Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Discussions about constructed worlds, cultures and any topics related to constructed societies.
User avatar
sangi39
moderator
moderator
Posts: 3024
Joined: 12 Aug 2010 01:53
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by sangi39 »

So, every so often I get to thinking about calendars, either for the Earth or for Yantas, and I was wondering how everybody else divides the year on their conworld(s) or would divide the year up on Earth given the chance to implement a new calendar.

For me, I'd apply the following calendar on Earth:

1) There are 12 months of 30 days each (for a total of 360 days), divided further into 5 weeks of 6 days each.
2) The two solstices and two equinoxes are marked out as four "null" days, belonging to no month or week.
3) New Year's Day similarly counts as a "null" day falling immediately after the (northern hemisphere's) winter solstice.
4) Leap years roughly follow the same pattern as the current Gregorian Calendar, with the leap day inserted as a sixth "null" day after the (northern hemisphere's) summer solstice.

This gives:

Winter Solstice - New Year's Day - January - February - March
Spring Equinox - April - May - June
Summer Solstice - (Leap Day) - July - August - September
Autumn Equinox - October - November - December

With every month and year beginning on a Monday, and Friday and Saturday marked as a two-day-long weekend (dropping Sunday). The null days fall outside of the months and weeks, so they don't really count as anything (I guess Sunday, would fit, with New Year's Day just being "New Year"),




On Yantas, the Kusan Empire and later states that have seen influence from the Empire, use the following lunisolar calendar to divide up their 386.925 day year:

1) The year is divided into Long Months which alternate between 46 and 47 days in length (for a total of 372 days, known as a Short Year)
2) The year is also divided into Short Months which are fixed at 12 days in length (just under 4 Short Months occur per Long Month)
3) New Years day falls on the first day of the Long Month immediately following the winter solstice
4) An intercalary month is added once every three years, alternating in length between 46 and 47 days with each leap year (known as a Long Year of 418 or 419 days)

The months appear as follows:

Lirgat - 46 days (contains New Year's Day)
Vilgat - 47 days
Hargat - 46 days
Ledegat - 47 days
Tibegat - 46 days
Singat - 47 days
Jeligat - 46 days
Humugat - 47 days
Jeligat II - 46 days, appears every even Long Year
Humugat II - 47 days, appears every odd Long Year
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by elemtilas »

sangi39 wrote: 04 Dec 2017 02:40 So, every so often I get to thinking about calendars, either for the Earth or for Yantas, and I was wondering how everybody else divides the year on their conworld(s) or would divide the year up on Earth given the chance to implement a new calendar.
Ah, the Auspicious 星天空 Reformation of the Duodecicon of the Wheel of Heaven!

Naturally, there would be more holidays, both sacred & civil. Some might be half days, others full. A proper twelve days of Christmas & eight days of Hannukha, holy week, the four quarter days (as you mention).

Shuffle around the civil holidays a bit: no more personality cult days, all civil holidays will be republican in nature (Independence Day, Peace Days, days to commemorate great achievements in science, engineering and the arts). Decoration Day and Armistice Day to be kept.

Shift New Year back to its proper location (25 March), thus correcting the Quidquidtember Anomaly.

Fix the Daylight Savings Time Problem: no one needs bright sunlight at 0530 in the Winter and sunset at 1630! Any clock shifting should be done to maximize evening sunlight. Cows and so forth don't go by clocks anyway, and neither do farmers. That whole agricultural argument is bunk.

Primary & Secondary academic calendars should align with Tertiary level calendars and switch to trimester formatting. Students and teachers still get three months off, just not all at once!
User avatar
Pabappa
greek
greek
Posts: 577
Joined: 18 Nov 2017 02:41

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by Pabappa »

Mine isnt particularly interesting since its basically a reduction rather than an addition. All peoples on Teppala follow the same basic calendar, which has 5 months of summer, 5 months of winter, and 1 month of intercalary days at each equinox.

If I decide to stick with a year length exactly the same as Earth's, the summer and winter months will be 28 days each, and the intercalaries are whatever is left over each year, with an average of about 42 days each. The year probably begins with the first day of winter, and therefore the autumn intercalary is the one that will change length from year to year.

