The Difficulties of Determining the Date for Easter
May 3, 2019
Apprentice TBail
Potential Apprentice TBail is desirous of studying under a Master of the Occult Arts and Sciences, and until that fortuitous day arrives, will be apprenticing with Yours Truly. For his initial foray into the Wonderful World of Occult Research [WWOR℠] , we have asked for an in depth study of the religious issues and scientific problems associated with calculating the date for Easter.
Easter is correctly understood as the main Feast Day of Christianity as everyone is born, the Nativity of Christ, or Christmas, but not everyone rises "from the dead":
For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. Romans 14:9
As shown in the following graphic, the English word "Easter" is derived from the German language and any suggested relationship to Ishtar, the supposed goddess of Spring and fertility, is imaginary. For the majority of European languages, the holy day of the resurrection is ultimately derived from the word "Passover". Interestingly, in the Russian language, "voskresenie" means either "resurrection" or "Sunday". Therefore, unlike most European languages, the Russian word for "Sunday" is firmly rooted in Christian tradition that Sunday is the eighth day.
For the countries in blue, mostly Germanic languages, Sunday is derived from "sun day" and languages in orange, mostly Romance languages, Sunday is derived from "the Lord's day".
In the interest of completeness, the following graphic depicts the derivations for "Saturday" in European languages. The English word for Saturday, along with the Dutch word "Zaterdag", is derived from the Latin language, "Day of Saturn", whereas the majority of languages is derived from the word "Sabbath". Interestingly, the Latvians and Lithuanians regard Saturday as the "sixth day", not the seventh day.
The basic steps of determining the date of Easter are easily accessible to the modern researcher:
1 Mark the day of the vernal equinox.
2 Find the date of the first full moon.
3 The following Sunday is Easter.
4 If the full moon after the vernal equinox is on a Sunday, the date of Easter is delayed by one week.
1 Mark the day of the vernal equinox.
2 Find the date of the first full moon.
3 The following Sunday is Easter.
4 If the full moon after the vernal equinox is on a Sunday, the date of Easter is delayed by one week.
From the above information, it seems that anyone can determine the date for Easter with a calendar, for the days of the week, and an astronomical almanac, for the dates of the equinoxes and the lunar phases.
Easter is celebrated after the Jewish Passover observation, to conform to the tradition that the resurrection occurred after the Passover; the fourth step alludes to the prohibition of celebrating Easter during Passover and, by extension, before Passover.
Therefore, the fifth step of calculating the date of Easter is insure that it does not fall before or during Passover.
Easter is celebrated after the Jewish Passover observation, to conform to the tradition that the resurrection occurred after the Passover; the fourth step alludes to the prohibition of celebrating Easter during Passover and, by extension, before Passover.
Therefore, the fifth step of calculating the date of Easter is insure that it does not fall before or during Passover.
Passover typically begins on the night of a full moon after the northern vernal equinox. To ensure that Passover did not start before spring, the tradition in ancient Israel held that the first day of Nisan would not start until the barley was ripe, being the test for the onset of spring. If the barley was not ripe, an additional month would be added. Wikipedia, Passover
Before the widespread availability of the date for the observation of Passover, we are expected to accept the supposed scenario that the Christian leaders would approach the Rabbis, the leaders of community who deny that Christ is the Messiah and, by extension, the Christian faith, and earnestly inquire when their Passover was to be celebrated.
Armed with this information, the bishops would then determine the date for Easter and, by calculating backwards, determine the dates for Holy Week, Palm Sunday, the beginning of Lent [forty days before Holy Week], and distribute these dates to the churches under their authority. Of course, the Rabbis could not know if Passover might to be delayed by a month due to unforeseen circumstances.
This scenario, reenacted every year, creates uncertainty, and the real possibility of celebrating Easter before Passover, as the Rabbis may need to add an additional month. We can understand why the Christian church decided to cease relying on the Jewish community and their date for the celebration of Passover and create a table for determining the date for observing Easter many years in advance. The current Easter tables are used to determine the "ecclesiastical full moon" for the date of Easter. The ecclesiastical full moon is not dependent on the astronomical or observed full moon. The tables for the dates of Easter repeat every 532 years.
