![]() |
| La Vie Parisienne, April 26, 1924 |
April is the fourth month of the year. The Romans called it
Aprillis, thought to come from the verb
apeirre, meaning "to open", in reference to the opening and flowering of plants. April was sacred to the Goddess
Venus, her festival, Veneralia, being celebrated on the first day of the month, and it was thought that maybe April was originally
Aphrillis, taken from her Greek counter-part
Aphrodite. The Anglo-Saxons knew April as
ēastre-monaþ, named after the Goddess Eostre, and this word, ēastre, later became Easter, the name of the Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. St. Mark's Eve takes place on the 24th, and superstition says that the ghosts of the people doomed to die that year will pass into the local church. The Finnish word for April is huhtikku, meaning "slash-and-burn moon", referencing the slashing and burning of plants to make fields.
The birth flower for April is the daisy, and the gemstone is the diamond. Zodiac signs are Aries, the ram, and Taurus, the Cretan bull killed by Theseus. In Egypt, Taurus was associated with the cow Goddess Hathor.
April in other languages: Avril (French)
Flowers: Daisy, Bellis (Bellis perennis is the scientific name of the common daisy), Madelief ("daisy"), Marguerite ("daisy")Gems: Diamond, Diamanto ("diamond"), Almast ("diamond"), Kaimana ("diamond" and "sea power")
Zodiac: Aries, Ovid ("a sheep"), Kreios/Crius ("lord, master" or "ram"); Fintan ("white fire" or "white bull"), Gopala ("cow protector"), Enikő ("deer" or "cow"), Byron ("place of the cow sheds"), Hathor.Fourth: Anan ("fourth born child"), Raabi'a ("fourth")Other: Aprillis, Aphrillis, Venus, Aphrodite, Easter, Eostre, Mark.
