Celtic calendar

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Celtic calendar is a compilation of pre-Christian Celtic systems of timekeeping, including the

Celtic countries to define the beginning and length of the day, the week, the month, the seasons, quarter days, and festivals.[1]

Continental Celtic calendar

The

Julian Calendar in Roman Gaul. The calendar was originally a single huge plate, but it survives only in fragments.[3] It is inscribed in Gaulish with Latin characters and uses Roman numerals
.

The Coligny Calendar reconciles the cycles of the moon and sun. The Coligny calendar considers the phases of the moon to be important, and each month always begins with the same moon phase. The calendar uses a mathematical arrangement to keep a normal 12 month calendar in sync with the moon and keeps the whole system in sync by adding an

intercalary month every 2+1⁄2 years. The Coligny calendar registers a five-year cycle of 62 lunar months, divided into a "bright" and a "dark" fortnight (or half a moon cycle) each. The internal notations show that the months began with the first quarter moon, and a 13th intercalary
month was added every two and a half years to align the lunations with the solar year.

The astronomical format of the calendar year that the Coligny calendar represents may well be far older, as

Continental Celtic calendars suggest that some early form may date to the earlier Iron Age
. The Coligny calendar achieves a complex synchronisation of the solar and lunar months. Whether it does this for philosophical or practical reasons, it points to a considerable degree of sophistication.

Medieval Irish and Welsh calendars

Further information:
Welsh holidays
Diagram comparing the Celtic, astronomical and meteorological calendars

Among the

Bealtaine (around 1 May, modern calendar). This observance of festivals beginning the evening before the festival day is still seen in the celebrations and folkloric practices among the Gaels, such as the traditions of Oíche Shamhna (Samhain Eve) among the Irish and Oidhche Shamhna among the Scots.[5][6]

Julius Caesar said in his Gallic Wars: "[the Gaulish Celts] keep birthdays and the beginnings of months and years in such an order that the day follows the night." Longer periods were reckoned in nights, as in the surviving English term fortnight meaning two weeks, and the obsolete se'nnight meaning one week.

The

Laws of Hywel Dda (in editions surviving from the 12th and 13th centuries) make repeated references to periods of nine days (nawfed dydd), rather than the "eight nights" that make up the current word wythnos.[7]

Native calendar terms in Celtic languages

Many calendrical and time-keeping terms used in the medieval and modern Celtic languages were borrowed from Latin and reflect the influence of Roman culture and Christianity on the Insular Celts. The words borrowed include the month names Januarius (Old Irish Enáir, Irish Eanáir, Welsh Ionawr), Februarius (Old Irish Febra, Irish Feabhra, Welsh Chwefror), Martius (Old Irish Mart, Welsh Mawrth), Aprilius (Old Irish Apréil, Irish Aibreán, Welsh Ebrill), Maius (Welsh Mai), Augustus (Old Irish Auguist, Welsh Awst); the names for the days of the week, Solis, Lunae, Martis, Mercurii, Jovis, Veneris, Saturni; the terms septimana "week" (Old Irish sechtmain, Breton sizun, Cornish seithun), kalendae "first day of the month" (Old Irish callann, Welsh calan, Breton kala), tempore "time" (Welsh amser), matutina "morning" (Cornish metin, Irish maidin), vespera "evening", nona "noon" (Welsh nawn, Irish nóin), and ôra "hour" (Welsh awr, Breton eur, Irish uair).[8][9]

A number of native Celtic terms survived the adoption of the Roman/Christian calendar, however:

