Why we should change the calendar names

Obituaries
In my last article I dwelt on the names of the weeks, some of which are a perversion to most religions. To further motivate my ideas of replacing the inappropriate names, I would still want to awaken people’s minds by also touching on some of the names of the months.

sundayword:BY PROSPER TINGINI

In my last article I dwelt on the names of the weeks, some of which are a perversion to most religions. To further motivate my ideas of replacing the inappropriate names, I would still want to awaken people’s minds by also touching on some of the names of the months.

According to some references I have read, the Roman year from which we derived our present-day calendar originally had 10 named months, ie, Martius (March), Aprilis (April), Maius (May), Junius (June), Julius (July), Augustus (August), September (September), October (October), November (November), December (December), and it is assumed there were two unnamed months in the dead of winter when not much happened in agriculture. Then, the year began with Martius (March). My main source says Numa Pompilius, the second king about 700BC, added the two months Januarius (January) and Februarius (February). He also moved the beginning of the year from Martius (March) to Januarius (January) and also changed the number of days in several months to be odd, as lucky numbers. After Februarius (February) there was occasionally an additional month of intercalaris (intercalendar). This is the origin of the leap-year day being in February. In 46BC, Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar (hence the Julian calendar). He changed the number of days in many months and removed the “intercalendar” month.

Januarius (January) is a Latin name meaning “of Janus”. Janus is the Roman god of gates and doorways depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions.

His festive month is January, “the month of Janus”. Januarius had 29 days until Julius Caesar, when he lengthened it to 31 days.

Februarius (February) “is the month of Februa”. Februatus is the Latin word meaning “of purification”. Februa is the Roman festival of purification, held on February 15th. Februarius had 28 days until about 450BC when it had 23 or 24 days on some month of every second year. Julius Caesar then changed the days of February to 29 days on every fourth year and 28 on every other years.

Martius (March) is Latin for “of Mars”, meaning “the month of Mars”. Mars is the Roman god of war. He is identified with the Greek god Ares. March was originally the first month of the year, a time for the resumption of wars. It always had 31 days.

Aprilis (April) stands for Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, who is also identified with the Roman goddess Venus. Aprilis had 30 days until King Numa Pompilius, when it had 29 days. Julius Caesar then went back to the 30 days.

Maius (May) is the Latin word meaning “of Maia”. It is “the month of Maia”. Maia (meaning ‘the great one’) is the Italic goddess of spring, the daughter of Faunus and wife of Vulcan. May always had 31 days.

Junius (June) means “of Juno” in Latin, referring to “the month of Juno”. Juno is the principal goddess of the Roman Patheon (the temple of all gods). She is the goddess of marriage and the well-being of women. She is the wife and sister of Jupiter (Roman chief of all gods). The Greeks also identified her with their equivalent goddess, Hera. Junius had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 and then Julius went back to 30 days.

Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar which then became known as the Julian calendar in 46BC. In the process he renamed the month in which it was done after himself. Originally the month was known as Quintilis, meaning “of fifth”, of the months. There was no linkage to any god for that month until Julius made himself the “god” of the month. July has always had 31 days.

Following in Julius Caesar’s footsteps, Augustus Caesar clarified and completed the calendar reform of his predecessor. In the process he also copied Julius and renamed this month after himself, thus becoming the “god” of the month Augustus (August). Originally it was called Sextilis meaning “of sixth”, in relation to the months. Sextilis initially had 30 days until King Numa when it was reduced to 29; Julius then changed the days to 31.

The months of September, October, November and December all have no attachments to gods. They were properly named according to their numeric sequence. As already mentioned, the original Roman year had 10 months only. As a result September was the seventh month. Septem denotes “seventh” in Latin.

However, due to the fact that two more months were added to the original 10-month calendar, September is now the 9th month instead of the original 7th. The name has since lost its proper place and meaning. The same goes for the month of October which means “eight” in Latin. Since the changes, October is now the 10th month although the “eighth month” misplacing has prevailed continuously, going by the sequence of the months.

November means “ninth” in Latin and December means “10th” in relation to the months although they are now the eleventh and twelfth month respectively, since the addition of the two more months about 2 700 years ago. For those tens of centuries, a glaring opportunity has always presented itself for another reformation of our calendar to align it with present norms. It seems all of humanity, with the Roman Calendar link, has failed to produce men in the mould of kings like Numa Pompilius, Julius and Augustus Caesar who simply took bold steps to effect changes deemed necessary to the then calendar format. Religious leaders of all groups all seem not to have the stamina to call for changes to alter the pagan calendar names which are a desecration to our valued religious principles the world over.

It would seem only political leadership of the past was in the forefront of the calendar reformations that last happened over 2 000 years ago. Not since then has there arisen another world leader who can initiate another necessary reformation, even if to just simply change the numeric named months which have been out of place for over 2 000 years. Let’s unshackle ourselves from the paganism afflicting our calendars and release ourselves from the colonial bondage of the Roman Empire, especially from a religious point of view.

l Prosper Tingini is the president of the Children of God Missionary Assembly. Registration in progress for those who wish to undertake Bible Studies or train as Ministers of Religion. Contact 0771 260 195 or email: [email protected]