Groundhog’s Day, Imbolc, Candlemas

Halfway through the year’s first Quarter. More than meets the eye.

theAbysmal Calendar‘s quarters are an even 13 weeks, or 91 days. Today, is the day halfway through the first quarter, which starts on the Northern Winter Solstice andends at the Vernal Equinox. This is  the reason that we celebrate holidays around this time (usually February 1st or 2nd).  The pagan holidays at this time of year are Imbolc, Candlemas and Groundhog’s Day.

In theAbysmal Calendar, the day sits 45 days after the solstice, and 45 before the Equinox. Excluding the week in which it finds itself, that’s 6 weeks before and 6 weeks after.

Think about the groundhog. If it sees its shadow, it returns to its burrow for another 6 weeks until Spring. If it doesn’t see its shadow, then the weather is considered moderate enough (due to cloud cover) for it to remain outside. If the Summer sun is ahead of the groundhog, and it looks forward, it won’t see its shadow. If it looks back towards the Solstice, it will see its shadow. Whether this is the origin of the custom or not, this seems to be fitting.

This midway point is also a transition, from the darker days of Winter to the increasing daylight as we move towards Spring. At the Solstices (dark days of winter at the bottom, and light days of summer at top) the change in the amount of sunlight from day to day is relatively minor (a few seconds from one day to the next, at 45 degrees North). At  the  Equinox it’s at its peak at 3 minutes 15 seconds per day.  The days grow longer as the Sun’s path across the sky rises higher and higher.

One more reason to celebrate.

The four quarters of the year (clockwise from bottom left) parallel the 13 months of the year (see the illustration at the top of blog entry). The midway days occur in the weeks at the top of each circle.

There are a few symmetries to note about the midway days each quarter. They occur in progressive weeks in the month in where they fall (the circled days in the calendar below):

The 13 weeks of each quarter also parallel the 13 months of the year. The middle day of each Week and each Quarter is always a Tuesday. There is a repeating pattern to this, if we choose to recognize it. The middle point is a point of maximum light and energy: high noon for the Day, Full Moon for the Lunation, Summer Solstice for the year, and Tuesday/Mars for the Week & Quarter. Tuesday is Mars’ day, and aside from being the god of war, he is the embodiment of virility (life force, as well as generative power). He can be considered a peak of sorts (I hesitate to say climax).

Another symmetry we see with these midway days reveals itself when we impose the 13 signs of the Western Zodiac to theAbysmal months:

Each of the circled months/signs are exceptional for a few reasons. For one, Libra is the only inanimate object in the circle of living beings, and stands at the centre, 6 signs before and 6 signs after. The remaining four months/signs are Taurus, Leo, Ophiuchus and Aquarius. These all contain the midway days for each quarter. Each circled month/bears a different one of the five elements. There is also mention of Cherubim with the faces of Bull, Lion, Eagle and Man in the Book of Ezekiel and Revelation in the Bible.

The equivalent animals in the Chinese Zodiac would be the Ox, Dragon, Goat, Dog. Although, there are mythological Chinese animals derived from constellations which are associated with the seasons, directions and Chinese elements;

• Azure Dragon (青龍) of the East: Wood – Spring
• Vermilion Bird (朱雀) of the South: Fire – Summer
• Yellow Dragon of the Center (黃龍): Earth – Centre
• White Tiger (白虎) of the West: Metal – Autumn
• Black Tortoise (玄武) of the North: Water – Winter

However, the association of the Zodiac with the Chinese constellations are not tied together as they are in Western astrology.

In the Hindu tradition, there are guardians of the directions, although they use 10, the four as above, as well as Northest, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, Nadir and Zenith (central down and up for our purposes). If we place the NE, SE, SW, NW and Central guardians in the above scheme, we could apply these:

• Īśāna of the NE
• Agni of the SE
• Brahmā of the Zenith & Viṣṇu of the Nadir
• Nirṛti (sometimes Rakṣasa) of the SW
• Vāyu of the NW

There’s nothing definitive in this, just a riff about groundhogs, oxen and dragons. This is the principle reason that the months in theAbysmal Calendar are numbered and not named. Any culture can name them as suitable, yet the numbers allow us to translate from the month of the Bull to the month of the shady marmot. The structure of theAbysmal calendar follows those already in existence in other calendar systems, and as such, would lend itself more easily to acceptance as a means of translating from one system to another.

Thoughts?

320 Days to Dec 21st 2012