Geamhain (Winter’s End Moon) Tuesday, 6 May 2008
164.9.7.1 Geamhain
16 Thrimilch 1564
Now we are into the second half of the Celtic year. Geamhain is the “Winter’s End” Moon, and signifies the beginning of the summer half of the year.
Geamhain Calendar
Other Calendars
The new month in other lunar calendars will be as follows:
Gaulish: Giamoni (Winter’s End), NCC 8
Hebrew: Iyyar (2), 5768
Islamic: Jumada’al-Ula (5), 1429
Tree: Hawthorn
Cuithe (Wind Moon) Sunday, 6 April 2008
164.9.6.1 Cuithe
17 Ostermonth 1564
The sixth month of the Celtic year begins today. This is Cuithe (pronounced roughly like ‘Keeth-uh’), and is thought to mean the month of winds or the windy month. This could be related to the Gaelic ‘Gaoth’, wind, the genitive of which is ‘Gaoithe’ and is pronounce roughly like ‘gee-huh’. The Gaulish name for this month is Kutios. Normally, this os a ‘hollow’ month, i.e. only 29 days, but this year it is is ‘full’, containing one of the three or four ‘leap days’ in every 19-year lunar cycle.
In the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar, the nominal full moon …
Leap Day Thursday, 20 March 2008
164.9.5.14 Uarain
30 Rethemonth 1564
So today is the leap day in my notional Anglo-Saxon calendar, 30th Rethemonth. This month usually has only 29 days but it needs an extra one due to the addition of February 29th in the Gregorian calendar. Tomorrow is the first of Ostermonth, and the day after is the nominal full moon, and thus the Egg Moon. The festival of Easter is related to this ancient egg festival that celebrates the first full moon of spring, hence why we eat Easter eggs, which signify the rebirth of the agricultural year. And because the full moon is so …
Uarain (Cold’s End Moon) Friday, 7 March 2008
164.9.5.1 Uarain
17 Rethemonth 1564
Today marks the beginning of a new lunar month, Uarain or Cold’s End Moon, the fifth month of the Celtic lunar year. An alternative name for this month is Am Márt. In the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar it is the Egg Moon, probably the most important lunar month in the old lunar calendar. The full moon of this month, being the first one following the nominal vernal equinox, marked great celebrations. The egg symbolism alludes to the beginning of a new agricultural year, of new beginnings. In my notional Anglo-Saxon calendars, it is the full moon that occurs …
Matronalia Saturday, 1 March 2008
164.9.4.24 Naghaid
Today is the ancient Roman festival of Matronalia. Possibly a forerunner of Mother’s Day (which is tomorrow this year), Matronalia celebrated Juno, the goddess of childbirth, and motherhood and women in general. Before Julius Caesar’s reform of the calendar in 45 BC it was the first day of the year.
Nowadays, Mother’s Day is a movable feast, occurring three weeks prior to Easter Sunday.
When is Leap Day? Sunday, 24 February 2008
164.9.4.18 Naghaid
2008 is what is known as a “bissextile” year (annus bissextilis). The reason for this comes from the ancient Roman system of dating by counting down to key points in the month called Kalends, Nones and Ides. In most months the Ides are the 13th and the Nones the 5th. In all months, however, the Kalends fall on the first day of the month, and dates following the Ides of the previous month are counted down towards the Kalends. Using this system therefore, the last few days in February are designated as follows:
24th Feb - 6th Kalends March
25th Feb …
Naghaid - “Stay at Home and Store” Moon Thursday, 7 February 2008
164.9.4.1 Naghaid
Today the fourth lunar month of the Celtic year, Naghaid or “stay at home and store Moon”, began. It is cognate with the Gaulish month of Anagantios. In the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar it is the Lenten Moon, originally meaning the time of lengthening days, but later coming to signify the beginning of period of Lent in the Christian calendar, the period of fasting leading up to Easter. Today is also the official start of the Chinese Year of the Rat, and celebration will begin in the Chinese communities and last for around two weeks. In the hebrew …
Riúr - Cold & Ice Moon Monday, 7 January 2008
164.9.2.29 Dumhainn
Tomorrow is the start of the third lunar month of the Celtic year, Riúr or “Cold and Ice Moon”, cognate with the Gaulish month of Rivros. In the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar it is the Snow Moon. In the Islamic calendar it will be Muharram, the beginning of the new Islamic year of 1429. It is the final month of the Chinese Year of the Pig, the Year of the Rat will begin on 7th February, so it will be a time of celebration in the Chinese communities.
