The modern system of chronology dates back a little over two millennia after the birth of Jesus Christ and several hundred centuries before this event. However, before the advent of the Christian calendar, different peoples had their own ways of measuring time. Slavic tribes are no exception. Long before the advent of Christianity, they had their own calendar.
The origin of the word "calendar"
According to the official version, the term “calendar” came from Latin. In ancient Rome, debt interest was paid in the first days of each month, and data on them was recorded in a debt book called calendarium. Later, it was from the name of the book that the word "calendar" came, which came to the Slavs with Christianity.
Some scholars believe that this term came from the phrase "Kolyadin Dar" (a gift from Kolyada), which was called the chronology. Researchers consider the Slavic origin to be quite possible. Some of them are sure that the Romans borrowed the word "calendar" from the Slavs, and not vice versa. Judge for yourself: there is no translation of the word calendarium, as well as an explanation of how it relates to debt and books. Indeed, in Latin, duty is debitum, and the book is libellus.
The chronology of the Nativity of Christ
To date, AD from the Nativity of Christ is more than 2000 years old. However, the tradition of counting the years this way has been used for about a thousand years, because even with the recognition of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, the years continued to be counted from important worldly dates. For the Romans - this was the year of the founding of Rome, for the Jews - the year of the destruction of Jerusalem, for the Slavs - the year of creation of the world in the Star Temple.
But once the Roman monk Dionysius, compiling Easter tables, became entangled among various systems of chronology. Then he came up with a universal system, the starting point of which will be the year of the birth of Christ. Dionysius calculated the approximate date of this event and henceforth used the chronology called "from the Nativity of Christ."
This system became widespread after 200 years thanks to the monk Bede the Honorable, who used it in his historical work on the Anglo-Sanson tribes. Thanks to this book, the British nobility gradually switched to the Christian calendar, and after it the Europeans did it. But the church authorities took another 200 years to start using the Christian system of timekeeping.
The transition to Christian chronology among the Slavs
In the Russian Empire, which at that time included many of the original Slavic lands of Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, and other countries, the transition to the Christian calendar took place on January 1, 1700 by decree of Peter I. Many believe that Tsar Peter hated and tried to eradicate everything Slavic, including the calendar, so he introduced a Christian time frame. However, it is most likely that the tsar simply tried to tidy up such a confused chronology. Most likely, Slavic rejection does not play a role here.
The fact is that with the advent of Christianity to the Slavs, priests actively tried to transfer the pagans to the Roman calendar. The people resisted and secretly adhered to the old calendar. Therefore, in Russia, in fact, there were 2 calendars: Roman and Slavic.
However, confusion soon began in the annals. After all, the Greek chroniclers used the Roman calendar, and the pupils of the monasteries of Kievan Rus - the Slavic calendar. At the same time, both calendars differed from the Dionysius calendar of times adopted in Europe. To solve this problem, Peter I ordered the forced transfer of his entire empire to the system of chronology dating from the birth of Christ. As practice has shown, it was also imperfect and in 1918 the country was transferred to the modern Gregorian calendar, taking into account leap years.
Sources of information about the ancient Slavic calendar
Today there is no reliable data on what a real ancient Slavonic calendar looked like. The now popular “The Round-robber of Chislobog” was reconstructed on the basis of information from various historical sources of later periods. When reconstructing the Old Slavic calendar, the following sources were used:
- East Slavic folk ritual calendar. Written evidence of him dates back to the XVII-XVIII centuries. Despite such a "young" age, this calendar has preserved a lot of information about the life of the Slavs in the days of pagan Russia.
- Church calendar "Months". In the process of Christianization of Russia, church authorities often celebrated Christian ones during important pagan holidays. Comparing the dates of the holidays from the "Month" with dates from other calendars, as well as from folklore sources, you can calculate the time of important ancient Slavic holidays.
