THE MONTH.
The course of the sun determines the variation between day and night,
and causes the natural phases of the year. From the position of the
sun the times of the day can be given with ease and certainty, but
not so the seasons of the year,--to the exceptions I shall recur
in chapter XII. From the fixed stars the hours of the night can be
determined, and still more frequently are the seasons regulated by
them. But this kind of time-determination necessarily refers to
points of time, and not to periods. Only for one or two days has the
star the position which serves for the determination of time. No
division of the year into parts can be carried out by this method,
the most that can be done is to regulate the already existing
divisions by it.
As well as the sun and the fixed stars the moon appears in the
heavens. It does not entirely vanish before the sunlight like the
fixed stars, in the night-time its light eclipses that of the smaller
stars. Its shape, the strength of its light, and the time of its
appearance vary quite perceptibly from day to day. As long as the
human race has existed, man’s attention must have been drawn to the
moon. The course of the moon, thanks to the rapid revolution of the
planet round the earth, forms a shorter unit, which steps in between
day and year. The shorter interval of time defined by it, unlike the
too lengthy period of the year, is easily kept in mind and taken in
at a glance. This unit has further its peculiar characteristics.
In the first place it has nothing to do with the natural phases
conditioned by the course of the sun: it is in fact incommensurable
with the seasons. In the second place it immediately obtrudes
itself into notice as a unit. The time-reckoning according to the
moon is in its nature continuous. One moon follows another with a
short interruption, to which at first little attention is paid: for
compared with the 27-28 days in which the moon can be seen in the sky
the 1-2 days in which it is invisible are little noticed. The phases
of the moon represent a gradual waxing and waning, a continuous
development. The principle of continuous time-reckoning is therefore
suggested by the moon, in opposition to the time-indications from
natural phases and from the stars.
The observation of the moon is often said to be the oldest form
of time-reckoning. This statement involves a certain danger, viz.
the overlooking of the fact that the time-indications from natural
phases and from the stars--as I hope has been shewn above--are just
as primitive and must be just as old. But if by time-reckoning the
continuous principle and measure of time are implied the statement
is in that sense true. The moon is indeed the first chronometer, and
this fact is due to the nature of its concrete appearance, which
draws attention to the duration, and not to the point, of time.
And this, as always, is the starting-point: practically everywhere
the month as a unit of enumeration or a measure is denoted by the
same word as the moon. The linguistic distinction between ‘moon’
and ‘month’ only follows at a stage which primitive peoples still
living have not yet reached. All peoples know the moon and use it for
time-reckoning. Of the S. American Indians, who observe the stars so
well, it is stated that the month is everywhere the natural division
of time[623].
While the human mind therefore arrives only gradually at the
conception of the year, the month is already given by the natural
phenomenon. Consequently it is only to be expected that it should
be expressly stated that the revolution of the moon determines the
greatest measure of time[624], and that we should find peoples who
can count reckoning by months and not by years. Thus, for example,
it was often said in southern Nigeria: “I sold this canoe to him
eight moons ago”[625]. As in the counting of the years a well-known
event is used as a starting-point, so it is also with the months.
In the New Hebrides they said:--“Two moons have gone since this or
that event took place”[626]. But this principle has not prevailed
in the counting of the months, since it gives too many months in
the course of one human life, and since the months are drawn into
another connexion, to which the following chapter is devoted. Only
in one case is a reckoning of this nature common, viz. in pregnancy.
Examples are superfluous, but I give at least one:--The Samoan woman
looks at the moon and expects the beginning of menstruation at a
quite definite position of that planet, each woman naturally having
a different position of the moon in view. If menstruation does not
take place then, she perceives that she is pregnant, and expects her
confinement after ten moon-months[627].
No attention is paid at first to the number of days in the month:
many primitive peoples cannot even count so far as thirty. A
significant passage in a Ho text originating from a native
runs:--“The months are reckoned from the moon (the same word is used
for both), which stands in the sky. When the moon appears, remains
long in the heavens, and then again for a short time is invisible,
we say that a month has just gone. We know nothing about the number
of days constituting a month. When we see the moon and then it is
lost again a month has gone”[628]. A native Basuto says that little
regard is paid as to counting the number of days in any month,
since the bulky moon itself fills up the deficiency[629]. When men
begin to count the days great uncertainty at first prevails: in
Buin, for example, the statements vary between 15 and 31 days[630];
the Caffre month is said to have 25 days. Apparently only the time
during which the moon is visible is at first counted. So it is said
of the Caffres that they count the month from the phases of the
moon during its visibility, and that the days of its invisibility
are not counted: the moon has gone to sleep[631]. For the Basuto
on the other hand only expressions for the two days of the moon’s
invisibility are mentioned: the first, ‘the moon has gone into
the dark’, the second, ‘the moon is greeted by the apes’, since
this animal can see the moon sooner than man[632]. The Ibo-speaking
peoples also reckon only 28 days to the month[633], and so do the
Dakota[634]. It is only natural that the days of the darkness should
soon be included, so that the following month follows directly upon
the preceding; many peoples say, like the Banyankole, that the
month lasts 29 days: for 28 days the moon is visible, and for one
day hidden[635]. As always, therefore, the concrete phenomenon is
the starting point. Here, however, not only the varying shape of
the moon, not only its phases, are taken into account, but also, as
in the case of the sun and the stars, its position in the sky. On
the analogy of the rising and setting of the stars the new moon can
be described as the evening setting, the full moon as the evening
rising or morning setting, and the disappearing of the moon as the
morning rising of that planet. A description of this nature, of
course without the above scientific terminology, does occur, but in
isolated instances. In the above-mentioned Ho text a further passage
runs:--“When the moon appears and comes nearer, we say ‘it stands
overhead’. After this it stands in the middle (of the sky). When the
moon does not rise until after night-fall we say that it ‘stands on
the edge (of the sky)’. When it does not rise until very long after
night-fall we say ‘it shines unto day-break’. When the moon is once
more on the wane, it will not be long before another appears.” Other
expressions are:--‘the moon falls upon the forest’, i. e. stands low
on the horizon, ‘it sleeps in the open air’, when it is in the sky
at day-break[636]. At the south of Lake Nyassa the day of the month
is denoted by indicating the position of the moon in the sky at
day-break[637]. Of the Seminole of Florida it is reported that the
months seem to be divided simply into days, and that the latter are,
at least in part, described by reference to the successive positions
of the moon in the sky at sunset. When our informant asked a native
how long he would remain at his present camp, he answered by pointing
to the new moon in the west, and sweeping his hand from west to east
to the spot where the moon would be when he should go home. He meant
to answer, “About ten days hence”[638].
