History of the lunar calendar

The power of the Moon has been known for tens of thousands of years. The first lunar calendars were discovered in caves in France and Germany. According to NASA, these calendars date back to the late Palaeolithic era - around 32,000 years before Christ! The Maya, Celts and Incas knew no better than to live daily with the rhythm of the Moon. Time for a history lesson on the origins of historical lunar calendars and how they are still used daily in some cultures. 

Discovery of the first lunar calendars
In his groundbreaking study 'The Roots of Civilization' (1972), Alexander Marshack developed the theory that the notches on various Paleolithic bone plaques (notches on animal bones) were not necessarily meant to communicate, but rather to indicate time. They noted this time based on the position of the Moon. According to him, finds from the Thaïs cave in France indicated 29 notches, corresponding to the duration between two moons.¹ (the moon cycle lasts 29 days)

The oldest Mesolithic lunar calendar monument has been found in Warren Field, Scotland. It dates from around 8,000 BC and contains twelve pits that probably represent the twelve phases of the Moon. The discovery is recent and the excavation only took place in 2004.

Many of the lunar calendars were found on loose rocks, in caves or on animal bones. The small objects were suitable because they could easily be taken on a hunt – which could sometimes last weeks. For example, people at that time hunted horses, bison and mammoths. The aurochs on the other hand – the predecessor of the bison and cows as we know them – was seen as magical or even sacred according to NASA , which is why the animal plays an important role in the first signs of constellations.

Introduction of the Gregorian calendar

The fact that the Gregorian calendar is now dominant in the West is not self-evident. The calendar is based on the Sun and was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII just after the Middle Ages. However, he was not its inventor, that was Julius Caesar - the Gregorian calendar is in fact a variant of the Julian calendar. Before Julius Caesar introduced his 'own' calendar - he was advised by astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria - the lunar calendar was the dominant calendar. Sosigenes advised Caesar, in order for the new calendar to succeed, to completely do away with the lunar calendar of the time. The months of the new calendar were based on the different seasons and a year had a length of 365,25 days. In addition, the calendar was based entirely on the Sun. Later, according to Britannica, because 365.25 days was inconvenient (for example, to collect taxes), a leap year was introduced. Every four years, there was a year with an extra day: 24 February occurred twice.

The introduction of the Gregorian calendar had two reasons: the number of days, in which the Earth revolved around the Sun, was not correct; per century it would deviate by one day. Secondly, faith came into play: the Christians needed a basis for determining the date of Easter each year, which in turn coincided with the Equinox. This was not possible with the incorrect Julian calendar. The revised - Gregorian - calendar is used nowadays in almost all Western countries. During the twentieth century, more and more non-Western countries switched over too, but the Gregorian calendar is certainly not leading for the entire world population. 

Current lunar calendars
As the name suggests, a lunar calendar is based on the time it takes for the moon to revolve around the Earth. This time is referred to as a month. The Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and is therefore based on how long it takes the Earth to revolve around the Sun.

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) played a major role in the discovery and decipherment of historical lunar calendars. He was a renowned philosopher, writer and esoretician with great influence on how we view the relationship between man and the planets. According to his theory, man is the result of influences from Earth and the rest of the cosmos - consisting of stars, the Sun and the Moon.²

Whatever your views are, it is a fact that lunar calendars – sometimes of a religious nature, sometimes used for systematic counting – have maintained a hold on mankind for tens of thousands of years. We will describe the most well-known lunar calendars below.

Lunar calendar in Asian culture
Chances are you are familiar with the Chinese lunar calendar. The Chinese year is based on the position of the Moon - not the Sun, like the standard calendar in the West - and is made up of twelve months, each consisting of 29 or 30 days. The total year is thus eleven days shorter than a year as we know it. The era is also slightly different, because it is not based on Christianity, but started on the day of the coronation of the first Chinese emperor, 2697 BC. Nevertheless, the Chinese calendar is not used everywhere in China. Because of, among other things, trade with the West, the Gregorian calendar is also becoming more dominant in Asia. The Chinese calendar is especially used for holidays, like the Chinese New Year. Because a lunar year is 11 days shorter than a solar year, the months would eventually fall into different seasons. To prevent this, there is no leap day, but seven times every nineteen years a full leap month.
 
The Incas and their Quipu calendar
A brief history lesson: The Inca Empire spread throughout history across the Andes Mountains of South America, with its capital in what is now Peruvian Cuzco. 