- In the 19th century, about 400 gold plates with inscriptions were found on the site of the Vedic temple in Romania, later called "Santii Dacians." Some of them are over 2000 years old. This find not only indicates the presence of writing among the ancient Slavs, but also is a source of information about the eras of ancient Slavic history.
- Annals.
- Archaeological finds. Most often these are ritual clay vessels with the image of calendar symbols. The most informative are clay vases of Chernyakhov Slavic culture (III-IV centuries A.D.).
The era of the ancient Slavs
According to the information contained in the "Santias of the Dacians", the history of the ancient Slavs has 14 eras. The most important event that served as the starting point for the calendar was the convergence of the Solar and two other planetary systems, as a result of which the earthlings immediately watched three suns in the sky. This era was called the “Time of the Three Suns” and dated to the year 604,387 (relative to 2016).
- In 460 531, aliens arrived on Earth from the constellation Ursa Minor. They were called the Da'Arians, and this era was called the “Time of Gifts”.
- In 273 910, aliens again arrived on Earth, but this time from the constellation Orion. They were called Kh'Arians, and in honor of them the era is called the "Time of h'Arra."
- In 211 699, the next visit of alien beings took place, marking the beginning of the “Time of Swag”.
- In 185 779, the rise of one of the four most important cities on the Daariya continent, Thule, began. This city was famous for its skilled craftsmen and flourished for almost 20,000 years. This period of time was called “Thule Time”.
- In 165 043, the daughter of Perun - the goddess Tara brought to the Slavs many seeds, from which numerous forests subsequently grew - so began the “Tara Time”.
- In 153 349th there was a grand war of Light and Darkness. As a result, one of the moons of the planet Phaeton Lutitius was destroyed, and its fragments became the asteroid ring - this is the era of Assa Dei.
- In the 143 003rd earthlings, using the achievements of science, they were able to drag a satellite from another planet, and the Earth, which at that time already had two satellites, had three. In honor of this momentous event, the new era is called the “Three Moon Period”.
- In 111 819, one of the three moons was destroyed and its fragments fell to the Earth, sinking the ancient mainland Daaria. However, its inhabitants were saved - the era of the "Great Migration from Daariya" began.
- In 106 791, the city of the Gods Asgard of Iria was founded on the Irtysh River, and a new system of chronology was conducted from the year of its foundation.
- In the 44 560th, all Slavic-Aryan clans united to live together on the same territory. From that moment began the era of the "Creation of the Great Kolo of Russion."
- In 40 017, Perun arrived on Earth and shared knowledge with the priests, because of which there was a tremendous leap in the development of human technology. Thus began the era of "The Third Arrival of Whiteman Perun."
- In 13 021, another satellite of the Earth was destroyed and its fragments, falling on the planet, affected the axis tilt. As a result, the continents split and the icing began, called the era of the "Great Cooling" (Chill). By the way, in terms of time, this period coincides with the last glacial era of the Cenozoic era.
Modern mankind lives in an era that began the reckoning of years from the creation of the world in the Star Temple. The age of this era today is more than 7.5 thousand years.
George the Victorious and the era of the creation of the world in the Star Temple
As you know, the word "world" has several meanings. So, the name of the modern era is often interpreted as the time of the creation of the Universe. However, “peace” also means reconciliation between the warring parties. In this regard, the name “Creation of the World in the Star Temple” has a completely different interpretation.
Shortly before the first year “from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple” was celebrated, a war broke out between the Slavic tribes and the Chinese. With huge losses, the Slavs managed to defeat, and on the day of the autumnal equinox between the two peoples peace was concluded. To mark this important event, it was made the starting point of a new era. Subsequently, in many works of art, this victory was allegorically depicted as a knight (Slavs) and a fighting dragon (Chinese).
This symbol was so popular that with the advent of Christianity they could not be eradicated. Since the days of the Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise, the hero who defeated the dragon became officially called George (Yuri) the Victorious. Its significance for the Slavs is also evidenced by the fact that the cult of St. George the Victorious was very common among all Slavic tribes. In addition, at different times, Kiev, Moscow, and many other ancient Slavic cities depicted this saint on the coat of arms. Interestingly, the story of St. George is popular not only among Orthodox and Catholics, but also among Muslims.
