THE MYSTERY OF TIME STANDING STILL
The Power of the Days Between
THE DAYS BETWEEN
Every year, John and I take the Twelve Days of Christmas as a holiday. For one thing, we work all year as self-employed writers, and for another, my birthday falls within those days, with John’s following swiftly after. Thirdly, and most importantly, these days act as our ‘Days Between’, when whatever has been struggling to come through the welter of projects, teachings, books etc. is given a chance to come forward and change everything. Perhaps few of us think about the Western calendar as an opportunity to make an appointment with our creative wellspring, but in this household, we honour this time completely because, without a period of fallowness, we would falter, or our writing would go sour.
The Twelve Days of Christmas are a time when extraordinary things can emerge. The reason that they can do this is due to a recurring difficulty that every calendar maker since the world’s beginning has encountered. However you try to divide the circulations of the sun into neat orderly packages that will work for your culture, these calculations fail utterly to be driven into tidy sheep-pens. The earth wobbles and a slippage of dates will keep occurring. Most calendars have - if not annually – then regularly in the fall of years, a period called ‘the intercalary days’ when the odd bits of what are left over from those orderly calculations can be dealt with. Nearly every culture has decided to make these left-over bits of the year serve as a special festival for their gods.
The Gaulish Coligny Calendar was an early Celtic attempt at a five-year calendar. It was collated from an actual viewing of the elements and weather every day and night for 5 years: pity the poor watchers who had to record observations like ‘cloudy’ ‘semi-clear’, and gave us fortunate and unfortunate days, as well as marking the months and festivals. It is a remarkable piece of work, but it still has days left over at the end of every five years.
In Britain, we deal with the odd bits of days by having a leap year every 4 years, when the year has an additional date appended to February. 29th February is a strangely inconvenient one to have as a birthday, often resulting in the wretched individual having to announce that, though they look like a 28 year old, they are really only 7.
We used to follow the Julian calendar in Britain, until 1752 when we changed to the Gregorian calendar, devised in 1582 and followed by most of Europe. Because of the erroneous assumption that the Julian calendar was thought to give a solar year of 365.25 days long, an inconvenient slippage was causing the Spring Equinox – the seasonal marker for calculating the date of Easter – to occur well before the nominal date of 21 March. The Eastern Orthodox churches still calculate by the Julian Calendar which is now 14 days different to the Gregorian one, which is why our Christmas dates are so at variance: this year the Western churches celebrated Christmas on 25 December, but Orthodox believers will not do so until 7 January in the New Year. The gap between the two calendars is growing steadily wider and if the Eastern Churches don’t adapt themselves within a couple of millennia, they will be celebrating Christmas in November!
In Britain in 1752, the calendar change, like all unpopular changes in this country, incurred the loss of 11 days - which followed the adoption of the Gregorian reform calendar - the strange change resulted in a good many people campaigning to have their 11 Days returned to them. Not unlike the Metric Martyrs who refused to sell apples or cheese in anything other than imperial measure, and who went to prison following the introduction of metric weights and measures in Britain on 1 January 2000, the 1752 objectors to the Gregorian calendar caused much civil unrest and even rioting.
One man alone benefitted immediately from this reform: William Willett of Endon in Staffordshire bet his neighbours that he could dance non-stop for 12 days and nights: he started to jig around the village on the evening of the 2nd September, dancing all night – but as the very next morning had been designated as the 14th September by the reformers - he won his bet outright at dawn! While this may all seem very trivial, William Willett was merely reiterating a very ancient myth indeed, by compressing a long passage of time into a much shorter one.
THE MYSTERY OF TIME STANDING STILL
Let us turn back the clock several millennia to the myths of the Brugh na Bóinne, also known as Newgrange in the Boyne Valley in Ireland. These myths stem from the Neolithic era, although they survive with the names of Celtic divinities.
The Brugh or hostel was originally under the care of Elcmar, also known as Nechtan (holy). He lived there with his wife Boann, who is the matron of the Boyne river. But the Dagda, the Good God, desired Boann. Sending his steward, Elcmar, away on an errand, Dagda lay with Boann. Dagda caused the sun to stand still so that the child conceived between them grew and was born, apparently in the course of one day. That child was Oengus mac ind Og – Angus the Son of Youth, who was afterwards fostered upon Midir, so that Elcmar should know nothing of him.