The Incas had their own language: Quechua. However, they had no writing, but communicated with each other by means of quipus: knotted cords strung on a kind of chain. The knots stand for certain dates and units. Well-known research by Tom Zuidema³ has shown that the Quipu was also used as a lunar calendar. The calendar used by the Incas consisted of twelve synodic months - months related to celestial bodies - that were calculated from New Moon to New Moon. To keep roughly in step with a solar year, a thirteenth month was introduced every two or three years. The calendar was used practically, but also ritually - and the latter still happens today. Meanwhile, the calendar has become a status and power symbol and is used in important rituals.⁴

It is not surprising that the Incas lived their lives on the basis of a lunar calendar. Their religion revolved around the Sun and the Moon; sun god Inti played a major role, as did moon god Quilla and supreme god Viracocha. Based on the lunar calendar and the phases of agriculture, religious festivals took place every month in the Inca Empire, during which gods were honoured and peoples were fraternised.

Mayan calendar
Around ten years ago the world spontaneously found itself in the grip of the Mayan calendar. 21 December 2012 would be the end of the world, according to the Mayas. Luckily this was not the case and a new date was selected: one in 2017, which we also survived. How exactly does the Mayan calendar work and why do these kinds of predictions keep occurring?  

The Maya live in Mesoamerica, which spans Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize. But the traditions live on and there are still around nine million Maya living in the area. While many tribes and cultures use just one calendar, the Maya have three dominant systems. One of these is the religious calendar Tzolkin, which consists of twenty periods of thirteen days. This calendar was mainly used for making predictions. The Moon, stars and other planets were seen by them as gods, who exerted influence on daily life on earth. Based on a person's date of birth, priests predicted how a person's life would turn out. In addition, there was the Haab – a calendar of 365 days, which was used for 'civil affairs'. Then there was the Long Count: a calendar that placed events in a historical order. Together, the three calendars formed a 'kering'.⁶

What distinguishes the Tzolkin calendar from others is that you can use it to calculate your own birth energy. This comes under four themes: passion, introspection, transformation and fulfillment. Introspection, for example, may indicate significant transformational changes in your life and the importance of occupying your own space. The list is endless and complicated, but there are enough calculators available to buy which you can use to obtain a reading of your date of birth based on the Mayan calendar.

Celtic lunar calendar

What we describe as the ‘Celtic calendar’ is in fact a combination of Celtic systems that recorded the time, even predating the Christian era. The Gallic Coligny calendar is one of these. It indicates the length of the day, week and month, including holidays, and is the oldest Celtic solar and lunar calendar found in France. The calendar attempts to meld the solar and lunar cycles together, but the lunar cycle is dominant. So it’s not at all surprising that the Celts attached great value to the night: the waxing and waning Moon was central to their lives. By the way, they didn’t refer to the Moon by its name, but as the ‘Queen of the night’.⁷

In the Celtic calendar, each month begins with a Full Moon. The calendar consists of cycles of thirty years, which in turn consist of five cycles of 62 months based on the Moon - one cycle consists of 61 months. Weeks as we know them do not exist, periods are indicated by fourteen days. Days are designated as 'good' or 'not good' (MAT and ANM), based on observation. 

Source: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala

The Celtic year starts with Samhain, which falls around October 31st. It marked the beginning of autumn, for the Celts the decline of nature – however beautiful this season can be. For them, autumn showed that the here and now was very close to the afterlife. See it as the start of Halloween as we know it now, even including pumpkins :-)

Imbolc is the next important event, which takes place in late January, celebrating the approaching end of winter. Then the Celts celebrated Beltain around May 1st, which was all about fertility. Cattle were let out, traded and most of all feasted.

Following this was Lughnasadh, a summer festival that lasted two weeks, around the end of July. The festival was in honour of the god Lugh, who the Celts associated with skill and agility, such as horse racing.

The Celtic Tree Calendar is also very popular nowadays - a calendar that divides thirteen months into different types of trees. Celtic 'tree astrology' assumes that the date and time of your birth is linked to the development of your behavior and personality. This system was developed from the extensive knowledge that the Druids had about the natural cycles and their link with trees.

It may be a bit complicated, but the above history lesson is food for thought. We have only been using a calendar based on the sun for a relatively short time – the lunar calendars have guided human life almost forever. Sometimes in a religious way, sometimes for more practical reasons. Both emphasize the magic and enormous influence of the moon on life on earth. Are you already familiar with the power of the moon? You can read all about it here .

¹ Marshack, A. 1972. The Roots of Civilization: the Cognitive Beginning of Man's First Art, Symbol and Notation. New York: McGraw-Hill
² Steiner, R. 1994. How to know higher worlds: A modern path of initiation. New York: Anthroposophic Press Inc
³ Zuidema, RT 1982. The sideral lunar calendar of the Incas. In: Aveni AF (ed) Archaeoastronomy in the New World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
⁴ Laurencich-Minelli, L. 2008. A calendar Quipu of the early 17th century and its relationship with the Inca astronomy. Milan: Dipartimento di Matematica del Politecnico di Milano
⁵ Hagen, Von, VW 1961. The realm of the Incas. New York: The New American Library
⁶ Calleman, CJ, PhD 2004. The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness.
⁷ Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC CLIO.