Each year is associated with a Golden Number. Considering that the relationship between the moon’s phases and the days of the year repeats itself every 19 years, it is natural to associate a number between 1 and 19 with each year. This number is the so-called Golden Number. It is calculated as: Golden Number = (year mod 19)+`1, that is, the year is divided by 19 and one is added to the remainder to determine the Golden Number.
In years which have the same Golden Number, the new moon will fall on (approximately) the same date. The Golden Number is sufficient to calculate the Paschal full moon in the Julian calendar and the Sunday following the calculated date is Easter, unless the calculated date is Sunday, then Easter is the following Sunday.
Armed with this information, the bishops would then determine the date for Easter and, by calculating backwards, determine the dates for Holy Week, Palm Sunday, the beginning of Lent [forty days before Holy Week], and distribute these dates to the churches under their authority. Of course, the Rabbis could not know if Passover might to be delayed by a month due to unforeseen circumstances.
This scenario, reenacted every year, creates uncertainty, and the real possibility of celebrating Easter before Passover, as the Rabbis may need to add an additional month. We can understand why the Christian church decided to cease relying on the Jewish community and their date for the celebration of Passover and create a table for determining the date for observing Easter many years in advance. The current Easter tables are used to determine the "ecclesiastical full moon" for the date of Easter. The ecclesiastical full moon is not dependent on the astronomical or observed full moon. The tables for the dates of Easter repeat every 532 years.
Each year is associated with a Golden Number. Considering that the relationship between the moon’s phases and the days of the year repeats itself every 19 years, it is natural to associate a number between 1 and 19 with each year. This number is the so-called Golden Number. It is calculated as: Golden Number = (year mod 19)+`1, that is, the year is divided by 19 and one is added to the remainder to determine the Golden Number.
In years which have the same Golden Number, the new moon will fall on (approximately) the same date. The Golden Number is sufficient to calculate the Paschal full moon in the Julian calendar and the Sunday following the calculated date is Easter, unless the calculated date is Sunday, then Easter is the following Sunday.
Golden number Full moon
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 10 |
April 5
March 25 April 13 April 2 March 22 April 10 March 30 April 18 April 7 March 27 April 15 April 4 March 24 April 12 April 1 March 21 April 9 March 29 April 17 |
The Gentle Reader is now in a position to understand the basics of how the date of Easter is calculated.
We understand the terms "vernal equinox", "day", "year", "Sunday", and "full moon", however, during the antediluvian times under consideration, these terms were subject to various interpretations. Even now, the "year" can refer to a duration defined by the sun, a solar year; by a star, a sideral year; or by the return of an equinox or solstice. For the more adventurous investigator, the "anomalistic year" exists and "is usually defined as the time between perihelion passages."
Before the convention of starting the day at midnight, the day started at sunset and continued until the next sunset and this convention continues in the Roman and Greek churches. Modern Christians can find the proof text in Genesis ["the evening and the morning" were the n day. Genesis 1:3-2:3] Without an accurate clock [a clock that looses or gains only a few minutes every 24 hours], it is impossible to determine when midnight occurs and the custom of beginning the day after midnight is correctly understood as a modern innovation in timekeeping. The possible reason that the day starts at sunset is that the lunar phase, the full moon in our example, can be determined shortly after sunset and this designation would continue until the next sunset.
One needs to realize that there was a long and indeterminate time when the date of the equinox was unknown and the duration of the year was a mystery.
The counting of days from one full moon to the next full moons provides a lunar year of approximately 354 days and since this short of the solar year by approximately twelve days, this lunar based calendar will quickly fall behind the solar year throughout the ensuing decades. From the lunar phases alone, there is no method to accurately determine the solar year.