This myth recalls the reality of the Brugh which is still enacted every Midwinter Sunrise when the dawning sun enters the light box over the long passageway of the monument, penetrating into the depths of the central chamber for 17 minutes. Of course, at midwinter, the sun appears to stand still for a number of days in its solstitial appearance over the South Eastern horizon – in that brief moment, many things happen. In the depths of the Brugh in the Neolithic, the bones of the dead would have been turned from being merely deceased remains into living ancestors. In the myth, the ever-young Oengus comes forth in that brief moment, conceived, grown and born all in that solstitial moment of compressed time.
Later on, we read in De Gabáil in t’Sid, or ‘The Taking of the Faery Mound’ how Oengus gains the Brugh as his own possession:
‘There was a famous king over the Túatha Dé in Ireland. His name was the Dagda. Now when he was king at first, his might was vast, and it was he who apportioned out the fairy mounds to the men of the Túatha Dé, namely Lug Mac Ethnend in Síd Rodrubán, and Ogma in Síd Aircelltraí, but for the Dagda himself Síd Leithet Lachtmaige, Oí Asíd, Cnocc Báine, and Brú Ruair. As, however, they say, he had Síd In Broga (the Brugh) from the beginning.
Then (Oengus) Mac Oc came to the Dagda in order to petition for land after it had been distributed to each one. He was, moreover, a fosterling to Midir of Brí Léith and to Nindid, the seer.
“I have none for thee,” said the Dagda. “I have completed the division.”
“Therefore let be granted to me,” said the Mac Ooc, “even a day and a night in thy own dwelling.” That then was given to him.
“Go now to thy following.” said the Dagda, “since thou hast consumed thy (allotted)
time.”
“It is clear,” said he, “that night and day are (the length of) the whole world, and it is that which has been given to me.”
Thereupon the Dagda went out, and the Mac Oc remained in his Síd. Wonderful, moreover, (is) that land. Three trees with fruit are there always, and a pig eternally alive, and a roasted swine, and a vessel with marvellous liquor, and never do they all decrease.’ (trans by Vernam Hull).
So, we see how Oengus, who has been unable to obtain his own Sid mound, goes to ask his (unacknowledged) father for his share, and asks for but one night and day in the Dagda’s Brugh. When the Dagda asks him to leave, when his son has taken precisely the time requested, Oengus informs him that this mere night and a day are in fact the entirety of the whole world, and claims the Brugh as his own. Oengus afterwards holds the Brugh as his own possession.
The mystery of time standing still calls out to us urgently after five millennia, to come into focus in our own moment of stillness which for us can, as for Oengus, encompass the entirety of the world.
THE OMEN DAYS - THE POWER OF RENEWAL
Like the endlessly renewing light that enters the light box of the Brugh, bringing the Midwinter dawning into the depths of the chamber, every midwinter, we too have the power to renew ourselves.
For the Romans, the celebration of midwinter Saturnalia was a holy time when the ancient deities who oversaw the seed corn of the next harvest were invoked, and the sacred opening of the underground chamber where the seed corn was stored was opened that it might be imbued by the gods Consus and Ops, who were the earlier divinities of the Etruscans. Consus is associated with hidden counsel and the reaping of the grain, while Ops – usually seen as the partner of Saturn – is responsible for the keeping of the grain. These chthonic deities represent the power of the earth itself. In the darkness of the underground chamber, the seed corn was made ready for the year’s sowing
In the days out of time, Consus and Ops are also with us, giving us counsel and preparing us. Saturn is the god of time, and the twelve days of Christmas which overlay his festival, have their own unwinding wisdom.
In Brittany and Wales, the 12 days of Christmas have their own way of winding the months of the coming year from out of the aperture of the days between of midwinter. It is the Breton gourdeziou or ‘over-days’ (intercalary days) which provide the measure of an omen which is taken on each day of Christmas to correspond to a month in the coming year:
25 Dec = January
26 Dec = February
27 Dec = March
28 Dec = April
29 Dec = May
30 Dec = June
31 Dec = July
1 Jan = August
2 Jan – September
3 Jan = October
4 Jan = November
5 Jan = December
This custom is called ‘The Omen Days,’ which is the direct translation of the Welsh coel-ddyddyian (koil the-thith’ion), whereby we go out on each of the 12 days of Christmas to observe, from physical observation of nature, the movements that are shown at the moment we make the aperture of our seeking. ‘Coel’ derives from proto-Celtic kailos or ‘omen’, which in turn stems from the proto-Indo-European Kéh,ilos or ‘healthy/whole.’
