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Author Topic: A Second Calendar  (Read 5804 times)

EclecticWheel

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A Second Calendar
« on: September 14, 2019, 05:21:31 pm »
I've written a little about this second calendar once before in another post.  As I've before mentioned, I have a liturgical calendar I already follow, but it is bound up with my life history dressed up in legendary-like form with certain dates also commemorating other beings as a reflection on that story, some of whose stories I have adapted for my purposes, some stories which I've written myself based on other sources.

That calendar is easy enough to work with in terms of adding on side practices, but it is bound up with very specific beings and difficult to incorporate other spirits and Powers into it, and I don't think I should.

I don't resonate well with any other existing calendars that I have read about in the pagan or neo-pagan realms, but I am experimenting with creating a calendar based on certain themes loosely associated with my first calendar which is in turn based on the Christian liturgical year from Advent onward.  The second calendar is not based on a particular mythic cycle, nor based on my specific life history because I want to open up some possibilities in terms of exploring other Powers to honor and aid me in my spiritual work.

It is basically secular, but not to the exclusion of spiritual activities or devotions.

I need the structure to do this psychologically, but I don't want it to be too specific to a given pantheon or culture because I am still exploring Whom I may need to honor and aid me and, without neglecting my first set of spirits, I am constantly exploring potential sources for this work in both pop culture and Greek mythology which is what I am most familiar with besides Christianity and Christian-derived approaches.  Also, it may help me in dealing with practical issues which I struggle with.

This calendar is as yet very undeveloped, but I'm hoping to get some feedback on how I may improve it or regarding calendars in general.  This will be a very rough outline.

Here is what I've got so far for the second calendar for seasons:

The Resting (around November): themes of darkness, awaiting the light, rest.

Inspire (around Xmas): a time of creativity and a lighthearted attitude, themes of light

Jan 1 -- New Year: A time of celebration in general.

Rapport (around Epiphany in the Christian calendar): bonding with friends, family, and spirits and gods. Cut out unwholesome relationships.  Nurture the self as well.

The Dreaming: a time of reflection corresponding with Lent.  Dream work, inner work, meditation.

The Sacrifice: A time to ponder personal sacrifices to be made and also dealing with inner pain.  A time of transformation and tearing down.  (I may need to rename this: I primarily conceptualize of sacrifice as giving presents, though depending on what this involves, sometimes that may involve pain.)

Love (in the sense of cosmic unity, attractive force, integration and reintegration) A focus on healing, growth and rebuilding.  Celebrate hope and life.

Mundane time -- Focus on practicalities.  Take a break mentally from lofty thoughts and matters.

Halloween: honoring the dead and death itself.

Some of this is still based on my life in the sense of resonating with themes important to me and my past, and some of the themes will correspond with my cultural background at similar times of the year.  But there is no particular set of stories to go with it.  I wanted it to be open and flexible with the ability to incorporate ritual as needed and to explore Powers from a variety of sources as I am so called.

I also wanted it to be minimalistic without prescribed or elaborate rituals for a few reasons.  I already have a set of elaborate rituals, and as much as I love them, I don't need any more than that!  I need a focus that can be minimalistic and simplistic to enable me to function spiritually in the absence of formal prayers and rituals, especially since I am OCD.

With this more secular approach to a calendar I can also open up possibilities of exploring Powers from more than one source or culture.  Should none of that work out, or should those relationships transition to new relationships over time, I could use the same calendar to focus on what I need and practicalities in the absence of devotional relationships or to provide a structure for working with new Powers as best works for myself and all involved.  Some Powers may be more fitting to work with at certain times of the year depending on what themes I am focusing on, but there should be flexibility.

Again, this is a very rough approach, and I may be adjusting dates and themes or adding and subtracting to what I've created so far, but that's a start.  I hope what I've written is clear enough and to get some feedback or advice on this kind of approach.  The closest I've seen to this approach is secular adaptations of the Wheel of the Year.  Any thoughts?
My personal moral code:

Love wisely, and do what thou wilt.