To indicate the day by the position of the moon in the sky is however
exceptional, and it is just as exceptional for descriptions of the
day according to the position of the moon to be consistently carried
out. The Ewe tribes also have expressions which refer to the shapes
of the moon. These different shapes have in general attracted most
attention, and serve for time-reckoning. At first the phases of
the moon are distinguished only roughly, but greater and greater
refinement of observation is ever being attained, until every day of
the moon’s revolution is described by a name, and the names not only
refer to the phases of the moon but also indicate its position in the
sky.
Among the different phases of the moon’s light two stand out with
especial prominence--the first appearance of the crescent of the new
moon in the evening twilight, and the full moon. Both events are
joyfully greeted and celebrated among many peoples, in particular the
appearance of the new moon, the full moon also, but not so often.
The explanation of this fact must partly lie in the circumstance
that the full moon does not suddenly appear like the new moon, but
fills its disc gradually, so that the days of full moon are more
numerous, instead of being one exactly determined day like the day
of the new moon. Hence there may be a counting of the months in new
moons instead of a continuous reckoning in moons, as when the natives
of the Solomon Islands count the months which must elapse before the
funeral feast by making a notch in a stick or a knot in a rope at the
appearance of the new moon[639].
The hailing of the new moon with joy is wide-spread[640]. The Dieri
of Australia relate that there was once no moon, so that the old men
held a council and a Mura-mura gave them the moon; in order that they
might know when to hold their ceremonies, he gave them a new moon at
certain intervals[641]. Heathen Eskimos in West Greenland celebrate
at every new moon a feast with a performance of the sorceror, an
extinguishing of lamps, and the barter of women[642]. The Patagonians
welcome the new moon by patting their heads and murmuring an
incantation[643]. Certain tribes of North America at the eagerly
expected appearance of the new moon uttered loud cries and stretched
out their hands towards it[644]. The Natchez of Louisiana at every
new moon celebrated a feast which took its name from the principal
fruits reaped in the preceding moon, or from the animals that were
usually hunted then[645]. In the villages of Port Moresby (British
New Guinea) the people at the first sight of the new moon give a
prolonged somewhat shrill cry which is taken up by all and repeated
in chorus: there is no mention of any time-reckoning[646]. On the
southern side of Dutch New Guinea we learn that the first sight of
the new moon was signalised by a short sharp bark rather than a
shout. Several times on the day following the first sight of the new
moon our authority noticed that a spear decorated with white feathers
was exposed in a conspicuous place in the village. The author states
that he is unable to say whether this custom had any connection with
the calendar[647]. In Buin at the appearance of the quarter (_sic!_)
of the new moon the people immediately utter the ‘war-cry’, ‘so that
the new moon may not break the cocoa-nuts’. When the new moon comes
up, the people of Buin trill with their under-lip, plucking at it
with the forefinger and at the same time sending out a high note
(‘_a_’). In Lambutjo the people howl and strike themselves on the
mouth with their hands, at the same time uttering ‘_a_’, so that a
kind of quacking is heard. On the Gazelle Peninsula the natives put
their forefingers in their mouths and trill a high ‘_u_’, the result
being a gurgling noise[648].
The same custom recurs in Africa. When the Bushmen catch sight of
the new moon they pray:--“Young Moon! Hail, Young Moon, hail, hail,
Young Moon! Young Moon, speak to me, hail, hail, Young Moon! Tell
me of something! Hail, hail! When the sun rises, Thou must speak to
me, that I may eat something. Thou must speak to me about a little
thing, that I may eat. Hail, hail, Young Moon!”[649]. The Bechuana
watch most eagerly for the first glimpse of the new moon, and when
they perceive the faint outline after the sun has set deep in the
west, they utter a loud shout of _kua!_ and vociferate prayers to
it, e. g. “Let our journey with the white man be prosperous!”[650].
The Ba-Ronga always greet the apparition of the new moon with
cheers. The first person who sees it shouts _kengelekezee_ (_kenge_
= ‘half-moon shaped’), and this exclamation is repeated from one
village to another. According to a Nkuma informant the day of the
new moon is _shimusi_, a day of rest. The appearance of the crescent
was carefully examined. If the horns were turned towards the earth,
this shewed that there was nothing to fear, the dangers of the month
had been poured out. If the opposite was the case, it shewed that
the moon was full of weapons and misfortunes[651]. As soon as the
new moon is seen, the Banyankole of Uganda come out of their huts
and clap their hands. Everyone lights a fire in front of his hut and
lets it burn for four days continuously. A number of royal drums are
brought out and beaten without cessation for four days[652]. The
Wadschagga climb a hill in order to see the crescent properly, and
pray at its appearance:--“One, two, three, four (the day of the new
moon is reckoned as the fourth day of the month), give me peace, give
me food, send me blessing, and drive want far away. O my moon, break
him (my enemy) neck and throat!” Since in the evening so many curses
are uttered, this day is also termed an evil day. Its peculiarities
decide the character of the whole month. For this reason no one
should go to rest on this evening hungry or only half-satisfied, or
else he will be hungry the whole month long. The master of the house
admonishes his wife:--“Day of the moon! Honour the moon, and go in
quest of food for the children, that they may not go to sleep hungry
every day.” On this day no legal business is done and no debts are
paid. But whoever can manage to get his debt paid on that day will
have luck and his possessions will increase[653]. This custom is of a
highly developed order and exactly resembles the well-known ancient
Roman and modern New Year superstition, in which moreover the new
moon also plays a prominent part; one can hardly avoid suspecting
foreign influence. At Nibo when the new moon comes out they salute it
with:--“_u-u_, don’t let disease catch me, or a bad moon!”; the Ibo
celebrate a children’s festival at the time of the new moon[654].
