The Seuna calendar: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:57, 9 November 2009

Actually each locality in the Seuna world breaks down the year into various "arc"s ("earth.arc"s in full). This is best translated as season. The timing, length and names of these "arc"s depend on local weather, local growing seasons, local cultural activities etc. For example acorn.arc might follow rain.arc and be followed by salmon.arc.

1 day

The Seuna for day is noi .

8 days

8 days make up a period of time called a soi. The noi of the soi are called ;-

noicaju	noibuya	noinewa	noideda	noikiwe	noigufo	noikayu	noinege
sun.day	leaf.day	river.day	sea.day	star.day	moon.day	tree.day	cloud.day

Between every soi there is a day called noituna, which can be best translated as "gap day".

72 days

8 soi and 8 noituna make up a period of time called a doi. The soi of the doi are called ;-

soi@ai	soigeu	soisuna	soinela	soiki@o	soinelau	soihia	soihau
white.week	green.week	orange.week	skyblue.week	yellow.week	blue.week	red.week	black.week

The 8 noituna of the doi can be differentiated from each other by calling them ;-

tuna@ai	tunageu	tunasuna	tunanela	tunaki@o	tunanelau	tunahia	tunahau
white.gap	green.gap	orange.gap	skyblue.gap	yellow.gap	blue.gap	red.gap	black.gap

(In the Seuna calendar, the cycle of the moon is completely ignored.)

365 days

A noihitu is a special festival days. There are five of them in one year. The 5 noihitu and 5 doi make up a yia(a year).

The doi are;-

doiyigau	doipiwe	doiguya	doi@olai	doigamau
jupiter.month	venus.month	mercury.month	mars.month	saturn.month

The festivals or festival days ( noihitu) are called;- hintuyigau hintupiwe hintuguya hintu@olai hintugamau

hintuyigau is between doiyigau and doipiwe, and so on.

1461 days

A four year period is known as a myamu. This is often translated into English as "calendar".

A special day called noimamu is added every myamu.

The calendar (that you stick on the wall)

There are 4 years in a calendar.

There are 32 calenders in a kyutoza.

Below is the first sheet of the Seuna calendar (there are 20 sheets in all).

The first week is the top row, the last week is the bottom row.

The first day of the week is the first column, the last day of the week is the last column.

The "not completely enclosed space" at the end of the week is for the noituna.

The space beneath the grid is for the noihitu.

The day noimamu is not represented on the physical calendar. That is because this day is associated with special ceremonies associated with the passage of time. One ceremony involves the taking down of the old calendar, another ceremony involves the hanging of a new calendar. During noimamu there is no calendar hanging on any wall.

128 years (or 46,751 days)

32 myamu make up a kyutoza. This is often translated into English as "century", "generation", "lifetime".

One day is deleted every kyutoza.

The day dropped is tunahau from doipiwe.

The physical Seuna calendar that you hang on your wall lasts for four years. Every sheet represents a doi.

Below is the second sheet of the first myamu of a kyutoza.

As can be seen, the dropped day has been torn off.

It is usual to define every day within a kyutoza.

For example you can give the date of birth of somebody as;-

noigufo soinelan doiguyan yiatigan (which means "the moon day of the sky-blue week of the month of mercury of the year of the giraffe").

To define the day over the greater range you would have to add " kyutoza -11", "kyutoza 0", "kyutoza +32" etc. etc.

The tolza

Each year of the kyutoza has an animal associated with it. These animals are ;-

wolf	weasel/ermine/stoat/mink	bullfinch	badger
whale	opossum	albatross	beautiful armadillo
giant anteater	lynx	eagle	cricket/grasshopper/locust
reindeer	springbok	dove	gnu/wildebeest
spider	Steller's sea cow	seagull	gorilla
horse	scorpion	raven/crow	python
rhino	yak	Kookaburra	porcupine ?
butterfly	triceratops	penguin	koala
polar bear	manta-ray	hornbill	raccoon
crocodile/alligator	wolverine	pelican	zebra
bee	warthog	peacock	capybara
bat	bear	crane/stork/heron	hedgehog
frog	lama	woodpecker	gemsbok
musk ox	chameleon	hawk	cheetah
lion	frill-necked lizard	toucan	okapi
dolphin	aardvark	ostrich	T-rex
kangaroo	hyena	duck	driprotodon(wombat)
shark	cobra	kingfisher	gaur
dragonfly	mole	moa	chimpanzee
turtle/tortoise	N.A. bison	black skimmer	panda
jaguar	snail	cormorant/shag	Cape buffalo
rabbit	colossal squid	vulture	glyptodon/doedicurus
beetle	seal	falcon	pangolin
megatherium	woolly mammoth	flamingo	baboon
elk/moose	squirrel	blue bird of paradise	lobster
tiger	gecko	grouse	seahorse
jackal/fox	octopus	swan	lemur
elephant	swordfish	parrot	auroch
giraffe	ant	puffin	iguana
mouse	crab	swift	mongoose/meerkat
smilodon	giant beaver	owl	mantis
camel	goat	hummingbird	walrus

Each of these animals above is a tolza, which can be translated as "token", "icon" or "totem ". kyu means a circle or cycle. So you can see where the name for the 128 year period comes from.