The ancient astronomers could not know that the seasons have different durations and, in all likelihood, they presumed the seasons were of the same duration. Currently, the lengths of the seasons are:
Before the convention of starting the day at midnight, the day started at sunset and continued until the next sunset and this convention continues in the Roman and Greek churches. Modern Christians can find the proof text in Genesis ["the evening and the morning" were the n day. Genesis 1:3-2:3] Without an accurate clock [a clock that looses or gains only a few minutes every 24 hours], it is impossible to determine when midnight occurs and the custom of beginning the day after midnight is correctly understood as a modern innovation in timekeeping. The possible reason that the day starts at sunset is that the lunar phase, the full moon in our example, can be determined shortly after sunset and this designation would continue until the next sunset.
One needs to realize that there was a long and indeterminate time when the date of the equinox was unknown and the duration of the year was a mystery.
The counting of days from one full moon to the next full moons provides a lunar year of approximately 354 days and since this short of the solar year by approximately twelve days, this lunar based calendar will quickly fall behind the solar year throughout the ensuing decades. From the lunar phases alone, there is no method to accurately determine the solar year.
The ancient astronomers could not know that the seasons have different durations and, in all likelihood, they presumed the seasons were of the same duration. Currently, the lengths of the seasons are:
Spring
Summer Autumn Winter |
92.7578 days
93.6490 days 89.8424 days 88.9930 days |
The value of the fractions in hours. minutes, and seconds:
Spring
Summer Autumn Winter |
18 hours 11 minutes 13.92 seconds
15 hours 34 minutes 33.60 seconds 20 hours 13 minutes 3.36 seconds 23 hours 49 minutes 55.20 seconds |
The earliest and latest dates [Julian] and times for the seasons [for the years 1900 to 2100]:
March 6
June 7 September 8 December 7 |
2:06 pm
6:34 am 10:58 pm 8:50 pm |
to
to to to |
March 8
June 9 September 11 December 10 |
7:14 pm
3:04 pm 5:42 am 12:19 am |
Using modern calculations, the difference between the earliest and latest dates:
Spring
Summer Autumn Winter |
2 days 5 hours 8 minutes
2 days 8 hours 30 minutes 2 days 6 hours 44 minutes 2 days 3 hours 29 minutes |
Using the calendar dates, the possible dates for the commencement of the seasons [in the Julian Calendar]:
Spring
Summer Autumn Winter |
March 6, 7, 8
June 7, 8, 9 September 8, 9, 10, 11 December 7, 8, 9, 10 |
From the above table, it is obvious that the date of the vernal equinox is not consistent and this may be considered another reason why the ancients could not determine the dates of the seasons.
The rising of a celestial object just before the sun, or its first visible rising after a period of invisibility due to conjunction with the sun, is termed a "heliacal rising".
The rising of a celestial object just before the sun, or its first visible rising after a period of invisibility due to conjunction with the sun, is termed a "heliacal rising".
Sirius' displacement from the ecliptic causes this heliacal rising to be remarkably regular compared to other stars, with a period of almost exactly 365.25 days holding it constant relative to the solar year. This occurs at Cairo on 19 July [Julian], placing it just prior to the summer solstice and the onset of the annual flooding of the Nile during antiquity. Wikipedia, Sirius
Although the heliacal rising of Sirius occurs on July 19 [Julian calendar], the heliacal rising of Sirius does not place it "just prior to the summer solstice", but almost a month after it.
The heliacal rising of the star Sirius can be used to determine the duration of four years, that is, every 1,461 days Sirius rises before dawn after being hidden by the sun for 70 days.
Once armed by the regularity of Sirius, the ancient astronomers could divide 1,461 days by four years to arrive at exactly 365.25 days per year, or three years of 365 days and in the fourth year, a leap year of 366 days. This proposed calendar is identical to the Julian calendar and consists of 146,100 days in four centuries. The Gregorian calendar is not as consistent as the Julian calendar, as Gregorian centuries not evenly divisible by 400 are not leap years, that is, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 2000, 2400 and 2800 are leap years. Therefore, in 400 years, the Gregorian calendar has 146,097 days or exactly 365.2425 days per year.