The full moon also gives rise to special feasts: half Africa dances
in the light of the nights of full moon. The Bushmen, for example,
never neglected the dance at the time of the new and full moon.
Dancing began with the new moon and was continued at the full
moon[655]. In Dahomey the festivals take place at full moon, the
days being fixed by the native government[656]. This is also the
case elsewhere. The people of Timor on the night of the full moon
dance from night-fall till sunrise: the dancing songs are principally
of an erotic character[657]. On the Nicobars at new and full moon
feasts were celebrated in which great quantities of an intoxicating
beverage prepared from the juice of the cocoa-palm were drunk[658].
The Celtic Iberians of ancient Spain assembled outside their gates on
the nights of full moon and celebrated a feast and danced in honour
of an unknown god[659]. Who can help thinking here of the well-known
words of Tacitus about the Germans?--“Their meetings are, except
in case of chance emergencies, on fixed days, either at new moon
or full moon: such seasons they believe to be the most auspicious
for beginning business”[660]. A fact is here mentioned to which we
shall recur below, viz. that the feasts and religious festivals are
often celebrated during the time of full moon. This is due not only
to the full light of the moon but also to the world-wide idea that
everything which is to prosper belongs to the time of the waxing
moon, and above all to the days when it has reached its complete
phase[661].
New moon and full moon, therefore, by the religious significance
attached to them, prove themselves to have been the two phases which
were first observed. It is certainly no mere accident that in a
word-list of an Australian tribe, the Kakadu of North Territory,
only terms for new moon and full moon exist (_malpa nigeri_ and
_mirrawarra malpa_ respectively)[662]. Starting from these two
phases, the whole period of the moon can be divided into two halves,
formed by the waxing and the waning moon. The phases are the same
in both halves, but follow one another in the inverse order. Hence
they can be described by the same word, with an additional word for
the half of the month: but this is only vouched for in one instance,
viz. for the Mendalam Kayan of Borneo[663]. On the other hand this
division is extremely common, especially among more highly developed
peoples, in the counting of the days of the month, to which I return
below. Quite primitive peoples cannot count so far as 15, or do so
only with difficulty: instead of this they distinguish still further
phases of the moon.
In the next place the crescent of the wasting moon is added, so
that three phases are given: waxing, culmination, and waning.
Thus the Andamanese call the new moon _ogur-lo-latika_, the full
moon _ogur-dah_, and the waning moon _ogur-boi-kal_[664]. Another
writer gives different names, no doubt for another tribe:--New
moon = ‘moon-baby-small’, first quarter = ‘moon-big’, full moon
= ‘moon-body’, last quarter = ‘moon-thin’[665]. The literal
translation shews however that this author wrongly makes these
phases equivalent to our quarters; the full moon and the third
quarter are not identical. In reality, besides the full moon, two
phases are distinguished during the time of the waxing moon, and
only one when the moon is on the wane. The Indians of Pennsylvania
distinguish by special names the new, the round (i. e. the full), and
the waning moon: the last-named they call the half-round moon[666].
The Negritos of Zambales have periods corresponding to the phases
of the moon: the new moon they call _bay’-un bu’-an_, the full moon
_da-a’-na bu’-an_, the waning moon _may-a’-mo-a bu’-an_[667]. In
Wuwulu and Aua there were words for the full moon, the waxing and
the waning moon, and for the time of the moon’s invisibility[668].
This last is not a phase in the proper sense: as soon as it was
recognised, however, it was natural that it should be introduced as
equivalent to the phases and should thus complete the circle of the
month.
In regard to the further development of the phases it is to be noted
that this does not as a rule take place with any regularity, but the
phases are more specialised during the period of the waxing than in
that of the waning moon. The Karaya of Central Brazil were overjoyed
to note the first appearance of the crescent. Apparently five phases
of the moon are distinguished, for which our authority obtained the
following names from an Indian:--First crescent, _ahandu loita_; not
yet quite full moon, _ahandu laläli_; full moon, _djulum läaläli_;
last crescent, _ahandu aluläna_; new moon, _ikona_. Of these _ahandu
laläli_ denotes a phase between half and full moon: ‘there are two
moons’. Probably the bright and the dark moon are meant. This was
confirmed for other Indians, but without its being possible to obtain
any accurate account, says our authority. The theory however fits
badly, since the earth-light disappears in the second quarter, but is
very prominent in the first. The people however were themselves not
clear as to the succession of the phases, they gave different orders
and often corrected themselves[669].
The Hottentots call the just emerging, hardly yet perceptible
crescent by a name which means ‘unripe’ and is also used to denote a
premature fruit. The slender shining crescent, in which the moon as
it were ‘revives’, is called by a name with that significance. The
first two quarters have two names common to both of them, ‘the moon
which becomes great or old’, and ‘the moon which becomes wise’. In
the last quarter only the slender crescent is distinguished: it is
called ‘the dying moon’[670]. In exceptional cases no name for the
full moon is given, but we can hardly conclude that such a name
was wanting. An Australian tribe of the North Territory calls the
full moon _igul_, the half-moon _idadad_, and the crescent of the
new moon _wurdu_[671]. The terminology in Central Australia is far
richer:--_atninja quirka utnamma_ = new moon, _a. q. iwuminta_ =
half-moon, _a. urterurtera_ = three-quarter moon, _a. aluquirta_ =
full moon[672]. No terms whatever are given for the waning moon, but
that they were entirely lacking is doubtful, though it is also to be
doubted whether terms for the half and three-quarter moon cannot also
be applied to the waning moon. It should be noted that in Central
Australia, as the words shew, the new and the full moon are the
original phases.