Sefiru

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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2019, 06:44:31 pm »
I also wanted it to be minimalistic without prescribed or elaborate rituals for a few reasons.  I already have a set of elaborate rituals, and as much as I love them, I don't need any more than that! 

This s a concept I can get behind!

Quote
Any thoughts?

I notice that, if I'm reading correctly, all of your events are in Nov-Jan, leaving 3/4 of the year as a big block of mundane time. If it were me, I'd want things spread around a bit more; YMMV of course. (And now you've got me thinking what my version of this idea would look like.)
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EclecticWheel

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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2019, 11:16:00 pm »
This s a concept I can get behind!

I notice that, if I'm reading correctly, all of your events are in Nov-Jan, leaving 3/4 of the year as a big block of mundane time. If it were me, I'd want things spread around a bit more; YMMV of course. (And now you've got me thinking what my version of this idea would look like.)

That's because so far what I've got is based on my first calendar, and the majority of that is Ordinary Time.  It follows the Christian year because in that system I am working with members of the Christian "pantheon," albeit in a context influenced by a variety of ideas and to a very minimal degree, some Gnostic ideas.

I could keep a big chunk as mundane focus just because I struggle in that regard in some aspects of my life.  However, that's going to be a focus at all times of the year to some degree, so you are probably right about spreading things out.

I've thought about incorporating seasonal elements, but I don't much connect to that.  It's mostly just hot, humid, and miserable here in terms of climate.

On the other hand, while I'm not too focused on the climate of the seasons, I do tend to notice and be very in tune with how long and short the days and nights are due to keeping the Daily Office when I was a sort-of-almost Christian in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition (not too long ago).

And some of this calendar does have to do with those changes in light, so maybe I could focus more on that aspect if I can find a psychological-spiritual approach to it.
My personal moral code:

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Sefiru

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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2019, 07:08:24 pm »
I've thought about incorporating seasonal elements, but I don't much connect to that.  It's mostly just hot, humid, and miserable here in terms of climate.

Ha - my seasonal markers are more civic than weather related, with Victoria Day and Labor day roughly dividing the year into Indoor time and Outdoor time.
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Altair

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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2019, 07:49:06 am »
I've thought about incorporating seasonal elements, but I don't much connect to that.  It's mostly just hot, humid, and miserable here in terms of climate.

On the other hand, while I'm not too focused on the climate of the seasons, I do tend to notice and be very in tune with how long and short the days and nights are due to keeping the Daily Office when I was a sort-of-almost Christian in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition (not too long ago).

And some of this calendar does have to do with those changes in light, so maybe I could focus more on that aspect if I can find a psychological-spiritual approach to it.

I was going to comment about how your second calendar is very inward-looking--which isn't a criticism, just an observation.

Like you I'm keenly aware of the amount of daylight I'm getting through the year, so that makes me very seasonally aware (and probably why my modified Wheel of the Year focuses more on the quarter days--the solstices and equinoxes--than the cross-quarter days).

But as a birder (and increasingly a generalist naturalist, as I learn more about plants and bugs), I notice the change of the seasons in other ways. My perspective on a second calendar would be outward-looking: I already subdivide the spring into a complex series of shifts, depending which avian migrants are passing through (there's a very regular order and timing to the species), and I subdivide summer into three, by the bugs: firefly season (June to early July), cicada season (mid-July through August), and monarch season (late August through September).
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EclecticWheel

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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2019, 09:46:21 am »
I was going to comment about how your second calendar is very inward-looking--which isn't a criticism, just an observation.

This might be a helpful observation in developing it further since I'm running into a block in terms of what to do with it.  Perhaps I can balance it out more with outward looking elements at certain times of the year.  It might be helpful to me to do so.
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EclecticWheel

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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2019, 06:48:28 pm »
This might be a helpful observation in developing it further since I'm running into a block in terms of what to do with it.  Perhaps I can balance it out more with outward looking elements at certain times of the year.  It might be helpful to me to do so.

