Festivals of Demeter

The Thesmophoria (, from θεσμός (divine law) and φόρος (carrier, bearer)) was an ancient Greek religious festival, held in honour of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. It was held annually, mostly around the time that seeds were sown in late autumn – though in some places it was associated with the harvest instead – and celebrated human and agricultural fertility. The festival was one of the most widely celebrated in the Greek world. It was restricted to adult women, and the rites practiced during the festival were kept secret. The most extensive sources on the festival are a com

thumb|right|Relief depicting the three animals sacrificed at the Ambarvalia as part of a suovetaurilia (a sow, a sheep, and a bull) Ambarvalia was a Roman agricultural fertility rite, involving animal sacrifices and held on 29 May in honor of Ceres, Bacchus and Dea Dia. However, the exact timing could vary since Ambarvalia were "feriae conceptivae" - a festival not bound to a fixed date.

thumb|Hetaira|Hetairai at Haloa festival dancing around a giant [[phallus (Oedipus Painter, 480 BC)]] Haloa or Alo (Ἁλῶα) was an Attic festival, celebrated principally at Eleusis, in honour of Demeter (Δήμητρα, η Αλωαίη), protector of the fruits of the earth, of Dionysus, god of the grape and of wine, and Poseidon (Ποσειδώνας ο Φυτάλμιος), god of the seashore vegetation. In Greek, the word hálōs (ἅλως) from which Haloa derives means "threshing-floor" or "garden." While the general consensus is that it was a festival related to threshing—the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain

Sementivae, also known as Feriae Sementivae or Sementina dies (in the country called Paganalia), was a Roman festival of sowing.