The observation and naming of the phases of the moon long remain
quite unsystematic. The names are mingled with terms arising
from other circumstances. Of the Thonga of S. E. Africa it is
reported:--When the first quarter appears, the moon is said to
_thwasa_, a Zulu word which corresponds to _tjhama_ in Thonga, and is
very much used in the terminology of possessions. Eight days later
it is said to _basa_, to be white or brilliant; full moon is said
to _sima_ or _lata batjongwana_, to put the little children to bed,
because when it rises it finds them already sleeping on their mats.
The wane is called _kushwela dambo_, the moon is then found by the
rising sun to be still in the sky, not having yet dipped below the
horizon. When at last it disappears, it is _munyama_, the obscurity,
the moon is said to _fa_, to have died[673]. The position of the
moon in the sky is also taken into consideration, but not to such
an extent as among the Ewe tribes[674]; the latter however are also
acquainted with another terminology. Full moon is called ‘the moon
fits’, i. e. nothing of it is wanting, new moon ‘the moon is dead’.
In the first quarter and at the half-moon they say: ‘the moon is half
round’ or ‘falls upon the wood’, i. e. stands low on the horizon;
shortly before full moon ‘the moon is about to become complete’, ‘is
on the increase’; after the full moon ‘the moon is about to wane’;
three days after full moon ‘the moon has cheated some people’, since
it leaves in the lurch those who wish to play in the evening; in
the last quarter ‘the moon is like the tail of the cock’ or ‘sleeps
in the open’, since it stands in the sky at day-break[675]. For
the pagan races of the Malay Peninsula words are given for the new
moon, the crescent of the moon, the half-moon, the end of the waning
moon, no moon[676]. The Bontoc Igorot of Luzon describe three phases
between full moon and the waning moon, and three between new moon and
full moon, eight altogether therefore, and have special names for
them, but rarely make use of them in time-reckoning[677]. The Nabaloi
have other words for the same phases, and also one for the moon
showing a rim of light[678]. The natives of New Britain (Bismarck
Archipelago) observed the phases of the moon (_kalang_), and had
separate terms for them, e. g. ‘moon not visible’, ‘first quarter
of the moon (_sic!_)’, ‘nearly full moon’ (in which they hunted for
the land-crabs), full moon, ‘beginning to wane’, ‘moon when seen
in the morning’, etc. They also measured time between sunset and
moon-rise by the ‘smouldering of a torch’, the time occupied in
cooking yams, taro, and wild taro[679]. In Buin the crescent as it
becomes visible is first called _rubui_, ‘the pupil (of the eye) is
dead’, since the whole moon is often to be seen as a dark disc when
the crescent is first formed. Later they say _motoguba_, ‘a hook is
made’. Still later, _nobele_, ‘a piece’, ‘a bit’. When the moon’s
disc is full, _mairen_, ‘it is ripe’ or ‘old’, and _roukeu_, ‘it
is equal’, i. e. full. When the moon begins to wane, it is called
_ingom_, ‘puffed out’. The ‘puffing out’ becomes weaker, and now the
moon will die, _ekio buagi_. Throughout the period of the waning moon
the expression used is _buan-gubio-eiraubi_, ‘it is on the point of
passing away to die’. During the period of the waxing moon they say
_(ekio) duabegubi-eiraubi_, ‘(the moon) is about to pass away to the
sun(light)-making’. During the time of new moon they say _mamarabui_,
‘the great kobold is dead’, or _ekio buaguro_, ‘the moon is dead’.
When it appears again they say _ekio rukui_, ‘the moon again makes
pupils’, i. e. is in the sky. From the appearance of the moon until
the time of new moon they reckon 25 days. The number however is not
always the same, but is variously given as 30-31 days or sometimes
as only 15. It must be supposed that thick clouds often hinder the
observation. The natives count from the rising of the moon[680].
Of the tribes of the Torres Straits we are told:--In Mabuiag the
following descriptions of the phases of the moon are used:--_dang
mulpal_, ‘tooth-moon’, since the crescent at its first appearance is
described as unmarried: a little later the moon is called _kisai_,
and termed young. The half-moon is _ipi laig_, ‘married person’; the
moon in the third quarter is described as _kazi laig_, ‘person with
child’, and is regarded as having one child, i. e. presumably as
being pregnant; the full moon is _badi_, which is said to mean ‘big
one married’. In Mer the crescent of the moon when first observed was
called _aketi meb_, the moon in the first quarter was _meb digemli_,
in the third _meb zizimi_, almost full _eip meb_, and full moon _giz
meb_[681].
Among the tribes of Central Brazil (the Bakairi), as also elsewhere,
the phases of the moon have found mythological expression. The moon
is represented as a shuttle-cock; the phases start from the full
moon. First a lizard comes and takes hold of it, on the second day an
armadillo, and then a Giant armadillo, whose thick body soon quite
covers the yellow feathers[682]. The phases are similarly explained
among the Paressi[683].
In regard to the more accurate determination of the days of the
moon-month up to the point when each day has its separate name, it
is possible to proceed in two ways, either to develop more and more
elaborately the concrete descriptions from the phases and positions
of the moon, until every day thus takes its name from the shape or
the position of the moon, or else simply to number the days. The
simple counting and numbering of all the days of the month from the
new moon up to 29 or 30 is the most abstract method, and it is only
found among the most highly developed peoples. Commonly a mixed
system obtains, such, for instance, as that of the Romans, so that
within the month, from the starting-points offered by the phases, the
days of a certain smaller division are counted, or a short phase is
distinguished by means of adjectives in the first, the second, and
even the third day of the phase.
The following may serve as an example of a purely concrete system.
