The Modern Druidic Calendar

The druids were renowned in the classical world for their knowledge of astronomy (as well as astrology), and despite the prohibition on the transcribing of religious dogma, the dates and meanings of the major Celtic holidays have survived, and are revived in modern Druidism.

First, I think it important to point out that, despite popular misconception, the Celts did NOT follow a "Celtic tree calendar." This is an invention of the last two hundred or so years, popularized by Robert Graves, who has unwittingly done an incredible amount of disservice to the Druid community. For more on this subject, please see my w/u under "Celtic Tree calendar"

YEAR

Most druids use the standard Western date, the "Common Era" or "Anno Domini," and so would write this year as being 2003 CE. It is unknown what year the classical druids would have considered this to be.

However, I have seen some individuals use the "Anno Mundi" devised in the Annals of the Four Masters, making this year 7202 AM.

MONTHS

Now, most modern druids either follow the current monthly calendar, or rely on a reconstruction of the Coligny Calendar, either using the original Gaulic names, or an hypothetical modern Irish reconstruction:

COLIGNY        "IRISH"	    POSSIBLE MEANING				MODERN
Samonios       Samhain      "Summer's End"? "Seed-Fall"?		October/November
Dumannios      Dumhainn     "Dark Month"? "The Darkest Depths"?		November/December
Riuros         Riúr         "Frost Time"? "Cold Time"?			December/January
Anagantios     Naghaid      "Indoors"/"Stay-home-time"?			January/February
Ogronios       Uarain       "Cold"/"Time of Ice"?			February/March
Cutios         Cuithe       "Windy"/"Time of Winds"?			March/April
Giamonios      Geamhain     "Winter's End"/"Shoots-show"?		April/May
Simivisonnos   Siúfainn     "Semi-Spring"/"Time of Brightness"?		May/June
Equos          Eacha        "Horse Month"				June/July
Elembivios     Eilmí        "Many Fences"/"Claim-time"			July/August
Edrinios       Aodhrain     "Hot Time"/"Arbitration-time"		August/September
Cantlos        Cadal        "Song Time"					September/October

However, there is some debate as to whether this is the proper order of the months on the calendar--some would begin November with Giamonios, and summer with Samonios.

Others use the old Gaelic names:

SCOTTISH(?)      LATIN
An t-Samhain     November
An Dùbhlachd     December
Am Faoilleach    January
An Gearran       February
Am Màrt          March
An Giblean       April
An Cèitean       May
An t-Og Mhios    June
An t-Uchar       July
An Lunasdal      August
An t-Sultain     September

Also, the Celts, according to some classical accounts, reckoned the beginning of the month from the new moon. Some accounts give the sixth of the new moon, some say the full moon. However, from what I've been able to gather, the month is started at the new moon. There is no standardization of this among modern druids.

DAYS

Modern druids either use the English names for the days of the week, or the modern Irish/Scottish/Welsh etc. names. Classical Celtic civilization was not based on a seven-day week, but on two "weeks" in every month, the first being fourteen days long, the second fourteen or fifteen, depending on the length of the moon.

THE EIGHT-FOLD YEAR

It is recorded in various medieval Irish texts that the Celts celebrated four "fire festivals"--Samhain, Oimelc, Bealtaine, and Lughnassadh. Of these, Samhain, Bealtaine, and Lughnassadh are found in a number of Irish mythological texts (the various cycles), while Oimelc is refered to in Cormac's Glossary. They mark what we now consider November 1, February 2, May 1, and August 1, dividing the year into four quarters, and were considered the start of each season, so that November 1 (Samhain, "summer's end") was the first day of winter. This is reflected in the Welsh name for the day, Nos Galen-Gaeaf ("Night of the Winter Calends").

It is also thought that they likely celebrated the solstices and equinoxes, though these do not appear in the texts. However, they certainly survived in folk customs, as did the four "fire festivals." The solstices and equinoxes fell between the four quarters, and were given the designation of "mid" days--hense calling the winter solstice (the first day of winter) "Midwinter" and so on.

Modern Druidism, taking a cue from "mesodruidism" (that of the 18th century Druidic Renaissance), adopted the solstices and equinoxes, as well as the four "fire festivals," into an eight-fold calendar, which was later adopted by Wicca and other neopagan groups. Modern neopagan holidays are actually a cobbling together of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon holy days, both of which may be derived from a hypothetical Proto-Indo-European calendar. At any rate, as Druidism is currently an earth-based religion, it is only logical that the solstices and equinoxes would be incorporated into the calendar, even without enough evidence to do so otherwise.

As for the names of the solstices and equinoxes, as there is no "specific" name given to these days, various names have been used, from current Irish to mesodruidic Welsh constructions to modern pagan (often Anglo-Saxon):

DATE               IRISH            MESODRUIDIC     NEOPAGAN
Winter Solstice    Mean Geimhridh   Alban Arthuan   Yule
Vernal Equinox     Mean Earraigh    Alban Eiler     Ostara
Summer Solstice    Mean Samhraidh   Alban Heruin    Litha
Autumnal Equinox   Mean Foghamar    Alban Elued     Mabon     

The Irish Nollaig and Welsh Nadolig ("Christmas") are not used for the Winter solstice, as it is thought to be derived from the Latin "natalis," refering to Christ's birth.

The other names usually retain their medieval form, except for Oimelc, which follows the modern Irish Imbolc (same pronounciation).

Each holy day has been given fairly thourough explanations in their respective articles, and so I will only leave this with a table of the days and a brief description:

Samhain:           November 1. New Year, winter begins.
Winter Solstice:   December 21 or so.
Imbolc:            February 2. Feast of Brigid
Vernal Equinox:    March 21 or so
Beltane:           May 1. Summer begins. Hypothetical Feast of Beli
Summer Solstice:   June 21 or so
Lughnassadh:       August 1. Feast of Lugh
Autumnal Equinox:  September 21 or so.

The dating of these feasts are usually left to the first of the month. However, as Issac Bonewits points out on his site:

Astrologically oriented Neopagans use the days upon which the Sun enters 15 degrees of each of the "Fixed Signs" of the Zodiac, to wit: "Eagle Point" = 15 degrees of Scorpio, "Man" or "Angel Point" = 15 degrees of Aquarius, "Ox Point" =15 degrees of Taurus and "Lion Point" = 15 degrees of Leo. Still others use those days upon which the Sun hits 16 degrees and 18 minutes declination North or South of the Celestial Equator. This also makes them come halfway between the Solstices and Equinoxes, and usually gives results within a few hours of those given by the Fixed Signs method.

It is also worth noting that the modern Druid holidays have Christian and modern "secular" equilvalents, which is one of the reasons that we have been able to create a modern calendar:

DRUID          CHRISTIAN         MODERN
Samhain        All Hallowmas     Halloween
(Winter)       Christmas         (your holiday here)
Imbolc         Candlemas         Groundhog Day
(Spring)       Easter            (your holiday here)
Beltane        Roodmas           May Day
(Summer)       St. John's Eve
Lughnassadh    Lammas
(Autumn)       Michaelmas

Back to "D" | Back to JCE
Home