Out of Time

I was writing another article based on May Day when I came up against the same problem I have always had- how to explain the very simple concept of holidays being a calendar. The concept seems like a basic definition to me, but for some reason it is baffling to others. Following is a list of different ways to say the same thing:
Holidays on precise days of the year came first; calendar dates assigned to them came later.
‘Celebrating’ holidays is a by-product of marking exact points of the annual cycle; myths connected to the holidays tell more about the time of year than the religions of the culture.
Keeping track of the progression of the seasons was so important to herders, hunters and agricultural peoples’ survival that exact days were considered important to publically note. While some nomads marked time in seven day periods, longer time frames were necessary to keep time straight throughout the year. These longer time frames were noted with annual holidays of fasting or feasting.
Myths are more connected to the realities of a specific season than to a supernatural power. Egyptian priests watched for the rising dog-star because that helped them accurately predict the flooding of the Nile. At this time of year, Egyptians needed to move away from the river’s flood.
Well, as my explanations get more detailed, the simple fact gets obscured. I did not come up with this understanding of calendars and holidays on my own, but maybe I can come up with a simple way for people to figure it out for themselves- as soon as people were able to keep track of the seasons’ progression, they celebrated May Day because it falls at a precise time between equinox and solstice, not because the flowers were blooming, not because they felt like dancing and getting drunk in the moonlight, and not because they were honoring any supernatural force. Marking the time mattered. The party was just a bonus.
Nancy Sherer