Monday, January 02, 2006
Calendars
Too often, when pagan or "magickal" calendars are presented, they are the standard Wiccan "Wheel of The Year" calendars superimposed on a given ancient religion, regardless of what environmental or symbolic needs the people of said cultures had in their respective climates and time periods. For example, in the ancient Middle East, summer was not the season when the sun "represents the slow surety of spring’s coming again with gradual warmth with all the power of the sun." With temperatures reaching 104 degrees, rains scarce to non-existent, and rivers dropping to all times lows, summer was the time of drought and death.
For us modern practitioners, this presents a bit of a problem. Unless we live in a place like Arizona or California, our seasons do more closely reflect the standard Wiccan model. Our cultural festivals synch with it, too. It's easier to celebrate Yule when everyone else is celebrating Christmas; you are not doing something so different as everyone else. It's not so easy to give Wep Renpet gifts and celebrate the ancient Egyptian New Year in Early August; you'll likely be doing it alone or with family and maybe friends. Some have simply taken the Egyptian festivals and re-arranged them to fit with the flow of the seasons in a temperate climate, whereas others simply celebrate the December holidays as purely cultural ones and keep their religious holidays seperate.
Here are some ancient Middle Eastern calendars to use to see the rhythm of the seasons in that part of the world. It is interesting to note that in all three calendars, months start on the new moon.
The Mesopotamian calendar. The Mesopotamian calendar is mostly lunar (months are based on the phases of the moon), as are the modern Jewish and Muslim calendars (this is why Hanukkah seems to fall on a different day every year--it falls on the same day of the month on a lunar calendar.) To the Mesopotamians, there were two seasons, summer and winter. New Year's occurred on the Vernal Equinox, or the first day of spring as the day is also known. It was known as the Akitu festival. This is a reconstructed calendar for modern use.
The Egyptian calendars. The Egyptians used a lunar calendar at first, but quickly devised a more accurate solar calendar. As a result, the Egyptians ended up with both a secular and a religious calendar which were used simultaneously, the lunar one being used to calculate religious festivals. Periodically an extra month was added to the lunar calendar to keep it up to date, similar to our practice of having leap years. The Egyptian calendar also consisted of three seasons: Akhet, Peret, and Shomu, with New Year's occurring around the Summer Solstice in ancient times, but closer to August now due to the Earth rotating on its axis in the past few thousand years. It always coincides with the appearance of the Dog Star Sirius, associated with the ancient goddess Sopdet. New Year's was known as Wep Renpet, or "The Opening of the Year".
The Canaanite Calendar. Also a lunar calendar, this is also a reconstruction of the one used in ancient times, and it is very similar to the modern Jewish calendar. Like the Egyptian calendar, it has three seasons and three "new years" based on harvest cycles unique to the Levant. However, as with the Mesopotamian calendar, the "true" New Year falls on the new moon closest to the Vernal Equinox, called the "Head of the Year".
For us modern practitioners, this presents a bit of a problem. Unless we live in a place like Arizona or California, our seasons do more closely reflect the standard Wiccan model. Our cultural festivals synch with it, too. It's easier to celebrate Yule when everyone else is celebrating Christmas; you are not doing something so different as everyone else. It's not so easy to give Wep Renpet gifts and celebrate the ancient Egyptian New Year in Early August; you'll likely be doing it alone or with family and maybe friends. Some have simply taken the Egyptian festivals and re-arranged them to fit with the flow of the seasons in a temperate climate, whereas others simply celebrate the December holidays as purely cultural ones and keep their religious holidays seperate.
Here are some ancient Middle Eastern calendars to use to see the rhythm of the seasons in that part of the world. It is interesting to note that in all three calendars, months start on the new moon.
The Mesopotamian calendar. The Mesopotamian calendar is mostly lunar (months are based on the phases of the moon), as are the modern Jewish and Muslim calendars (this is why Hanukkah seems to fall on a different day every year--it falls on the same day of the month on a lunar calendar.) To the Mesopotamians, there were two seasons, summer and winter. New Year's occurred on the Vernal Equinox, or the first day of spring as the day is also known. It was known as the Akitu festival. This is a reconstructed calendar for modern use.
The Egyptian calendars. The Egyptians used a lunar calendar at first, but quickly devised a more accurate solar calendar. As a result, the Egyptians ended up with both a secular and a religious calendar which were used simultaneously, the lunar one being used to calculate religious festivals. Periodically an extra month was added to the lunar calendar to keep it up to date, similar to our practice of having leap years. The Egyptian calendar also consisted of three seasons: Akhet, Peret, and Shomu, with New Year's occurring around the Summer Solstice in ancient times, but closer to August now due to the Earth rotating on its axis in the past few thousand years. It always coincides with the appearance of the Dog Star Sirius, associated with the ancient goddess Sopdet. New Year's was known as Wep Renpet, or "The Opening of the Year".
The Canaanite Calendar. Also a lunar calendar, this is also a reconstruction of the one used in ancient times, and it is very similar to the modern Jewish calendar. Like the Egyptian calendar, it has three seasons and three "new years" based on harvest cycles unique to the Levant. However, as with the Mesopotamian calendar, the "true" New Year falls on the new moon closest to the Vernal Equinox, called the "Head of the Year".
