EQUOS - the ninth month

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First Quarter January 4, 2009 At zenith at sunset

Full Moon January 11, 2009 Eastern horizon

Last Quarter January 18, 2009 At nadir at sunset

New Moon January 26, 2009 Western horizon

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noday

SAMHRADH - SAMON - SUMMER						GEIMHREADH - GIAMMON - WINTER
SAM	DUM	RIUR	ANAG	OGR	CUT	GIAM	SEMI	EQU	ELEM	AED	CANT

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The ninth month of the Celtic year is the third month of the Celtic winter. Etymology suggests it is derived from the proto-Indo-European terms *peku-, 'herd animal' and more specifically, *ekvo-s, 'horse, colt'. Thus Equos means "Horse Month". In Gaulish, Welsh and Irish, the goddesses Epona, Rhiannon and Macha were associated with horses and Equos is the complementary month to Riuros, the New King's Month, six months hence. There is a clear compementarity with Horse (goddess) and King in the Mabinogi of Pwyll, and the young god-children Gwri (Pryderi), Peredur, Culhwch and Setanta (Cú Chullaind) are strongly associated with colts. In Tochmarc Étaíne, Echu 'Horse' Airem wished to hold a feis but the 'men of Ériu replied that they would not hold the feis of Temuir for a king with no queen, for indeed Echu had had no queen when he became king', so he set out to win the hand of, Étaíne, who 'was his equal in beauty and form and race, in magnificence and youth and high repute'. In the Brehon Laws, February marked the last of the seven months of winter pastoral law, and the fines and prohibitions placed on the owners of animals that had not been penned up correctly and had caused damage were lifted, and ewes were prepared for lambing, and this is the time of lactation. February is celebrated with the feast of Brigid and Oimelc/Imbolg. During the month of Equos, in early February in ancient times, the bright yellow star Capella made its heliacal rising, which may have bee the celestial signal for the festival of springtime. Earrach, spring, derives from eàrr, 'to end' , meaning the 'end of the year', and stands in relation to the céitein, May, the 'first of summer', being the beginning of the year. Equos is the month when the anticipation of the new year becomes tangible, and the following months mark the time of preparation for the new year. The link between colts, herd animals, lambing and lactation, the idea of ewe's milk being associated with Oímelc and Imbolc's concepts of purification are well represented by Brigit daughter of the Dagda and Brigid, the pure 'Mary of the Gael'. These are all springtime images.

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The Celtic Calendar - Introductory Sections

| Introduction | The Pleiades Cycle | The Coligny Tablet | Samhradh | Geimhreadh |
| Celtic Calendar 2008 | The Southern Seasons Celtic Calendar 2008 | Celtic Calendar Forum |

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