Julionet.com Blog

Nuances, vagaries and idiosyncrasies of a multilingual world plus ancillary thoughts.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Ni te cases, ni te embarques...


Marte, Dios romano de la guerra (Ares en la mitologia griega)

The saying goes like this "En un martes, ni te cases ni te embarques, ni de tu familia te apartes". Popular lore in the Spanish-speaking world has it that this is not an auspicious day to get married, to start on a journey or to separate yourself from your family.

This day of the week (martes) is named after the Roman God of War, also known as the God Ares in Greek mythology. The day of the week, the month of March and the planet are all named after him. In Spanish, the day is spelled martes, from the latin Martis Dies, day of Mars. However, the planet is spelled Marte which is the name Martis in Spanish.


The sign Aries in western astrology is named after Ares. Which it means that on this day we happen to be on the realm of his day, his month and his sign.

Other associations: the color red, fire, sports and the military. The alchemist used to associate him with iron (metal).

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