Many pagan religions herald from cultures that simply don’t have 7-day weeks. Thus, one of frustrations pagans face on a daily basis is simply trying to conform to the Gregorian calendar, which offers no leeway to accommodate our lunisolar lives.
Every year between Christmas and New Years, I lose an entire day of my life to mathematical calculations. I’ve come to think of it day as “Calendar Day.” It’s the date I outline all the months of the Coligny calendar, work out the dates of all the holy days for the coming year, and transpose it all onto the Gregorian Calendar.
This year is particularly special because it includes an intercalarily month. That means, this year’s calendar has 13 months, rather than the usual 12. Below are the start dates of each Celtic month in 2025, which I am happy to share with other Celtic pagans, and especially fellow Gaulish polytheists.
In Celtic tradition, the “days” are reckoned by nights and each month begins on the first quarter moon. That means Equos doesn’t start until sundown on January 7th, so the first “day” is actually January 8, 2025. Ditto for the holidays listed below.
For some, this concept can be hard to wrap their head around. If you are one of those who struggle to reconcile the concepts of “days” beginning at night, just think of New Years. Every year we celebrate the turning of the calendar with parties on December 31st, even though the new year doesn’t begin until January 1st.
- The meaning behind the names of each month can be found here: The Celtic Year
- For more information on how the Coligny calendar is organized, see: The Celtic Calendar
Despite going to such lengths every year, I still have to be creative with holidays because most employers refuse to accommodate holy days of obligation for anyone outside the Christian faith. The good news: the gods are forgiving … mostly. There is even strong historical evidence of rulers moving holy days so Christians would have a harder time identifying dedicants, thus enabling the resident pagan population to avoid persecution. So, relax, celebrate when you can, and call it good enough.
I love what you have done here. I am in the southern hemisphere and am trying to replicate this for our annual cycles. I’m assuming the calendar would be arranged six months oppositionally, as we are in the summer here. What would happen to the leap month, do you think? Would I record it opposite to where it is for the northern hemisphere or actually use it after the month it is listed on your page? Sorry for the questions but I am trying hard to elarn all of this and struggling with resources how this would be recorded in the antipodean side! I would appreciate your thoughts. Blessings.
Hi Nick–
For the southern hemisphere, yes, absolutely rotate the calendar 6 months. The leap months will still fall in calendar order, so as long as you are placing them between the two corresponding months, you should be fine.