An alternative setup I could use would be to make the summer/winter months 30 days each, and the intercalaries therefore about 32 days each. This brings it closer in line with the lunar cycle, but provides no other obvious benefit (the concept of 7 day weeks is likely not important).

What might be more interesting if I ever get to it is a list of holidays. Among the Poswobs, every day is a holiday of some sort, though not all holidays are for celebration. Some are tied to the religion, others are jsut general cultural observances such as "hairstyle day" when everyone tries out a new hairstyle.
Kavunupupis, šiŋuputata.
When I see you pointing at me, I know I'm in trouble. (Play)
User avatar
sangi39
moderator
moderator
Posts: 3024
Joined: 12 Aug 2010 01:53
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by sangi39 »

elemtilas wrote: 04 Dec 2017 03:46 Shift New Year back to its proper location (25 March), thus correcting the Quidquidtember Anomaly.
I was planning on just leaving New Year as January 1st. It still leaves September, October, November and December as etymological oddities, but with New Year falling the day after the winter solstice having New Year also fall in March would mean shifting the months back by a bit and that just seems like a pain [:P]


elemtilas wrote: 04 Dec 2017 03:46 Fix the Daylight Savings Time Problem: no one needs bright sunlight at 0530 in the Winter and sunset at 1630! Any clock shifting should be done to maximize evening sunlight. Cows and so forth don't go by clocks anyway, and neither do farmers. That whole agricultural argument is bunk.
To quote John Oliver, "cows don't care what time it is, because they're cows. And cows are idiots." Iceland doesn't use daylight savings, despite being pretty far north, and while I was over there I asked a few people why. Most of them answered "because we just get up when the sheep get up".


elemtilas wrote: 04 Dec 2017 03:46 Primary & Secondary academic calendars should align with Tertiary level calendars and switch to trimester formatting. Students and teachers still get three months off, just not all at once!
I was thinking something like one (six-day) week off either side of the quarter days, and then the third week of every second month of an annual quarter off (so February, May, August and November) for a total of 72 days off (77 if you include the quarter days and New Years), across 12 weeks. With 60 weeks in a year, that leaves a 48 weeks left, or 288 days, 96 days of which would be weekends. That means students would spend 192 days in school, compared to the roughly 196 days students in the UK spend in school. Extra 4 days off? WOOO!!! The holidays are now markedly shorter, especially the summer holiday which falls from 42 days to just 13 days (or 14 in a leap year), but they're also much more frequent, with each of the eight half-terms being just 7 (six-day) weeks long.

A similar pattern could then be carried over into the working world with the cross-quarter days (roughly corresponding to Candlemas, May Day, Lammas and All Hallows), as public holidays, sort of like our current bank holidays, but more evenly spread through the year (effectively giving us 7 three-day weekend and 1 four-day weekend each year every month-and-a-half).
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
User avatar
Shemtov
runic
runic
Posts: 3283
Joined: 29 Apr 2013 04:06

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by Shemtov »

The idea of a 6-day week is a bad idea, because it is basically accidental religious discrimination, against my religion specifically. I am an Orthodox Jew. We do not work on Saturdays. Even if you change to a six-day week, Sabbath for us will shift into the work week. "Six days may you work and perform all your labor, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, your God; you shall perform no labor....." -Ex. 20:9,10 So, basically, if we start your new calendar on a year where New Years does start on the current Sunday, the first week is fine. The second week will have no Sabbath, but the third week Sabbath will be on Monday, a workday, and then the fourth week will it will be on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday on the fifth week. We will become unable to have normal jobs. We went through this before- when the workweek in America was six days, including Saturdays. People tell horror stories about how they would basically starve because every week they had to find a new job, just for practicing their religion. I know we are a minority of a minority, but is that enough to justify religious discrimination?
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
User avatar
Axiem
sinic
sinic
Posts: 316
Joined: 10 Sep 2016 06:56

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by Axiem »

Even from a pragmatic perspective, I feel like it would be much harder to get people to accept a non-seven-day week than it would be to fiddle with the months. The week is much closer to the rhythm of living, and how events are scheduled, and that sort of thing. Months are bigger, slightly more amorphous.

That said, I think trying to reform the Gregorian calendar is a fool's errand, far more than changing pretty much any other method of measurement.



