Armeno-Kemetic Holidays for January

Above: Vahagn fights a vishap

 Em hotep! Welcome to the month of the Swelling of the Emmer. Emmer is an ancient variety of wheat, so this would have been the month of the wheat harvest. It is sacred to the Netjer Min. Swelling of the Emmer started yesterday, so the brief two-month synchronicity between the Kemetic and Gregorian calendars has ended. I think it will be another 28 months or so before we see that again. I could be wrong though, I would have to sit and do the math, with all the leap years and other weird stuff in the Gregorian calendar. 

And I know one calendar is just as arbitrary as another in the grand scheme of things, but January 1st is just a weird day to start a year. Sopdet/Sirius is at Her zenith this time of year, but if you look at pretty much any night of the year you’ll find at least one significant astronomical event going on, so it’s rather a coincidence. Something to look for if you feel like celebrating something at all spiritual on Gregorian New Years. It’s not even the anniversary of something, like the ancient Armenian calendar, or the start of a harvest season, like the Kemetic calendar. I don’t think Pope Gregory chose it because of the swelling of emmer wheat in Egypt. I know it used to be April 1st before they changed it to January and made everyone who celebrated the old date an “April fool”, but that’s the same amount of days after the Spring equinox, so it still doesn’t make sense. Perhaps starting the year on a solstice or equinox like almost every other ancient calendar would have led too much credence to pagan beliefs for old Pope Gregory’s liking. 

I don’t know about you but that winter solstice really was a difficult one to get through. It changes people’s behavior, being without Ra’s sunlight. It put me, and many people I know, in some emotionally dark places. Not everyone has Seasonal Affective Disorder, but maybe everyone is affected by the seasons to some degree, whether it becomes a disorder for them or not. When you take yourself out of it and just observe, people get weird around this time of year for sure. And from here on, the nights will be shortening. I feel bittersweet about that, as I know within a few months the heat will make it painful to stand outside, but I will try to enjoy the cool weather while it lasts. As for darkness and the resulting isfet, we’re not out of the woods yet by any means.

Here’s a list of the holidays I will be observing this month, subject to change of course, I always seem to be learning about new holidays to add.  I recently ordered Amentet Neferet’s 2025 calendar book, but it will come in a few days. I had been waiting for that one to come out. Maybe these posts will get quite a bit longer after I’ve read through it. First we have the date on the ancient Armenian calendar (the days have names instead of numbers), and then the standard Gregorian date.

𓋹֍֎𓋹

Քաղոց Կորդուիք/December 31 ~ Yule ends.Kemetic month of the Swelling of the Emmer (𓈙𓆑 𓇣𓏏) begins, Emmer for short; Netjer of the month is Min. 

Քաղոց Ծմակ/January 1 ~ Last day of the Seven-Day Feast of Hathor

Արաց Արեգ/January 8 ~ Armenian Month of Arats Begins

Արաց Մուրց - Արամազդ/January 17-22 ~ Five Day Festival Marking the End of the 80 Year Battle Between Heru and Sutekh; which ended with Sutekh abdicating the throne. Spend one day to reread the story, one day for celebrating your victories, one day coping with your defeats, one day pondering ways to compromise and get along with others in your life, and one day pondering the concept of forgiveness. To end the festival, forgive someone, even if only in your head, it doesn’t matter if their offense was huge or slight.

Արաց Ասակ/January 24 ~ Feast of Djehuti. Do something nerdy, learn something new, write, draw. 

𓋹֍֎𓋹

Here’s the favorable/adverse day forecast for the month. The 16th looks like a good day to stay in bed. May Sutekh guide us all through the coming battles of the next 31 days. 

January

1. 𓄤𓄤𓄤 

2. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

3. 𓊢𓊢𓊢

4. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

5. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

6. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

7. 𓊢𓊢𓊢

8. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

9. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

10. 𓊢𓊢𓊢

11.𓂚𓄤𓄤

12. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

13. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

14. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

15. 𓊢𓊢𓊢

16.𓄤𓂚𓂚

17. 𓊢𓊢𓊢

18. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

19. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

20. 𓄤𓄤𓄤 

21. 𓊢𓊢𓊢

22. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

23. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

24. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

25. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

26. 𓊢𓊢𓊢

27. 𓊢𓊢𓊢

28. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

29. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

30. 𓄤𓄤𓄤

31. 𓄤𓊢𓊢

𓋹֍֎𓋹

~ Siamanto the Foreigner

 𓋷𓅁𓈖𓏏𓍯𓀭𓈖𓐎𓏺𓈉𓏏𓅂𓌙𓀀

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