Discordian calendar
Encyclopedia
The Discordian or Erisian calendar is an alternative calendar
used by some adherents of Discordianism
. It is specified on page 00034 of the Principia Discordia
.
The Discordian year 1 YOLD is 1166 BC
. (Elsewhere in the Principia Discordia, it is mentioned that the Curse of Greyface occurred in 1166 BC, so this is presumably the start-date of the calendar.) As a reference, AD is YOLD (Year of Our Lady of Discord). While the abbreviation "YOLD" isn't used in the Principia, and the phrase "Year of Our Lady of Discord" is only mentioned once, it is a Discordian tradition to use that designation.
, and The Aftermath. The Discordian year is aligned with the Gregorian calendar and begins on January 1, thus Chaos 1, YOLD is January 1, Gregorian.
The Erisian week consists of five days: Sweetmorn, Boomtime, Pungenday, Prickle-Prickle, and Setting Orange. The days of the week are named after the five basic Discordian elements: Sweet, Boom, Pungent, Prickle, and Orange. There are 73 of these weeks per year and every year begins with Sweetmorn.
Every fourth year in the Discordian calendar, starting in 2 YOLD, an extra day is inserted between Chaos 59 and Chaos 60 called St. Tib's Day. This is because 4 years + 1 day = 5, a holy number, but the Discordian leap year
also coincides with the Gregorian one. The result of this is that any given day of the year in the Discordian calendar may be taken to correspond to the same day of the year in the Gregorian calendar
, and vice versa, although some users of the calendar believe that it is tied to the Julian calendar
and so will diverge from the Gregorian in 3266 YOLD (AD 2100). St. Tib's day is considered outside of the Discordian week.
There are Apostle Holydays on the 5th day of each season, named after the 5 Discordian apostles: Mungday, for Hung Mung
; Mojoday, for Dr Van Van Mojo; Syaday, for Sri Syadasti; Zaraday, for Zarathud; and Maladay, for Malaclypse the Elder. There are also Season Holydays on the 50th of each season: Chaoflux, Discoflux, Confuflux, Bureflux, and Afflux.
Only these eleven dates are named in the Principia Discordia; however, Discordians have felt free to invent other holidays which have become popular to varying degrees. Some of these include Discordians for Jesus/Love Your Neighbor Day (March 25/Discord 11); Jake Day (April 6/Discord 23 or occasionally May 23/Discord 70), a day to send tongue-in-cheek letters, emails or faxes to an official or bureaucracy; Saint Camping's Day (May 21/Discord 68), a day to make End of Days predictions and share them in social media; Towel Day
(May 25/Discord 72); Mid Year's Day (July 2/ Confusion 37); X-Day
(July 5/Confusion 40); and Multiversal Underwear Day (August 10/Bureaucracy 3).
s, despite some resistance. There are many other programs with similar functionality.
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...
used by some adherents of Discordianism
Discordianism
Discordianism is a religion based on the worship of Eris , the Greco-Roman goddess of strife. It was founded circa 1958–1959 after the publication of its holy book the Principia Discordia, written by Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst after a series of shared hallucinations at a...
. It is specified on page 00034 of the Principia Discordia
Principia Discordia
Principia Discordia is a Discordian religious text written by Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley . It was originally published under the title "Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost" in a limited edition of 5 copies in 1965...
.
The Discordian year 1 YOLD is 1166 BC
1160s BC
-Events and trends:* 1166 BC—The start of the Discordian calendar and within Discordianism the date of Curse of Greyface.* 1162 BC—The statue of Marduk is taken from Babylon by Elamite conquerors....
. (Elsewhere in the Principia Discordia, it is mentioned that the Curse of Greyface occurred in 1166 BC, so this is presumably the start-date of the calendar.) As a reference, AD is YOLD (Year of Our Lady of Discord). While the abbreviation "YOLD" isn't used in the Principia, and the phrase "Year of Our Lady of Discord" is only mentioned once, it is a Discordian tradition to use that designation.
Composition
The Discordian calendar has five 73-day seasons: Chaos, Discord, Confusion, BureaucracyBureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
, and The Aftermath. The Discordian year is aligned with the Gregorian calendar and begins on January 1, thus Chaos 1, YOLD is January 1, Gregorian.
