A Fistful of Days

There is a widely used poem out there about remembering the days of the months. I can never remember it.

Instead, my grandma taught me to make a fist. Allow me to explain.

Begin by touching your index knuckle, while saying "January" then continue to the space between knuckles saying, "February" and so on. If you land on a knuckle, that month has 31 days. If the space between, it doesn't have 31 days.

When you get to July, you can either touch your knuckle again and repeat the process going backward; or release your finger and resume the months from your index finger. Easy peasy.

Perhaps now is a good time to recall the roots of our months. This will take us back to the ancients. It's a mixed bag with influences from the Greeks and Romans. Largely, we have deities, infamous leaders and Roman numbers to thank.

The Roman year originally had ten months, a calendar which was ascribed to the legendary first king, Romulus. Tradition had it that Romulus named the first month Martius, after his own father, Mars, the god of war. This month was followed by Aprilis, Maius, and Iunius, names derived from deities or aspects of Roman culture. Thereafter, however, the months were simply called the fifth month (Quintilus), sixth (Sixtilis) and so on, all the way through to the end of the year.

Things all changed in 46 B.C. when January became the first month of the new Julian calendar. This change bumped September through December to the back of the lineup and made it so that the months carry the wrong ordinal names.

From the top, as we know it, January is appropriately named after Janus, protector of gates and doorwarys; the Roman god of beginnings and endings. Janus is typically depicted with faces looking in both directions: backward and forward.

February is then named after a Roman purification festival februum. It was known as the month of cleansing; and included preparations for the coming Spring in the northern hemisphere.

March was the time of year when the weather was mild enough to begin military campaigns. This is echoed in the biblical text 2 Samuel 11:1 "And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David..."

April is derived from the Latin Aprilis, meaning "second."

May springs from the Greek goddess Maia, daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes. She was a nurturer and an earth goddess, which certainly explains her connection with the springtime month, when flowers and crops burst forth. Similarly, in Roman deities, the nymph Maia assimilated with the earth and gave her name to May.

June is honoured by Juno, wife of Jupiter, and the Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth.

July was named in esteem of Julius Caesar following his assassination in 44 B.C. with July being the month when he first became consul and subjugated Egypt. It is the first occassion where a month is named after a person, as opposed to a deity or number.

August is the second month to be named in honour of a ruler. In 8 B.C. the month Sextilis ("sixth") was renamed after Augustus, nephew of Julius Caesar and the first emperor of Rome. With the name, we also received the adjective "august," meaning "respected and impressive."

September, from the Latin septem ("seven") was the seventh month of the year.

Likewise, the names for October (octo), November (novem), and December (decem) were once the eighth, ninth and tenth months of the year when the Roman lunar calendar began in March at seed-time.

For better or worse, these names stuck. Personally, I'm glad that September is not Germanicus, in honour of Domicitian's arrogant victory over Germany. Or consider, we could be honouring the meglomaniac Commodus by celebrating Christmas on the 25th of Exsuperatorius ("All-Surpassing Conqueror").