Note 522 — Chapter V · LUNAR SUPERSTITIONS AND FESTIVALS
Reading edition
On this point I am happy to find myself in agreement with Dr. W. Warde Fowler, who also regards the traditional explanation of the dies postriduani as an ætiological myth. “The fact that the authorities of the state had made one or two days religiosi as anniversaries of disasters, supplied a handy explanation for a number of other dies religiosi of which the true explanation had been entirely lost; but that there was such a true explanation, resting on very primitive beliefs, I have very little doubt” (The Religious Experience of the Roman People, London, 1911, p. 40). Dr. Fowler in a letter (under date Dec. 9, 1911) tells me that he regards as “quite probable” the suggestion in the text that these days were originally tabooed in consequence of lunar superstitions attaching to them.