Ides of March & Other Superstitions

March Superstitions

The Ides of March; just one of the dozen Ides that occurs every month of the year or a day to watch your back? The term Ides of March is best known as the date in which Julius Caesar was killed in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Brutus. “Beware the Ides of March” was a warning to Julius Caesar, which will be forever associated with the date as a sense of foreboding dark events. While this is the most popular association to the date of March 15th, there is more to the month of March then most people know.

The word Ides comes from the Latin word “Idus” which means “half division.” Widely used in the Roman calendar, the 15th day of March (ides) indicates the approximate day that was the middle of the month. According to the Georgian calendar, March is the third month of the year, but according to the early Roman calendar, it was the first month and was called Martius. The ancient Romans later made January 1 the beginning of the year.

Here are some more interesting March superstitions:

• "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" suggests the first day of March is often stormy, and towards the end of the month it is calm and cool.
• "April borrowed from March three days, and they were ill" refers to the first three days of April, which are usually rough and stormy like March.
• The first three days of March "blind days" because they are supposedly unlucky. If rain falls on these days, farmers are said to have poor harvests.

So, the Ides of March is just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year but it does not hurt to watch your back that day, just in case.