Pneumatised!

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the leap month started on June 23. Because the Chinese lunar calendar is reconciled with the solar calendar, occasionally a leap month has to be inserted. The month is considered to be a leap month because there is no solar centerpoint (such as the Sun entering Cancer at 90 degrees) within that lunar month. (Please see my first article on calendars for more explanation of the Chinese calendar.)

The leap month is considered to be a double of the lunar month before it. This leap month is the 5th Double Month, which means we have two Horse months this year. The Double Month is generally considered to be lucky in the Chinese lunar calendar. So, hopefully a little luck might come your way, especially for those born in the month or year of the Horse.

As mentioned previously, the Chinese calendar is set according to Chinese Standard Time. The lunar months start on the new moon, which means that there was also a new moon earlier this week. The new moon this month occurred on June 22 at 3:35 p.m. EDT (which is June 23, 3:35 p.m. CST, thus the lunar month started on the June 23).

Upcoming calendar events and dates are:

July 7 – full moon at 5:21 a.m. EDT and lunar eclipse at 5:38 EDT; Mead Moon (folk name for the full moon); 6th solar month in the Chinese calendar, Slight Heat segment; Holly month in Graves’ calendar
July 8 – Spear month in Kondratiev’s calendar
July 11 – Hot Winds month in the Lakota calendar
July 21 – new moon at 10:34 p.m. EDT and solar eclipse at 10:35 p.m EDT
July 22 – start of the 6th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, known as the Sheep month in Chinese astrology
July 23 – Great Heat segment in the Chinese calendar (occurs when the Sun enters Leo, which according to EDT occurs July 22 at 12:36 p.m. or July 23 at 12:36 a.m. Chinese ST)
August 4 – Hazel month in Graves’ calendar
August 5 – full moon at 8:55 p.m. EDT and lunar eclipse at 8:39 p.m. EDT; Corn Moon (folk name for the full moon); Salmon month in Kondratiev’s calendar

The next pagan festival after the summer solstice is Lughnasadh on August 1st (if you are traditional) or on August 7th (if you want to observe the astronomical significance of the festival; I am of the opinion that anciently it was celebrated when the Sun was in 15 degrees Leo).

You may note a certain theme in the names of the calendar months in this cycle – predominantly hot! We have Slight Heat and Great Heat in the Chinese calendar and Hot Winds in the Lakota calendar. Tied into this time of heat, we have the theme of hunting in Kondratiev’s calendar (Spear month and Salmon month) and themes of cultivation in the full moon names of Mead and Corn. This is definitely the height of the harvest season, and perhaps you may want to celebrate with some mead or corn! (I’ve already started on the corn. 😉 )

The next calendar update will be at the beginning of August, the time of Lughnasadh.

~~~C