There are some interesting events in this month. On Burns’ Night, …
Dumhainn - Month of Darkness Monday, 10 December 2007
164.9.2.1 Dumhainn
So, another month ends and we are now into the second month of the Celtic year, Dumhainn. This name is linked with the Gaulish name Dumannos (hence the double-n at the end of the word), which means something like "World Darkness". It tends to be the month that includes the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere. In the Moonwise calendar it is Birch Moon, which, again, always includes the northern Winter Solstice. The full moon will be the Old English After Yule Moon, the first full moon of the new year.
Dumhainn Calendar
Other Calendars
The new month in other …
Analemma effects Sunday, 2 December 2007
164.9.1.23 Samhain
One of the effects of the analemma is that the latest sunrise and the earliest sunset in most latitiudes do not occur on the shortest day. In fact, the nearer to the equator that you are located, the further apart these events occur. At my latitude of 57 degrees north, these dates are 16 Dec (15:26) and 29 Dec (08:47) respectively. However, if you at the latitude of, say, Baltimore MD, these dates are 8th Dec (17:43) and 5 Jan (08:27) respectively. This is due to the analemma being more tilted with respect to the horizon at latitudes closer …
Seeing the analemma Thursday, 29 November 2007
164.9.1.20 Samhain
I have long known about the “analemma”, but now I have actually observed it. The analemma is the apparent path of the sun in the sky, as observed at the same time each day, allowing for daylight savings time. This traces out the shape of a figure of eight in the sky (see image below) due to the tilt of the Earth and the slight ellipticity of its orbit, which causes it to travel at different speeds around the sun during the year.
One effect of this is the “Equation of Time”. This is the difference between absolute solar …
Comet Holmes Tuesday, 13 November 2007
164.9.1.4 Samhain
I had a glimpse of this the other night. It is not very bright and rather small, and looks a bit like a fuzzy star with the naked eye. A quick look through the binoculars identified it as I could see it more clearly as a fuzzy blob beside Mirfak in the constellation Perseus. So, it is not spectacular, but interesting to see nonetheless.
Samhain - Celtic New Year Saturday, 10 November 2007
164.9.1.1 Samhain
The Celtic year has finally come to an end and the new year begins with Samhain (pronounced SOW-in, the SOW rhyming with “cow”). This time of year is probably the origins of the Pagan festival of Samhain, celebrated now as Halloween on 31st October. In my notional calendar this marks the beginning of Year 9 of the current lunar cycle, and Year 8 in the NCC (New Coligny) calendar (starts with Year 0). So the numeric dates will begin with 164.9 this year. In the Anglo-Saxon calendar it is Before Yule Moon and in the Moonwise it is Yew …
Cadal - Song Moon Friday, 12 October 2007
164.8.12.1 Cadal
The final Celtic month of the year is now here. Cadal, or Song Moon, begins today.