The precise astronomical periods on which the Seuna time system is based

Year 2000 had 365.242,192,65 days

Every year is shorter than the last by 0.000,000,061,4 days

By adding one day every calendar we get a 365.25 day year

If we then drop one day every kyutoza we get a 365.242,187,5 day year (very close to the actual year length)

Before 2084, the actual year will be bigger than the calendar year – after 2084 the actual year will be smaller than the calendar year

For this reason midnight, 22 Dec 2083 is designated the fulcrum of the whole system. That day will be time zero.

At the moment we are in negative time.

The association of planets to months and shapes

You will have noticed that the months share their names with the five visible planets. That is Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (in order of distance from the sun).

In order of occurence in the year ... Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn

They also share their name with the five platonic solids.

hizbuguya (mercury.shape) = a tetrahedron (4 sides)4₈

hizbu@olai(mars.shape) ... hexahedron (6 sides)6₈

hizbuguya(venus.shape) ... octahedron (8 sides)10₈

hizbupiwe(saturn.shape) ... dodecahedron (12 sides)14₈

hizbuyigau(jupiter.shape) ... icosahedron (20 sides)24₈

The Seuna year

The first month of the year

The first month of the year (doiguya) starts on the 22nd of December and ends on the 3rd of March.

On the 4th of March the festival hintuguya is held. People gather at various regional centres to compete and spectate in various music and poetry competitions.

The second month of the year

The second month of the year (doipiwe) starts on the 5th of March and ends on the 15th of May.

On the 16th of May the festival of hintupiwe is held. It is usual to get together with old friends around this time and many parties are held. Friends that live some distance away are given special consideration. Often journeys are undertaken to meet up with old acquainances. Also there is a big exchange of letters at this time. The most important happenings of the last year are stated in these letters along with hopes and plans for the coming year.

The third month of the year

The third month of the year (doi@olai) starts on the 17th of May and ends on the 27th of July.

On the 28th of July the festival hintu@olai is held. This festival is all about outdoor competitions and sporting events. It is a little like a cross between the Olympics games and the highland games. People gather at various regional centres to compete and spectate in various team and individual competitions. However care is taken that no regional centre becomes too popular and people are discouraged from competing at centres other than their local one.

The fourth month of the year

The fourth month of the year (doiyigau) starts on the 29th of July and ends on the 8th of October.

On the 9th of October the festival hintuyigau is held. Family that live some distance away are given special consideration. Often journeys are undertaken for family visits and ancestors ashboxes are visited if convenient. This is the second most important festival of the year. People tend to take a quite some time of work if travelling, three days if receiving guests and two days if not receiving any guests.

The fifth month of the year

The fifth month of the year (doigamau) starts on the 10th of October and ends on the 20th of December.

On the 21st of December the festival hintugamau is held. This is the most important festival of the year. It is centred on the family and friends that you are living amongst. Even though eating and drinking are involved in all the five festivals, this festival has the most looked-forward-to feasts. It usually lasts for 4 days.

The leap day

Every fourth year we have a calendar day (noimamu). This day comes immediately after hintugamau. Rites are held to mark and celebrate various milestones in the life of an individual. In particular people who have attained the ages of 4, 20 and 64 during the past 4 year, publicly celebrate that fact now. Among the customs followed is the gift of new clothes to the celebrant.

Time of day

The basic unit of time is the day (noi). So one day is equal to "1". The day begins at six o'clock in the morning.

So, for example, 6 o'clock in the evening would be called 0.4 (not 0.5 ... remember Seuna uses an octal system) or nyegayiwo @elai. The nyegayiwo is invariably dropped so it would be simply @elai.

By the way @ela would be 11.2 minutes after six in the morning (written .004) @aba would be 2.8 minutes after six in the morning.

For describing approximately when something happened during the day, we have eight periods : noifago, @abaia, @igaia, @odaia, @elaia, @ucaia, @aisaia and @aukaia. Each of these time periods is equivalent to three hours. They can be further defind by the prefix "early", "mid" and "late". So "mid"@odaia defines a time from 4 o'clock in the afternoon to five o'clock at night.

The word for midday is simply @igai. The word for midnight is simply @aisa.

The noi is a 24 hour period.

The name for the period that the sun is up (i.e. daytime) is noi@ai ... (white.day)

The name for the period that the sun is down (i.e. nighttime) is noihau ... (black.day)

The name for the period from 6 in the morning until 6 at night noihai ... (high.day)

The name for the period from 6 at night to 6 in the morning is noi@au ... (low.day)

The last two terms make sense when you think of the main hand on a Seuna clock.

