Nepenthe (inspired by Greek mythology) – Empty
antique medicine bottle with original cork; raffia cords
Poor August…
…considered possibly the worst stretch of thirty-one
consecutive days of the year.
Newspaper articles have been written actually touting the
banishment of the month entirely.
Why?
Well, let’s pick up our scalpels, class, and begin
dissection.
Firstly, August foretells the waning of summer. The days are
getting shorter, the once vivid foliage starts to exhibit that sickly
gray-green pallor. The fruit trees are peached, plumed, and nectarined out, the
last strawberry’s been picked, and the flowers’ drooping heads are losing
petals. The cicadas, which sang so brightly in the leaves overhead only a few
weeks prior, are now dropping dead at your feet. Mosquitoes are rife; the
lightning bugs have been switched off. And every child knows that each hour
brings them inexorably closer to hearing, reading, and living those three most
horrible words in the English language—Back to School.
Vacations are over. It’s time to shake the sand from those
beach towels and bathing suits and commence the clean-out of all that
lightweight summertime wardrobe and fill the closet with jackets, and caps, and
corduroys. The garden needs a good overhaul, too, setting it up for the dormant
months approaching. Firewood needs cutting; the hammock’s coming down; and the
pool needs to be winterized. No more baseball, fireworks, or carnivals. No more
picnics or lemonade.
Yup, August is the one true month for the summertime blues.
And there isn’t even a single official or religious holiday
to celebrate—nope, not a one, which has left poor August a victim dedicated to
the observance of…
National Immunization Awareness Month
National Psoriasis Awareness Month
National Water Quality Month
Cataract Awareness Month
Neurosurgery Outreach Month
Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month
and let’s not forget a personal favorite—Panini Month.
And just when you think it couldn’t get any weirder, the
first seven days of August have been designated as World Breastfeeding Week.
August ain’t that hot in the history books either, think
about—
Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed at a poker table in
Deadwood, South Dakota, in August 1876.
The first electric chair execution took place in August
1890, at Auburn Prison, Auburn, NY—the condemned having been found guilty of
the hatchet murder of his wife. This also paved the way for the controversial
August 1927 electrocution of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants
convicted of a shoe factory payroll robbery during which the paymaster and a
guard were killed.
Lizzie Borden made mincemeat of her parents with an axe
(allegedly) in August 1892 and was later acquitted.
Judge Crater disappeared in August 1930, sparking one of
America’s biggest manhunts; he was never found. (Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance
missed August by only two days, he vanished on July 30, 1975; he’s never been
found either.)
Anne Frank made her last diary entry in August 1944.
The Watts Riots began in Los Angeles in August 1965, causing
34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, 3,438 arrests, and over $40 million in property
damage.
In August 1966, Charles Whitman went down in infamy, after
climbing to the observation deck of the University of Texas’ clock tower and
shooting 48 people, 16 of whom died.
The infamous Manson Family murdered pregnant actress Sharon
Tate, as well as Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, and four others in Los Angeles in
August 1969.
Marilyn Monroe died in August, so did Elvis, and President
Warren G. Harding, and Florence Nightingale, and Babe Ruth, and Groucho Marx,
and Brigham Young, and Charles Lindbergh, and Rudolph Valentino.
King Richard III was killed on August 22, 1485, deservedly
so.
Princess Diana was killed on August 31, 1997, undeservedly
so.
Cleopatra committed suicide by asp in August 30 B.C.
Napoleon was sent into exile in August 1815.
President Nixon resigned office in August 1974.
And, in no order of preference, historically or
chronologically—
World War I began.
The Persian Gulf War began.
The Battle of Britain occurred.
The US entered Vietnam.
Both atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped.
The first bombs of the London Blitz fell.
The first bombs of the London Blitz fell.
John F. Kennedy’s PT-109 boat sank.
America’s very first income tax was levied.
The Berlin Wall went up.
Adolph Hitler became Fuhrer of Germany.
France’s St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre took place.
Hurricane Camille hit.
Hurricane Katrina hit.
Hurricane Isaac hit.
Hurricane Isaac hit.
Mount Vesuvius erupted.
The Krakatoan volcano erupted.
And August 28, 476, was the last day of the Roman Empire.
Wow…rough month, huh?
So, to celebrate August this year I offer you—nothing.
Well, not quite nothing.
I offer you—nepenthe.
Nepenthe\ noun \ 1 : a potion used by
the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sadness 2 :
something capable of causing oblivion of grief or suffering
Figuratively, it means “that which chases away sorrow.”
In Greek mythology, it was said that every draught of
nepenthe came from the Lethe, a river in the Underworld whose waters bestowed
total amnesia of your former life.
Spencer mentions nepenthe in The Faerie Queen;
Erasmus in his In Praise of Folly.
Edgar Allan Poe sites it in The Raven.
Homer, Shakespeare, and H.P. Lovecraft reference it, too.
And it’s the subject of both American writer, Henry van
Dyke’s eponymous poem and Irish poet, George Darley’s Nepenthe: A Poem in
Two Cantos.
In 1653 famed botanist, physician, and astrologer, Nicholas
Culpeper, offered a recipe for nepenthe in The Complete Herbal:
Take of tincture of Opium made first with distilled
Vinegar, then with spirit of Wine, Saffron extracted in spirit of Wine, of each
an ounce, salt of Pearl and Coral, of each half an ounce, tincture of species
Diambræ seven drams, Ambergris one dram.
Brewed up my own batch—got a glassful right here.
First sip…
…hmmm…okay, a little bitter, maybe…an acquired taste, no
doubt.
Second sip…
…better.
Third…
…hey, this stuff ain’t half bad.
Now, what was I talking about again…?
(written with profuse apologies to anyone—good, bad, or
indifferent—who possesses an August birthday)
