Happy New Year 2022

[Starman]

New Years Eve 2021, I woke up at 4a.m. The local Center for Spiritual Living was having a group meditation to welcome the new year. It was part of a global meditation for peace which would happen all over the world at 12: midnight GMT, which was 5a.m. local time for me. I enjoyed the group meditation and having breakfast afterwards with those who were in that group.

It is now 2022, but it helps me to remember that this is from the perspective of the Christian Calendar. The calendar we use today was developed by Pope Gregory, prior to that calendar people in most places used a calendar which was developed by Julius Caesar. There have been all sorts of calendars that go back to the bronze age. Most calendars, or marking of time, have been based on religious beliefs.

On the official calendar of Nepal it is the year 2078. On the Chinese calendar it is the year 4218, and on the Jewish calendar the year is now 5782. There are many different calendars in use around the world today. The British Empire and the U.S. adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, and our calendar, although developed by a Christian Pope, has a lot of pagan influences.

The month of January was named after Janus; in Roman mythology the doorkeeper to the heavens.
The month of February named after Februa; the wife of Mars.
The month of March named after Mars; the Roman god of war.
The month of April meaning to open, and this month was sacred to Greek’s and the Goddess Aphrodite.
The month of May named after Maia, said to be the mother of Hermes.
The month of June named for the Goddess Juno.
The month of July named to honor Julius Caesar (was once spelled Juli).
The month of August named to honor Augustus Caesar.
The month of September in Latin meant “the seventh month,” which it was on the Julian Calendar.
The month October in Latin meant “the eight month,” which it was on the Julian Calendar.
The month November in Latin meant “the ninth month,” which it was on the Julian Calendar.
The month December in Latin meant “the tenth month, which it was on the Julian Calendar. December was dedicated to Poseidon by the Greeks.

Without naming the days of the week, the days of the week got their names from the sun (Sunday), the moon (Monday), and a bunch of Norse and Roman Gods. Thought it might be interesting to post this stuff at the changing of our Christian calendar to welcome a new year and keep it in perspective. Frankly, I celebrate my own birthday as a Personal New Years Day.

[HITESH SHAH]

Hi
This was good information on gregorian calender.
Thanks for sharing. Wish u and all forum members very happy healthy peaceful n blessed new year.

[Miss Hepburn]

I wasn't going to open this post thinking it was a Happy NY sentence, yawn....
But this was GREAT! Thank you!

[iamthat]

Indeed, some interesting facts. Thank you. Some additional thoughts on the subject, although they may be of limited interest to most people.

Originally Posted by Starman

The British Empire and the U.S. adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, and our calendar, although developed by a Christian Pope, has a lot of pagan influences.

France, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain had adopted the new calendar in 1582. By the time it was adopted in Britain there was the problem of aligning the calendar in use in England with that in use in Europe. It was necessary to correct it by 11 days: the ‘lost days’. So Wednesday 2nd September 1752 was followed by Thursday 14th September 1752.

Russia changed its calendar in 1918 - 31 January 1918 was followed by 14 February 1918. Which explains why the October Revolution of 1917 was actually November elsewhere in Europe.

I sometimes wonder if those who calculated the ending of the Great Cycle in the Mayan calendar took into account the various adjustments to the calendar now in use.

Originally Posted by Starman

The month of January was named after Janus; in Roman mythology the doorkeeper to the heavens.

Janus is the god of transitions and dualities, and so is portrayed with two faces—one facing the past, and one facing the future. He also holds a key in his right hand, which symbolizes his protection of doors, gates, thresholds, and other separations or openings between spatial boundaries.

Originally Posted by Starman

Without naming the days of the week, the days of the week got their names from the sun (Sunday), the moon (Monday), and a bunch of Norse and Roman Gods.

In English, yes. In other languages not necessarily.

For example Wednesday comes from Woden's (Odin) Day, but in German it is simply Mittwoch meaning mid-week. This replaced the former name Wodenstag in the 10th century.

The seven day week is thanks to the Babylonians. The reason they adopted the number seven was that they observed seven celestial bodies — the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

This is reflected more accurately in the French names for the weekdays (but not so much the weekend):
Monday - Lundi - Moon
Tuesday - Mardi- Mars
Wednesday - Mercredi - Mercury
Thursday - Jeudi - Jupiter
Friday - Vendredi - Venus

But Saturday (Saturn's Day) is now Samedi in French from the Hebrew for the Sabbath.

And Sunday (Sun's Day from the Latin Dies Soli) is now Dimanche in French from the word Dominica or Day of the Lord.

The origins of words can be an interesting study.

Happy 2022 - let us hope for more sanity in the world.

Peace

[Starman]

iamthat, thank you for that excellent addition. I find it interesting that today people
generally take the names of months, and names of the days of the week, without giving any
thought to their origins.

These were mostly holy days for people in ancient times who worshipped the planets, and
assigned deities in a polytheistic manner to everyday occurrences. Even more interesting is
that Christianity embraced these pagan references when developing the Christian calendar.

I would think that Pope Gregory might have called the Christian Sabbath “Son-Day,” in reference
to Jesus Christ, instead of Sunday, in reference to the sun up in the sky, when developing his
calendar. The original concept of “holidays” began as holy days.

Another little tidbit. Sunday was once the seventh day, and still is observed as such in many
nations around the world. Although a host of countries, like Japan, Canada, and the U.S. view
Sunday as the first day of the week. Sunday was a work day in Rome until Emperor Constantine
decreed that Sunday would be a day of rest.

I have also wondered about the Mayan calendar cycles and whether they correlate with Hindu
yuga cycles. In my studies of comparative religions I found many similarities between different
religious practices for the same reasons, only using different words and ideologies. I view it as a
mental construct that cultures develop to nurture their population. It is no different with the
Gregorian calendar today. Especially when it comes to nationally recognized holidays.

Western culture is as absorbed in this calendar today, for non-religious reasons, as people in the
past were for religious reasons. What really was the difference between yesterday, New Years Eve,
and today, New Years Day? Except in our minds and how we refer to time.

Happy New Year!!!

[SagarRawat]

Thanks for sharing such wonderful information. Best wishesh for New year.