The Month of June*

June is named after the Roman Great Mother Goddess, Juno; the Greek Hera. The month’s name was originally Junonius.

Juno has may attributes, the chief of which is as the Queen of Heaven. This is attribute is ascribed to Frigg in the Northern Tradition and Mary in the Christian. As ruler of the high point of the year, the time of the maximum light and minimum darkness, June is the light counterpart of Janus, the ruler of the New Year period.

Because June is the divine watcher over the female sex, the month of June is held most favourable for marrying.

As Juno Moneta, guardian of money and wealth, the goddess had a temple dedicated to her on the Capitoline hill in Rome. This contained the mint where coinage was produced. This theme of wealth can also be seen in the runic year cycle: the half-month of Feoh, the time of wealth and abundance, begins on 29 June.

On or about 21 June is the Summer Solstice, the festival of Midsummer, the Anglo-Saxon Lith and the Alaban Hefin of the Druids. The Irish name for June is Meitheamh, while the Anglo-Saxon name was Aerra Litha, “before Litha.” The Franks called June Brachmanoth, “break month,” while in modern Asatru it is called Fallow.

June’s full moon is the Hot or Strawberry Moon. The month of June is the “door of the year,” the gateway to the inner realms. The rune Dag that rules the middle of the month, is the rune of opening, representing the door that excludes bad things and admits only that which is beneficial. The runic year begins in June, with Feoh.

The Celtic Tree Calendar month of Huath (hawthorn) ends on 9 June to be followed on the 10th by the Oak month, Duir. This is a month of strengthening and solidation of gains. It can also be said to represent the “door” of the year, opening to let the sun shine in. Duir had the sacred colour of black.

In the Goddess Calendar, the first 12 days of June belong to Hera. On 13 June begins the month of Rosea.

The precious stone associated with June is the agate, whose traditional rhyme is as follows:

Who comes with summer to this earth,
And owes to June her hour of birth
With ring of Agate on her hand
Can health, wealth and long life command.

Good weather in “Flaming June” is necessary if there is to be a good harvest. Country weather lore states:

If June with bright sun is blessed,
For harvest, we will thank the Goddess.

Conversely, it is said that if it rains on 27 June, then it will rain for the next seven weeks. But “A wet June makes a dry September,” and “A dripping June brings all things in tune.” If swallows fly near the ground in June, it is a sign of coming rain. Bats flying on a June evening are a sign of hot, dry weather the next day.

*from The Pagan Book of Days by Nigel Pennick, Destiny Books, 2001.

  • 1 June was sacred to Carna, the Roman Goddess of Doors and Locks. She was the protector of family life, equivalent to the
    Norse goddess, Syn, the Includer and Excluder. Doors and windows should be repaired on this day, which is also the day of the Goddess of Storm, Tempestas, who tests them without mercy!
  • 2 June — Mother Earth / Mother Shipton's Day. Sacred to Mother Earth in her fecund aspect, Mother Shipton (Ursula Sontheil) was a famous seer in Cambridge, England, and is the patron saint of women working in laundries. She is honoured on the Wednesday immediately after Whitsunday.
  • 3 June — First day of the Festival of Carna in Rome, and festival of Bellona in ancient Rome. Celtic feast day of 'Kevin', hermit, fifth-sixth century, established an oratory, lived in the Wicklow Hills and Glendalough, Ireland. Today's Goddess: Bellona also known as Eris; Goddess of Strife and Enyo.
  • 5 June — Gobnatt / Domna. The Irish saint, Gobnatt, is a version of the deity Domna, patroness of sacred stones and cairns, honoured by ritual perambulation. The center of her worship was at Ballybourney, Co. Cork, Ireland.
  • 7 June —  Vestalia / Nones of June. The day of Vesta Aperit, the opening of the sanctuary of the temple of Vesta in Rome.
  • 8 June —  Mens / Lindisfarne / Egyptian Day. The old Roman goddess of consciousness, personified as the Goddess Mens, the mind, is intended to remind us that out consciousness makes us human, and so we should always act consciously.
  • 11 June —  Fortuna. A sacred day at the temple of Fortuna in Rome. Fortuna is the Roman Goddess of Fate — good and bad. She is known as Fortuna Primigenia.
  • 13 June — Athena. The Greek Goddess Athena, known to the Romans as Minerva, is celebrated on this day. She represents the harmonious blending of power and wisdom and is patroness of both practical and aesthetic arts.
  • 14 June — Vidar. This day is sacred to the Viking god Vidar, son of Odin. According to Viking tradition, leather workers should put aside all of their off-cuts for Vidar's boots, so that the god can combat the demonic wolf, Venris. Christianity changed Vidar to St. Vitus. "If St. Vitus' Day be rainy weather, It will rain for 30 days together."
  • 15 June — On this day in Rome, the sanctuary of the temple of Vesta, which was opened on 7 June, was closed.
  • 17 June — Ludi Piscatari. On this day, the Romans celebrated the festival of Ludi Piscatari, festival of fishermen. Ludi Piscatari became sacred in England as a Christian Saint, renamed St. Botolph. Botolph guarded the gates of ancient English walled cities. His sigil is an Egyptian diamond, a marker still used today in navigation.
  • 21 June — Summer Solstice.
  • 24 June — In Peru, this day is Inti Raymi, Festival of the Sun.
  • 29 June — Frey and Freyja. This is an important day in the runic cycle, marking the beginning of the first rune, Feoh, sacred to Frey and Freyja of modern Wicca. It also commemorates the Egyptian astrologer and High Priest of Thoth, Petosiris of Hermopolis (c 300 BCE), whose tomb became a place of pilgrimage after his death. In the traditions of East Anglia, today is the optimal day in the year to harvest herbs.

    Sources:

Page last updated: 17 Aug  2006
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