Celtic calendar
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
- Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. 2nd corrected and enlarged edition. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .
- Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 .
- Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-48234-1 .
- Heinrich Tischner: The Celtic Calendar , online
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 794.
- ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 786.
- ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture . P. 81 f.
- ↑ Bernhard Maier: The religion of the Celts. Gods, myths, worldview . P. 62.
- ↑ Robert Graves: The white goddess: language of myth. 7th edition, Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, 2002, ISBN 9783499554162 .
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Observations on the mystical image of the Celts, especially in Austria. Presentation at the Celtic Conference in Hallein 2010, p. 7 f.