Peter Beresford Ellis 1998

From: A Brief History of the Celts
2003: Constable & Robinson Ltd, London.

Revised and republished from: The Ancient World of the Celts, 1998. Constable & Robinson Ltd, London.

CELTIC COSMOLOGY

pp. 117 - 119:

There have been many studies of the calendar but in 1992 Dr Garret Olmstead's seminal work, published in Germany, substantiated the Celtic parrallels to the Vedic system [of the Hindu Vedas]. Olmstead was both a Celtic scholar and a qualified astronomer [who] demonstrated by astronomical calculus that the calendar must have originally been computed in 1100 BC...endorsing the comments of the classical sources regarding the long tradition and sophistication of the Celtic calendrical methodology....

The Coligny Calendar is far more elaborate than the rudimentary Julian calendar and incorporates a highly sophisticated five-year synchronisation of lunation with the solar year. It is a masterpiece of calendrical calculation. Against the months are subscribed either the letters MAT or ANM. One does not need to be an expert linguist to recognise these as the equivalent of maith (Irish) or mad (Welsh) meaning 'good', and of an maith (irish) or anfad (Welsh), meaning 'not good'.

The months are named in Gaulish Celtic with Giamon as the midwinter month and Samon as the midsummer month. Both names can be recognised in the surviving Celtic languages. What is significant here is that the old Irish name for November was Gam. Today November has been erroneously renamed Samhain which was originally the name for the feast of the god Samhain on 31 October/1 November. Samhain has nothing to do with the word sam meaning summer.

It is by misunderstanding and misuse that this name was extended to the whole month of November and thus confused people as to why a dark month should bear the element of the name of summer in it. To get around this one observer has suggested that Samhain must mean "end of Summer". A good try. However, in thinking that Samon was the name for November another error was perpetuated by unwary commentators on the Coligny Calendar when they placed Giamon (winter) as the May month. The May month was clearly called in old Ireland Cet-Samhin, the first of the summer period. Cet-Gamred was November, the first of the winter months or black period, and it is still so called in Scottish Gaelic...

...Plutarch mentions a thirty year festival among the Celts when Chronos (Saturn) entered the sign of Taurus.