Celtic calendar

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Celtic calendar is on the one hand a term for the calendar system of ancient Celtic cultures, on the other hand for the medieval and modern calendars of the island Celtic peoples. There is little in common between the two, for example the names Gaulish Samoni- and Irish Samhain or Samuin , which seem to indicate an ancient Celtic festival circle. Further continuities from ancient to medieval Celtic calendars are controversial. Modern Celtic calendars are esoteric and neo-pagan (neo-pagan) ideas.

Antique Celtic Calendar

The mainland Celtic calendar system has been passed down primarily through the archaeological find of the Gallo-Roman calendar from Coligny. It is a lunisolar calendar that is oriented towards both the sun and the moon. It has 12 months, which must be adjusted to the solar year by inserting a leap month every two and a half years - i.e. 30 months.

Island Celtic Calendar

The Irish calendar is usually used as an example for the calendar systems of the island Celtic peoples, whose culture is only passed down through legends and myths from the Middle Ages . This is characterized by four large festivals that resulted from certain agricultural work:

  • Samhain (November 1st, beginning of winter)
  • Imbolg (February 1st, the first milk giving of the sheep in spring)
  • Beltane (May 1st, beginning of summer)
  • Lughnasadh (August 1st, beginning of autumn)

Since the calendar is coordinated with the farming year for Ireland , no clear similarities can be determined for Wales and Scotland due to the different climatic conditions.

Modern esotericism and neo-paganism

Also as Celtic calendar certain horoscope calendar be understood at times, created recently by Celtic motifs. Thus, in the esotericism of the 20th century, first by Robert Graves in 1946 in the book The white goddess (German 1948 The White Goddess ), the months assigned to tree names very speculative in part to the Ogam were taken -Alphabet. Graves assigned certain properties to the trees that should have meaning for those born in that month. Later stones were assigned to the months.

No. Surname meaning Beginning tree stone
1 Beth Beginning 24th of December birch Rock crystal
2 Luis Animation 21th January rowan Tourmaline
3 Nion Power of the sea February 18 Weeping ash Aquamarine
4th Fearn Fire March 18th alder garnet
5 Saille enchantment April 15th pasture Moonstone
6th Uath cleaning May 18 Hawthorn Lapis lazuli
7th Duir Steadfastness June 10th Holm oak diamond
8th Tinne blood 8th of July Holly ruby
9 Coll wisdom 5th of August hazelnut topaz
10 Muin Inspiration September 2nd Vine amethyst
11 Gord Resurrection 30. September yew opal
12 Pethboc (Ngetal) Royalty 28th of October Blackthorn sapphire
13 Ruis The inevitable 25. November elder Olivine
14th Rough stone The day between the years 23rd of December

On this basis, the so-called Celtic tree horoscope was invented in 1971 on behalf of the French women's magazine " Marie Claire " by the journalist Paula Delsol , which subsequently found widespread use in German-speaking countries.

However, all these calendars and horoscopes, such as the Celtic annual cycle , the tree horoscope and the tree calendar quoted here have nothing to do with medieval or even early historical Celtic calendars.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 794.
  2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 786.
  3. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 81 f.
  4. ↑ Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . P. 62.
  5. ↑ Robert Graves: The white goddess: language of myth. 7th edition, Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, 2002, ISBN 9783499554162 .
  6. ^ Helmut Birkhan: Observations on the mystical image of the Celts, especially in Austria. Presentation at the Celtic Conference in Hallein 2010, p. 7 f.