The ancient soothsayer had seen the message written in the stars and as he saw the great Emperor Julius Caesar coming towards him he warned 'beware the ides of march'. Alas what is written is written and on the 15th of March Julius Caesar became the sacrificial lamb offered by the senate of Rome.

 

According to the less intelligent 'ides' simply means 'middle' as in the middle of the month, but as we shall see the word ides has a much more expansive meaning and one which can be understood through the ancient Sanskrit language.

 

The root of ides is formed from the letter 'I' meaning to “go” and the letter 'D' meaning 'light' together they produce 'Id' a root from the language of Sanskrit which means the motion ( i ) of light ( d ) and which is defined as to 'praise' to 'extol'.

 

 

Id is a root which expresses 'worship' and 'praise' a root which is related to sacrifice and which in ancient times was synonymous with 'fire' hence 'Id' meaning 'worship' becomes 'idh' meaning to 'kindle' and 'idhma' whose meaning is 'fuel for the sacred fire'.

 

Id also becomes 'ida' the Vedic goddess of the sacrificial offering, the chief progenitor of the Chandra Vamsa who are the dynasty ( vamsa ) of the moon ( chandra ) and the mother of the Pauravas, the first rulers of the lunar dynasty and some 6000 years ago she was glorified in the ancient Rig Veda.

 

"May Ida with her statute dwell beside us, she in whose place the pious purge and cleanse them. She, mighty, Soma-decked, whose foot drops fatness ( ghee ) meet for All-Gods, hath come to aid our worship.”

 

The glories of the goddess Ida are written in stone in the form of 'Mount Ida' which is found in Crete in the country of Greece and 'Mount Ida' which is also found in the country of Turkey, both of which are accredited to the local cultures but as we know the Greeks were very fond of Vedic gods.

 

 

In ancient times no home would be without a fire, hence the saying 'hearth and home' and the purpose of the fire was part of an altar upon which offerings to the Gods were made. On a larger scale temples would have huge elaborate fires maintained to continually burn.

 

Id meaning to 'praise' and iddha meaning 'alight' 'blazing' 'kindled' becomes the Latin 'aedes' meaning 'hearth' 'fire' 'temple' and 'aetna' meaning 'burning' and this gives us the ancient city of Sicily known as 'Aetna' which is famous for the volcano 'Etna'.

 

In Rome 'aedes' is seen as the famous 'Aedes Vesta' meaning the 'temple of vesta' the goddess of 'hearth and home' a temple in which a huge sacrificial fire was maintained by priestesses who would enter the temple between the age of six and ten and these were known as the 'Vestal Virgins'.

 

Ides has more meaning than simply the 'middle of the month' its a word which represents light, fire and sacrifice, all centred around the full moon, in an age where the ancients worshipped the gods, and elements such as fire and light were synonymous with happiness, sacrifice, worship and prosperity.

 

 

The old soothsayer had warned 'beware the ides of march' and the great warrior 'Julius Augustine Caesar' succumbed to the malefic influence of March, whose name is from the Roman god of war 'Mars' whose source is the Sanskrit 'Mar' meaning to 'ground' to 'pound' to 'smash' and this produces the storm gods known as the 'Maruts' who accompany Mars on its journey and gives it its name.

 

“Why should we object to Mars, Martis, as a parallel form of Marut ? I do not say the two words are identical, i only maintain that the root is the same.... if there could be any doubt as to the original identity of Marut and Mars, it is dispelled by the umbrian name Cerfo Martio which as Grassmann has shown corresponds exactly to the expression “sardha-s maruta-s” the "host of the Maruts" such minute coincidences can hardly be co-incidental.” Professor Max Muller.

 

"The verb iduare is probably from the Sanskrit root indh, idh, to kindle, lighten; whence indu, moon; properly, the days of light of the moon ( Lewis and Short: art. Idus ). If so, the word ides would properly be applied to the night of fullest light, that of the full moon; and the meaning "to divide" would be secondary, and would be formed because the ides divided the lunar month.” Popular Science Monthly Volume 46.djvu/351.