January 2010 Commentary: New calendar year as the times they are a’changin’ (it’s about time)

Bob Dylan’s first album and title track, “ ‘The times they are a’changin’,” written and recorded from August-October 1963 and released for sale in January 1964, was a call for social change against the backdrop of racism, poverty, and the Viet Nam war. As the New Year begins again in 2010, January offers a time of reflection, renewed hope for the future with new beginnings and commitments. Whether you prefer to organize and plan your time using a Western calendar of linear progression or a cyclic wheel of time as many indigenous cultures observe, constructive change through affirmative, healthy choices can help build family, community and a sustainable future. It’s about time.

Since the dawn of humans, many different calendars have been developed to help people organize their lives. Even today, as many as forty calendars remain in use and depict lunar and other astronomical cycles, seasonal changes and/or religious events. Lunar calendars emerged early in human history dating back at least 30,000 years. Having twelve lunar cycles (months) approximating 354 days, predictability and practicality of tracking time solely on moon phases proved inadequate. So, a thirteenth month was added to some years to get back on track in reconciling the solar year (365.24 days). In 46BC, Julius Caesar mandated that time follow a solar calendar, but this Roman calendar had some inherent errors that resulted in being off about 11 minutes per year. To resolve this discrepancy, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a correction in 1582, which counts days as the basic unit of time and grouping them into years of 365 or 366 (leap years every four years). Most countries use the Gregorian calendar today.

January, from the Latin “Januarius” (from “Janus”, god of gates and doorways, or beginning and endings, and “arias” meaning “pertaining to”), starts the Gregorian calendar year. Previously, “Martius” (from “Mars”, god of war) started the new Roman year as time to resume warfare, which anglicized is “March”, perhaps as the time for marching to war, which unfortunately we seemed to have retained through the centuries. February from the Latin “Februa” (Roman festival of purification) and “arius” was added to the calendar by Julius Caesar. April is from the Latin “aprilis” meaning “to open” as in new buds of spring, or Greek “Aphro” (for Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love, and identified with the Roman goddess Venus). May or Maia’s month is named for the Roman goddess of spring (“Maia, the great one”) or possibly from “Maiesta”, Roman goddess of honor and reverence. June or “Junios” (Latin month of Juno) honors Juno (identified with the Greek goddess Hera), the goddess of marriage and well-being of women and also the principal goddess of the Roman Pantheon as sister of Jupiter. July or “month of Julius” honors Julius Caesar in the Julian calendar as both the month he was born and assassinated. August or “month of Augustus” pays tribute to Augustus Caesar, who completed the calendar reforms of Julius Caesar, in renaming this month after himself. September is the seventh month (Latin (“Septem” meaning “seven” and “ber” an adjective suffix). Similarly, October, November and December are derived from Latin numbers corresponding to eighth, ninth, and tenth months.

Most of the ancient societies and indigenous cultures believe that the time progressed in a cyclic manner. They developed calendar wheels based on recurring events they observed, such as the cyclic nature of the day and night, similar repeating patterns of planting and harvest seasons year after year; monthly cycles of the moon’s change of form, annual solar equinox and solstice events, and other repeatedly observed phenomena in a circle of interconnected life, community, and existence.

Nowadays the Western adage, “time is money” and the oft-quoted observation, “Americans have lots of money but no time, whereas Third World people have lots of time but no money” seem out of whack. What is the destiny of our “wheels of fortune?” Our calendar wheels may need some speed regulators to slow us down and some balancing and re-alignment to consider wisdom of non-Western and indigenous cultures. January seems to be an appropriate time for a pit stop to assess and make changes to restore balance and harmony. Happy trails and loop the loop!

Best regards,