
There are three primary schools of thought regarding Celtic
calendarical practice (in celtic calendar or a.s. celt calendar). One of the most commonly accepted beliefs holds that
the year was divided into thirteen months with an extra day or so the end
of the year used to adjust the calendar. This theory states that the
months correspond to the vowels of the Ogmah or Celtic tree alphabet.
Robert Graves is the major proponent of this school. The evidence he gives
is more poetic than archaeological. His interpretation of an ancient poem,
The Song of Amergin, appears to be the basis for this calendar.
Dec. 24 Jan. 21
I am a stag of seven tines
Beith the Birch
Jan. 22 Feb. 18
I am a wide flood on a plain
Luis the Rowan
Feb. 19 Mar. 18
I am a wind on the deep waters
Nuinn the Ash
Mar. 19 Apr. 15
I am a shining tear of the sun
Fearn the Alder
Apr. 16 May 13
I am a hawk on a cliff
Saille the Willow
May 14 Jun. 10
I am a fair amongst flowers
Huath the Hawthorn
Jun. 11 Jul. 8
I am a god who sets the head afire with smoke
Duir the Oak
Jul. 9 Aug. 5
I am a battle-waging spear
Teinn the Holly
Aug. 6 Sep. 2
I am a salmon in a pool
Coll the Hazel
Sep. 3 Sep. 30
I am a hill of poetry
Muinn the Vine
Oct. 1 Oct. 28
I am a ruthless boar
Gort the Ivy
Oct. 29 Nov. 25
I am a threatening noise from the sea
Ngetal the Reed
Nov. 26 Dec. 22
I am a wave of the sea
Ruis the Elder
Dec. 23
Who but I knows the secret of the unhewn
dolmen?
Most archaeologist and historians accept another calendar.
This ca lender is represented by the surviving fragments of a great bronze
plate, the Coligny Calendar, which originally measured 5 feet by 3-1/2
feet. This plate, found in eastern France, was engraved in the Gaulish
language (similar to Welsh) in Roman-style letters and numerals. It
depicts a system of time keeping by lunar months, showing 62 consecutive
months with 2 extra months inserted to match the solar timetable. They
appear to have worked with a 19-year time cycle that equaled 235 lunar
months and had an error of only half a day.
The third school of thought is an amalgam of both of the others. The
proponents of this last theory believe that the first calendar pre-dates
the Coligny discovery. They lend credence to Mr. Graves interpretation of
the poem
The Song of Amergin and believe that the Roman influence
caused the celts to modify and record their system as represented on the
Coligny Calendar. Of course they could just be polite archaeologists.
From Caesar we know the Celts counted by nights and not days and in
reckoning birthdays and new moon and new year their unit of reckoning is
the night followed by the day. This concept survives in the English term
"fortnight," meaning fourteen nights, or two weeks. Pliny ascribes
this form of time measuring specifically to the Druids, "... for it is
by the moon that they measure their months and years and also their ages
(saeculi) of thirty years." Ancient Celtic philosophy believed that
existence arose from the interplay between darkness and light, night and
day, cold and warmth, death and life, and that the passage of years was
the alternation of dark periods (winter, beginning November 1) and light
periods (summer, starting May 1). The Druidic view was that the earth was
in darkness at its beginning, that night preceded day and winter preceded
summer a view in striking accord with the story of creation in Genesis and
even with the Big Bang theory. Thus, Nov. 1 was New Year s Day for the
Celts, their year being divided into four major cycles. The onset of each
cycle was observed with suitable rituals that included feasting and
sacrifice. According to several sources the Celtic year had eight primary
festivals four coincided with the celestial divisions dictated by the
movement of the earth the other four, detailed below, had special
religious significance. Several celebrations of a more local nature were
scattered between each of the major celebrations. The lesser holidays
primarily commemorated battle victories or honored local heroes. Some
survive as saint s days or other traditional celebrations. Below is a list
of the major festivals and their dates on the roman calendar:
Major Festivals of the Celtic CalendarSamhuinn
or Samhain
1
November
Samhain (pronounced sow-en) meaning "Summer s
End," is celebrated on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. A solemn occasion. As darkness
overwhelmed the world, the days grew short, and the earth became barren
and cold and the veil between the mortal and the supernatural was
temporarily drawn aside. Samhain is the beginning of the Celtic new year.
This is the time when the rising of Pleiades, heralds the triumph of night
over day. Now it is the
time of the little sun and the portion of
the year which is ruled by the realms of the moon.
In the three days preceding the Samhain, the God of Light Lugh, dies at
the hand of his Tanist, who is himself as the Lord of mis-rule. Lugh then
passes through the veil between the worlds on Samhain. The Tanist is a
stingy and harsh King who while shining brightly in the skies gives no
warmth to the land. He cannot warm the north wind which is the breath of
the Crone, Cailleach Bheare. This is indicative of the cyclic harmony of
seasonal dominance which teaches us that neither Life nor Death can ever
hold permanent sway.
Death was never far from our ancestors, and there was not the fear of
it that permeates the society we live in. Yet while death itself wasn t
feared, it was held important to die with honor. Through dying well,
people had the promise of living on in this world through their clan and
at
Fleadh nan Mairbh (Feast of the Dead). It is at this time the
ancestors were honored and the dead were remembered.