The calendar of Mto, on the other hand, is a thing I have given some consideration to, especially given that every four years they have a deficient year (where they have one fewer day) rather than a leap year. It's complicated because being a two-moon planet also affects how people would tell time in that way (lunar calendars are a thing, after all), and because there are actually three calendars I need to figure out (namely, the standard Situnya calendar that most people use; the Entleisian calendar; and the Kuvian calendar). At some point, I need to stop being lazy and just sit down with Excel and fight it out.
Conworld: Mto
:con: : Kuvian
User avatar
sangi39
moderator
moderator
Posts: 3024
Joined: 12 Aug 2010 01:53
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by sangi39 »

Shemtov wrote: 04 Dec 2017 05:42 The idea of a 6-day week is a bad idea, because it is basically accidental religious discrimination, against my religion specifically. I am an Orthodox Jew. We do not work on Saturdays. Even if you change to a six-day week, Sabbath for us will shift into the work week. "Six days may you work and perform all your labor, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, your God; you shall perform no labor....." -Ex. 20:9,10 So, basically, if we start your new calendar on a year where New Years does start on the current Sunday, the first week is fine. The second week will have no Sabbath, but the third week Sabbath will be on Monday, a workday, and then the fourth week will it will be on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday on the fifth week. We will become unable to have normal jobs. We went through this before- when the workweek in America was six days, including Saturdays. People tell horror stories about how they would basically starve because every week they had to find a new job, just for practicing their religion. I know we are a minority of a minority, but is that enough to justify religious discrimination?
Ah, yeah, fair point. I've been working in rota/shift jobs for the last decade so I sort of forget that proper weekends are even a thing (for the last 5 years I've worked in places that are literally open every single day of the year). Weirdly, they're also pretty good about giving people time off for personal reasons...

But yeah, fair point. Even if you just had it as an official civil calendar and let private businesses (and private schools) use whatever calendar they want, the disconnect between a 6-day week and a 7-day week would become pretty problematic. Might have gotten a tad overambitiuous with the regularity of it all [:P]

Then again.... (really should go to bed but I'm going to have a think about this one...)

Ah well [:)]
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
User avatar
sangi39
moderator
moderator
Posts: 3024
Joined: 12 Aug 2010 01:53
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by sangi39 »

Axiem wrote: 04 Dec 2017 06:33 The calendar of Mto, on the other hand, is a thing I have given some consideration to, especially given that every four years they have a deficient year (where they have one fewer day) rather than a leap year. It's complicated because being a two-moon planet also affects how people would tell time in that way (lunar calendars are a thing, after all), and because there are actually three calendars I need to figure out (namely, the standard Situnya calendar that most people use; the Entleisian calendar; and the Kuvian calendar). At some point, I need to stop being lazy and just sit down with Excel and fight it out.
I had a similar thing with Yantas, which also has two moons. The smaller, closer moon has a phase cycle of, IIRC, 11.9 days, so the Short Month uses to be 12 days then rounded down to 11 days 3 or 4 times a year to bring the Short Month back in line with the phases of the smaller moon. In the calendar of the Kusan Empire, however, it was simply fixed at 12 days so now only the Long Month (following the 46.5 day long phase cycle of the larger moon) accurately matches lunar phases. They do make a compromise, though, with religious observances tracking the phases of both moons (this does mean that certain religious observances drift backwards through the civil year but in most cases this doesn't become an issue).
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
User avatar
Reyzadren
greek
greek
Posts: 684
Joined: 14 May 2017 10:39
Contact:

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by Reyzadren »

There are many calendar systems in the conworld that is associated with griuskant, as there are regions that naturally have no seasons, 2, 4, 5, 8, or even 10 seasons etc

In one particular country, the native griuskanters divide a year into 4 seasons, with 90 days each (though of course, there are other national systems, with 100 days for example). There is no concept of month or week in general, so these words do not natively exist in the griuskant conlang.
Image conlang summary | Image griushkoent thread
User avatar
Ahzoh
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4191
Joined: 20 Oct 2013 02:57
Location: Canada

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by Ahzoh »