Among the Mendalam Kayan of Borneo the different days of the period
of the moon’s visibility have the following names in the Busang
language (the common commercial tongue of the Bukau):--_njina_ (see)
_dang_ (pretty well); _matau_ (eye) _dang_; _lekurdang_; _butit_
(belly) _halab_ (tetrodon, a trunk-fish) _ok_ (little); _butit
halab aja_ (big); _keleong_ (body) _paja ok_; _keleong paja aja_;
_beleling_ (edge) _dija_; and _kamat_ (full moon). The days following
have the same names, but in the inverse order, and with the addition
of _uli_, i. e. to go home. The days of the moon’s invisibility
are not reckoned[684]. The days mentioned amount to only 2 × 8;
others must therefore be lacking, or do the names given apply to
moon-phases of more than one day’s duration? The author’s wording
seems to contradict this. The Batak of Sumatra describe the days by
the names of the planets (borrowed from the Sanskrit), repeated four
times. To distinguish one from another they make use of additions
some of which may probably be referred to original Batak terms[685].
A complete system exists among the Toradja of the Dutch East Indies,
in connexion with a fully developed day-superstition such as so often
accompanies the moon-month. On certain days, here distinguished by
an asterisk, it is forbidden to work in the fields: other work is
however permitted. *1, _eo mboeja_, ‘day of the moon’, from the
evening on which the crescent of the moon was first seen. 2 to 9 have
no special names: they are called altogether _oeajoeeo_, ‘the eight
days’; the people count _ka’isanja oeajoe_, ‘the first of the eight’,
or _oejoeënja_, ‘the beginner’, then the second, the third, etc., and
so on up to _kapoesanja oeajoe_, ‘the end of the eight’. 10, _woeja
mbawoe kodi_, ‘the little pig moon’. *11, _woeja mbawoe bangke_,
‘the great pig moon’; there is a danger that the pigs may break
into the fields. *12, _taoe koi_, 13, _taoe bangke_, ‘the little’
and ‘the great man moon’; 14, _kakoenia_, from _koeni_, ‘yellow’
(among the To Pebato _sompe_, ‘lying’, i. e. on the horizon). *15,
_togin enggeri_, from _gengge_, ‘to run to and fro’ (of animals
seeking food), i. e. one is annoyed by those who run to and fro.
*16, _pombarani_, ‘the burner’, since the moon in the morning shines
on the house-door; or more rarely _pombontje_. 17 to 20, _wani_,
‘dark’. 21, _merontjo_, among the To Pebato _wani of kapoesa mbani_,
the last dark day. *22, _kawe_, ‘to wink’, 23-25, the second, third,
and last _kawe_. *26, _toe’a marate_, ‘the long tree-trunk’ (trunk
of a felled tree). 27, _toe’a rede_, ‘the short stump’, in the east
_ojonja saeo_, ‘with a day in between’, i. e. until the vanishing
of the moon. 28, _polioenja_, ‘passing’, i. e. the moon goes past
the sun. 29, _soea_, ‘going inside’, ‘inside’, because the moon is
then completely inside. Every second month has 30 days; the *30th is
called _soea ma’i_, the _soea_ ‘on this side’, the second _soea_. The
days are named from the position of the moon at sunrise, since only
the agricultural day is of any importance[686].
In Micro- and Polynesia this kind of terminology is best developed.
In Samoa the period of the new moon has few names; the new moon is
called _masina pupula_, the nights after this--when a little of
the moon is once more visible--_mu’a mu’a_. On the other hand the
days up to and after the full moon have separate names, and are of
importance on account of the palolo, which is then eagerly sought
after. Full moon, _masina ’atoa_, ‘full’; 1, night after full moon,
_masina le’ale’a_; 2, _masina fe’etelele_; 3, _masina atatai_, the
sea sparkles at the rising; 4, _fana’ele’ele_, according to Stair
‘paling tide’; 5, _sulutele_, the _mali’o_-crab is caught with
torches (_sulu_), according to Stair _poolesa_, night of the _lesa_;
6, _masina mauna_, according to Stair _popololoa_, ‘long nights’;
7, _masina mauna_; 8 (the first palolo-day), _usunoa_, ‘wandering
about aimlessly’, also called _salefu_, since foam (_lefu_) appears
as the first sign of the palolo; 9, _masina motusaga_ (second
palolo-day), _motu_ ‘fragile’, _saga_ ‘continuing’; 10, _tatelego_,
great palolo-day, which may also begin on the 9th, _ta_ = to fish; 11
(new moon), _masina punifaga_, ‘only a little covered’; 12, _masina
tafaleu_, ‘little cut away’; 13, _masina tafaleu_. The crescent
shortly before new moon is called _masina fa’atoaoina_[687].
In Hawaii the system was very elaborately developed. The month had
thirty days; 17 of these had compound names (_inoa huhui_), and 13
had simple names (_inoa pakahi_). These names were given to the
different nights to correspond with the phases of the moon. There
were three phases--_ano_--, marking the moon’s increase and decrease
of size, (1) the first appearance of the new moon in the west at
evening, (2) the time of full moon when it stood directly overhead
(lit. over the island) at midnight, (3) the period when the moon
was waning, when it shewed itself in the east late at night. It was
with reference to these three phases of the moon that names were
given to the nights that made up the month[688]. In former times
there is said to have been a division of the month into periods of
ten days, corresponding to the increase, the full, and the decline
of the moon[689]. The names of the nights were:--1, _hilo_, ‘to
twist’, because the part then seen was a mere thread; 2, _hoaka_,
‘crescent’; 3, _kukahi_; 4, _kulua_; 5, _kukolu_; 6, _kupua_; 7,
_olekukahi_; 8, _olekulua_; 9, _olekukolu_; 10, _olekupau_. When
the sharp points were lost in the moon’s first quarter, the name of
that night was 11, _huna_, ‘to conceal’; the next, on its becoming
gibbous, was 12, _mohalu_; 13, _hua_, ‘egg’; and when its roundness
was quite obvious, 14, _akua_, ‘God’. The nights in which the moon
was full or nearly so were:--15, _hoku_; 16, _marealaui_; 17,
_kolu_. The night in which the moon’s decrease became perceptible
was called 18, _laaukukahi_. As it continued to diminish the nights
were called:--19, _olaaukulua_; 20, _laaupau_; 21, _olekukahi_; 22,
_olekulua_; 23, _olepau_; 24, _kaloakukahi_; 25, _kaloakulua_; 26,
_kaloapau_; when the moon was very small, 27, _mauli_; the night in
which it disappeared, 28, _muku_. This is Dibble’s list (pp. 24 ff.).
