God or gods.) Nephthys was married to Set, as in "The Temple of Set." (wife of Set, Goddess of Death)
August 29	Martyrdom of John the Baptist	Remembers the beheading of John by King Herod in 30 AD. King Herod was holding John prisoner, who had been criticizing him, but was reluctant to execute him since he was liked by the people. On Herod's birthday, his daughter's dancing pleased him so much that he promised to grant her one wish. She wished for the head of John the Baptist, and this was granted.
August 31	Rama Krishna Jayanti Sri Krishna Jayanti	Hindu celebration of the birthday of Sri Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Krishna. Sweets, fruits and milk products are available in abundance.

Holidays and Festivals - Encyclopedia of Days
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