After being obscured by the sun for 70 days, Sirius can be seen before sunrise on July 19 [Julian] at the latitude of 32 degrees north [Egypt]. Since the ancient scientists could not determine the date for the start of the seasons, it is likely they used the helical rising of Sirius as the beginning of summer, instead of the more accurate date of June 8 [Julian], a difference of 37 days [+/- one day].
The following table shows the slow and consistent drift of the summer solstice away from the helical rising of Sirius at one hundred year intervals [link]:
The heliacal rising of the star Sirius can be used to determine the duration of four years, that is, every 1,461 days Sirius rises before dawn after being hidden by the sun for 70 days.
Once armed by the regularity of Sirius, the ancient astronomers could divide 1,461 days by four years to arrive at exactly 365.25 days per year, or three years of 365 days and in the fourth year, a leap year of 366 days. This proposed calendar is identical to the Julian calendar and consists of 146,100 days in four centuries. The Gregorian calendar is not as consistent as the Julian calendar, as Gregorian centuries not evenly divisible by 400 are not leap years, that is, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not leap years, but the years 2000, 2400 and 2800 are leap years. Therefore, in 400 years, the Gregorian calendar has 146,097 days or exactly 365.2425 days per year.
After being obscured by the sun for 70 days, Sirius can be seen before sunrise on July 19 [Julian] at the latitude of 32 degrees north [Egypt]. Since the ancient scientists could not determine the date for the start of the seasons, it is likely they used the helical rising of Sirius as the beginning of summer, instead of the more accurate date of June 8 [Julian], a difference of 37 days [+/- one day].
The following table shows the slow and consistent drift of the summer solstice away from the helical rising of Sirius at one hundred year intervals [link]:
100 AD June 23
200 AD June 23 300 AD June 22 400 AD June 21 500 AD June 20 600 AD June 19 700 AD June 18 800 AD June 18 900 AD June 17 1000 AD June 16 1100 AD June 15 1200 AD June 14 1300 AD June 13 1400 AD June 13 1500 AD June 12 1600 AD June 11 |
26 days
26 days 27 days 28 days 29 days 30 days 31 days 31 days 32 days 33 days 34 days 35 days 36 days 36 days 37 days 38 days |
For ease of calculation, we suppose that ancient scientists created a calendar year consisting of 365.25 days and utilized a period of 91 days for each season. We readily acknowledge that no historical evidence of such a calendar has been recorded. This result of this duration will be short 1.25 days at the end of the first year, 2.5 short at the end of the second year, 3.75 days short at the end of the third year, and 5.00 days short at the end of the fourth year. At the end of the fourth year, five days would be added to the calendar and this accumulated total of days [1,461], would coincide with the next helical rising of Sirius.
By adding 273 days [91 days per season x 3 seasons] to July 19 [Julian], we arrive at the date of April 17 [Julian] for the proposed spring equinox, instead of March 14 [Julian] for the year 1000 AD. Although this discrepancy of 33 days seems large [33 days/ 365.25= 9.1%], this was acceptable, and the most accurate estimate, until the invention of accurate clocks in the 15th century when the commencement of the seasons could be determined.
The ancient Egyptians used a month of 30 days and the ancient Romans used a week of eight days. Currently, we use a week consisting of seven days and these are named after the planets and are ordered as:
By adding 273 days [91 days per season x 3 seasons] to July 19 [Julian], we arrive at the date of April 17 [Julian] for the proposed spring equinox, instead of March 14 [Julian] for the year 1000 AD. Although this discrepancy of 33 days seems large [33 days/ 365.25= 9.1%], this was acceptable, and the most accurate estimate, until the invention of accurate clocks in the 15th century when the commencement of the seasons could be determined.
