The information on Celtic astrology comes by way of Peter Berresford Ellis' book, The Celts: a History. He cites Pliny as saying that the Celts followed a 30-year calendar cycle; archaeologically, his evidence is the Coligny Calendar, which is based on cycles of both the Sun and Moon.
Hello Pam,
Nice to hear from you again. I have a copy of Peter Berresford Ellis' book, The Celts: a History. However, I couldn't find the reference you mentioned. I do love the books of Peter Berresford Ellis. However, its worth noting that this book was published 30 years ago. Scholarship has moved on quite a bit in the intervening period.
In any case I found the quote from Pliny the Elder you mentioned from the Wikipedia piece:
The mistletoe, however, is but rarely found upon the robur; and when found, is gathered with rites replete with religious awe. This is done more particularly on the sixth day of the moon, the day which is the beginning of their months and years, as also of their ages, which, with them, are but thirty years. This day they select because the moon, though not yet in the middle of her course, has already considerable power and influence; and they call her by a name which signifies, in their language, the all-healing.
There is no doubt the Coligny Calendar remains an intriguing and much debated item amongst archeologists and astronomers. However, I dont think we can automatically assume the 30 year period is referring to the Saturn cycle. After all the calendar is Soli-Lunar based on variations of 29 and 30 day months. It therefore seems just as plausible that the 30 year cycle is a symbolic extension of the Luni-Solar monthly cycle. Moreover, I am not sure all the information provided on the Wikipedia link can be accepted at face value. Rather like the cryptic Dendera zodiac in Egypt there has been a considerable amount of speculation what it means. The calendar is written in Latin script but seems to be a Celtic Gaulish language. The calendar was created at a time when Gaul was a Roman province. The current view seems to be that is dates from the 1st or 2nd century AD. This therefore leaves open the possibility of Roman cultural influences having affected the calendar.
For an updated summary of current academic opinion on the Coligny Calendar I will offer a quote from Daryn Lahoux's recent monumental book
'Astronomy, Weather and Calendars In the Ancient World' (2007)
The Coligny calendar is long inscription (1.48 m by 90 cm high) on bronze of five years of lunar calendar (probably a five calendar cycle). It is written in what is believed to be an ancient Celtic tongue, using Latin script. The days of the month are each accompanied by a peg hole, and they were written vertically, beginning with the name of the month, followed by the numbers I-XIIII or I-XV, depending on the month.
The year has seven months of thirty days and five of twenty-nine ( for a total of 355). A thirty-day intercalary month was added twice every five years, bringing the average year lengthh to 367 days, although it has been argued that one of the thirty-day months, Equos, occasionally had twenty-eight days to bring the average year length down. The symbols, letters, and words beside the dates are still largely unexplained.
.........The calendar represents the oldest known document in a Celtic tongue possibly dating from the second century AD and as such is of great importance , but its highly abbreviated character and lack of parallels ( apart from the tiny fragment of Villards d'Heria calendar) make it difficult to interpret. There may may be references to either feasts or solstices and equinoxes or both.
'Astronomy, Weather and Calendars In the Ancient World' , Daryn Lahoux, pages 194 & 196, 2007
I think we are on stronger ground linking the Pleiades star cluster to Celtic beliefs. In her book on Fixed stars Bernadette Brady makes the following statement regarding Celtic lore regarding the Pleiades
This grouping of stars seems also to be linked by the Celts to the Fates, as an old oral custom forbade women to sew on days when the Pleiades were either the heliacal or aconychal ( first star to rise in the east after sunset) rising-just in case they broke the thread and accidentally snapped the thread of life for the human race.
The Celts also used the aconychal rising of the Pleiades to mark their month of mourning for dead friends. Prayers for the dead were said on the first day of what we now know as November. This custom is still echoed today with All Hallows Eve (October 31), All Saints Day (November 1), and All Souls Day (November 2) still celebrated as feast days of the dead, and reflected also in Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the US) November 11, the day given to mourning of the dead after World War I.
Brady's Book of Fixed Stars, Bernadette Brady, 237-8
Brady seems to be relying largely on the book
Outer Space Myths, Name Meanings, Calendars, by Gertrude and James Jobes, 1964.