Fornander (p. 126) counts in the same way up to 26, _kaloapau_, and
then continues, 27, _kaue_; 28, _lono_; 29, _mauli_; 30, _muku_. Malo
gives the same names as Dibble, with the following additions:--The
15th night had two names. If the moon set before daylight it was
called _hoku palemo_, ‘sinking star’, but if, when daylight came,
it was still above the horizon, it was called _hoku ili_, ‘stranded
star’. The second of the nights in which the moon did not set until
after sunrise (the 16th) was called _mahealaui_. When the moon’s
rising was delayed until after the darkness had set in, it was called
17, _kulua_, and the second of the nights in which the moon made its
appearance after dark was 18, _laau-ku-kahi_; the moon had now waned
so much as again to shew sharp horns. The night when the moon rose at
dawn of day was _kane_ (the 27th), and the following night, in which
the moon rose only as the day was breaking, _lono_ (the 28th). When
the moon delayed its rising until daylight had come, it was called
_mauli_ (the 29th), ‘fainting’, and when its rising was so late that
it could no longer be seen for the light of the sun, it was called
_muku_ (the 30th), ‘cut off’. Thus were accomplished the thirty days
and nights of the month. A bare list of the thirty names of the days
is given for the Marquesas[690]. Alongside of these a bipartite
division of the month is mentioned--the moon arriving, and the moon
about to be extinguished[691]. In New Zealand there are various lists
of the nights of the moon. The month is also sometimes divided into
halves according to the waxing and waning moon[692].
I give the Tahitian names in order to point out that here, as also
in Hawaii, some days in the middle of both halves of the month have
the same names, which are distinguished from the next following by
additions the sense of which is unfortunately not always given.
Thus:--1, _tirreo_; 2, _tirrohiddi_; 3, _o-hatta_; 4, _ammi-amma_; 5,
_ammi-amma-hoi_; 6, _orre-orre_; 7, _orre-orre-hoi_; 8, _tamatea_; 9,
_huna_; 10, _orabu_; 11, _maharru_; 12, _ohua_; 13, _mahiddu_; 14,
_ohoddu_; 15, _marai_; 16, _oturu_; 17, _ra-au_; 18, _ra-au-hoi_; 19,
_ra-au-haddi_; 20, _ororo-tai_; 21, _ororo-rotto_; 22, _ororo-haddi_;
23, _tarroa-tahai_; 24, _tarroa-rotto_; 25, _tarroa-haddi_; 26,
_tane_; 27, _oro-mua_; 28, _oro-muri_; 29, _omuddu_ (28 and 29
together _matte-marama_, on the Society Islands they say during these
days that the moon is dead)[693]. In the islands just mentioned the
names of three successive days are often formed from _mua_, ‘fore’,
_roto_, ‘in the middle’, and _muri_, ‘hinder’[694], and in the
Carolines names of the days are similarly combined in groups. From
these lists it becomes plain how the names of the separate days have
been first worked out from the phases of the moon. When only 29 names
are given, the thirtieth day occurring only in every other month has
evidently been left out. This must be the case, because the month
always begins with the new moon. We further possess lists of the days
of the month for the Mortlock Islands, and some for the Carolines,
Ponape, Yap, Uleai, Lamotrek[695]; the lists for Lamotrek, Uleai,
and the Mortlock Islands differ only in the dialect. It is to be
noted that in some cases the month falls into smaller subdivisions,
as in Ponape, where it begins after the full moon and consists of
three periods:--1, _rot_, ‘darkness’, i. e. nights when there is
no moon, 13 days; 2, _mach_, new moon, 9 days, which are numbered
consecutively; 3, _pul_, the time of full moon, 5 days. Three days
are therefore lacking (the time of invisibility?). In Yap 1, _pul_,
new moon, 13 days; 2, _botrau_, full moon, 9 days; 3, _lumor_,
‘darkness’, 8 days.
The very fully developed system of the Nandi is curious in that not
the phase but the time of the moon’s rising chiefly gives the name of
the day. 1, ‘the tanners have seen the moon’; 2, ‘the moon is white’
or ‘new’; 3 and 4, ‘the moon has cast a light’; 5 and 6, ‘the moon
has become warm’; 7 and 8, ‘the moon has leisure’; 9 and 10, ‘the
herdsmen play in the moonlight’; 11 and 12, ‘the moon is high in the
evening’; 13, ‘the moon turns’; 14, ‘the moon has accompanied the
goats to the kraal’[696]; 16 (full moon), ‘the moon has passed along
(the heavens)’; 17, (morning) ‘the birds have driven away the moon’,
(evening) ‘the moon has disappeared for a short while’; 18, ‘the
moon has commenced to rise late’; 19 to 21, ‘the moon is late’; 22,
‘the moon has climbed up’ (i. e. stands high in the heavens in the
morning); 23 to 25, ‘the moon is late up above’; 26 and 27, ‘the moon
has turned’ (i. e. goes towards the west); 28, ‘the moon is nearing
death’; 29, ‘the people discuss the moon’ (discuss whether it is
dead), or ‘the sun has murdered the moon’; 30, ‘the moon is dead’,
or ‘the moon’s darkness’[697].
An example of the naming of smaller groups of days after the
phases of the moon is afforded by the old Arabian names for the
nights of the month[698]. The nights are grouped in threes, and
are called:--1-3, _ghurar_, ‘the bright ones’; 4-6, _nufal_, ‘the
overlapping nights’ (?); 7-9, _tusa’_, ‘the nine’; 10-12, _‘ushar_,
‘the ten’; 13-15, ‘the white nights’, lit. _‘ajjam al-lajālī l-bidi_,
‘the days of the white nights’, the time of full moon; 16-18,
_dura’_, ‘the white nights with black heads’, since the moon does
not rise until the night; 19-21, _zulam_, ‘the dark nights’; 22-24,
_hanadis_ or _duhm_, ‘the very dark nights’; 25-27, _da’ādī’_,
perhaps after _mihaq_; 28-30, _mihaq_, from _mhq_, ‘to extinguish’.
