CALENDARS
Of Various Cultures And Religions

[INTRODUCTION] --- [CALENDAR LIST]

I haven't really touched this page in over three years. Since that time, it's moved locations three times, from Earthlink to MediaOne, which then got bought out by AT&T Broadband, who then sold it to Comcast. This caused dozens of links out there to either this page or it's various sub-pages to be out-of-date and dead. Beyond that, it's also been wholesale copied by two different sites, which I find kind of silly (it's not like I care about a copyright or anything, but what's the point unless you're going to update it whenever I update it?) So, I moved it a fourth time over here to my own domain, kelsung.com, where it should have a relatively permanent home. And I cleaned up the oft complained about color scheme, too.

As I noted a few years ago, we made it to New Year's day (2000 Gregorian, 3184 Erisian, 6000 Illuminati) without the world ending. Of course, keep in mind that you have to wait, for example, another 920 years (Poundian), 792 years (French Revolutionary), 580 [lunar] years (Islamic), or at least 47 years (Chinese) until the end of the millenium, so please keep some perspective. That's what this page is all about.

This page was inspired by Robert Anton Wilson.
It is, of course, endlessly under construction.

[LAST MAJOR UPDATE:]

I've updated it since, but only go through the math when I've done some major changes. Since that date, I've added the Burroughsian and Balinese calendars, calculated more Zodiac and Druidic cross-reference dates, interlinked my perpetual calendar, cleaned up some HTML and updated some links. I've also done more research, but none of it has reached the site yet.

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INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to my personal intellectual obsession. I've started and stopped this project many times. I'm sure it will take years for this to be all I really would like it to be. My research has been done entirely on the world wide web (or information from people I've come in contact with through the web), and I've come across many places that have far more details than I have thus far compiled on some calendars, and others that have as many or more calendars to which they refer. However, none has attempted to combine and explain this many different calendars. Here are links to some multi-calendar sites that have provided information and inspired further research:

Some of the individuals on the internet of whom particular help was obtained include John Love-Jensen, Daniel Garber, Lionel Artom-Ginzburg, Peter Brouwer and Paul Roser, as well as a woman who snail-mailed me Wiccan, Druidic, Tibetan, and Mayan calendars, whom I've lost the name and address of, but she knows who she is, so thank you very much!

All this information is informal research, simply compilations and combinations of the work of others, all of it second-hand with no verification of the sources. Therefore, I can in no way vouch for the accuracy of this information, other than that of my own transcribing, wherein I have been very meticulous in insuring I've copied (either by hand or cut-and-paste) names correctly. Where multiple sources conflict, I've provided each alternative, and I've put notes in yellow where speculation or conflicting information is presented.

On this page I've presented the starting year of each calendar (of those that I have), in relation to as many of the others as I can accurately calculate, either by my own calculations from this research or by various date converters provided on web-sites (particularily the �Pataphysical, Jalaali, Hebrew, and Julian Day Number) with estimations and assumptions of others in yellow. Each calendar then has a sub-page that details as much of it's structure, nomenclature and methods of calculation as I can find and present concisely.

It must be noted that most sources cross-reference to Gregorian dates. Since the Gregorian contains no 0 year (i.e. 1 BC is followed by 1 AD) but some of these sources miscalculate this fact, I have attempted to make the most accurate calculations by referring to multiple sources.

The original long-term goal was to cross-reference all of these calendars to one another, so to further that goal I've created a perpetual calendar for all the 365-day solar-year calendars I have that can be cross-referenced to one another, graphically represented in relation to the Gregorian. This mainly was done to make the cross-reference dating easier for myself, rather than continually resorting to pen and paper work, but it only covers ten calendars presently (more to come), leaving me plenty of math to do for the others.

Here are many ways to view your world, organized mainly in Mr. Wilson's order (i.e. from most recent year 1 to oldest year 1) for each that he used and the additions he mentioned. As I've come across others, I've included as many as I can at least moderately explain in detail.

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CALENDAR LIST:

Also possibly coming: Sioux, Iroquois, Teutonic, Japanese, Vietnamese, Teluga.

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The Burroughsian Calendar:

This is the dream calendar of William S. Burroughs. It began on 23 Terre Haute, 1 which corresponds to:

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The Poundian Calendar:

This is based directly on the Gregorian calendar, merely changing the starting day and year. Designed by Ezra Pound, 1 Hephaistos, 1 psU (post scriptum Ulysses) was the day after Joyce finished writing Ulysses, thus marking the end of the Christian Era. This was also the day after Pound's 36th birthday, and corresponds to:

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The Thelemic Calendar:

Designed by Aleister Crowley when he received or conceived The Book of the Law and inaugurated the New Aeon of Horus, Anno 0 (Fool) : 0 (Fool) began on:

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The 'Pataphysical Calendar:

Designed by Alfred Jarry, Sunday, 1 Absolu, 1 EP (Ere Pataphysique or �Pataphysical Era) marks his birth, corresponding to:

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The Bah�'� Calendar:

Bah� Day of Bah� Month of Alif Year, 1 BE (Bah�'� Era) marks the first day of the year that the Bab started his ministry, corresponding to:

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The French Revolutionary Calendar:

Introduced in France on Tridi, 3 Brumaire, An 2, marking the beginning of the first French Republic on the Autumnal Equinox as Primidi, 1 Vendemiaire, An 1 corresponding to:

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The Zodiac Calendar:

I as yet have found no starting year to the cycle, if it were numbered at all.