So I've been looking into various calendars to see if I can use them to create anything new suited to myself.  I've looked into humanist calendars, alternative Wheels of the Year, and so on.

Some of what I came up with here comes from a chaos calendar.

In the link below is a Wheel of the Year corresponding to the major arcana.  The author of the article engages devotionally with the Tarot.

This is interesting because I've had the same idea, but haven't yet done anything with that idea, though I keep reading up on the tarot.

I'll have to think some about this Wheel and how the seasons play out in my area, but maybe focusing more on the shifts of light with the additional symbolism of the cards and their correspondences can provide something helpful.

The humanist calendar I've read up on focuses more on the journey of the sun in terms of the human lifespan and thus focuses more on the solstices and equinoxes.

Once I get a basic structure to work with, I'll be excited about what it will lead to since I've been wanting to expand my spiritual territory and do some exploration with a flexible structure.

Here's the link to the tarot calendar which explains various correspondences and some of the reasoning behind a devotional framework for the tarot.

I hope you enjoy the read:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/jackofwandstarot.wordpress.com/2016/10/23/mapping-tarot-to-the-wheel-of-the-year/amp/
My personal moral code:

Love wisely, and do what thou wilt.

SunflowerP

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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2019, 08:29:28 pm »
Here's the link to the tarot calendar which explains various correspondences and some of the reasoning behind a devotional framework for the tarot.

That looks fascinating - but also long, so I've tucked it into my reading list. Thanks!

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EclecticWheel

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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2019, 06:44:09 pm »
So I've been looking into various calendars to see if I can use them to create anything new suited to myself.  I've looked into humanist calendars, alternative Wheels of the Year, and so on.

Having needed a flexible structure to work with in order to do some spiritual exploration and expansion for my own purposes, I have decided to incorporate parts of the Tarot calendar I shared along with other dates important to me to which I assign various cards to symbolize their meaning to me.

The interesting thing is that I had the idea of embarking on this project, and of working devotionally with the tarot, on my own, but all ideas are borrowed in some way, I suppose, and I came upon the blog I mentioned in which someone else is already engaging some of the ideas I had.

Since I'm still learning the tarot, and probably always will be, I've decided that the cards assigned to each significant date may at times vary according to my state of mind and life during that particular year depending on how my relationship to that fixed date varies over time.

Some of the dates have solar significance.  Some are dates of significance from my personal life history.  Some are secular holidays, and so on.

The idea is to build a more flexible practice, and a calendar which is able to accommodate variability even within itself seems fitting.  It has taken me quite a while to find this solution.

In the meantime, while I keep records of the various incarnations of my ritual practices, I am breaking them up and reinventing them so as to engage with a more flexible and fluid practice that can accommodate better an evolving personal philosophy and be adapted to more than just one particular fixed devotional practice.

This had to be done to make possible in a way pleasing to my desire for both coherence and eclectic exploration a framework enabling an engagement with a wider range of neo-pagan spiritual elements while not having to ditch what I've already taken years to build as a foundation.

Furthermore it was necessary to avoid stagnation in a spirituality that embraces personal, individual experience as paramount in the discovery of meaning.

As I see it, a spirituality based in one's individuality must be able to incorporate change at a more rapid pace than a traditional religion with a large number of adherents.

So, that's what I'm doing with my calendar for now, and I am very excited!
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Re: A Second Calendar
« Reply #9 on: October 02, 2019, 12:45:51 pm »


I hope you enjoy the read:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/jackofwandstarot.wordpress.com/2016/10/23/mapping-tarot-to-the-wheel-of-the-year/amp/

This is fascinating!  I think I may look into it more, always looking for ways to add layers into things, and I really appreciate that the author went into how they laid the stuff out.  I agree with the author, that when tarot books add in things like Sabbats and either don't explain or say "Just because" it kind of bugs me.
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