The Vrkhazhians and many others divide the calendar into ten months and each week has 6 days and so each month has 6 weeks or 36 days, except for the last month which has 41 or 42. This arrangement is more in line with Sedi's three moons, as there is Uzzoti, the weekday moon, which rotates every 6 days (or 12 if I decide to make the arrangement 1:2:4), then there is Shurdi, the half-month moon, which rotates every 18.05 days, and lastly there is Nnukhi, the full-month moon, which rotates every 36.52 days.
Image Śād Warḫallun (Vrkhazhian) [ WIKI | CWS ]
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by elemtilas »

Axiem wrote: 04 Dec 2017 06:33That said, I think trying to reform the Gregorian calendar is a fool's errand, far more than changing pretty much any other method of measurement.
And are we not a band of merry fools?

Anyroad, the civil calendar in use throughout much of the Eastlands is one of a year divided into 12 months each having 30 days: a dies januarius is followed by a fortnight (two standard seven day weeks) then a dies meridianus at midmonth and then the second fortnight. Somewhere in there is an intercalary sequence to make up the extra days. These can fall in any convenient place determined by the Wise in council. Since the new year begins at the equinox in Spring, those days will usually precede the month of March.

Most religious calendars rest upon the civil.

Some places follow a strict selannar calendar, though they will accept the sacro-civil New Year on whatever day it happens to fall in their own calendar.
User avatar
shanoxilt
cuneiform
cuneiform
Posts: 178
Joined: 30 May 2016 06:51

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by shanoxilt »

This Github page explains how the Sajem Tan calendar works.
Click here to join the Common Honey server. Or click here for a general glossopoeia server.
User avatar
eldin raigmore
korean
korean
Posts: 6352
Joined: 14 Aug 2010 19:38
Location: SouthEast Michigan

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by eldin raigmore »

Adpihi's calendar is a lunisolar calendar.
It has days, months, and years.
Months are either 29 days long or 30 days long.
Years are either 12 months long or 13 months long.
A 12-month year may be 354 days long (if it has 6 29-day months and 6 30-day months) or 355 days long (if it has 5 29-day months and 7 30-day months)
A 13-month year may be 383 days long (if it has 7 29-day months and 6 30-day months) or 384 days long (if it has 6 29-day months and 7 30-day months).

There is a cycle that's 57 years long == 705 months long == 20819 days long.
It's divided into three subcycles that are each 19 years == 235 months long; two of them are 6940 days long and one is only 6939 days long.

Each 19-year subcycle has 12 12-month years and 7 13-month years.
Its 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years are 13-month years; the rest are all 12-month years.

I've forgotten how the number of days in each month are calculated. I'll look it up.
Spoiler:
It's close to this:
There's a 360 month == 10631-day cycle.
Each odd-numbered month in the cycle -- the 1st, 3rd, 5th, ... , 355th, 357th, 359th etc. -- is 30 days long.
Each even-numbered month in the cycle is only 29-days long:
EXCEPT
that every twelfth month (e.g. 12th, 24th, 36th, ... , 324th, 336th, 348th etc.) is 30 days long again;
EXCEPT
that every 360th month in the cycle is still just 29 days long.

Edit: In the spoiler below, I've summarised some information from my spreadsheet about this lunisolar calendar.
Spoiler:
The 57-year, 705-month, 20819-day cycle, contains 36 12-month years and 21 13-month years.
Those 36 12-month years consist of 23 354-day years and 13 355-day years.
Those 21 13-month years consist of 2 383-day years and 19 384-day years.

The 705 months consist of 374 30-day months and 331 29-day months.
In a 12-month 354-day year, every odd-numbered month is 30 days long and every even-numbered month is 29 days long.
In a 12-month 355-day year, every odd-numbered month is 30 days long, and so is the 12th month; every other even-numbered month is 29 days long.
In a 13-month 383-day year, every odd-numbered month is 29 days long and every even-numbered month is 30 days long.
In a 13-month 384-day year, every odd-numbered month is 30 days long and every even-numbered month is 29 days long.

In any 19-year subcycle, the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years are 13-month years; all other years are 12-month years.
The 19th year and the 38th year of a 57-year cycle are 383 days long; the 57th year, and all other 13-month years, are 384 days long.

