Compost Day!

A Holiday for the Digestion of Traditions

It’s August 1st! The only month named after a man who declared himself god on Earth …. none other than Augustus Caesar! And here we are, knee-deep in a global digestive system of traditions that somehow still shape how we trade, relate, and remember.

So let’s take a fun, slightly irreverent journey through the cultural intestine that brought us here.

Mint Condition: From Goddess to Empire

Long before the fall of the Roman Empire, the Gauls sacked Rome in 390 BCE - one of many shocks that galvanized Roman militarism and centralization. As Roman power reassembled in true imperial fashion they converted the Temple of Juno Moneta (aka Hera … the goddess of memory and warning) into a mint (where they make coins). A literal temple of money. From this once holy site came the tokens we now call money, …. which the Romans used to collect protection taxes from the towns they’d “liberated.” Sound familiar?

As early as 269 BCE, Rome began minting coins in the Temple of Juno Moneta - embedding the sacred act of memory into a new ritual.

Thus was born a new tradition: mint the money, mandate its use, demand taxes in it. From Rome to feudal lords, colonial powers, and finally the nation-states of today, this basic rhythm remains unbroken.

Linguistic Archaeology: Credit, Debt, and Money

Before we go any further, let’s don our togas and dip into a little Latin:

• Credit→ crēdere = to believe, to entrust
  Meaning: “That which is believed in.”
  Someone with credit is trusted to fulfill a future promise.

• Debt→ dēbēre = to owe, to be bound
  Meaning: “An obligation from trust received.”
  To be in debt is to be held by a past gift or commitment.

• Money → monēta = “to remind, to warn” (from monēre)
  Meaning: “A reminder or warning—something that marks a promise or obligation.”
  Money began as a memory-token, not the promise itself but its symbol.

What began as memory tokens—symbols of trust—became tools of domination. When a society can no longer exchange without those tokens, colonization of the commons has taken place. (Obvious no?)

Now Enter: The Christmas Tree 🎄

Ah yes, the humble pine. Long before it became a centerpiece of Christian festivity, evergreen trees were revered across many ancient cultures. In pre-Christian Europe, especially among Germanic and Celtic peoples, evergreens symbolized eternal life during the dark days of winter. Pagan solstice rituals—such as the Yule festival—celebrated the return of the sun, and people decorated their homes and sacred spaces with boughs of fir, spruce, and pine. These trees exchanged not taxes, but affections: offerings of fruit, candles, or tokens hung upon their branches as symbols of hope, fertility, and renewal. Much like money, the Christmas tree predates the systems that later institutionalized and repurposed it.

Imagine if the Christmas tree itself became a sanctioned medium of exchange - like a Roman coin. Imagine Augustus Caesar mandating that all goods must be exchanged beneath Roman-certified Christmas trees, and that 10% of all gifts must go to Rome. (Classic move.) Of course, enforcement would be tricky - unless Augustus deployed tree patrols and a Christmas militia.

Sound absurd? Well… maybe not that absurd. Isn’t that what happened with money?

Traditions Recycled and Repurposed 🤹

Today, people all over the world still gather around Christmas trees to share gifts - just as we all still use the word money to refer to a state-issued symbol used primarily to extract taxes. And every time August rolls around, we unknowingly honor the emperor who not only gave his name to the month but also consolidated imperial control over both time and economy. Augustus Caesar reformed the Roman calendar (renaming Sextilis to Augustus), centralized tax collection, and expanded the use of coined money as a tool of governance and tribute. His reign laid the foundation for imperial cult worship, bureaucratic control, and monetary taxation systems -traditions that echo to this very day (Compost Day).

It’s all there - baked into our words, our seasons, our rituals.

We are worms in the compost of history – but today! we are not blind or writhing, but digesting what came before us, transforming it into fertile ground for new life.

🌱 Composting Memory Into Meaning

This August 1^st is Compost Day - let’s make it a day of remembrance. Not for glory or conquest - but for the strange, sticky roots of every concept we carry. Let’s unearth the sacred in the discarded. Let’s take the dung of empire, and compost it into nutrients for a more generous world.

Happy Compost Day!

🥳 How to Celebrate Compost Day (August 1st)

1. Dig Into Origins
Spend a few minutes tracing the roots of an everyday word (like “salary” or “bank”) -unearth the hidden empires in your vocabulary. Share what you find with a friend!

2. Compost Something Literal
Turn your kitchen scraps into soil. Start a compost bin. Feed the earth with what you no longer need. It’s therapy.

3. Exchange Without Money
Offer a gift, a favor, or a commitment today—no cash involved. Bake bread for a neighbor, help a friend weed their garden, or trade skills. Enact trust.

4. Honor the Trees
Visit a tree. Thank it for sheltering exchanges, past and present. Consider planting one as a “commons tree” for your community.

5. Rename the Month (just for you)
For one day, call August by a name of your choosing. “Compostus,” “Commonust,” or “ReMembrua.” Declare a new tradition!

6. Reflect and Share
Ask yourself: What systems am I blindly participating in? What could be lovingly composted?

Journal, sketch, or post about your thoughts using #CompostDay