Discordian calendar
From Wikipedia, the free 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 (although additional holidays or "holydays" are listed in other Discordian works, especially in Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht).
The numbering of Discordian years is the same as that of Anno Domini years plus 1,166. (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, the year is currently 3172 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 (page 53 of the fourth edition), it is a Discordian tradition to use that designation.
The Discordian calendar has five 73-day seasons: Chaos, Discord, Confusion, Bureaucracy, and The Aftermath. The Discordian year is aligned with the Gregorian calendar and begins on January 1, thus Chaos 1, 3172 YOLD is January 1, 2006 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.
Every fourth year on 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 (but see "St. Tib's Day dispute", below).
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.
The given list of Apostle Holydays is not comprehensive and there may be many more, or many fewer. Discordians are practically forbidden from agreeing on which Apostles are apocryphal and which are canonical; this list is derived from the official Holydays given in the Principia Discordia and may be considered heretical by some Discordians (which is most likely okay with them).
Contents |
[edit] St. Tib's Day dispute
Since 3171 YOLD (2005 AD), a schism has arisen within Discordianism over the St. Tib's Day rule. The Discordian Calendar, as described in the Principia Discordia, is unclear about whether the St. Tib's Day rule follows the Julian or Gregorian Calendar.
The rule as given is "occurs once every four years", which would imply that the Discordian Calendar is effectively aligned to the Julian calendar and that the year begins on December 19 Julian. In this interpretation, the Discordian and Gregorian calendars are only aligned for the two centuries between Chaos 60, 3066 YOLD (March 1, 1900 Gregorian) and Chaos 59, 3266 YOLD (February 28, 2100 Gregorian).
However, that page also claims to be a "Perpetual Date Converter from Gregorian to POEE Calendar", which implies that the Discordian and Gregorian calendars are perpetually aligned. In this interpretation, St. Tib's Day is skipped in years where the year ends in 66, unless the number of the century when divided by 4 leaves a remainder of 3 (e.g., since 31 = (7 * 4) + 3, 3166 was a leap year and 3566 will be a leap year, while 3266, 3366 and 3466 will not).
[edit] Jake Day
While not listed in Principia Discordia, one of the most commonly celebrated Discordian "holydays" is Jake Day, which occurs on April 6 (Discord 23), or occasionally May 23 (Discord 70). "Jakes" are pranks or mindfucks. From Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht:
- April 6 (23 Discord): Jake Day (O). Get a group of people to send letters, postcards, faxes, emails, etc. all to hopefully arrive at some business or government agency you want to Jake on this day (you’re allowed to do Jakes on other days as well, of course). The messages should address non-existent concerns, imaginary problems, or be just plain weird. Examples: assert that your family’s woolly mammoth should be allowed to run for king, or that you’re positive the president is actually a pineapple. Jakes should be fun, not threatening, and are all part of Operation Mindfuck.
[edit] Discordian Date in Linux
ddate, a program that prints the current date in the Discordian calendar, is quietly included in most Linux distributions.
