St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-05-03
MONTH OF BLUSTER.
March Musings of the Sage of Bar
tow,
Bill Arp Writes of How the Months
Came by Their Name-Nonder.
FIJI Story of the Old Scandi-
navian Goddess HeIa.
Copyrighted, 1902, by the Atlanta ConstI
tuition, and reprinted by permission.)

greeable, uncertain, clustering month
1t was named for Mars, the God of Wa1
who was the son of Jupiter and was al
ways hunting around for fight. H
was believed to be the father of Rom
ulus, the founder of the Roman Empire
and hence was held in great reverence
by the Romans. March was named TO
him. Those old Greeks and Romans
had no weeks-nor days of the week
no Sundays or Mondays or any othel
day. but they divided time by the Ca
lends and Ides. The Calends were thu
first days of the month and the Ide.
were the fifteenth. All the intermedi
ate days were designated by these, as
for instance the third day after the
Calends OF May or the fifth day: before
the 1des of March. The Roman senate
always began it's sessions on the Ides
OF the month, except that after Julius
Caesar was murdered the anniversary
OF that day the Ides of March were OBJ
served as sacred day. I want the
Young people to know and remember
| that we got our months from Roman
mythology and the days of our weeks
from the Scandinavian mythology.
Now listen to a part of this wonderful
story, for it is classic and more fascin-
ating than the Arabian Nights. Two
thousand years ago it was the faith
and religion of millions of people Ju-
piter was the god of the Greeks and the
Romans and Wooden was the god of
heNorsemen and each had son who
was god of war. Thor was the
son OF Wooden. Wednesday was named
for Wooden and it was originally Wo-
den's day. Thursday was named for
Thor and Friday for his mother
Each of these mythologists had
hades or internal region for bad peo-
pie and evil spirits. Pluto presided
over the one and woman named Hela
over the other. That is where the word
hell came from. 1t seems an awful
thing to put hell in charge of woman,
but they said that no man was as bad
as bad woman. Her father was
named Loki and she had two brothers.
One was serpent SO big and SO long
that it wrapped around the world and
then swallowed it's own tail. The other
was wolf so strong that he broke
the strongest chains just like they were
cobwebs. Then Wooden got the noun
tain spirits to make another chain and
they made it of six things. The noise
made by cat walking, the beard of
woman, the roots of stones. the breath
Of fishes, the smiles of bears and the
spittle of birds. When the chain was
finished it was as small and smooth and |
soft as silken string, but nc power on |
earth could break it. And so they |
chained him and killed him. But listen
what kind of home Miss Hela had
Hunger was her dining table. Star
,ation was her knife. Delay was her
nan servant-Sloth her maid servant.
\ precipice was her doorstep. Care
Ter bed, and Anguish the curtains to
Ter bed chamber. No wonder she was
ruel and always wore stern. unhap-
~ and forbiding countenance.
This is just sample of their myth
,logy. 1t fills up several books. Now,
where in the world did that people get
Ill these wonderful stories. Away
Jack in the ages they must have had
'oets more imaginative than Homer.
ome of our most learned men say
hey got the foundation of many of
hem from the Bible. For the story
'oes that away back in the ages the
eople got so bad that Jupiter got
readful mad with them and resolved
0 destroy them. So he summoned all
he gods to come to him, and they
anne from all parts of the heavens,
raveling on the milky way, which is
he street of the gods, and after TAX
1g counsel together they determined
} destroy all mankind and start with
new pair. So Jupiter was about
. launch red-hot thunderbolt at the
arth and burn it up, but one of the .
DDS told him that he had better not,
or he might burn up heaven. too. So
e concluded to use water instead of .
re, and then came the food which I
rowned every human being except +
eucalion and his wife, who were good :
eople. They escaped to the top of ,
mountain called Parnassus and were I
wed. That is very much like the b
ible story of the flood and of Noah r
I'd Mount Ararat. And just so they o
1t Hercules from Samson and Vulcan n
I'd Apollo from Jubal and Jubal Cain. 1;
I'd the Dragon from the serpent that I
mpted Eve, and the giants who tried y
scale the walls of heaven from v
imrod and his tower. Every great 4
'athen god had favorite son Just
our Christian God has Son. There
something sublime and comforting (.
even believing or imagining that IL
eat and good being is somewhere
the hearens overruling the earth
d it's people, prospecting the good Il
d furnishing the evil. The fact that W
is all powerful being is invisible j.,
lkes His existence the more impress u
e. Jupiter sat enthroned on Mount d.
ympus, Wooden had a. beautiful pal
e of gold and silver at Valhalla and it
lid only be reached by walking on o,
rainbow. And we pray to our God, ~
Ting: ''Oh, Thou who dwellest in ~
: heavens" and not in the temples
de with hands. History gives no al
count of any people who did not put hi
sir trust in some God, and this T,
yves our confession of weakness
I our need of strength from some
divinity. The more cul-
ed and enlightened we become the d1
re conscious we are of our weak
IS. Children depend absolutely on We
If parents until afar up in their
MS. They do not need any other 70
/, but by and by the parents pass Ju
ay or fail to supply their increasing
nts and then comes that feeling of
plessness and the want of pro- so
tor. Reflection comes with age and