Cadal Calendar
Other Calendars
The new month in other lunar calendars will be as follows:
Hebrew: Heshvan (8) 5768
Islamic: Shawwal (10) 1428
Moonwise: Ivy (10)
Events in Cadal
164.8.12.2
Eid al-Fitr (end of Ramadan)
13 Oct
164.8.12.2
Lunar apogee 08:54 UTC
13 Oct
164.8.12.12
1st of Blotmonth, Anglo-Saxon solar month
23 Oct
164.8.12.12
Sun enters Scorpio 19:15 UTC
23 Oct
164.8.12.15
“Blood” Full Moon 04:52 UTC
26 Oct
164.8.12.15
Lunar perigee 11:52 UTC
26 Oct
164.8.12.17
Clocks go back 1 hour in EU
28 Oct
164.8.12.20
Samhain, Pagan Quarter Day. (Halloween)
31 Oct
164.8.12.21
All Saints’ Day
1 Nov
164.8.12.22
All Souls’ Day
2 Nov
164.8.12.25
Guy Fawkes Night, Great Britain
5 Nov
164.8.12.29
Diwali, Festival of Lights
9 Nov
164.8.12.29
Lunar apogee 12:33 UTC
9 Nov
164.8.12.29
Dark …
Aodhrain - Arbitration Moon Wednesday, 12 September 2007
164.8.11.1 Aodhrain
The eleventh Celtic month of the year, Aodhrain (pron. air-uhn), or Arbitration Moon, begins today.
Aodhrain Calendar
Other Calendars
The new month in other lunar calendars will be as follows:
Hebrew: Tishrei (7) 5768
Islamic: Ramadan (9) 1428
Moonwise: Vine Moon (9)
This month is significant in both the Islamic and Jewish calendars. In the islamic calendar it is Ramadan, the month of fasting and self abstinence. In the Jewish calendar, although Tishrei is the seventh month, the first day is Rosh Hashanah, marking the Jewish new year (5768). Iin the Moonwise calendar, Vine Moon is the Autumnal Equinox Moon in the Northern Hemisphere.
Significant dates …
September 11th - 6th Anniversary Tuesday, 11 September 2007
164.8.10.29 Eilmí
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the terrible event sof 11th Septemeber 2001, when thousands of inoocent people had their lives brought to an unfair and early end by terrorists in New York. The events of that day are etched on my mind, as they are on the minds of people around the world. I found it a very traumatic day and details that have come out about individual people’s experiences of that day even more traumatic. I will be sparing a thought for the victims of this event at the appropriate time on Tuesday.
McCanns arrive home Sunday, 9 September 2007
164.8.10.27 Eilmí
The McCann family, came home to their home town of Rothley, Leicestershire, today. It was an emotional moment to see them arrive here more than four months after their daughter Madeleine disappeared on 3rd May in Portugal. Gerry McCann made an emotional statement that finished with the words: “We played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter Madeleine”. I believe him, and hope that this can be cleared up very soon.
Eilmí - Claim Moon Tuesday, 14 August 2007
164.8.10.1 Eilmí
The tenth Celtic month of the year, Eilmí, or Claim Moon, begins today.
Eilmí Calendar
Other Calendars
The new month in other lunar calendars will be as follows:
Hebrew: Elul (6) 5767
Islamic: Sha’baan (8) 1428
Moonwise: Hazel Moon (9)
Linux Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft) Tuesday, 24 July 2007
164.8.9.10 Eacha
I have finally got to grips with Linux. I have an older laptop (4 years old) which had been a real pain to use since I had to reinstall Windows at the tail end of last year. After booting up it would lock for several minutes while the fan would blow at top speed, very noisily. It was spoiling the use of the computer and I was set to replace it with a new one.
Then, a friend suggested I install Linux. I did this and then had probems with my wireless card, an old Adaptec one. To cut a …
Eacha - Horse Moon Sunday, 15 July 2007
164.8.9.1 Eacha
The ninth Celtic month of the year has begun, Eacha, or Horse Moon.
Notable dates this month are Lúnasa/Lughnasadh/Lammas on 164.8.9.17 (31st July) and Witchy’s 40th Birthday 164.8.9.22 (5th August).
Eacha Calendar
Other Calendars
The new month in other lunar calendars will be as follows:
Hebrew: Av (5) 5767
Islamic: Rajab (7) 1428
Moonwise: Holly Moon (8)