Gait to the Unknown

And I said to the man
Who stood at the gait of the year:
"Give me a light,
That I may tread safely into the unknown."

And he replied:
"Go out into the darkness,
And put your hand in the hand of God.
That shall be better to you than light
And safer than the known way."

So I went forth and, finding the hand of God,
Trod gladly into the night.
And He led me toward the hills
And the breaking of the day in the lone East.

So heart, be still:
What need our little life,
Our human life, to know,
If God hath comprehension.
In al the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Psalm 90:4

TIME: The Months part 1

The names of the months 1- 6 :

In every Western European language, the names of the months retain their Roman origin. The English names used in English speaking countries are no exception.

January is the first month of the year in the calendar used by most today, the Gregorian calendar. There are 31 days in the month of January. The name of the month is derived from Janus, the Roman god of gates and doors, and hence of openings and beginnings. Janus was a god with two faces, one facing forward the other looking backward. January was the 11th month of the year in the ancient Roman calendar. In the 2nd century BC it came to be regarded as the first month. On January 1 the Romans offered sacrifices to Janus so that he would bless the new year.

February is now the second month of the year. The name was derived from the Latin word Februalia. It was a time period when sacrifices were made to atone for sins in ancient Rome. It was not originally included in the Roman calendar, which began with March. According to legend, King Numa Pompilius added the month of January at the beginning of the year and February at its end. The latter was placed in second position in the Roman calendar in 452 BC. February was originally 29 days long, but one day was later transferred to the month of August. It is now 28 days long in ordinary years, a 29th day being added in leap years.

March is the third month of the Gregorian year. March was the first month of the Roman year, named for Mars, the god of war. This month was named for Mars presumably because war campaigns that were interrupted by the winter could be resumed at this time of year. In England, until the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752, March was considered the first month with the legal year beginning on March 25.

April is the fourth month of the Gregorian calendar year. April has 30 days. The Romans gave this month the name Aprilis, derived from aperire, Latin for "to open." This was probably because it is the season when buds begin to open.

May is the fifth month of the Gregorian calendar year. There are 31 days in this month. It is named for Maia, the Roman goddess of growth of plants. It was the third month of the old Roman calendar. Some dispute Maia as the source of the name May. Instead, the origin is traced to the Latin maiores. Maiores, would refer to seniors and May would therefore be a month dedicated to old age.

June, the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, consists of 30 days. The etymology of the name for this month is also uncertain. Different authorities derive the name from the Roman goddess Juno or from the name of a Roman clan, Junius. Another theory traces the origin of the name to the Latin iuniores or juvenis, for youth. The month would then be dedicated to youth. June was the fourth month in the old Roman calendar. At the time that Julius Caesar instituted reform of the calendar, June had 29 days, to which Caesar added a 30th.

Sources: The Handy Science Answer Book - Visible Ink|
Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. |

A New Year Quotation

  "A. D." -- the world writes the letters carelessly as it turns the page to record for the first time the new year; but in these letters is the "open secret" of the ages, for this , too, is "a year of our Lord," an "acceptable year," a "year of grace."  

– Jesse B. Thomas