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Pr Ntr Kmt World Religious Calendar Pagan Holy Days

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<strong>World</strong> <strong>Religious</strong> <strong>Calendar</strong> 14<br />

listed below).<br />

Polarity: Feminine<br />

Planet: Sun<br />

Archetype: Taliesin (Celtic God of Bards)<br />

Symbol: eagle or stag<br />

Folk Names:<br />

Moon of Inception<br />

Moon of Beginning<br />

Asatru (ancient Norse) information<br />

Month: Snowmoon<br />

Roman information<br />

a.d. IV Non. Ian.<br />

4 days before the Nones of January<br />

Month: Ianvarivs or Ianuarius or Januarius or Janus<br />

The a.d. IV Non. designation means ante diem or four “days before” the Nones (First Quarter<br />

Moon) of the month. When counting days, the Romans included both the start and end day (in modern<br />

Western culture, we skip the start day). When the Romans switched to a solar calendar, they continued<br />

to use the lunar day names.<br />

The Roman month of January is named for Janus (Ianvs). January was sacred to Janus, the Roman<br />

God of gates, doors, and entrances. Janus was an early Italic sky god that long predated Rome. Ovid<br />

claimed that Janus said “The ancient called me chaos, for a being from of old am I.” Ovid also claimed<br />

that after the world’s creation, Janus said, “It was then that I, till that time a mere ball, a shapeless lump,<br />

assumed the face and members of a god.” Joannes of Lydia said, “Our own Philadelphia still preserves<br />

a trace of the ancient belief. On the first day of the month there goes in procession no less a personage<br />

than Janus himself, dressed up in a two-faced mask, and people call him Saturnus, identifying him with<br />

Kronos.” The beginning of each day, month, and year were sacred to Janus. The Romans believed that<br />

Janus opened the gates of heaven each day at dawn , letting out the monring, and closed the gates of<br />

heaven each day at dusk.<br />

The earliest Roman months were lunar. According to Roman mythology, the ten month solar calendar<br />

aligned to the vernal equinox was introduced by Romulus, the founder of Rome, around 753 BCE. In<br />

Romulus’ calendar, January did not exist. Numa Pompilius, the second of the seven traditional kings of<br />

Rome, added two more months, for a 12 month year. In Numa’s calendar, January was added to the<br />

beginning of the year (following February) and had 29 days. Gaius Julius Caesar, as Pontifex Maximus<br />

(supreme bridge-builder, a religious title), reorganized the calendar on the first day of 45 BCE. In<br />

Caesar’s calendar (the Julian <strong>Calendar</strong>), January had 31 days and February was moved to after January.<br />

Caesar’s calendar was calculated by Sosigenes, an Egyptian astrologer/astronomer. In 8 BCE, Augustus<br />

Caesar fixed errors by pontiffs after Julius’ death and made other minor modifications, resulting in the<br />

modern Western calendar. The modern Gregorian <strong>Calendar</strong>, named for Roman Catholic Pope Gregory<br />

the Thirteenth, was a realignment in 1582. The Romans avoided giving January 30 days (skipping from<br />

29 to 31) because of a superstitious dread of even numbers.<br />

numerology<br />

14 of 1413 7/14/08 9:29 AM

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