The ancient Egyptians used a month of 30 days and the ancient Romans used a week of eight days. Currently, we use a week consisting of seven days and these are named after the planets and are ordered as:
The days that Sirius is hidden by the Sun, 70, is the product of 7 and 10, where 7 is the days of the week based on the planets and 10 is length of "week" or the duration of a decan in the Egyptian calendar. The following are all calendar years from the year 1000 AD to the year 1582 AD where July 19 falls on a Sunday:
1002
1013 1019 1030 1041 1047 1058 1069 1075 1086 1097 |
1103
1114 1125 1131 1142 1153 1159 1170 1181 1187 1198 |
1209
1215 1226 1237 1243 1254 1265 1271 1282 1293 1299 |
1310
1321 1327 1338 1349 1355 1366 1377 1383 1394 1405 |
1411
1422 1433 1439 1450 1461 1467 1478 1489 1495 1506 |
1517
1523 1534 1545 1551 1562 1573 1579 |
From the above list, the helical rising of Sirius occurring on a Sunday occurs at intervals of six and of eleven years. Therefore, it is impossible to determine when this series commenced, that is, another variable, ideally of a longer duration, is needed to verify that the Julian calendar is based on the heliacal rising of Sirius.
The indiction is a fifteen year cycle and although this appears straightforward for chronological purposes, we do not know the ancient date for the start of the indiction. This uncertainty associated with the indiction is also an issue with the ancient Julian calendar, which, as late as the 16th century in France, could begin on January 1, March 25, December 25, or on Easter. In England, for example, March 24, 1700 was followed by March 25, 1701.
In the year 1582 AD, the Roman Church dropped 10 days from the calendar. As found in the Papal Bull, Inter Gravissimas, the stated purposed of this removal was to return the equinox to the proper date of March 20. Regretfully, no evidence was offered that the ancient date was, in fact, March 20, and without evidence, no argument was forthcoming to convince the reader for this change. Therefore, the equinox was "returned" to March 20 by the authority of Pope Gregory alone. Although he Gentle Reader is now in a position to understand why the Orthodox Churches ignored this "adjustment" to the traditional calendar, he may be confused why various groups that expressly deny the authority of the Roman Church [Protestants], yet follow Papal authority in this matter.
The indiction is a fifteen year cycle and although this appears straightforward for chronological purposes, we do not know the ancient date for the start of the indiction. This uncertainty associated with the indiction is also an issue with the ancient Julian calendar, which, as late as the 16th century in France, could begin on January 1, March 25, December 25, or on Easter. In England, for example, March 24, 1700 was followed by March 25, 1701.
In the year 1582 AD, the Roman Church dropped 10 days from the calendar. As found in the Papal Bull, Inter Gravissimas, the stated purposed of this removal was to return the equinox to the proper date of March 20. Regretfully, no evidence was offered that the ancient date was, in fact, March 20, and without evidence, no argument was forthcoming to convince the reader for this change. Therefore, the equinox was "returned" to March 20 by the authority of Pope Gregory alone. Although he Gentle Reader is now in a position to understand why the Orthodox Churches ignored this "adjustment" to the traditional calendar, he may be confused why various groups that expressly deny the authority of the Roman Church [Protestants], yet follow Papal authority in this matter.
The accumulated difference between the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar is one day for every 128.2 years. Removing ten days from the calendar "returned" the calendar to the year 300 AD, which is twenty fives years before the suggested dating of Council of Nicaea that decreed the rules for the regulation of Easter.
10 x 128.2 years= 1,282 years
Historians are reluctant to discuss the fact that this "calendar reform" occurred in the most fortuitous year of 1582 AD, otherwise said, no one knew that the year was 1582 until after the "reform". For example, the Orthodox Church had, notice the pass tense, the tradition that Jesus was born in the year 6000 AM [the year of the world]. This tradition is no longer discussed, as the acceptance of Scaligerian history is generally accepted. The year 6000 AM is the equivalent of the year 492 AD. Therefore, according to modern chronology, for many centuries the Orthodox Church piously believed, but did not dogmatically teach, that Jesus was born 170 years after Christians decided the rules for calculating the date for Easter. In conclusion to this part, the Orthodox Christians did not know either the year of Jesus' birth or his death and it is evident that they simply chose a convenient date in the distant past that was numerologically significant.
