Image by Konstantin Arzumanidis
The best time to honor Hekate is the Deipnon and Noumenia. With that said, every year I create an Athenian Calendar to calculate the Deipnon and Noumenia using the Southern Hemisphere New Moons, to ensure my devotions are on the right evenings for my location. This is calculated by the start off point of the Summer Solstice in Greece of that particular year.
The Athenian Calendar also known as the Attic Calendar was a lunisolar calendar used during the classical period of Ancient Greece during the 4th and 5th Centuries BC. It was exclusively used in Athens at the time and each month starts at the first sighting of the new moon, with the year beginning just after mid-summer. It’s become a modern go to for practicing Hellenics and as such, what we use and have today is a reconstruction of what they used around 300-500 BC. I have superimposed this Athenian Calendar over our modern Gregorian one, to loosely create a festival calendar of 12 months based on the cycle of the moon which starts at the beginning of the Athenian year – on the summer solstice in Athens. The names of the months reflect the gods and festivals honoured at that time and have agricultural links to the planting or harvesting of food in the northern hemisphere.
Here is what the yearly Athenian Calendar basically looks like:
Summer (Θέρος)
1 Hekatombaion (Ἑκατομβαιών) July/August
2 Metageitnion (Μεταγειτνιών) August/September (named after Apollo)
3 Boedromion (Βοηδρομιών) September/October
Autumn (Φθινόπωρον)
4 Pyanepsion (Πυανεψιών) October/November
5 Maimakterion (Μαιμακτηριών) November/December (named after Zeus)
6 Poseideon (Ποσειδεών) December/January
Winter (Χεῖμα)
7 Gamelion (Γαμηλιών) January/February
8 Anthesterion (Ἀνθεστηριών) February/March (named after the festival of Anthesteria)
9 Elaphebolion (Ἑλαφηβολιών) March/April
Spring (Ἔαρ)
10 Mounichion (Μουνιχιών) April/May
11 Thargelion (Θαργηλιών) May/June
12 Skirophorion (Σκιροφοριών) June/July
Every month lasts for approximately 29-30 days in total. Each month is broken up into 10 days of three which reflect the moon phases in the following order: Waxing, Full and Waning Moons.
Days 1 to 8 were all sacred to gods or spirit entities and the last day of the month, known as “hene kai nea” translated as “the old and the new”, is dedicate to Hekate as it’s her Deipnon along with the first day of the month, Noumenia which is also dedicated to Hekate.
Here are the details of those 8 sacred days in the Athenian Calendar month:
Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon)
Day 2: Agathos Daimon
Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Eros
Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
Day 29-30: Deipnon
To get you all started with adapting the Athenian Calendar to the Gregorian one, here is the Athenian Calendar I created for 2021, calculated for Southern Hemisphere practitioners:
21 June 2020 (12.43am), = Summer Solstice in Greece (Winter Solstice in Australia 21st June 7.43am AEST)
Summer (Θέρος)
1 Hekatombaion (Ἑκατομβαιών)
21 July – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 3.32am Athenian New Year
22 July – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
23 July – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
24 July – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Eros
26 July – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
27 July – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
28 July – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
17-18 August – Day 29-30: Deipnon
2 Metageitnion (Μεταγειτνιών) (named after Apollo)
19 August – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 12.41pm
20 August – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
21 August – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
22 August – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Eros
24 August – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
25 August – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
26 August – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
15-16 September – Day 29-30: Deipnon
3 Boedromion (Βοηδρομιών)
17 September – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 9.00pm
18 September – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
19 September – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
20 September – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Eros
22 September – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
23 September – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
24 September – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
15-16 October – Day 29-30: Deipnon
Autumn (Φθινόπωρον)
4 Pyanepsion (Πυανεψιών)
17 October – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 6.31am
18 October – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
19 October – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
20 October – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Eros
22 October – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
23 October – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
24 October – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
13-14 November – Day 29-30: Deipnon
5 Maimakterion (Μαιμακτηριών) (named after Zeus)
15 November – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 4.07pm
16 November – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
17 November – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
18 November – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Eros
20 November – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
21 November – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
22 November – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
13-14 December – Day 29-30: Deipnon
6 Poseideon (Ποσειδεών)
15 December – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 3.06am
28 November – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
29 November – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
30 November – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Eros
2 December – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
3 December – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
4 December – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
12-13 January – Day 29-30: Deipnon
Winter (Χεῖμα)
7 Gamelion (Γαμηλιών)
13 January – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 4.00pm
14 January – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
15 January – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
16 January – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Eros
18 January – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
19 January – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
20 January – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
10-11 February – Day 29-30: Deipnon
8 Anthesterion (Ἀνθεστηριών) (named after the festival of Anthesteria)
12 February – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 6.05am
13 February – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
14 February – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
15 February – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Erosc
17 February- Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
18 February – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
19 February – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
11-12 March – Day 29-30: Deipnon
9 Elaphebolion (Ἑλαφηβολιών)
13 March – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 9.21pm
14 March – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
15 March – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
16 March – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Erosc
18 March – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
19 March – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
20 March – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
10-11 April – Day 29-30: Deipnon
Spring (Ἔαρ)
10 Mounichion (Μουνιχιών)
12 April – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 12.30pm
13 April – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
14 April – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
15 April – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Erosc
17 April – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
18 April – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
19 April – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
10-11 May – Day 29-30: Deipnon
11 Thargelion (Θαργηλιών)
12 May – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 4.59am
13 May – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
14 May – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
15 May – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Erosc
17 May – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
18 May – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
19 May – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
8-9 June – Day 29-30: Deipnon
12 Skirophorion (Σκιροφοριών)
10 June – Day 1: Noumenia (New Moon) 8.52pm
11 June – Day 2: Agathos Daimon
12 June – Day 3: Athena’s Birthday
13 June – Day 4: Heracles, Hermes, Aphrodite and Erosc
15 June – Day 6: Artemis’ Birthday
16 June – Day 7: Apollo’s Birthday
17 June – Day 8: Poseidon and Theseus (Mikalson 1975: 24)
8-9 July – Day 29-30: Deipnon
(C) T. Georgitsis 2021
