Today is the Major Rogation. Big deal, I hear you say, what’s that got to do with agrobiodiversity? Not so fast, friend-o. Fact is, this Christian holy day is nothing more than a relatively recent take-over of the ancient Roman festival of Robigalia, which was meant to ward off the fungal disease of cereals we know as rust (and probably others). I think we are all the poorer these days for not observing such festivals anymore, when people could paint their eyes like prostitutes, dance and play cymbals in vile tiberian rites.
According to Carlo Ginzburg this tradition has very, very deep roots. I wonder whether Borlaug ever read Ginzburg.
Carlo Ginzburg. Ecstasies. Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath, New York, 1991, ISBN 0-226-29693-8. First published in Italian as Storia notturna: Una decifrazione del Sabba, 1989.
Tough stuff, at least according to this exchange.