The practice derives from a much older form of nature observation: from the Frith (free) or ‘Augury from Nature’ which was anciently practised by druids, and was still in use up to the 19th- and early 20th centuries in Highland Scotland. I’ve studied and taught this lore over forty years, but I still have to stress that the criteria of the Frith or Augury is based upon the movements of nature, NOT upon card drawing or other oracle divination. You have to be out in nature for it to be done, not inside! My writings upon the Omen Days have been much copied and adapted in many ways, but I would like to make clear that any additional practices that bring some other forms of divination into it are not authentic: you must be out in nature – not looking through a window, not using cards, crystals, or runes! This is merely respecting the tradition – please hand it on as you were given it, for goodness sake!
It is usual to go out early to make your frith or augury, before many people are about. It is based upon the moments and sounds in nature – that means birds, trees, non-domestic wild animals, and the like. Sometimes, other modern things will come into our urban divination –overflying planes, sounds of construction, rubbish blowing about – but the traditional augury is from the free movements of animals who are not under your control.
I usually step into my garden or stand upon the threshold of my garden door after getting up – fasting and barefoot, as that is traditional. Close your eyes, centre yourself. Consider which month you are asking an augury for: and then open your eyes. Behold or hear what is your omen. Then remain very still, let the omen enter your awareness, and feel what that omen is showing you. Here are a few examples below from over lockdown, when I could be sure of not encountering another human being: I have given the omen I experienced, and its augury for me, as well as a confirmation as the year played out.
29 December 2020 for May 2021
Omen: the cooing of two doves as a plane flew south-west.
Augury: Travelling again
Confirmation: This month we finally saw our family again after a break of 9 months, due to restrictions, as well as attending a medieval joust at a nearby noble house. Late May most restrictions about being together and associating were lifted.
1 January 2021 for August 2021
Omen: two blackbirds flying south-west
Augury: I had a sense that something about my icon course for that month was changing.
Confirmation: The icon course had to be cancelled due to my colleague, Felicity’s illness.
5 January 2021 for December 2021
Omen: Elder branches against the blue sky
Augury: Seeing things straight
Confirmation: It finally became clear to me that my best friend, Felicity, was not going to survive her serious illness, which was a great sorrow to me.
As you can see, I divined from the omen immediately and wrote this down, so it could be checked against the unfolding year. This is how an omen is read – quickly, without associating it with any system or known meaning, but feeling what has just been experienced in that out of time way. This is how we enter the timelessness of the moment to find something that is going to be appearing in time.
I have just now taken my own augury of this morning and will record it here:
28th December 2024 for April 2025.
Omen: A sky busy with birds: one pigeon hopping left onto the roof, two pigeons flying south and turning west. A single blackbird in the tree, still and silent.
Augury: Some changes in my sight will need some attention at the optician in April.
I can only get back to you on that point, since the confirmation is some way off!
The power of the days out of time helped conceive and grow Oengus, it helped the Romans put strength and life into the seed corn for the next year’s sowing, and it can also give us a way of compressing a whole year into just twelve days. For the rest of the special days that are left, I wish you the sweet and unknown depths of this midwinter so that you may emerge whole and sound into the new year!
You were to have had this post yesterday but my computer seized up and refused to function until John managed to release it this morning!
The Golden Verses course will continue in the new year, and the newsletter giving notice of 2025’s courses and events will be up shortly.
Thank you for a well informed post. You are one of my main reliable sources.
THis is wonderful. I now have a much better understanding of how to augury the 12 days.
One of the things I so enjoy about your posts is what I learn every time about Celtic wisdom, dare I say mythology in the true sense of the word (I like Campbell's description of it best).
As to the standing still of time, I keep track of the number of hours and minutes long or short the daylight is each day of the year. I have noticed that indeed time stands still around the Winter Solstice for about three days. On each of those days the amount of time of daylight is the same. Also, I naturally feel, at this time, a need for rest from everything except household chores. Cleaning seems to be a necessity for me at this time. I'm sure it's a nesting thing preparing for the new year. Thanks once again for confirming what I seems to be in tune with in nature and the powers both higher and lower.