Many investigators, from the well known Isaac Newton to obscure modern scientists, have attempted to determine which year in the first century of common era corresponds to the information concerning the crucifixion as presented in the Gospels. We now know why these efforts, which are always speculative, and the conclusions, which are invariably conditional: the first century did not exist until the sixteenth century.
Passover occurs during the full moon and only a lunar eclipse [left image], not a solar eclipse[right image], can occur during this time.
The duration for an eclipse is only a few minutes and, as a lunar eclipse could not happen during Passover, a solar eclipse must have occurred.
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. Matthew 27:45
[When] the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Mark 15:33
[About the sixth hour] there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Luke 23:44
Three of the Gospels state that darkness occurred for three hours and two Gospels mention that the darkness was "over all the land" and "over the whole land". We interpret this a description of an eclipse and not a supernatural phenomenon, which, by its nature, cannot be verified.
If we take the information at face value, then we must conclude that the crucifixion could not have been before the invention and wide acceptance of an accurate clock. We learn from Wikipedia that between 1280 and 1320, there is an increase in the number of references to clocks in church records.
If we presume that the "whole land" was Europe, then three hours of darkness is clearly understood by the reader as the time of darkness took three hours to move from west to east. From this interpretation, one of two scenarios are possible.
The first possibility is that the writers of the Gospels corresponded with various parts of Europe during a time when clocks were highly accurate, otherwise, the writers could not know exactly when the eclipse began in western Europe and when it ended in eastern Europe.
The second possibility is that the duration of the eclipse was calculated at a later date, when astronomical theory advanced to the point that eclipses could be retroactively calculated with a high degree of accuracy, and this information was subsequently added to the Gospels.
If we take the information at face value, then we must conclude that the crucifixion could not have been before the invention and wide acceptance of an accurate clock. We learn from Wikipedia that between 1280 and 1320, there is an increase in the number of references to clocks in church records.
If we presume that the "whole land" was Europe, then three hours of darkness is clearly understood by the reader as the time of darkness took three hours to move from west to east. From this interpretation, one of two scenarios are possible.
The first possibility is that the writers of the Gospels corresponded with various parts of Europe during a time when clocks were highly accurate, otherwise, the writers could not know exactly when the eclipse began in western Europe and when it ended in eastern Europe.
The second possibility is that the duration of the eclipse was calculated at a later date, when astronomical theory advanced to the point that eclipses could be retroactively calculated with a high degree of accuracy, and this information was subsequently added to the Gospels.
The eclipse of May 1, 1185 lasted about three hours, from Scotland to Russia.
The eclipse of May 22, 1453 lasted for 178 minutes [3 hours and 18 minutes].
While the topic of discussing the dating Easter initially appeared to this potential Apprentice as both uncomplicated and undemanding, we were deceived and, at various points, overwhelmed with the task. We are obligated to state that an exhaustive inquiry into all the pertinent facets of dating Easter would manifest itself as a large book.
In conclusion, the Wonderful World of Occult Research℠ is like many things in life: the more effort put forth, the more rewarding the experience.
In conclusion, the Wonderful World of Occult Research℠ is like many things in life: the more effort put forth, the more rewarding the experience.
We were pleased that potential Apprentice TBail Is Fine overcame various difficulties, primarily the lesser known characteristics that Easter encompasses not only religious aspects, both Christian, ancient and modern, and Jewish, but also includes arduous historical research, tedious philological investigation, and challenging astronomical inquires. These venues invariably consist of numerous false premises that are rarely questioned and these presumptions must be rationally identified, and duly discarded, by the discriminating Occultist.
By the plenitude of power authorized and granted by the Ancient and Esteemed Order of Hierophants, it is duly proclaimed, declared, and exclaimed that potential Apprentice TBail Is Fine is hereby elevated to the exalted and sublime position of Apprentice and shall henceforth be recognized as Apprentice TBail to a Master of the Occult Arts and Sciences.
All rights, privileges, and benefits associated with said position, current and future, are hereby solemnly bestowed and conferred upon Apprentice TBail this third day of May in the year of our Lord and Master two thousand nineteen. So mote it be. G.D.O’Bradovich III |