The time of the moon’s invisibility, _mihaq_, consists of the
following days:--1, _ad-da’dja_, ‘the black one’; 2, _as-sirār_,
from _srr_, ‘to be hidden’; 3, _al-falta_, ‘sudden event’, ‘attack’.
According to some this last name is used only on the night before,
according to others after, a holy month. This looks like an attempt
to regulate the insertion of the 30th day.
Hitherto we have observed the division of the month into small and
the smallest phases of the moon, in which three or at most four
days have the same name, and are numbered in order that they may
be distinguished. Other peoples count the days beginning at the
principal moon-phases. The Central Eskimos can determine the days of
the month very accurately from the age of the moon[699], the terms
are unfortunately not given. So also for the Kaigan of N. W. America
names of the nights reckoned from the phases of the moon are quoted;
unfortunately only very confused and inaccurate information could
be obtained, and only 14 names are given:--1, new moon; 2, ‘second
sleep’, etc., up to 9, full moon or ‘great moon’, the third night
after which is ‘the first night after the full moon’[700]. For the
inhabitants of southern Formosa the bare and therefore almost useless
statement is made that they reckon according to the age of the
moon[701]. Of the Wagogo of what was formerly German East Africa we
are told that the phases of the moon and the numbers of the nights
serve as more accurate determinations of time. For instance, the
third night after the next appearance of the moon will be the day
following the third night after the moon’s appearance, and therefore
the fourth of a month, since the crescent is visible exactly on the
first day of a month[702]. Unfortunately we are not told what phases,
other than the new moon, serve as starting-points for the reckoning.
The same remark applies to an account for Sumatra. The Central
Sumatran Expedition has proved that names for days of the week and
for months are unknown among the Rawa and the Djambi Kubu of Djipati
Mando. The people count by the phases of the moon, and say e. g. the
1st, 2nd, 3rd day of the moon[703].
These accounts are unfortunately of little use, since they say too
little about the method of the counting. Even when a complete list
of the days or nights of the month does seem to be forthcoming (the
Wagogo, the Kubu), it generally happens that the counting proceeds
from several starting-points, so that the month is divided up into
smaller divisions. This is natural, since primitive peoples not only
possess small capacity for counting but also prefer to keep the
concrete phenomenon in view. It has already been pointed out that
the counting frequently begins at the two most prominent phases,
the new and the full moon; by this means the month is divided into
the two corresponding halves of the waxing and the waning moon, or
in respect of the appearance or non-appearance of the moon in the
evening and early night into the light and the dark halves. The
difference between these halves follows from direct observation of
nature, and they are therefore known even to peoples which do not
count the days, e. g. the inhabitants of Buin[704], the Germanic
tribes, and others. In Swedish the distinction between _ny_ and
_nedan_, i. e. the time of the waxing and of the waning moon, is
still known. The Masai, besides a full list of the days of the month,
have a second reckoning according to the light and the dark halves
of the month[705]. The Hindus and the civilised peoples of S. E. Asia
reckon in the same way: of these systems of time-reckoning the Hindu
has exercised a powerful influence. Avesta shews the same reckoning.
In the old Gallic calendar of Coligny each month is divided into
two sharply distinguished halves. The Romans indeed, in the form of
their calendar known to us, reckoned so many days before the Kalends
(the first day of the month), the Nones (the 5th or 7th), and the
Ides (the 13th or 15th), but before their calendar settled into
its curious and quite irrational historic form the _Kalendae_ must
have been the day of the new moon, which was publicly proclaimed,
and the _Idus_ the day of full moon. The _Nonae_ are secondary: the
word simply means the ninth (day), i. e. before the Ides, which
position the day occupies in the inclusive reckoning employed. The
Greek reckoning in decades is well-known, but in earlier times a
bipartite division of the month appears. Homer divides the month into
ἱστάμενος and φθίνων (‘rising’ and ‘fading’), Hesiod once mentions a
‘thirteenth day of the rising moon’[706].
We have seen above how to the phases of the new and the full moon
that of the waning moon is added as a third. When the gradual
development of the moon is regarded--as is done when numbers are
used--and not the particular shape of it appearing on a certain
day, we also get three periods, since between the waxing and the
waning occurs the full moon, and this, although not in the strictest
sense, lasts longer than a day, and unlike the waxing and the waning
moon remains in the sky the whole night long. The time of full moon
therefore appears as a third independent period between the waxing
and the waning. The impulse to a tripartite division hereby given
clashed with the decimal system of enumeration of most peoples; as
a rule the counting was suspended at the basal series of numbers.
In this manner we may account for the not uncommon phenomenon that
only ten months are numbered, the two others being called by special
names[707]. Thus arises the division of the month into three decades,
in which however the last decade may vary between 9 and 10 days.
The division into decades is not so common as the halving of the
month. The Zuñi of Arizona divide the month into three decades, each
of which is called a ‘ten’[708]. The Ahanta of the western Gold Coast
divide the moon-month into three periods, two of ten days each, the
third--which lasts until the new moon appears--of about 9½ days (more
correctly, no doubt, varying between 9 and 10 days). The Sofalese of
East Africa must have done the same, since de Faria says that they
divided the month into 3 decades and that the first day of the first
decade was the feast of the new moon[709]. The Masai, who number
either the days of the whole month consecutively or the days of its
two halves, nevertheless give special prominence to the initial days
of the decades (alongside of other notable days), and call them
_negera_[710].