Term
Proto-Celtic
Gaulish
 Old/Middle Irish Modern Irish Scottish Gaelic Manx Welsh Cornish Breton
Day / 24-hour period *latyo- lat (abbreviation,
Coligny Calendar
) 		la(i)the lá là, latha laa golau go + lau = very bright; golau = light
Day *dīy(w)o- (sin)diu "(to)day" día; indiu "today" dia, dé; inniu, inniubh, inniugh "today" dia; andiu "today" jee; jiu "today" dydd; heddiw "today"; diwrnod "24-hour day period" dydh; hidhyw "today" deiz; hiziou "today"
Night *noχt-, *ad-akʷi-(?) (decam)noct- "(10)-night" nocht, adaig nocht, oíche nochd, oidhche noght, oie noson, nos neth (comp.), nos neiz (comp.), noz
Week (eight nights/days) *oχtu-noχt- / *oχtu-dīy(w)o- wythnos "8-nights" eizhteiz "8-days"
Fortnight *kʷenkʷe-dekam-noχt- cóicthiges "15-(days)" coicís cola-deug (coig latha deug "15-days") kegeesh pythefnos "15-nights" pemzektez
Month *mīns- mid (read *miđ) mí mí mìos mee mis mis miz
Year *blēdā- / *blēdanī b[l]is (abbreviation,
Coligny Calendar
) 		bliadain bliain bliadhna blein blwydd, blwyddyn bledhen bloavezh, bloaz
Season, Period of Time *am-n-, *amsterā-, *ratyo-, *kʷritu- amman amm, aimser, ráithe am, aimsir, ráithe àm, aimsir, ràith imbagh, emshyr, emshir amser, pryd amser amzer
Winter *gyemo- giamo- gem, gemred geimhreadh geamhradh geurey gaeaf gwav goañv
Spring *wesr-āko- "spring[time]", *wesn-tēno-, *ɸro-bertyā ("torrent, inundation") earrach, robarta earrach earrach arragh gwanwyn, (Old Welsh ribirthi) gwainten reverzi (Old Breton rebirthi)[10][11]
Summer *samo- samo- sam, samrad samhradh samhradh sourey haf hav hañv
Autumn *uφo-gyemo-ro- "under wintertime", *kintu-gyemo- "beginning of winter", *sido-[...] "deer-"[...] fogamur fóghmhar, fómhar foghar fouyr cynhaeaf, hydref kydnyav/kynyav, hedra here, diskar-amzer ("falling season")
May, May Day *kintu-samo-n-[12] "beginning of summer" Cétamain Céideamhain[13] Cèitean Cyntefin
June, Midsummer *medyo-samo-n-[12] "mid-summer" Mithem(on) Meitheamh Mehefin Metheven Mezeven
July *uɸer-kʷenno-samo- "end of summer" Gorffennaf

In Neopaganism

In some

Reconstructionist traditions may celebrate the four Gaelic festivals of Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh.[14][15]

Some eclectic Neopagans, such as Wiccans, combine the Gaelic fire festivals with solstices and equinox celebrations derived from non-Celtic cultures to produce the Wiccan modern Wheel of the Year.[16]: 337  Some eclectic Neopagans are also influenced by Robert Graves' "Celtic Tree Calendar", which has no foundation in historical calendars or actual ancient Celtic Astrology, instead being derived from Graves' extrapolation of The Song of Amergin.[16]: 145 

See also

References

  1. ^ Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 330.
  2. ^ Duval, P.M.; Pinault, G., eds. (1986). "Les Calendriers (Coligny, Villards d'Heria)". Recueil des inscriptions gauloises. Vol. 3. Paris: CNRS. p. 35.
  3. ^ Eddy, S.; Hamilton, C. "The Celtic Year". Living Myths. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  4. doi:10.3406/ecelt.1994.2050
    .
  5. ISBN 1-85635-093-2
    .
  6. ^ McNeill, F. Marian (1961). The Silver Bough. Vol. 3. Glasgow: William MacLellan. pp. 11–42.
  7. Wade-Evans, Arthur (1909). Welsh Medieval Laws
    . Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  8. ^ Loth, Joseph (1892). Les mots latins dans les langues brittoniques. E. Bouillon. p. 44 ff.
  9. Dictionary of the Irish language
    . Royal Irish Academy. 1983.
  10. ^ Jackson, Kenneth Hurlstone (1967). A historical phonology of Breton. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. pp. 296, 248.
  11. S2CID 164360495
    .
  12. ^ a b In the reconstructed Proto-Celtic words for the beginning of summer, "kintu-sam?n", and mid-summer, "medio-sam?n", the character "?" represents an indeterminate vowel.
  13. ^ "mayday". www.teanglann.ie.
  14. ISBN 0-8065-2710-2
    .
  15. ISBN 0-02-864417-4
    .
  16. ^
    ISBN 0-631-18946-7
    – via archive.org.

Further reading
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Celtic_calendar&oldid=1194152423"