IGBO CALENDAR

 IGBO CALENDAR

(IGU IZU, ONWA N AFO IGBO)

Our lives are bound up with the calendar. We use it to plan our future: the annual round of work, meetings, appointments, holidays, birthdays and all of the other events in life, including events of the coming year: public holidays, religious festivals, weekends, the waxing and waning of the moon.

The calendar helps us to look back, too. The historian looks back to 1945 or 1812 or 1066. They seem to be just numbers, but we know instinctively that they are more than that, for each event, public or personal, great or small, has a day and a month and a year which fixes its place in time.

Our calendar can trace its roots back over 6,000 years to ancient Egypt. Its story features Julius Caesar, the council of Nicaea (which gave us the Nicene Creed), a small Russian monk called Denis the Venerable Bede and Pope Gregory XIII.

JULIAN CALENDAR: The Julian calendar was a calendar system based on 365.25 day year, put in place in 46BC by Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar. The Roman year began with March; but why do the British pay their taxes on April 5th?

This system attempted to balance the solar year with an extra day added every four years. The calendar has rules – every fourth year is a leap-year and so we add an extra day to February. But the lengths of the months are irregular, some 31 days, others 30 and poor February only 28 days in three years out of four. 

The days of the week provide some kind of regularity, but why do we have seven, and why are they named after a mixture of planets and Norse gods?  

Monday is based on ‘Moon’ worship; Tuesday is based on ‘T’ the worship of ‘Teutonic’ God, the God of the North and the Scandinavian; Wednesday is based on the ‘Odin’, the God of the Vikings; Thursday is based on ‘Thor’, the God of Thunder; Friday is based on the goddess called ‘Freya’ or ‘Venus’; Saturday is based on ‘Saturn’, the planet with the rings; Sunday is based on the worship of the ‘Sun’ God.

In the 1775 Bible calendar, March was considered the first month of the year and Sunday the first day of the week and the calendar consisted of 13 months instead of 12.

Jesus Birth: The first recorded celebration of Christmas on 25th December occurred in 336 AD, during the reign of Emperor Constantine. This date appears in Roman calendar known as the Chronography of 354, which lists December 25th as the day marking the birth of Jesus Christ (natus Christus in Betleem ludeae).

The Church, in 4th century chosed December 25th to align with existing Roman pagan traditions, such as Saturnalia, and particularly Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the “Birthday of the unconquered Sun”.

This festival celebrated renewal of the Spring Equinox, the winter Solstice and the return of longer days, symbolizing light triumphing over darkness. For early Christians, this connection carried symbolic weight as Christ was seen as the “Light of the world”.

While the exact date of Christ’s birth remains unknown, the adoption of December 25th by 336 AD reflects the growing integration of Christianity into the Roman Empire. The new celebration brought together themes of renewal, light and community, offering the promise of joy and peace, a spirit that continues to define the holiday season to this day.

The Julian calendar system uses inaccurate time calculation; such that every year, few extra minutes were left over. Over time, after centuries the accumulated errors cause serious problem for the Church, that religious holidays like the Easter began to fall on the wrong dates. 

By the 16th century a sizable drift has developed between the Julian calendar, the lunar calendar and the real moon; consequently the date on which the Church celebrated Easter had begun to move away from the time it been celebrated by the early Church.

GREGORIAN CALENDAR: On the 4th of October 1582 Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar, thus putting an end to the Julian calendar. By the end of 18th century; 13 centuries worth of accumulated variations between Julian and Gregorian calendars meant that the change to Gregorian calendar would lead to the deletion of entire 10 days. Consequently, in the territories that adopted the new calendar, everyone went to bed on 4th Oct to wake up suddenly to 15th October; therefore, the day after 4th Oct 1582 became 15th October, 1582.

Date of Easter: The date of Easter was the subject of debate, disagreement and potential schism for almost 700 years. For two centuries, Britain and Ireland celebrated Easter on a different Sunday to Roman in certain years.

Old Style, New Style: The Gregorian calendar was accepted without delay in Italy, Poland, Spain and Portugal, all of whom adopted it on the date stipulated in Inter Gravissimus, while France and Belgium were in December 1582.

The Catholic regions of Germany, Austria and Switzerland adopted it during 1583 and 1584; other regions of those countries waited in some cases until 1701.

England remained with the Old Calendar for another 170 years, hence, observing the New Year on March 25th. Letters to Europe carried two dates, one in the Old Style and one in the New Style.

For example, a letter dated March 18th, 1582 in the Julian calendar; would be dated March 28th, 1583; in Rome and countries that have adopted the new calendar.

