Helvaran Calendar

The Year

In Helvara the year counts 372 days over the course of twelve months. To account for the variation relative to the orbital period of the planet, which is estimated to be around a quarter day longer than 372 days, the Helvaran calendar adds a leap day every four years at the end of the local year, making these years 373 days long.
The Helvaran year starts with the coming of spring on the first day of the month of Lengzir, also referred to as Dies Lengzir. Most cultures celebrate the last evening of the old year as well as the first day of the new year. However, as the leap day is added in form of an intercalary day, every four years the celebrations can last up to three days in certain regions of Helvara. Before the establishment of the Helvaran calendar, preexisting lunar calendars placed the new year at the vernal equinox, which nowadays takes place approximately 23 days after the designated start of spring and thus the new year, but always during the month of Lengzir. Certain institutions like the Academy in Lorsen tend to place their new year's festivities at the vernal equinox to allow their guests to celebrate the actual new year at their respective homes with their families, and still have enough time to travel to Lorsen for the annual feast.

Introduction of the Helvaran Calendar

The calendar in this form is commonly used by most nations in the northern hemisphere and has been established about 500 years ago. It is believed to be the conjunction of an array of ancient regional time-keeping systems that were rooted in the cycles of the moon and had been calculated and popularized by druidic circles. The feudalization and forming of nations has greatly accelerated the need and development for this unified calendar system.
The leap day has been added only about 240 years ago to avoid the deviation of the local year from the solar year and the consequent desynchronization of the dates to their related season, a change that has been met with great approval from almost all Helvaran agricultural populations who rely on the correct foretellings of seasons and lengths of the days rather than the moon cycles.

The Moon Cycle

And yet, the waning and rising of the moon is still highly present in the calendar and it would be a mistake to assume the moon has no place or meaning in modern Helvara. Each month in Helvara counts a total of 31 days, which is no haphazardly chosen number. The moon has always been an important guide for the druids and thus they chose to keep their time in accordance with it, ultimately spreading this custom throughout the regions of Helvara.
A special purpose is given to every full moon and festivals commonly take place on the day of the new moon. Even though the twelve months of the year do not exactly line up with the lunar cycle anymore, Helvara has named each month in relation to its lunar purpose.

The months

The Helvaran months are named as follows and occur in this order:
1 Lengzir
2 Estra
3 Winnei
4 Bracca
5 Heive
6 Aran
7 Divarn
8 Vimdan
9 Naebil
10 Vintar
11 Hardan
12 Horin

Every month has six specifically named days. The Dies, the first day of the full moon, immediatly followed by the second day of the full moon, the Pars, the Nox and the Mors.
The Dies, Pars and Mors mark the first day, the midpoint and the last day of every month. For example, Dies Divarn indicates the first day of Divarn, Pars Divarn the 16th day of the 31 days, and Mors Divarn the 31st and last day of the month of Divarn. These three days are excluded from the regular run of the week, making them completely separate days in the month. Equally, they are not assigned a weekday. Instead, there are always two full weeks of seven days each between the Dies and the Pars, and between the Pars and the Mors, with the Dies following immediately after the Mors.
The two days per months on which a full moon occur are appropriately called the Moons, however more commonly referred to with their specific name. If the full moon in Horin would appear on the eight day of the month, this day could be referred to as the Moon of Horin or Fool's Moon, as is the name of the full moon in Horin. The full moon always occurs on two consecutive nights, so it is required to always specify which day is meant. If one wanted to meet on the first full moon it would be wise to say: "We meet on the first Fool's Moon".
Similarily, the day of the new moon is called the Nox, with Nox Heive for example meaning the day of the new moon in the month of Heive.
Unlike the Dies, Pars and Mors, the Moons and Nox are not fixed to a certain date and might thus occur on the same day as any of the aforementioned three days. In this case either name could be used to refer to that day. Many superstitions exist for such days. Particularily many communities cite good luck if the Nox falls on the Mors, meaning the next month will start simultaneously to a fresh moon cycle. And every peasant will tell you that particularly the Witches Moon, Fallow Moon, Fogmoon and the Wolf's Moon falling on the first day of the month can never mean good tidings.
An overview of the months with each of their corresponding moons, including the festivals for each month can be found at the end of this article.

The seasons

Seasons in Helvara last roughly 93 days. The vernal equinox in late Lengzir not only marks the days getting longer, but officially serves as the start of Spring. Officially it is celebrated with the Festival of Awakening on the 23rd of Lengzir. Summer is celebrated on the Summer Solstice. Often a Noon's Feast taking place as a sort of communal event at midday will ring in the seaon of summer.

Overview

No.	Month	Moon	Important Days	Season
1	Lengzir	Thawmoon	New Year, The Passing of Zirlena, Awakening	Spring
2	Estra	Witches Moon	x	Spring
3	Winnei	Green Moon	x	Spring
4	Bracca	Fallow Moon	x	Summer
5	Heive	Haymoon	x	Summer
6	Aran	Harvestmoon	x	Summer
7	Divarn	Lumbermoon	x	Autumn
8	Vimdan	Hunter's Moon	x	Autumn
9	Naebil	Fogmoon	x	Autumn
10	Vintar	Wolf's Moon	x	Winter
11	Hardan	Frostmoon	x	Winter
12	Horin	Fool's Moon	The Passing of Lushara, The Passing of RinoraNew Year's Eve	Winter