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Do you sometimes see a reference to 'goddess month' or 'goddess calendar' and don't know what it means? Don't worry, you're in good company.

The goddess calendar is not an ancient reality but a modern and arbitrary arrangement used by many Neopagans. In fact, there is not one such calendar, but several, and probably none of them older than the 1980s.

There is some variation about the allocation of the goddess months. This site has it that:

"Months are numbered from 1 through 13. Odd-numbered months have 29 days and even-numbered months have 30 days.

The months are named after thirteen goddesses, as follows:

 

Month number	Month    name	Number    of days
1	Astarte	29 usually
2	Bast	30
3	Cybele	29
4	Diana	30
5	Eris	29
6	Freya	30
7	Gaia	29
8	Hathor	30
9	Isis	29
10	Juno	30
11	Kali	29
12	Lakshmi	30
13	Maat	29 always

"The names of the months begin with the letters A, B, ... M, making it easier to remember their order."

The goddess calendar and zodiacal information outlined by Stein (Stein, Diane, The Goddess Book of Days, Llewellyn Publications, St Paul Minnesota, 1989) is often referred to, but, again, her dates are fairly arbitrary although a useful guide.

The one that has been gained most popularity, and which I use in the Book of Days and elsewhere, is that from Nigel Pennick's popular book, The Pagan Book of Days (Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992), which draws on the Juno Covella Perpetual calendar which was written by Lawrence Durdin-Roberston, who founded the Fellowship of Isis in 1976. In turn, it is derived, I believe, from the Lux Madriana calendar. 

Sometimes items in calendars may be deliberately in error; I wrote on this here. Caveat emptor: there is a great deal of arbitrariness in such calendars.

Here is the calendar after Pennick:

Hestia  December 26 - January 22 Bridhe  January 23 - February 19 Moura  February 20 - March 19 Columbina  March 20 - April 17 Maia  April 18 - May 15 Hera  May 16 - June 12 Rosea  June 13 - July 10

Kerea  July 11 - August 8 Hesperis  August 9 - September 5 Mala  September 6 - October 2 Hathor  October 3 - October 30 Cailleach/ Samhain  October 31 - November 27 Astraea  November 28 - December 25

See also a list of links to Celtic Tree Months

This is a graphical representation of the above:

Drawing on Juno Covella, and adding some goddesses of her own choice, 
Stein’s calendar of the monthly goddesses is as follows:

Source: Stein, Diane, The Goddess Book of Days, Llewellyn Publications, St Paul Minnesota, 1989

             

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