In English, March 24th, 1582 was followed by March 25th, 1583. Historians and genealogists generally write these dates as March 24th, 1582/3 and March 25th 1582/3. When writing about events in England and the Continent in the period after 1582, it is also common to indicate an English Julian date with the words “Old Style” and a continental Gregorian date as “New Style”.

In 1751, English parliament approved the adoption of the Gregorian calendar to ease international trade. By this time, the Julian calendar was eleven days out of step, and so September 2nd, 1752 was followed by September 14th, 1752.

Many scholars hold that the Gregorian calendar was an invention by Pope Gregory XIII to make people remember when to pay taxes. The very word calendar comes from Kalends, an ancient term which means, Account Book.

Ancient calendar often reflected natural rhythms, following lunar cycles and aligning with Celestial events.

The 13 month calendar likely resonated with moon phases and seasonal shifts; but over time, reforms like Constantines moved to disrupt this natural alignment, possibly weakened our connection with the Cosmos. 

The lives of our ancestors were governed by the cycle of night and day, the waxing and waning of the Moon and the passage of the seasons. Thus the story of the calendar begins with astronomy, with the Earth, the Sun and the Moon. 

To be precise, it begins with the length of the day, the year and the lunar month, and the fact that neither the year nor the lunar month is an exact number of days, or the year an exact number of lunar months.

The cycle of the seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter, and spring once more – is known to astronomers as the tropical year and it can be measured very precisely. It is 365.2421896698 days long, although it is gradually getting shorter by about half a second per century.

The lunar month is measured by the phases of the Moon – New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, Last Quarter, and New Moon again. It is 29.5305888531 days long, but getting longer by a little less than a fiftieth of a second per century. There are 12.36826639275 lunar months in a tropical year.

The history of the calendar is largely about the attempts of Astronomers, Priests and mathematicians to force the tropical year and the lunar month to fit into a scheme comprised only of whole numbers.

ANCIENT EGYPT CALENDAR: The civilization of ancient Egypt left to posterity some of the greatest wonders of the world, including the idea which is at the heart of our calendar. The Egyptian year had twelve months, each of thirty days, plus an extra five days at the end of the year. These five days were associated with the birthdays of the greatest gods of the Egyptian pantheon and were given over to celebrations. Thus, the year was 365 days long.

The Egyptians checked the relation of their calendar to the natural year not by observing the Equinoxes and Solstices but by the heliacal rising of Sirius, the Dog-star. This was the first sighting each year of Sirius in the morning sky just before sunrise.

Until the time of Julius Caesar, the Egyptian calendar was the only civil calendar in the ancient world in which the length of each month and year was fixed by rule instead of being determined by the discretion of Priests or by the observations of Astronomers. As such, it is the direct forerunner of our modern calendar.

The Babylonians, the Greeks and early Romans calendar were essentially a lunar calendar with an extra, or intercalary, month inserted occasionally to keep the months more or less in step with the seasons.

There were twelve months, and they were named, in order: Martius, Aprilis, Mara, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December, Januarius and Februarius. 

Some months in our calendar do not conform to numerology. March, for example is named after Mars which is the god of war. July and August are named after Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar respectively.

The placement of September, October, November and December in the Gregorian calendar is a complete chaos and disconnected system; that do not make any sense. In numerology; Sept is seven (7), not nine (9); Octo. is eight (8), not ten (10); Novem is nine (9) not eleven (11) and Decem is ten (10), not twelve (12). 

THE IGBO CALENDAR: Igbo calendar was structured during the reign of Eze Nrijiofor 1 (1300-1390 AD). According to Igbo myth, one day during the reign of Eze Nrijiofor 1, four wise men appeared like fishmongers, each bearing “nkata” (basket) came to visit him in his palace.

These men pretended to be deaf and dumb. They did not say their names or their mission to Nri kingdom. They did not respond warmly to the Eze and did not acknowledge his greetings. Oji – kolanut was presented to them but they did not say anything in acceptance or rejection.

At night, they were escorted to the visitor’s room by a servant named Adanma. The king wanted to know the names of the four men and he inquired from the soothsayer.

The soothsayer came up with a plan. While the men were sleeping, the soothsayer sent a rat to eat up the men’s basket. When the rat went to the first basket that belongs to Eke and started to nibble at it, Orie woke up and said: “Eke, wake up! A rat is trying to get your basket.” Eke woke up and the rat ran away. The rat repeated the same trick on the remaining baskets. 

In the morning, Eze Nrijiofor 1 greeted them and performed the oji-ututu rituals. As the king broke the kola nut, he called each of the visitors by their names: “Eke”, “Orie”, “Afor”, and “Nkwo”. They were astonished when they heard their names. They asked for water to wash their hands and faces and took the oji that was presented to them.

