The Ancient Bulgar calendar

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   In this topic I will present the description of the ancient Bulgar calendar (BC) and its mathematical and astronomical grounds. At the end, I will compare it with the Chinese calendar. Where necessary, for better understanding, there are also comparisions with the Gregorian calendar (GC).

The following is a brief extract from the book written by Georgi Krastev, Svetlozar Rulinski, Todor Tselov and Boyko Mihaylov.

The Bulgar calendar is recognized in 1976 by UNESCO as the most accurate calendar of all known to date. It is very easy to use and to remember because each date corresponds to one day of the week only every year. 

General characteristics of the Bulgar calendar (BC): 

It is a solar calendar 
It is affected by Jupiter's revolution around the Sun 
It is cyclic 
The Bulgar Earth New year begins one day after the winter solstice, i.e. 22th December as per the Gregorian calendar (GC) 
The Bulgar zodiac is not retrograde. 
The main measuring units are the Earth 24-hour period, the Earth year, the star day and the star year.
Structure of the Earth year

24-hour cycle: 

24 hours = 1440 minutes = 86400 seconds 
Starts at 0:00, ends at 24:00 
Day duration – 12 hours from 06:00 to 18:00 
Night duration – 12 hours from 18:00 to 24:00 
Specific moments within – 06:00 (morning), 12:00 (noon), 18 (evening), 24 (midnight)
Specific days and nights as per their duration: 

The Long day – the day of the summer solstice - 30th June, Saturday (22th June as per GC) 
The Long night – the night after the day of the winter solstice - 30th December, Saturday (21st December as per GC) 
The Middle day – the day of the vernal equinox - 30th March, Saturday (23th March as per GC) 
The Middle night – the night after the day of the autumn equinox – 30th September, Saturday (21st September as per GC)
Specific days of the Earth year: 

Zero day – the first day after the day of the winter solstice (22nd December as per GC). It has been the biggest Bulgar holiday – the beginning of the New year. This day does not have a name from the days of the week. 
Leap day – it is added every 4 years between 30th June, Saturday and 1st July, Sunday (as per BC) (3 day weekend, ha  ). This day is also a zero day. 
Enyovden – the day of summer solstice (the Long day)
Weekly cycle: 

The week has 7 days (in Buglarian: week=sedmitsa; 7=sedem). The zero days are not counted 
The first day of the week is Sunday, the middle day is Wednesday (in Bulgarian: middle=sreden; Wednesday=sryada, sreda) 
The Earth year consists of 52 weeks
Monthly cycle: 

The 1st, 4th, 7th and 9th months have 31 days, all the rest have 30 days. The zero days are not counted 
The year consists of 12 months, i.e. 364 counted days 
The 1st day of the 1st month is always Sunday. Its is a major Bulgar holiday – Surovaki.
There are also four 3-month cycles and two 6-month cycles.

Earth 1-Year cycle: 

The Earth year duration corresponds to the time the Earth makes 1 full revolution around the Sun. 
It has 365,2422 day-night cycles. 
The calendar year has 365 days, 364 of which are counted; the zero day is not counted. 
The calendar year has 52 weeks, 12 months, four 3-month cycles or two 6-month cycles. 
Every 4th year is a leap year containing 366 days.
Earth 12-year cycle: 

It contains 12 Earth years and it is used for the leap-year correction of the calendar and to provide gradual transition to the 60-year cycle. 
The duration of the 12-year cycle corresponds to the full revolution of Jupiter around the Sun. 
The leap-years are the 1st, 4th and 12th. 
All years have names of animals – these are (from 1st to 12th): swine, mouse, ox, bars, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, monkey, ram, rooster and dog 
Within one cycle, all animals are either male or female. Male and female cycles are alternating. 
Each 12-year cycle is named after the 5 natural elements – water (black), fire (red), earth (yellow), tree (blue) and metal (white). This allows 60-year cycle to be formed. 
The 12-year cycle organization allows every Earth calendar year to be determined unambiguously within 120-year increment.
The 120-year cycle allows the gradual correction of the calendar by subtracting leap days that have been previously added.

The 12 months of the Earth year and the years of the 12-year cycle have the same names. The exact match of the months as per BC with the zodiac is as follows:

GC - BC - Zodiac

January - Swine -Capricorn
February - Mouse - Aquarius
March - Ox - Pisces
April - Bars - Aries
May - Rabbit - Taurus
June - Dragon - Twins
July - Snake - Cancer
August - Horse - Lion
September - Monkey - Virgo
October - Ram - Libra
November - Rooster - Scorpio
December - Dog - Sagittarius 

As you know, the 12 zodiac constelations are not matched by the GC months.