I have yet to think of a fast way to summarize how the 13 355-day 12-month years are distributed among the 23 354-day 12-month years.
When (if?) I do, I'll probably update this post.
[edit2]
Edit: Except for the "it's a lunisolar calendar" part, all of the above is subject to change, now. I just found out I'd been using wrong numbers for days-per-month and days-per-year. They are off by less than a thousandth of a day; but it's enough to make a difference.
[/edit2]

So far I haven't decided much about naming the years or months or days.
And I haven't decided much about having a fixed-number-of-days (between 4 days and 10 days) week shorter than a month.

The years are closely aligned with the seasons; and the months are closely aligned with the phases of the moon.
Last edited by eldin raigmore on 15 Dec 2017 01:45, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
gestaltist
mayan
mayan
Posts: 1617
Joined: 11 Feb 2015 11:23

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by gestaltist »

I have a problem with how calendar and astrology/astronomy should work on Nakar.

For the most part, the orbit of Nakar and its moon is stable and predictable (I still haven't decided on actual numbers but I think the year will be a bit shorter than on Earth, but the day length will be a bit longer.)

However, their "Moon" is really an AI-controlled orbital station, with the goal of ensuring the stability of local ecosystems. As a result, the orbital station rarely (probably once a couple hundred years) turns on its engines and corrects its course - e.g., to stabilize the planet's Milankovitch cycle, avoid an incoming celestial body, or adjust to changes in the local star's temperature. This leads to a change in the perceived celestial path of the Moon, stars and Sun, and can lead to some changes in year length.

I can't decide how that would affect human time keeping and their astrology. As far as the locals are concerned, the celestial landscape randomly changes once in a while, and they don't know why. It's rare enough that its hard to pinpoint for the local "science" but frequent enough to throw off any traditional astronomical knowledge.

If anybody has any cool ideas on the consequences this situation might have, I would be very grateful.
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by elemtilas »

gestaltist wrote: 11 Dec 2017 11:41 I have a problem with how calendar and astrology/astronomy should work on Nakar.

For the most part, the orbit of Nakar and its moon is stable and predictable (I still haven't decided on actual numbers but I think the year will be a bit shorter than on Earth, but the day length will be a bit longer.)

However, their "Moon" is really an AI-controlled orbital station, with the goal of ensuring the stability of local ecosystems. As a result, the orbital station rarely (probably once a couple hundred years) turns on its engines and corrects its course - e.g., to stabilize the planet's Milankovitch cycle, avoid an incoming celestial body, or adjust to changes in the local star's temperature. This leads to a change in the perceived celestial path of the Moon, stars and Sun, and can lead to some changes in year length.

I can't decide how that would affect human time keeping and their astrology. As far as the locals are concerned, the celestial landscape randomly changes once in a while, and they don't know why. It's rare enough that its hard to pinpoint for the local "science" but frequent enough to throw off any traditional astronomical knowledge.

If anybody has any cool ideas on the consequences this situation might have, I would be very grateful.
Must be quite the spectacular show when the thrusters kick in!Even if there's no visible flame, the super hot vapors should cause some curious wavering of stars behind the plume? Just hope they don't launch a Moon landing project just in advance of a thruster burn! Their taronauts would be crispified!

If it happens fairly regularly every couple hundred years, sooner or later astrologers will pick up on the cyclical nature of the event. With the advent of record keeping, they'd eventually be able to pinpoint to the day all previous iterations and could probably predict the next event to within a couple decades.

It probably won't affect local timekeeping. Except when it does actually happen, clocks might need minor adjustment.

Is there anyone on board the Moonship that the locals might eventually meet?
User avatar
gestaltist
mayan
mayan
Posts: 1617
Joined: 11 Feb 2015 11:23

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by gestaltist »

elemtilas wrote: 11 Dec 2017 12:31 Must be quite the spectacular show when the thrusters kick in!Even if there's no visible flame, the super hot vapors should cause some curious wavering of stars behind the plume? Just hope they don't launch a Moon landing project just in advance of a thruster burn! Their taronauts would be crispified!
Good point. I like the idea of "wavering of skies". I wonder though, if there wouldn't also be some effects you could sense on the planet, like sudden earthquakes and stuff like that (and they would probably remain for some time after due to inertia of magma movements). Thanks for this comment because I hadn't thought about it enough.
If it happens fairly regularly every couple hundred years, sooner or later astrologers will pick up on the cyclical nature of the event. With the advent of record keeping, they'd eventually be able to pinpoint to the day all previous iterations and could probably predict the next event to within a couple decades.
This movement would be reactive in nature so probably not predictable. However, you're right people would be able to connect the dots after the advent of record keeping. They would connect the wavering of stars, as you mentioned, with subsequent earthquakes and then a shift in day length, etc. This would have to become a very important moment for scholars - I imagine it could be connected with the advent of new eras.