The clock

At midnight the ‘hour’ hand stands at the bottom and procedes anti-clockwise (at least in the northern hemishere). The ‘hour’ hand only sweeps out one revolution in 24 hours. Both the red and the black arms do not move incrementally but both move one slot (1/64 th of a revolution) at a time. The black arm moves every 22.5 minutes and the red arm moves every 21 seconds.

Every town has a clocktower and the clocktower will have six faces at the top, each face displaying a clock similar to the one below. The clocktower is surmounted by a green conic roof. Backlighting and lighting from under the roof is provided for each face. There should never be any numbering.

The clock faces should be illuminated from a light within. The colours of the faces should be white (N), orange (~NE), green (~SE), yellow (S), red (~SW), dark blue (~NW).

Index

@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 ===1461 days===
-A four year period is known as a '''myama'''.  This is often translated into English as "calendar".
+A four year period is known as a '''myamu'''.  This is often translated into English as "calendar".
-A special day called '''noimama''' is added every '''myama'''.
+A special day called '''noimamu''' is added every '''myamu'''.
 === The calendar (that you stick on the wall) ===
@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 [[Image:Bitmap_21_Seuna.PNG]]
-The day '''noimama''' is not represented on the physical calendar. That is because this day is associated with special ceremonies associated with the passage of time. One ceremony involves the taking down of the old calendar, another ceremony involves the hanging of a new calendar. During '''noimama''' there is no calendar hanging on any wall.
+The day '''noimamu''' is not represented on the physical calendar. That is because this day is associated with special ceremonies associated with the passage of time. One ceremony involves the taking down of the old calendar, another ceremony involves the hanging of a new calendar. During '''noimamu''' there is no calendar hanging on any wall.
 ===128 years (or 46,751 days)===
-'''myama''' make up a '''kyutoza'''. This is often translated into English as "century", "generation", "lifetime".
+'''myamu''' make up a '''kyutoza'''. This is often translated into English as "century", "generation", "lifetime".
 One day is deleted every '''kyutoza'''.
@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 The physical Seuna calendar that you hang on your wall lasts for four years. Every sheet represents a '''doi'''.
-Below is the second sheet of the first '''myama''' of a '''kyutoza'''.
+Below is the second sheet of the first '''myamu''' of a '''kyutoza'''.
 [[Image:Bitmap_22_Seuna.PNG]]
@@ Line 244: / Line 244: @@
 ===The leap day ===
-Every fourth year we have a calendar day ('''noimama'''). This day comes immediately after '''hintugamau'''. Rites are held to mark and celebrate various milestones in the life of an individual. In particular people who have attained the ages of 4, 20 and 64 during the past 4 year, publicly celebrate that fact now. Among the customs followed is the gift of new clothes to the celebrant.
+Every fourth year we have a calendar day ('''noimamu'''). This day comes immediately after '''hintugamau'''. Rites are held to mark and celebrate various milestones in the life of an individual. In particular people who have attained the ages of 4, 20 and 64 during the past 4 year, publicly celebrate that fact now. Among the customs followed is the gift of new clothes to the celebrant.
 == Time of day ==
@@ Line 261: / Line 261: @@
 The '''noi''' is a 24 hour period.
-The name for the period that the sun is up (i.e. daytime) is '''no@ai''' ... (white.day)
+The name for the period that the sun is up (i.e. daytime) is '''noi@ai''' ... (white.day)
-The name for the period that the sun is down (i.e. nighttime) is '''nohau''' ... (black.day)
+The name for the period that the sun is down (i.e. nighttime) is '''noihau''' ... (black.day)
-The name for the period from 6 in the morning until 6 at night '''nohai'''  ... (high.day)
+The name for the period from 6 in the morning until 6 at night '''noihai'''  ... (high.day)
-The name for the period from 6 at night to 6 in the morning is '''no@au''' ... (low.day)
+The name for the period from 6 at night to 6 in the morning is '''noi@au''' ... (low.day)
 The last two terms make sense when you think of the main hand on a Seuna clock.
@@ Line 275: / Line 275: @@
 At midnight the ‘hour’ hand stands at the bottom and procedes anti-clockwise (at least in the northern hemishere). The ‘hour’ hand only sweeps out one revolution in 24 hours. Both the red and the black arms do not move incrementally but both move one slot (1/64 th of a revolution) at a time. The black arm moves every 22.5 minutes and the red arm moves every 21 seconds.
-Every town has a clocktower and the clocktower will have four faces at the top, each face displaying a clock similar to the one below. The clocktower is surmounted by a green conic roof. Backlighting and lighting from under the roof is provided for each face. There should never be any numbering.
+Every town has a clocktower and the clocktower will have six faces at the top, each face displaying a clock similar to the one below. The clocktower is surmounted by a green conic roof. Backlighting and lighting from under the roof is provided for each face. There should never be any numbering.
+The clock faces should be illuminated from a light within. The colours of the faces should be white (N), orange (~NE), green (~SE), yellow (S), red (~SW), dark blue (~NW).
 ==Index==