The Erisian week consists of five days: Sweetmorn, Boomtime, Pungenday, Prickle-Prickle, and Setting Orange. The days of the week are named after the five basic Discordian elements: Sweet, Boom, Pungent, Prickle, and Orange. There are 73 of these weeks per year and every year begins with Sweetmorn.
Every fourth year in the Discordian calendar, starting in 2 YOLD, an extra day is inserted between Chaos 59 and Chaos 60 called St. Tib's Day. This is because 4 years + 1 day = 5, a holy number, but the Discordian leap year
Leap year
A leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
also coincides with the Gregorian one. The result of this is that any given day of the year in the Discordian calendar may be taken to correspond to the same day of the year in the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
, and vice versa, although some users of the calendar believe that it is tied to the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
and so will diverge from the Gregorian in 3266 YOLD (AD 2100). St. Tib's day is considered outside of the Discordian week.
There are Apostle Holydays on the 5th day of each season, named after the 5 Discordian apostles: Mungday, for Hung Mung
Hung Mung
Hong Meng, Hung Meng, or Hung Mung is a character in the Daoist text Zhuangzi and a metaphor for the "primordial world, primeval chaos" in Chinese creation myths...
; Mojoday, for Dr Van Van Mojo; Syaday, for Sri Syadasti; Zaraday, for Zarathud; and Maladay, for Malaclypse the Elder. There are also Season Holydays on the 50th of each season: Chaoflux, Discoflux, Confuflux, Bureflux, and Afflux.
| Holyday | Discordian calendar | Gregorian calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Mungday | Chaos 5 | January 5 |
| Chaoflux | Chaos 50 | February 19 |
| St. Tib's Day | St. Tib's Day | February 29 |
| Mojoday | Discord 5 | March 19 |
| Discoflux | Discord 50 | May 3 |
| Syaday | Confusion 5 | May 31 |
| Confuflux | Confusion 50 | July 15 |
| Zaraday | Bureaucracy 5 | August 12 |
| Bureflux | Bureaucracy 50 | September 26 |
| Maladay | The Aftermath 5 | October 24 |
| Afflux | The Aftermath 50 | December 8 |
Only these eleven dates are named in the Principia Discordia; however, Discordians have felt free to invent other holidays which have become popular to varying degrees. Some of these include Discordians for Jesus/Love Your Neighbor Day (March 25/Discord 11); Jake Day (April 6/Discord 23 or occasionally May 23/Discord 70), a day to send tongue-in-cheek letters, emails or faxes to an official or bureaucracy; Saint Camping's Day (May 21/Discord 68), a day to make End of Days predictions and share them in social media; Towel Day
Towel Day
Towel Day is celebrated every 25 May as a tribute by fans of the late author Douglas Adams. On this day, fans carry a towel with them to demonstrate their love for the books and the author, as referred to in Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
(May 25/Discord 72); Mid Year's Day (July 2/ Confusion 37); X-Day
X-Day (Church of the SubGenius)
X-Day is a traditional part of the mythology of the satirical UFO religion Church of the SubGenius, an organization formed as a parody of cults and extreme religious groups, and their pamphlets and claims. X-Day fell on July 5, 1998, the scheduled "end of the world", and has been celebrated on July...
(July 5/Confusion 40); and Multiversal Underwear Day (August 10/Bureaucracy 3).
Implementations
ddate, a program that prints the current date in the Discordian calendar, was part of the util-linux package of basic system utilities. As such, it was included in nearly all Linux distributionLinux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
s, despite some resistance. There are many other programs with similar functionality.
External links
- Online Gregorian-to-Erisian Date Converter
- Discordian Holydays in iCalendar format
- Current Discordian Date and Holydays available via Twitter
- Mac OS X Dashboard Widget to calculate current Discordian date
- Post Principia Discordia holydays including Jake Day
- Discordian Calendar described in the Principia Discorda
- 817 A.S.: Temporary Autonomous Zoners celebrate Jake Day with an Open House and Agape Ludens Ritual at the Temple of Eris, Pueblo Bonito Station, Baffin System, Sirius Sector.