VMs: Re:

[Nick Pelling <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

At 10:55 13/08/02 -0400, John Grove wrote:
> Now, why would someone divide up the spring months into eight alternating
> half and full decades? Some method of calculating Easter? I don't think so,
> because Easter can never fall into May... Perhaps, there is an agricultural
> reason - four half decades represent planting dates? Oh well...

Two more sites on Gregorian / Julian calendars:
        http://europeanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa041301a.htm
        http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/7671/gregory.htm

Note that the Ancient Egyptians had both an administrative calendar and an 
agricultural calendar, the latter of which was triggered by the arrival 
into view at dawn of the star "Sopdet" at some time during July: this 
marked the start of the Nile flood season. A little more about this is here:
        http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/time/story/what.html

And no, I can't see any particularly plausible candidates for Sopdet on the 
VMS' volvelles - but feel free to look for yourself. :-)

Certainly, astrology was originally based on a Sumerian agricultural 
calendar: and the Chinese and Ancient Greeks also had agricultural 
calendars - the Israelis, too, have a similar tradition.

I, for one, certainly don't see anything inconsistent with the proposal 
that the VMS' astrological volvelles are arranged in the form of a (now 
lost) European agricultural calendar - there were probably several such to 
choose from circa 1500. Splitting Aries and Taurus might make sense, as 
that was when there'd be a lot of activity, after the spring frosts?

Unless someone has made a special study of European agricultural calendar 
traditions, all this is probably lost (except in the VMS, of course). 
:-)  Do we have any farming historians on the list? :-)

Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....