Edited by Ivan Asen II - 05 Feb 2010 at 01:59

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Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: The Ancient Bulgar calendar Posted: 05 Feb 2010 at 01:49
	In this topic I will present the description of the ancient Bulgar calendar (BC) and its mathematical and astronomical grounds. At the end, I will compare it with the Chinese calendar. Where necessary, for better understanding, there are also comparisions with the Gregorian calendar (GC). The following is a brief extract from the book written by Georgi Krastev, Svetlozar Rulinski, Todor Tselov and Boyko Mihaylov. The Bulgar calendar is recognized in 1976 by UNESCO as the most accurate calendar of all known to date. It is very easy to use and to remember because each date corresponds to one day of the week only every year. General characteristics of the Bulgar calendar (BC): It is a solar calendar It is affected by Jupiter's revolution around the Sun It is cyclic The Bulgar Earth New year begins one day after the winter solstice, i.e. 22th December as per the Gregorian calendar (GC) The Bulgar zodiac is not retrograde. The main measuring units are the Earth 24-hour period, the Earth year, the star day and the star year. Structure of the Earth year 24-hour cycle: 24 hours = 1440 minutes = 86400 seconds Starts at 0:00, ends at 24:00 Day duration – 12 hours from 06:00 to 18:00 Night duration – 12 hours from 18:00 to 24:00 Specific moments within – 06:00 (morning), 12:00 (noon), 18 (evening), 24 (midnight) Specific days and nights as per their duration: The Long day – the day of the summer solstice - 30th June, Saturday (22th June as per GC) The Long night – the night after the day of the winter solstice - 30th December, Saturday (21st December as per GC) The Middle day – the day of the vernal equinox - 30th March, Saturday (23th March as per GC) The Middle night – the night after the day of the autumn equinox – 30th September, Saturday (21st September as per GC) Specific days of the Earth year: Zero day – the first day after the day of the winter solstice (22nd December as per GC). It has been the biggest Bulgar holiday – the beginning of the New year. This day does not have a name from the days of the week. Leap day – it is added every 4 years between 30th June, Saturday and 1st July, Sunday (as per BC) (3 day weekend, ha ). This day is also a zero day. Enyovden – the day of summer solstice (the Long day) Weekly cycle: The week has 7 days (in Buglarian: week=sedmitsa; 7=sedem). The zero days are not counted The first day of the week is Sunday, the middle day is Wednesday (in Bulgarian: middle=sreden; Wednesday=sryada, sreda) The Earth year consists of 52 weeks Monthly cycle: The 1st, 4th, 7th and 9th months have 31 days, all the rest have 30 days. The zero days are not counted The year consists of 12 months, i.e. 364 counted days The 1st day of the 1st month is always Sunday. Its is a major Bulgar holiday – Surovaki. There are also four 3-month cycles and two 6-month cycles. Earth 1-Year cycle: The Earth year duration corresponds to the time the Earth makes 1 full revolution around the Sun. It has 365,2422 day-night cycles. The calendar year has 365 days, 364 of which are counted; the zero day is not counted. The calendar year has 52 weeks, 12 months, four 3-month cycles or two 6-month cycles. Every 4th year is a leap year containing 366 days. Earth 12-year cycle: It contains 12 Earth years and it is used for the leap-year correction of the calendar and to provide gradual transition to the 60-year cycle. The duration of the 12-year cycle corresponds to the full revolution of Jupiter around the Sun. The leap-years are the 1st, 4th and 12th. All years have names of animals – these are (from 1st to 12th): swine, mouse, ox, bars, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, monkey, ram, rooster and dog Within one cycle, all animals are either male or female. Male and female cycles are alternating. Each 12-year cycle is named after the 5 natural elements – water (black), fire (red), earth (yellow), tree (blue) and metal (white). This allows 60-year cycle to be formed. The 12-year cycle organization allows every Earth calendar year to be determined unambiguously within 120-year increment. The 120-year cycle allows the gradual correction of the calendar by subtracting leap days that have been previously added. The 12 months of the Earth year and the years of the 12-year cycle have the same names. The exact match of the months as per BC with the zodiac is as follows: GC - BC - Zodiac January - Swine -Capricorn February - Mouse - Aquarius March - Ox - Pisces April - Bars - Aries May - Rabbit - Taurus June - Dragon - Twins July - Snake - Cancer August - Horse - Lion September - Monkey - Virgo October - Ram - Libra November - Rooster - Scorpio December - Dog - Sagittarius As you know, the 12 zodiac constelations are not matched by the GC months. Edited by Ivan Asen II - 05 Feb 2010 at 01:59