However, it would still be unpredictable - so maybe a belief in the cyclical nature of the universe would be less likely? Or maybe more likely - because a clearly cyclical cataclysmic event would be regularly observed?
It probably won't affect local timekeeping. Except when it does actually happen, clocks might need minor adjustment.
I'm not sure. Any changes in year length might render ritualistic calendars rather useless. A Mayan-style calendar is unlikely in this world, I think.
Is there anyone on board the Moonship that the locals might eventually meet?
Nope. It's a purely AI-driven operation that's running low on fuel, too, which is why it limits itself in the amount of its actions. After successful terraforming and colonization, it mostly runs on minimal energy with sensors looking for critical alerts.
Spoiler:
Well... "successful" is relative, I guess. As I mentioned in my scratchpad thread, the attempt to restart plate tectonics has led to a rather spectacular extinction event and sent people back to the stone age.
User avatar
lsd
greek
greek
Posts: 740
Joined: 11 Mar 2011 21:11
Contact:

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by lsd »

For universal use, I only use the count of the number of days in the calendar...
That's enough for concerns that have nothing to do with the seasons, such as agriculture....
The most problematic is the choice of the date of origin...
Salmoneus
MVP
MVP
Posts: 3030
Joined: 19 Sep 2011 19:37

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by Salmoneus »

In terms of use on Earth, I think it's clear to all of us what the most sensible calendar to use would be.

The year is divided into 10 calendrical months of 29 days, 5 sidereal months, 1 tropical month, 2 paschal months, and potentially two intercalendrical months. The year begins on the 5th April, naturally. The sidereal and paschal months can split a calendrical month into two or more parts (summing to 29 days).

The first calendrical month begins as April, but when it is interrupted once (by Holy Week, Lemuary, Whitsuntide and/or Trinity ) the second part is called May; when it is interrupted twice, the middle part is called Hawtide. When it is interrupted three times including by Holy Week, the first part is called Germinal, the second April, the third Hawtide and the fourth May. If it is interrupted four times, or three times not including by Holy Week, the final segment of the calendrical month is known as Floréal; and if it is interrupted four times, Germinal is renamed Dismas. April proper must contain at least five days; if the part prior to Holy Week is four or fewer days, this again becomes Germinal, and what would otherwise have been Hawtide becomes April.

The paschal month of Holy Week lasts eight days, culminating in Easter Sunday. The sidereal month of Lemuary covers up to five days, equating to, in the Gregorian calendar, approximately the 9th to the 13th of May. The paschal month of Whitsuntide begins on the Friday before Pentecost and ends the Monday after Pentecost. Where Whitsuntide falls on the days that otherwise would be alloted to Lemuary, the paschal month takes priority; however, if this reduces Lemuary to two or fewer days, and additional one or two days are added to Lemuary (on the far side of Whitsuntide) to return the sidereal month to a minimum of three days.

The second calendrical month is known as Thrimidge between Whitsuntide and Lithe, and as Summeryule following Lithe; if only one segment falls prior to Whitsuntide (either after Lemuary, or before a Lemuary that is contiguous with Whitsuntide), it is known as Forethrimidge; but where one segment falls prior to Lemuary and a second between Lemuary and Whitsuntide, these are known respectively as Forethrimidge and Whitthrimidge.

The second sidereal month is Lithe; this falls on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 19th to the 24th of June.

The third calendrical month is known as Ascension in those segments falling before Whitsuntide, as Forelithe between Whitsuntide and Lithe, and as Quintilis after Lithe.

The fourth calendrical month is known as Thermidor before Lammastide, and as Nemoral after Lammastide.

The third sidereal month is Lammastide; it falls on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 31st July, until the Monday after the following Sunday, unless the 31st falls on a weekend, in which case the month begins on the preceding Friday.

