Flexing your calendar
One of these days I really should tell that story. But not today.
No, today I’m going to talk about calendars.
This is a partial list of dates from my Lore and Wyrd calendars. The exact dates don’t matter in this example.
Pay attention to the symbols before the title in each listing.
The ☥ ankh symbol is my shorthand for a Before. Before are those who’ve inspired me and those who I choose to honor by living their example.
The ✰ shadowed star is my shorthand for a pagan.
The ▽ inverted triangle is a symbol for philosophy, I use this to designate philosophers.
The ≠ not equals sign means that I acknowledge but do not celebrate (ABNC). Just because the day is important to other people doesn’t mean that I have to celebrate it. And if you think I have a lot of these days in my Lore and Wyrd calendars, you should see the birthdays and anniversaries in my Kinship calendar.
The ★ solid star shows that this day that while not distinctively pagan is still important to my practice.
Okay, the ⊗ circled times symbol. I don’t want to use the circled cross because of it’s association with the KKK (and yes, my feelings on that go back years). This is a good alternative that maintains the same elemental associations. Of course someone who takes a title based on Wayland is going to celebrate The Firing of the Anvil. Especially someone with strong ties to the American South.
Let’s see how that actually works. As you can see, this is an event from 1971.
The ankh and the inverted triangle tell us that this man is one of my Befores and he’s a philosopher. I’ve used the location field to give more expand the information a bit. This field will also show in the day list view of the iOS calendar or in my preferred option Fantastical.
I’ve included a quick URL so I can call up in-depth information.
I’ve unchecked the “Busy” box so I still show available.
My notes show his lifespan and how old he was when he died.
And I’ve listed some of the things he was known for WITHOUT giving specific works. Otherwise the entry would be way too long and clunky.
The whole purpose of this exercise is that I have a calendar in the palm of my hand that will quickly show me what I need to know for that day.
I haven’t even mentioned my Sky calendar with the astronomical events and symbols.
Have I mentioned that I have a calendar obsession?
Here’s the most important bit.
After the initial setup (and the once a year update on my Sky calendar), I don’t have to worry about it. It’s there. If I absolutely have to I can print it up (and I still do for some events and rituals).
A little bit of work, a little bit of planning, and I’m ready.