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Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Feb 2010 at 01:50
	Correction of the Bulgar calendar Leap correction - 1 leap day is added every 4 Earth years Star-weekly correction - 3 leap days are subtracted every 1st, 3rd and 5th star days, i.e. In Earth years with numbers 60, 180 and 300. Star-monthly correction - 1 leap day is subtracted from every Earth 1680-year cycle. The subtraction is made in the middle of the cycle, i.e in the 840th year. Total subtracted leap days - 13. Star-year correction - 1 leap day is subtracted from every Earth 20160-year cycle. The subtraction is made in the middle of the cycle, i.e in the 10080th year. Total subtracted leap days - 157. Star-Sotic correction - 1 leap day is subtracted from every Earth 80640-year cycle. The subtraction is made in the middle of the cycle, i.e in the 40320th year. Total substracted leap days - 629. Final correction - 1 leap day, subtracted from the previous Star-Sotic correction cycle, is added to every Earth 10080000-year cycle. The correction is made in the 5040000th year. Total subtracted leap days - 78624. At the end of the 10080000-year cycle, the calendar is completely matched with the real time and a new correction cycle begins. Astronomical grounds of the Bulgar calendar: One earth year corresponds to the time for one revolution of the Earth around the Sun (365,2422 days). 12 earth years correspond to the time for one revolution of Jupiter (In Old Bulgarian: Yankul = master of time) around the Sun (11,86 years). Simultaneous observation over the solar clock and Jupiter with the help of two diametrically opposed stars shows that after 12 years, 365 days and 3 additional days, the first star appears on the sky on the exact same location and in the exact same hour as in the initial moment of observation. Thus we have the 12365+3=4383 days, divided in 3 leap periods – one leap period contains 3 normal years and 1 leap day. Saturn goes around the Sun for about 30 years. From here, the 60-year and respectively the 120-year cycles. Uran goes around the Sun for 84,0127 years. The star year contains 240 periods of 84 years, the star 3-month cycle - 60, the star month - 20 and the star week - 5. The precession is a slow motion with period of 25920 years - the Earth's axis draws a cone with generant inclination of 62 angle degrees and 33 minutes. The nutation is a fast motion of the Earth's axis with a period of 18,6 years. Thre nutation periods form 56-year cycle, called Meton cycle. The Earth year consists of 360 Meton cycles. The big semi-axis of the Earth's orbit moves slowly and eastwards with a speed of 11,5345 angular seconds per year. The relative speed of the equinox against the big axis is 61,5345 anle seconds per year. Thus, the equinox point will pass through the orbital axis every 21061 years. This is 4,47% more than the star year, which is acceptable error considering the scale and can be assumed that the star year is formed by the precessions of the Earth's axis and the Earth's orbit. Mathematical grounds of the Bulgar calendar:* The star year cycle: 20160 = (1/2)(8!) The precession period: 25920 = 36(6!) Number of Methon cycles in a year: 360 = (1/2)(6!) Number of years in the 60-year cycle: 60 = (1/2)(5!) Number of counted days of the year: 364 = 22+44+66+88+1010+1212 Duration of the star year: 20160 = 1212(11+22+33+44+55+66+77) The zero and leap days are sometimes considered months - 13th and 14th: 2(1314) = 364 (counted days in a year) Total number of days in a year (non-leap): 365 = 1313+1414 First golden ratio: 1,653 = (25920/20160)(25920/20160) Edited by Ivan Asen II - 05 Feb 2010 at 01:56

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 Feb 2010 at 01:50
	Differences between the Bulgar and the Chinese calendar: The Bulgar calendar is Solar, the Chinese is Lunar-Solar. The Bulgar New Year starts on the next day after the winter solstice, teh Chinese first day of the New Year is not fixed. The Bulgar New Year starts with the month of the Swine, the Chinese - of the Mouse In the Bulgar Calendar, the year of the Monkey is before that of the Ram, and in the Chinese - after theat of the Sheep. In the Bulgar calendar, each animal is both male or female, in the Chinese - the mouse, tiger, dragon, horse, monkey and the dog are male only and the cow, rabbit, snake, sheep, hen and swine are female only. In the Bulgar calendar the Tree element is blue and in the Chinese - green. In the Bulgar calendar, the sequence of the elements is water, fire, earth, tree, metal; the sequence in the Chinese is - tree, fire, earth, metal and water. The Bulgar calendar uses a leap day, teh Chinese - a leap month. The Bulgar zodiac is not retrograde, the Chinese is. Edited by Ivan Asen II - 05 Feb 2010 at 01:54