Florimaia 3340

Today is Florimaia!

Also known as Floralia, this is another feast of flowers. The primary difference between Florimaia and Maia's day is that Maia's day is named for Sai Maia, the first of the three Werdes (fates), and Florimaia is named for Our Lady of Flowers, Anthea. Sai Maia is the principle or personification of Creation, the 'substance' of the world, the life-spinner. Because of her association with the beauty of creation, and because her festival occurs in Spring, it is celebrated rightly as a flower festival. Few things in nature can evoke a reminder of beauty as flowers can, newly blooming after a long winter! But Florimaia, or Anthea's day, is actually *about* the flowers themselves. Anthea is the Janya (or Angel) of "fruits, flowers, and blooms", so this day is also celebrated as a flower festival, though the meaning behind these days is, in many ways, vastly different -- and in many ways, very similar.

As this day falls close to American Memorial Day, I know some people place poppies on their shrines rather than other flowers. As with other flower festivals, decorating altars and shrines with flowers is the major point of the day. Gathering your own from personal gardens, creating flowers from fabric or paper, creating garlands and flower crowns, are all hallmarks of our flower festivals. Especially in this trying time, going out to see flowers personally can be impossible or ill-advised for many, so do consider creating a few flowers of scraps you may have around your house or coloring pictures of bright displays to add to your surroundings.

Ref: http://filianicstudies.org/.../upl.../2019/08/ECE_4th-ed.pdf (pages 239-240, & 244-245)