The structure of the ancient Slavic calendar
The ancient Slavonic calendar refers to one complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun not in the year, but in the summer. It consists of three seasons: the fall (autumn), winter and spring. Each season included 3 months of 40-41 days each. A week in those days consisted of 9 days, and a day - of 16 hours. The Slavs did not have minutes and seconds, but there were parts, shares, instants, twigs, whitefish and santigas. It’s hard to imagine what level technology should have been if names existed for such short periods of time.
Years in this system were measured not for decades and centuries, as today, but for 144-year cycles: 16 years for each of the 9 constellations of the Svarog Circle.
Each ordinary year from the creation of the world in the Star Temple consisted of 365 days. But the leap year 16 totaled as many as 369 days (each month it consisted of 41 days).
New Year at the ancient Slavs
Unlike the modern calendar, in which the New Year begins in mid-winter, the Slavic calendar considered autumn to be the beginning of the year. Although the opinions of historians differ on this issue. Most scholars believe that the New Year was originally the day of the autumnal equinox, which helped to more accurately set the calendar for the Slavs from the creation of the world in the Star Temple. However, with the adoption of Christianity according to the Byzantine tradition, the beginning of the new year was tried to be postponed to the first month of spring. As a result, in parallel there were not only two calendars, but also two traditions to celebrate the New Year: in March (like the Romans) and in September (like in Byzantium and the Slavs).
The months of the ancient Slavs
The first month of the Old Slavic nine-month calendar was called Ramhat (beginning of September 20-23), followed by the winter months of Islet (October 31 - November 3), Baylet (December 10-13) and Gaylet (January 20-23).
The spring months were called Dylet (March 1-4), Eylet (April 11-14) and Velet (May 21-24). After that began the oceans consisting of the months of Haylet (July 1-4) and Tylet (August 10-13). And the next fall month, Ramhat, was the beginning of the New Year.
With the adoption of Christianity instead of Roman, they gave Slavic names for months. With the establishment of the new calendar, Peter I returned the Latin names for months. They remained in modern Russian, while fraternal peoples retained or returned the usual Slavic names of the months.
It is not known for certain what they were called with the advent of Christianity before the reform of Peter I, however, there are several options reconstructed thanks to the folklore of various Slavic peoples.
Week at the Slavs
The issue of the number of days in the week before the reform of Peter I remains controversial to this day. Many argue that there were 7 of them - hence the surviving names in all Slavic languages.
However, if you think about the words from The Humpbacked Horse, it becomes surprising how the text of 1834 mentions such a day of the week as an "octopus" that precedes another day - "week".
It turns out that the memories of the nine-day week remained in the memory of the Slavs, which means that initially there were only 9 days.
How to calculate the year according to the Old Slavic calendar?
Today, many Slavs are trying to return to the traditions of their ancestors, including their calendar.
But the modern world, living according to the Christian calendar, requires a person to be able to navigate this reference frame of years. Therefore, everyone using the Slavic chronology (from the creation of the world) should know how to transfer the years from it to the Christian system. Despite the obvious differences between the two systems, it is easy to do. It is necessary to add the number 5508 to any date of the Christian calendar (the difference in years between the systems) and it will be possible to translate the date into the Slavic calendar. What year is now using this system can be determined by the following formula: 2016 + 5508 = 7525. However, it should be borne in mind that the modern year begins in the month of January, and the Slavs begin in September, so you can use the online calculator for more accurate calculations.
More than three hundred years have passed since the inhabitants of the Russian Empire stopped using the Slavic calendar. Despite its accuracy, today it is only history, but it should be remembered because it not only included the wisdom of the ancestors, but was also part of the Slavic culture, which, despite the opinion of Peter I, was not only inferior to the European one, but also some things surpassed her.