It is that time of year again, when little ghouls and boils start festering with excitement about the looming Squidmas season. Too soon to start suppurating you say? Many readers have noted how the cepholidays seem to arrive earlier and earlier each year. Some have reported seeing their local mongers festooning their emporia with decorative entrails as early as September 19th, on International Talk Like a Pirate Day. This phenomenon has been dubbed the Squidmas Creeps*. However, the season is more popularly regarded as starting on October 8th, which is International Cephalopod Awareness Day (ICAD). It stretches through Squidmas Day on December 22nd, alternatively known as Cephalopodmas or the Winter Solstice**. Some have also expressed concern about whether Squidmas should be regarded as a secular holiday or religious observance. Many adherents of Pastafarianism (and to a lesser extent, Tarvuism) see it as a sacred occasion to celebrate with gift-giving, inebriation and wassailing. But there is also a well-documented connection between Squidmas and the irreligious connivances of the New Atheists. But whatever its origins, for many, the traditions of this season are simply a universal, irreverent way of hugging humanity in a multi-armed, inescapable embrace. Just remember that squeezing is the reason for the seizing.
International Cephalopod Awareness Days
Here at the Cephalpodcast HQ, this year’s ICAD celebration will be a three day event. The first day, Thursday, October 8th, is Octopus Day; Friday, October 9th, is Nautilus Night, a time for all the lesser-known extant and extinct cephalopods; and the last day, Saturday, October 10th, is Squid Day (or Squidturday, covering cuttlefish too). It’s not completely arbitrary, since in at least two of the cases, the dates notionally correspond to the number of appendages of the eponymous organisms.
The editors at Cephalopodcast.com invite anyone in the blogosphere to participate in the three day celebration. Bloggers, artist, poets and musicians are encouraged to create one or more works to mark the occasion and submit them for aggregation on a special Cephalopod Awareness Days commemorative page. Topics can be scientific, cultural or fictional. As long as they somehow include cephalopod awareness, they will be considered. If you don’t have a blog, but still want to contribute, contact the editors for ways your creation can be hosted here.
Free promo space for cephalopod artists
Free promotional space is available to artists that contribute to the Cephalopod Awareness Day campaign. Any artist that creates a Cephalopod Awareness Day badge can have it featured prominently on the site, along with a link to their Web site, Etsy shop or portal. See example at left. Badges should not be more than 200×200 pixels in jpg or png format. Badges submitted after October 8 will be irrelevant. See the guidelines on the Cephalopod Awareness Days official commemorative page for more details.
Major Dates in the Squidmas Calendar
- September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day
- September 30, Blasphemy Day
- October 2-4, H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and CthulhuCon
- October 8-10, International Cephalopod Awareness Days
- October 8, Octopus Day
- October 9, Nautilus Night
- October 10, Squid (and Cuttlefish) Day
- October 31, Halloween
- December 22, Squidmas/Cephalopodmas
There may be other occasions that haven’t been made up yet. If so, let us know what we’ve missed.
*Not to be confused with the other seasonal grumble, the so-called Spore on Squidmas
**Detractors sometimes derogatorily and erroneously refer to Squidmas as Fishmess. It should also not be confused with the deuterostome celebration of Holothuriday.
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Hi Jason- We are very interested in celebrating squidmas and/or cephalopodmas and wanted to know if there are any interesting rituals and traditions that go along with these holidays- for example, is it just one day or multiple days (like Hanukkah). We are going to make some octopus, etal. ornaments and squiddy cookies… Thanks for any information you can give!
I have a lot of ideas for Squidmas, but lack the time (for now). Best place for seasonal amusements is cephalopodmas.com.
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