Calendars

Through these markings, the Coligny Calendar reveals the Gaulish vision of time as both cyclical and alive—a sacred dialogue between moon and sun, day and night, Samos and Giamos. To study and follow it is not merely to count days but to walk in rhythm with the cosmos itself.

Letting my mind wander for a moment because the advent of the eclipse made me remember The Coligny Calendar.  A Roman-Gallic depiction, and a very complicated one of how the time was measured during this time 200 CE, which translates roughly as the Iron Age.

The plaque is just under two metres long, and is made up of columns of dates, you can find the information here'  For it is very complicated with intercalary months as well.

There are always terrifying tales, told by the Romans of the sacrificing of humans and animals for auspicious dates in the calendar.  Though some historians have argued, that the Roman writers, were similar to our Daily Mail newspaper, hyping it up for spectacular news.

It is perhaps an idea to sit and think what would have the Gaulish people thought of an eclipse, the moon eating the sun and it takes you back to a whole aspect of history as to how prehistoric people viewed the stars, moon and sun. For the movement of the stars, sun and moon, were all of great concern for the growing of crops and the pasturing of animals.

It made me pull out my three books on the Celts, Barry Cunliffe, Miranda Green and of course Ann Ross's enormous book 'Pagan Celtic Britain', though strangely enough she did not cover the calendar. 

There are those that argue that the Celts did not actually exist, for it seems that they were made of a great tribe of people spread far and wide.  But it is interesting to note that in the old Irish Literature the Druids are spoken of and Roman writings speak of the fact that Druidism came from Britain.