The (hot) Dog Days of Summer

The girls and I attended a program at Oakwoods today all about the late summer period of time between early July and early September, called the dog days of summer.  We learned of the legends and lore of this time, that it dates back to the time of the ancient Romans, the evil things that would happen during this time, and their methods to protect themselves.

Sirius, the brightest of the stars in the constellation Canis Major (the big dog), also happens to be the brightest star in the night sky. In fact, it is so bright that the ancient Romans thought that the earth received heat from it since, at the time, it rose at sunrise along with the sun, and therefore, they figured, it had to be the reason for the hotness of the days.

Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies"  During rituals known as the Robigalia, they would sacrifice a brown dog in an attempt to please the gods and ward off the evilness.

After the program, we had a Robigalia of our own and sacrificed some (hot) dogs.   I don't know if it will have any effect on the evilness over the rest of the summer, but the effect that it had on my belly sure was fufilling!