So why won’t spirits go away? Why don’t we forget about them?
Why is our fascination with them so persistent? There has been a
popular resurgence of traditional spirituality in modern industrialized nations, yet this does not nearly account for the sheer pervasiveness of the spirits around us. If anything, spirits are more pervasive than they were fifty years ago.
New forms of media, technology, and entertainment have created
portals for these spirits that previously didn’t exist. Spirits are
legion; they surround us; they are everywhere.
Days of the week? Named for spirits. Wednesday is Woden’s Day;
Thursday is Thor’s Day. Not just in English, either: Mardi (“Tuesday”
in French) is the day dedicated to Mars; Mercredi (that’s Wednesday) invokes Mercury, also a traveling spirit of magic, just like Woden, with whom he shares the day.
Months of the year? Once again, named for spirits: January for
Janus; May for Maia. Juno, a very important spirit, gets two months: June and February, named for her title, Juno Februata, variously interpreted as Juno of the Fever of Love or Juno the Purifier. That’s why marrying in June is considered so lucky: Juno is the goddess of marriage. Marry in her month and obtain her blessing. Again, this isn’t just some English language affectation: the Hebrew month of Tammuz commemorates the goddess Ishtar’s doomed divine lover.
