Monday, May 24, 2010

Let It Snow.......


Can you believe this? It is the 24th of May and we are having a huge snow storm. Tiff took a picture of it just before she left for work to prove it to her online friends. I hurried out and put newspaper over all my "just planted" pots of flowers in the front, hope it doesn't freeze as they just planted flowers all over the condo unit last week. Next weekend is Memorial Day and our swimming pool is suppose to open.......I'm not placing any bets.
Today is also Monday. Why the name Monday for the first day of the week? It is said the days are named after the sun and the moon, fierce gods of war and gentle goddesses. It is said, the southern European people had a name for the silver ball of light that crossed the sky at night. In Latin the name was LUNA. When they decided to name a day after Luna, they called it Lunae Dies. Later the northern Europeans honored Mona ( that was their word for luna, or moon) by naming a day MONANDAEG. From MonanDaeg comes the modern English name.......Monday.
Tuesday......People used to believe in a god of war name TIW. People believed that when a warrior died in battle, TIW would come down from the high mountains where he lived and would take the dead warrior to a beautiful land of rest. To honor TIW they named a day of the week TIWSDAEG. In English it became Tuesday.
Wednesday....People believed in many Gods in early days, but the most powerful God was WODEN. Two black birds that acted as spies usually sat on Woden's shoulders. At night the birds would fly down to earth, then return to Woden and tell him everything that they saw during the night. Because he knew everything he was honored with a name for a week day. WODNESDAEG......In English it became Wednesday.
Thursday......Long ago people could not understand what thunder and lightening were. They decided it had to be caused by a god, which they named THOR. They believed when he was angry he would throw a large hammer across the sky.....the lightening......landing, the thunder. To honor this God they named a day THURESDAEG, in English it became Thursday.
Friday....People believed in gentle, beautiful goddess named FRIGG. She took care of the brave warriors who died on earth. The people named a day of the week after her, FRIGEDAEG or in English, Friday.
Saturday....Long ago in the Roman Empire, people believed in a god of farming called SATURN. He controlled the weather. Not only did the people name a planet after SATURN, they also named a day of the week after him. They called this day STURNIDIES. In English Saturday.
Sunday....Long ago no one could explain the ball of light that traveled across the sky every day. They decided it must be a god who drove the ball of light across the sky. They called the ball of light sol, which is Latin and called it DIES SOLIS. Later SNNANDAEG which means "day of the sun" became Sunday in English
And that is why we got the names for the days of the week. Did you know that?

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