The fifth calendrical month, after Nemoral, is Halimath.

The sixth calendrical month begins as October, until it is interrupted by Michaelmas. Its remaining days return as November, which ends with All Souls. If it is not possible to complete the days of the month before All Souls, it returns again as Old Hallowmas following All Souls.

The fourth sidereal month is Michaelmas. This begins on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 11th October, and lasts at least until the Monday following the following Sunday. However, where November has been left with insufficient days to fill the time between this Monday and the beginning of All Souls, Michaelmas is granted additional days to fill the gap. However, if the excess days are greater in number than eight, they become their own month, Octave.

The fifth sidereal month is All Souls. This begins on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 1st November, and lasts until the Monday following the following Sunday.

At this point things admittedly get slightly confusing.

After All Souls, the seventh calendrical month, December, begins. However, only its first 13 days are used at this point. They are followed by the eighth calendrical month, which in its early segment is known as Lucytide. Lucytide lasts until, in the Gregorian calendar, the 13th December, after which December continues, up to the 25th December (the numbering does not restart). The 25th December is followed by the second segment of of the eighth month, which is known as Yule. Following Yule, the seventh month runs to completion with four additional days, now known as Epiphany.

Following Epiphany comes the ninth calendrical month, which begins as Winterfilth, but which has from its total length subtracted the length of that year's Michaelmas (or Octave, if Octave is present). Any portion of the month following February is known as Nivose.

The tropical month is known as February. It lasts for 28 days, and begins on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 1st February.

The tenth and final calendrical month is known as Shrovetide when in any segment falling before February, as Rethetide between February and Holy Week, and as Haretide after Holy Week.

Now, to this relatively simple calendar are added a few modifications. Most importantly, in years in which October would otherwise run to completion before the beginning of Michaelmas, an additional 17-day month named Trinity is added beginning on the first Sunday after the 5th April. Leapdays are added to the end of February in accordance with Gregorian calculations, while one day is subtracted from the calculation of the sidereal dates (but not tropical February) every 72 years.


----

I'm not sure why we don't all use this already
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by elemtilas »

Salmoneus wrote: 12 Dec 2017 01:54 In terms of use on Earth, I think it's clear to all of us what the most sensible calendar to use would be.
Spoiler:
The year is divided into 10 calendrical months of 29 days, 5 sidereal months, 1 tropical month, 2 paschal months, and potentially two intercalendrical months. The year begins on the 5th April, naturally. The sidereal and paschal months can split a calendrical month into two or more parts (summing to 29 days).

The first calendrical month begins as April, but when it is interrupted once (by Holy Week, Lemuary, Whitsuntide and/or Trinity ) the second part is called May; when it is interrupted twice, the middle part is called Hawtide. When it is interrupted three times including by Holy Week, the first part is called Germinal, the second April, the third Hawtide and the fourth May. If it is interrupted four times, or three times not including by Holy Week, the final segment of the calendrical month is known as Floréal; and if it is interrupted four times, Germinal is renamed Dismas. April proper must contain at least five days; if the part prior to Holy Week is four or fewer days, this again becomes Germinal, and what would otherwise have been Hawtide becomes April.

The paschal month of Holy Week lasts eight days, culminating in Easter Sunday. The sidereal month of Lemuary covers up to five days, equating to, in the Gregorian calendar, approximately the 9th to the 13th of May. The paschal month of Whitsuntide begins on the Friday before Pentecost and ends the Monday after Pentecost. Where Whitsuntide falls on the days that otherwise would be alloted to Lemuary, the paschal month takes priority; however, if this reduces Lemuary to two or fewer days, and additional one or two days are added to Lemuary (on the far side of Whitsuntide) to return the sidereal month to a minimum of three days.

The second calendrical month is known as Thrimidge between Whitsuntide and Lithe, and as Summeryule following Lithe; if only one segment falls prior to Whitsuntide (either after Lemuary, or before a Lemuary that is contiguous with Whitsuntide), it is known as Forethrimidge; but where one segment falls prior to Lemuary and a second between Lemuary and Whitsuntide, these are known respectively as Forethrimidge and Whitthrimidge.