The wise visitors gave the King Ite ano (four earthen pots) and directed him to keep the pots in front of the Nri Menri shrine outside the obu (palace) with each pot facing the sun.

Eke, the spokesman told Eze Nrijiofor 1 that the first pot was owned by him, Eke, the second one by Orie, the third by Afor and the last by Nkwo. He told the Eze that they were messengers from God, sent by Chukwu (Great God/God Almighty) as fishmongers, with the four pots to establish markets throughout Igboland which they did by selling fish.

These wise visitors instructed Eze Nrijiofor 1 that he and his people whom he ruled should be observing those names daily as market days, during which they should be buying and selling. These four market days also correspond to the four Cardinal Points of the world: 

“Eke corresponds to East, Orie to West, Afo to North, and Nkwo to South.” – Eyisi 2010.

These Igbo market days have gender, and also linke to the four elements of creation. 

GENDER ELEMENT CARDINAL POINT

EKE Male Fire East

ORIE Female Air West

AFO Male Water North

NKWO Female Earth South

Eke also instructed Eze Nrijiofor 1 that a child should first bear the name of the market day the child was born. That is why we have names like Okeke or Nweke, Okoye or Nwoye, Okofor or Nwafor, and Okonkwo or Nwankwo. In the same order, female children bear Mgbeke, Mgboye, Mgbafor and Mgbankwo. 

The king saluted and counted the four market days by the names of the spirits that govern them, thus Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo became those of the days of the week, and also serve as a form of identification; hence Igbo names are derived from the market day on which a child was born. 

Igbo calendar is deeply intertwined with Igbo spirituality, agriculture, and daily life. Each market day is believed to have spiritual significance, and different communities often specialized in particular trade goods on specific days.

The Igbo man works in the farm for only three days and rests completely from farming on the fourth day. 

Initially, Eke was the holy day of obligation, but gradually many communities adopt any other day. It is considered abominable for anybody to farm on the holy day of obligatory rest. 

“The Igbo calendar is a lunar calendar that has four market days; Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo that make one week, seven weeks make one month, and thirteen months make one year. There are 28 days for each month, with the last month having 29 days, 91 weeks in a year; therefore the year has 365 days”. 

A full Igbo calendar year is made of 13 months, aligning with lunar phases. In Hebrew, they are: Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishrei, Heshvan, Kislev Tevet, Shevat, Adar and Adar-shenu.

Some Igbo Scholars held that 18th February marks the Igbo New Year; while others insist on 21st March, the day of equinox.

The first 12 months has 28 day each; while the 13th month has one extra day; the equinox day, at the end of the year. The 29th day of the 13th month is the equinox, when the Sun crosses the celestial equator; and the Day and Night are of equal length, about 20th – 21st March.

The vernal equinox stands as a beacon of balance and harmony. Our ancestors honor the balance and interaction of the light and the dark, and feel gratitude for the changes that come with the passing of time; a time to utilize fresh energy to sort, cleanse and reorganize. 

On the 29th day of the 13th month; the Vernal equinox day, male and female energy came together in harmonious equilibrium; thus (Akwali-Omumu), the goddess of fertility (Ishtar) manifest itself in Igbo pantheon and hence was given over to celebration of Igbo New Year. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox is called the vernal or spring equinox, while the September equinox is called the autumn or fall equinox.

The names of the market days have their roots in the mythology of Nri kingdom, hence the Igbo calendar has its roots steeped in ritualism and symbolism; many parts, of which, are named or dedicated to certain spirits and deities in Igbo mythology. Although worship and spirit honoring was a very big part in the creation and development of the Igbo calendar system, commerce also played a major role.

Each Igbo month starts on the same day as the previous. Igbo calendar is very accurate, if not the most accurate calendar in history; hence it forms a perfect astronomical alignment with the Cosmos, and regulates the seasons, agriculture, navigation, astrology, geography, mathematics and travel, etc.

 

Onwa-Mbu: The first month of the year is usually from 21st March to 17th April. Igbo calendar is made of 13 months. The first 12 months has 28 day each; while the 13th month has 29 days.

The 29th day is the day of equinox; that very day when the Sun crosses the celestial equator; thus the Day and Night are approximately of equal length, about 20th – 21st March. On the equinox, the Male energy and Female energy came together in harmonious equilibrium. It is the Akwali-Omumu day; the day the goddess of fertility manifest itself, that marks the Igbo New Year.