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The Wiccan Calendar:

I as yet have found no starting year to the cycle, if it were numbered at all.

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The Druidic Calendar:

I as yet have found no starting year to the cycle, if it were numbered at all.

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The Hopi Calendar:

I as yet have found no starting year to the cycle, if it were numbered at all.

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The Zoroastrian Calendar:

Begun with the coronation of the last Zoroastrian Sasanian King, Yazdegird II, 1 Y (Yazdegird) corresponds to:

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The Islamic Calendar:

Begun with the flight of the prophet (Hijri), 1 Muharram, 1 AH (Anno Hegirae) corresponds to:

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The Jalaali Calendar:

1 farvardin, 1 corresponds to:

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The Indonesian Calendar:

Decreed by Sultan Agung Hanyokrokosumo in 1585, year 1 corresonds to:

This is the same year that the Hindu (civil) calendar begins on, but I don't know if it's a coincidence, because I don't know as yet what event(s) this correlates to, historical or astronomical.

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The Gregorian Calendar:

Proposed by Aloysius Lilius, a Naples physician, and decreed by Pope Gregory XIII in February, 1582 AD in a papal bull, this merely modified the use of leap-years in the Julian calendar, with a different starting year that had been established in 523 AD (see below). To realign the Vernal Equinox with 21 March, as it had been in 325 AD the year of the First Council of Nicaea, 10 days were dropped from October, 1582 AD. 1 January, 1 AD (Anno Domino or Year of the Lord) follows shortly after the supposed date of the birth of Jesus Christ, corresponding to:

The date of Christ's birth was assumed to be 25 December, 1 BC (Before Christ) as established by Dionysius Exigus, a monk from Scythia, around 523 AD. How he calculated this is unknown, and it was disputed early on. Christ was born during the reign of King Herod, who died in 4 BC, and it is suggested the birth is actually around 7 BC.

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The Babylonian Calendar:

Year 1 corresponds to:

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The Julian Calendar:

Designed by mathematician and astronomer Sosigenes, and enacted by Julius Caesar in 709 AUC to reform the old and confusing Roman calendar. 1 Januarius, 1 AUC (Ab Urbe Condita or Since the founding of Rome) corresponds to:

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The Erisian Calendar:

This is based directly on the Gregorian calendar, merely changing the starting year. Designed by Malclypse the Younger, Sweetmorn, 1 Chaos, 1 YOLD (Year Of Our Lady Of Discord) marks the year of the Original Snub, as explained in The Principia Discordia, corresponding to:

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The Chinese Calendar:

The start of this calendar was a very rare day indeed! Shortly after dawn, the sun and new moon both aligned with the conjunction (within a few degrees of each other) of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pegasus. This date began jia-zi 1 (Year of the Mouse) and corresponds to:

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The Tibetan Calendar:

The calendar begins with the enlightening day of Buddha, which had a complete moon eclipse. Different Tibetan schools vary on this date, so I will use the oldest of the four I have and refer to it as Fire Rabbit 1. The other start dates appear in this system as Wood Horse 1108, Fire Bird 1591 and Water Dragon 2006. Fire Rabbit 1 corresponds to:

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The Balinese Calendar:

I as yet have found no starting year to the cycles.

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The Hindu Calendar:

Established by The Calendar Reform Committee in 1879 SE, 1 Chaitra, 1 SE (Sata Era) in the civil calendar, corresponds to:

This is the same year that the Indonesian calendar begins on, but I don't know if it's a coincidence, because I don't know as yet what event(s) this correlates to, historical or astronomical.

Of the other Eras, the oldest of the starting dates is 1 KY (Kali Yuga or Iron Age), corresponding to:

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The Aztec Calendar:

I haven't done much with this one yet, since it's so much like the Mayan, and that one has so much. Once I have the Mayan organized, then it will probably be easier to sort this one out as well.

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The Mayan Calendar:

The beginning of the last Great Cycle corresponds to:

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The Hebrew Calendar:

According to Jewish teachings, 1 Tishrei, 1 AM (Anno Mundane, or Year Of The World) follows the creation of the universe by God, corresponding to:

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The Illuminati Calendar:

This is based directly on the Gregorian calendar, merely changing the starting year. Designed by Robert Anton Wilson in 5969-5971 AL for the Illuminatus trilogy (co-written with Bob Shea), 1 Verwirrung, 1 AL (Anno Lumina) marks the birth of ancient Chinese Chaoist (pre-Taoist) Hung Mung, corresponding to:

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The Egyptian Calendar:

The cycle began when the sun and Sirius rose in the same place, which may have been one of three possibilities. Referring to the older as year 1, the second would appear in this system as year 1141 and the third as 1468. Year 1 corresponds to:

I've been informed that this year 1 was debunked by Richard Parker in the 6190's, and that the currently accepted starting date is the 1141, but whenever I have multiple sources I refer to the oldest in my calculations, and reference others relative to it.

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The Julian Day Number:

Developed by the French scholar Joseph Scaliger, this is simply the number of solar days elapsed since noon GMT on the first day of the cycle. The cycle began on a day in the Julian calendar when the Indiction, Golden Number, and Solar Number were all 1, corresponding to:

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I hope you find this to be as half as fascinating as I do.
This has really given me a whole new view of history and the complexity of our world.