The second sidereal month is Lithe; this falls on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 19th to the 24th of June.

The third calendrical month is known as Ascension in those segments falling before Whitsuntide, as Forelithe between Whitsuntide and Lithe, and as Quintilis after Lithe.

The fourth calendrical month is known as Thermidor before Lammastide, and as Nemoral after Lammastide.

The third sidereal month is Lammastide; it falls on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 31st July, until the Monday after the following Sunday, unless the 31st falls on a weekend, in which case the month begins on the preceding Friday.

The fifth calendrical month, after Nemoral, is Halimath.

The sixth calendrical month begins as October, until it is interrupted by Michaelmas. Its remaining days return as November, which ends with All Souls. If it is not possible to complete the days of the month before All Souls, it returns again as Old Hallowmas following All Souls.

The fourth sidereal month is Michaelmas. This begins on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 11th October, and lasts at least until the Monday following the following Sunday. However, where November has been left with insufficient days to fill the time between this Monday and the beginning of All Souls, Michaelmas is granted additional days to fill the gap. However, if the excess days are greater in number than eight, they become their own month, Octave.

The fifth sidereal month is All Souls. This begins on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 1st November, and lasts until the Monday following the following Sunday.

At this point things admittedly get slightly confusing.

After All Souls, the seventh calendrical month, December, begins. However, only its first 13 days are used at this point. They are followed by the eighth calendrical month, which in its early segment is known as Lucytide. Lucytide lasts until, in the Gregorian calendar, the 13th December, after which December continues, up to the 25th December (the numbering does not restart). The 25th December is followed by the second segment of of the eighth month, which is known as Yule. Following Yule, the seventh month runs to completion with four additional days, now known as Epiphany.

Following Epiphany comes the ninth calendrical month, which begins as Winterfilth, but which has from its total length subtracted the length of that year's Michaelmas (or Octave, if Octave is present). Any portion of the month following February is known as Nivose.

The tropical month is known as February. It lasts for 28 days, and begins on, in the Gregorian calendar, the 1st February.

The tenth and final calendrical month is known as Shrovetide when in any segment falling before February, as Rethetide between February and Holy Week, and as Haretide after Holy Week.

Now, to this relatively simple calendar are added a few modifications. Most importantly, in years in which October would otherwise run to completion before the beginning of Michaelmas, an additional 17-day month named Trinity is added beginning on the first Sunday after the 5th April. Leapdays are added to the end of February in accordance with Gregorian calculations, while one day is subtracted from the calculation of the sidereal dates (but not tropical February) every 72 years.


----
I'm not sure why we don't all use this already
The pure simplicity of it doth make me weep withal.
Kehgrehdid
cuneiform
cuneiform
Posts: 107
Joined: 14 Sep 2010 03:30

Re: Calendars (for Earth and for conworlds)

Post by Kehgrehdid »

I have come up with a calendar that has seven months of seven weeks each, with feast weeks between the second and third months (feast of planting, around end of March, start of April), fifth and sixth months (feast of harvest, end of August, start of September), and after the seventh month (New Year/Full Year feast) The day after the New Year feast is normally the winter (northern hemisphere) solstice and is not part of any week. Years that it takes an additional day have two days not part of any week. The next year begins the day after the solstice and is the first day of that week. So every day of the year is always on the same day of the week, though the days of the week in this calendar drift compared to the gregorian days of the week.
Shemtov, I'd be interested in your thoughts on this 7x7x7+3x7+1 calendar as an Orthodox Jew. If the biblical command is to rest on the seventh day after working six, would it be prohibited to work those six days after two days of rest (seventh feast day and solstice)?
I had wondered about moving the new year feast week to the beginning of the year to be December 22-29 approximately to overlap more with businesses taking time off, but if Jews are used to taking a slightly shifted winter vacation, those using this calendar can too. And I also prefer putting it at the end to convey that celebration and enjoyment comes after work, after you earn it. And at least this year, 2017, the New Year (Full Year?) feast overlaps well with Hanukkah/Chanukah. So end of year it stays.
"Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it."

I marvel that the hardest parts of my life (fear, mistakes, guilt, sin, doubt, failure) are of man, while what I crave most (rest, hope, love, peace, forgiveness) are of God.
Post Reply