This is the period of Mgba-Odo, ‘Ito-Nnri; and ‘Mgba-Akwali’ performed on the day of the spring or vernal equinox, on 21st March. Early rains are expected in this period, thus early planting at the Imezi starts.

Onwa-Abu (Ibuo): The second month of the year is from 18th April to 15th May. Serious farming activities at the Imezi are done during this period of the year. 

Onwa-Ito (Ato)/(Onwa Ife Eke): Third month is around 16th May to 12th June, and it is described as hunger period (Uwu). All must starve in sacrificial harmony to the (Ani), the Earth goddess. However, in good years, early Maize, Akidi-Enu, Ngangala-Akidi and Ugbogolo (Ayiu) were harvested. 

Onwa-Ino/Ano: Fourth month is usually around 13th June to 10th July. This is when the planting of seed yams starts at the Agu-Oghe. This period heralds the Ifheji-Oku season in Oghe Ezeagu. Ifhejioku starts with Ifhejioku Oweleoti towards the ending of June or early July in order: (1) Ifhejioku Oweleoti (2) Ifhejioku Obunagu (3) Ifhejioku Umu-Eze-Onyia (4) Ifhejioku Umu-Ogui. These stretch between the period of late June and early August. 

Onwa-Ise (Onwa Alusi-Agwu): Fifth month is usually around 11th July to 7th August. Onwa Alusi-Agwu begins a ritualistic year. Ifhejioku and Ibono-Uwu festivals are performed concurrently during this period of the year. 

Onwa-Ishii (Onwa Ifhejioku) (Sixth month) is around 8th August to 4th September. This month is dedicated to the Yam deity “Ifhejioku/Njoku Ji”, thus Yam rituals are performed during this month for the New-Yam festival. Ifhejioku and Ibono-Uwu end in August. Akama Oghe is known for their famous ‘High-Mass’, when developmental projects for the Church and the Community were launched. 

Onwa-Asaa (Onwa Alom Chi): Seventh month is around 5th September to 2nd October. This is the period of autumn or fall equinox, about 22nd and 23rd September. This period sees the harvesting of Yam. Udumili period in Oghe is the time of holidays between the planting and harvesting seasons. Oghe population is at home, ‘Imezi’ during this period from September to April for numerous Oghe feasts and festivals. New yam festivals (Iwa Ji) are performed in turns by the Communities during this period of ‘Udumi’. Oyofho Community observes their famous Mmgba-Ogwu festival during this month.

The great annual (Udumi Neke) festival where men, women and children play vital roles takes place during this period.

Udumi Neke is a festival that marks that Oghe Community has returned from the ‘Agu’ farm settlement after planting season. Udumi is scheduled to fall on ‘Uka-Afor’ weekend, between end of September and beginning of October.

Onwa-Asato/Isato (Onwa Ilo Mmuo): Eighth month is around 3rd October to 30th October. Akama starts Ibono-Okochi in Oghe. It runs for twelve days, and ends on Uka-Eke of October, followed by Amansiodo.

Some people argued that Amankwo would have followed Akama and had their Ibono Okochi instead of Amansiodo their younger brother. Neke and Amankwo celebrate their Ibono-Okochi on the same Saturday Uka Eke in November. 

Onwa-Iteghina (Onwa Ala/Ani): Nineth month is about the period of 31st October to 27th November. This period is for the “Igbo Earth-goddess” and rituals for the deity commerce in this month; hence it is named after her. 

Onwa-Iri (Onwa Okike): Tenth month is usually about the period of 28th November to 25th December. Okike ritual takes place in this month. Iwollo observe Ibono-Okochi by early December, while Oyofho observe their Ibono-Okochi by the end of December or by the first week of January. 

Onwa-Iri n’ naa (Onwa Ajana): Eleventh month is usually around 26th December to 22nd January. Okike rituals also take place in Onwa-Ajana. This is the month of Mbazi-Ede. On an Odo year, Abamaba outing is during the Mbazi feast.

Nene-Ede is the major menu of Mbazi festival and Achicha-Ede is prepared and spread to dry in the harmattan. Amankwo perform their Mgba-Ogo festival during this period. 

Onwa-Iri n’ Ibuo/Abuo (Onwa Ede-Ajana): Twelfth month is usually around the period of 23rd January to 19th February. Akani, with its associated Ikwor/Obia social night dance and some other feasts are conducted during this period.

Onwa-Iri n' Ito/Ato (Onwa Uzo Alusi): Thirteenth month is the last month of the year, and has twenty nine days, usually around 20th February to 20th March. The 29th day is the vernal or spring Equinox day. The first rain of the year is expected during this period.

“All is good that harms no man

”

-Ndu Oliver 18th February 1998 (10:49am)