I open at the close
Yes, it’s a reference to Harry Potter. I’ll get to that….
My Mercedonius, which I began on May 13, ends tomorrow, June 9. Over this time, I wrote nine blogs (and a ton of morning pages) exploring what came through during the 28 days of my practice. While, officially, I have one more day of Mercdeonius, the messages are already telling.
The back story
(Skip ahead to my story if you have already read one of the previous six blogs on this topic.)
Historically, Mercedonius is a Roman “intercalary” month inserted periodically into the pre-Julian lunar calendar so that the dates (governed by the moon) could catch up with the seasons (determined by the sun).
After a few years following a lunar calendar, planting festivals are happening in August and Christmas really is in July.
Ancient Mercedonius started on the 24th of February, lasted about a moon cycle, and then when it was over, the Romans finished out the last few days of February and started their new year on March 1st. Curiously, the day before the first day of Mercedonius, Mercedonius Eve, was the festival of the god Terminus who protects boundaries and milestones. The Romans celebrated Terminus and ushered in Mercedonius by walking the boundaries of their property annually to ensure that they knew what they had and where they were in the world.
Eventually, Julius Ceasar and Pope Gregory (of the Gregorian Calendar) fixed all the lunar/solar calendar confusion, doing away with the need for an intercalary Mercedonius, but a good idea is a good idea.
For the last few years, I have been practicing and writing about Mercedonius in my own life (see this post for the origin story) and using the practice to catch my calendar up to my season—to align my chronology and refine my narrative.
My story
NOTE: I was hoping to be clever and link each blog below, but I am more lazy than clever. Here is a link to the May Days blog—you can read individual posts from there.
May 12: Terminus. I walked my boundaries. What I thought was mine and where I thought I belonged were no longer clearly marked.
May 13: First of Mercedonius. Ambush fear with my ferocious dream--my theme for the May blog series, but in retrospect, it was really my intention for Mercedoinus as well.
Fear: leaving the only work world I’ve ever known—college academics.
Dream: creating a business using poetry to solve problems
May 16: Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. After trying out many options, I have only one choice but at least it’s my choice.
May 17: And now we wait. In the lull between the end of the semester and the start of summer, I discovered that I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for…
May 19: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. But I soon found out. I got a letter that reminded me of what I should have done four years ago.
May 20: Bad grammar. When God has to explain everything, it’s probably too late.
May 22: Bingo. Sometimes big surprises aren’t surprising at all.
May 25: Birthday chronicles/12th of Mercdeonius. Take time to see (even if it’s not clear or what you want to see).
May 26: OMG IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! Join me on the day and, yes, eat the whole fucking cupcake.
As you remember from Harry Potter, in Quidditch catching the “snitch” (secret revealer, storyteller) is the job of the seeker. If he catches it, his team will likely win the game. In other words, by looking for and finding truth, especially a truth that is not immediately evident, you will open up to what you need.
As you will also remember, the snitch has “sense memory”—it reveals what it knows through the seeker’s own language and body. In other words, the snitch gives you exactly what you need when you need it and how you need to hear it. The snitch answers the question in the same language you asked it.
Harry Potter’s snitch couldn’t tell him anything until he asked for it silently. And when he was ready, it told him to leave behind all that he knew and answer his calling.
Through Mercedonius, I wrote nine blogs that asked, What do I need in order to ambush fear with my ferocious dream? And the blogs answered: To walk your boundaries and reclaim what’s yours.
I did. And I am.
