What does the calendar mean ?

Why 'January'? Why 'Friday' ? Each of these names has a meaning.

The names of the days of the week are Anglo-Saxon and Norse (from old Norway, the act of making something, thoroughly clean). Sun-day is the day for worshipping the sun. Mon-day is the day for worshipping the moon. Tues-day is the day for worshipping Tiw, the Norse god of war.

Wednes-day really means Woden's Day. Woden (or Odin) was the most powerful God. He was the father of Tiw and Thor. Thor was the Norse god of thunder. Thurs-day is named after him.

Woden had a wife called Fregga. Fregga's Day became Friday. But Saturday is different. Saturday is not named after a Norse god. Instead, it is Roman. It is named after Saturn. Saturn is a planet, of course. But, to the Roman. Saturn was the god of agriculture.

The ancient Roman year had ten months. Most were named after gods. January is named after Janus. Janus was a god with two faces. He could look both forwards and backwards, into the past and into the future. In Latin, Ianua means 'door'. Janus guarded the door into the new year.

February comes from Februs, the Roman purification ceremony. March is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. In Europe, March is often a month of storms and thunder.

April comes from the Latin aperire, which means 'to open'. In this month, the skies open and it rains. Also, spring comes. New flowers and leaves open. Then comes May, when plants are new and beautiful. May is named after Maia the goddess of youth and beauty.

June is the height of the year. This is full summer. June is named afer Juno, the queen of the gods, wife of Jupiter.

After June, in the old Roman calendar, comes September, October, November and December. In Latin Sept means seven, oct means eight, novem means nine and decem means ten.

But September is the ninth month. What happened ?

The Roman calendar was too short. It became out of step with the seasons. Farmers did not know when to plant their crops.

So the Emperor Julius Caesar made a new calendar, and added another month. It was called after him, July. The next emperor was Augustus Caesar. He added the month of August. Both emperors made sure they had long months, 31 days.

But now September, October, November and December were put back two months.

So their names no longer fit.

The Julian (after Julius Caesar) calendar was adjusted again in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. It is now called the Gregorian calendar. It has some big advantages over the Muslim calendar. The Muslim calendar is based on the moon. The Gregorian calendar is based on the sun and the seasons. It can tell you when to plant your crops. Gregorian days are the same throughtout the world. Our Muslim days depend on the full moon, which is different in different countries. Lebaran is on different days is Indonesia and in Egypt.