Among the Greeks the division into decades displaced the older
bisection. Of the names of the decades the first and third refer to
the concrete form of the moon: μὴν ἱστάμενος, older ἀεξόμενος[711],
literally ‘the appearing, waxing moon’, and μὴν φθίνων, ‘the waning
moon’. For originally μήν must here have had the sense of ‘moon’
which the etymology suggests. The second decade was called μὴν μεσῶν,
‘the month at the middle’: the epithet shews that μήν here means
‘month’, and not ‘moon’. This name is therefore younger than the two
others, which must once have been used to describe the two halves of
the month, and do so still in Homer[712].
The custom of reckoning on the fingers or on a notched stick has
doubtless lent assistance to the counting of the days of the month.
The Wa-Sania make a notch in a stick for every day, and when the
month is ended they put this stick aside and begin a new one[713]. At
the southern corner of Lake Nyassa the days are counted by means of
pieces of wood threaded on a string[714]. A complete enumeration of
the days however only exists among highly developed peoples who have
discarded a more concrete time-reckoning in favour of an abstract
system, just as the civilised peoples of modern Europe abandoned
the Roman system of time-reckoning, which was still often used in
the Middle Ages (though indeed it had long since departed from its
concrete basis), in favour of a simple enumeration of the days of the
month.
Finally a couple of curious East African reckonings of the days of
the month are to be mentioned, although they are not primitive but
have a lengthy development behind them. A common feature of both is
that the day of the new moon is already the fourth day, so that the
counting of the days begins with the moon’s invisibility, which can
hardly have been the original practice. The Wadschagga divide the
month into four parts the days of which are numbered, the first and
third parts consisting of ten days each, and the second and fourth
of five days each. Accordingly they begin to count the new moon at
‘the fourth day, which brings the moon’, the day on which the slender
delicate crescent of the moon first reappears after sunset: for the
rites of this day see above, p. 153. On the fourth day of the second
division (the eleventh after new moon) they say that ‘the moon turns
to the back of the house’: when twilight falls it is already seen
beyond the culmination-point. The fourth day of the third division
(the 16th after new moon) is called ‘the day that brings the moon
up from below’ (i. e. from the eastern horizon), where ‘it appears
like a pot’; the fourth day of the last division is called ‘the four,
which dismisses the moon’, and the first of the first division, when
the moon vanishes, ‘the one, which floats away the moon so that it
is no longer visible’: it ‘tramples into pieces the days of the
God’[715]. The natural phases of the moon therefore make themselves
felt in spite of the counting. With this, as is so often the case,
is connected a fully developed superstition concerning the days of
the month. The Masai in ordinary life reckon their moon-months as
consisting of 30 days, and number the days from 1 to 30 or 29.
Besides this there is a second way of counting which begins at
the 16th and reckons the days of darkness (_en aimen_). Further,
special prominence is given to certain days and groups of days,
e. g. to the 4th, the new-moon day, hence called also _ertaduage
duo olaba_, ‘the moon is to be seen’, to the 15th, _ol gadet_, i.
e. the rising moon ‘looks over’ to the sun which has not yet set,
and to the concluding day, the _eng ebor olaba_, ‘the brightness
of the moon’, but especially to the days of the dark half of the
month, _en aimen_. The 16th is called _ol onjori_, ‘the greenish
day’, the 17th, _ol onjugi_, ‘the red’, 18 to 20, _es sobiaïn_, 21
to 23, _nigeïn_, 27 etc., _en aimen nerok_, ‘the black darkness’.
The people also emphasise the concluding days of the decades[716].
The natural foundation afforded by the phases of the moon therefore
appears very clearly: the only noteworthy feature is that the days of
the moon’s invisibility are included in the division which is called
‘the brightness of the moon’. An outside influence must no doubt be
assumed. Among the Masai also the selection of lucky and unlucky days
is common.
The starting-points in the counting of the days of the month also
afford evidence for the question as to which phases of the moon
are the oldest, and were already utilised for this purpose. Both
the methods of counting and the phases themselves are based upon a
bisection or trisection of the month: to this were then added other
phases, originally quite unsystematically. Among us the quarters
of the moon are common; but of their use among primitive peoples
I have found only a single instance. Of the Papuans of the Indian
Archipelago it is stated that they divide the month into four parts
according to the phases of the moon: _paik baleo_, the new moon,
_paik jouwar_, the first quarter, _paik plejif_, the waning of the
moon, and _paik imar_, the old moon[717]. It must not, of course, be
taken for granted that these phases are of equal length, as ours are.
That the quadripartite division of the month should be practically
non-existent among primitive peoples is easily to be understood in
view of the considerations already mentioned. Unlike the halving it
is not based upon any very clearly distinguishable phases, nor is
there in the phases any such suggestion of a quadripartite division
as is offered for a tripartite. The shape of the moon on the 8th or
the 22nd day differs very little from that of the previous and the
following days, and does not constitute a turning-point like the
full moon. From the phases of the moon no quadripartite division can
arise: the brightest phase of all, the full moon, has an unnatural
position in such a division. It can only be understood as a halving
of the halves of the month, and this presupposes that the moon’s
variation in light is regarded as a unity and divided into parts. The
primitive peoples however start not with the abstract unity but with
the concrete phases, proceeding at first quite unsystematically, and
only subsequently combining them into a system. The quadripartite
division therefore is in its very nature a numerical system. That it
has penetrated so profoundly into our natures that even ethnological
scholars and travellers are not always able to get away from it, is
due to the connexion with the seven-day week, which is regarded as a
division of the month, and also to the fact that we so seldom take
any notice of the concrete phenomena of the heavens.
The quadripartite division must therefore be described as not
original (the case is different when the time of the moon’s
invisibility is added as a fourth phase to the three already
mentioned). To the best of my knowledge it appears first in
Babylonia[718], and gains ground together with the _sabattu_, i.
e. the appointing of every seventh day of the month as tabooed: it
has become common among us on account of the seven-day week, which
was conceived as a division of the month. In reality the tripartite
division is also the natural one, since it arises from the concrete
phenomenon of the moon, and not from any division of the month
into parts consisting of a certain number of days. Here the full
moon takes its proper place, which it misses in the quadripartite
division. The limitation of the divisions to a definite number of
days is secondary throughout.