February is a gray month. Maybe because it is in the middle of winter, maybe because it has fewer days than the other months of the calendar. Or maybe for historical reasons, since it didn't even exist in the early days of Rome (meaning the Roman Empire). The Romans had a 10-month calendar, hence the name of the final months of the calendar: September (7), October (8), November (9) and December (10)
It all started with the foundation of the city of Rome
With the legend of Romulus and Remus, the two brothers who were raised by a she-wolf (see the symbol of the city of Rome, the Capitoline Wolf). Already at this time astronomers had great knowledge and knew well the solstices (summer - longest day of the year, or winter - longest night of the year) and the equinoxes (spring and autumn, when the days and nights have exactly the same length).
Why does February only have 28 days?
But there was a difference between the solar year and the lunar year (the lunar year takes into account the phases of the moon - new, crescent, full and waning - and the Romans created a lunar calendar with ten months, beginning in March and ending in December. But this calendar lacked the seasons of the year, essential for agriculture, hence the creation of two new months. There was also a change in the number of days in each month due to some Roman beliefs (see "Why does February only have 28 days? In the end, February had 28 days and was already considered a month with bad luck and they wanted it to end quickly.
Popular proverbs and sayings of February
Popular wisdom itself, the result of centuries or even millennia of experience and knowledge, passed down orally from generation to generation, highlights this unique character of the month of February. I leave here some popular proverbs and sayings referring to this month:
February oats, fill the barn.
Good days in January pay off in February.
St. Brás Day, the stork you will see, and if you don't see it, winter will follow.
In February rain, in August grapes.
In February snow and cold, you can expect ardor in the summer.
In February the rye is raised, the oats fill the barn, and the partridge takes to the roost.
A rainy February makes the year beautiful.
Dry February gnaws more bread than all the rats in the world.
February is the shortest month and the least polite.
Hot February brings the devil in the belly.
February dries up the springs or carries away the bridges.
Hot February, don't you or your kinsman see it.
February snow, omen of a bad barn.
When it doesn't rain in February, neither good meadow nor good haystack.
So much rain for the lamps (Nª Sª das Candeias, day 2), so many bees for the hives.
If you cry, winter is about to end, if you laugh, spring is about to come.
Comments