The names
of the nineteen months are:
Bahá
(Splendour),
Jalál
(Glory),
Jamál
(Beauty),
'Azamat
(Grandeur),
Núr
(Light),
Rahmat
(Mercy),
Kalimát
(Words),
Kamál
(Perfection),
Asmá'
(Names),
'Izzat
(Might),
Mashíyyat
(Will),
'Ilm
(Knowledge),
Qudrat
(Power),
Qawl
(Speech),
Masá'il
(Questions),
Sharaf
(Honour),
Sultán
(Sovereignty),
Mulk
(Dominion), and
'Alá (Loftiness).
The year
begins on the Spring Equinox (March 21) with the celebration of Náw-Rúz. The
celebration of Ayyám-i-Há takes place during the intercalary days, between
Mulk and 'Alá. 'Alá is designated as the month of fasting. Like the Gregorian
calendar, the Badi calendar groups days into weeks of seven days, and each day
is assigned a name, which are also Names of God.
This set of names repeats some of the month names, but
introduces a few new ones as well: Jalál (Glory) corresponds to Saturday, Jamál
(Beauty) to Sunday, Kamál (Perfection) to Monday, Fidál (Grace) to Tuesday,
'Idál (Justice) to Wednesday, Istijlál (Majesty) to Thursday, and Istiqlál
(Independence) to Friday. 'Abdu'l-Bahá specified that the Bahá'í day of rest
should be observed on Istiqlál (Friday).
Now we come to the days of the month themselves. As was the
case with Jewish and Islamic reckoning, the day begins at sunset, rather than at
midnight.
For most of us, this takes a bit of getting used to! It
becomes important because certain things happen on specific days. The first day
of each Bahá'í month is designated as a Feast day. The Feast is a community
gathering that incorporates worship, community business, and socializing.
But they may actually hold their Feasts anytime between
sunset on March 20th and before sunset on March 21st. That time period is the
first day of Baha. Holy Days are also reckoned in this fashion, as are the times
for the start and end of the Fast.
Another
feature of the Badi calendar is that the days of the months are themselves
assigned names. These names are the same as the names of the months, so the
first day of any month would be the day Baha, the second day would be Jalál,
and so forth.
However, at the present time
numbers are frequently used for the days when writing the Bahá'í date.
Finally, for those who like to
go into excruciating detail, the Báb also spoke of time periods longer than a
year. He grouped years into "Vahids" of nineteen years each, and gave
each Vahid a name. [It is here that the word "Badi" (Beginning)
appears, as the name of the sixteenth year in the cycle.]
He further grouped the Vahids
themselves into sets of nineteen to create a time period called a "Kull-i-Shay"
(literally, "all things"). One Kull-i-Shay is therefore 361 years.
Now
you might be thinking, "All this is very interesting, but why do we need a
new calendar?" Although I have not found any answer to this in the Bahá'í
Writings, I might speculate. Calendars are tools we use to organize and regulate
our lives, especially our collective lives.
The
calendar has a fundamental impact on the way we think and the way we interact
with each other. Calendars have often been organized with religious observances
in mind, and indeed may have originally developed, at least in part, in response
to religious concerns.
It is, after all, only a calendar. But in the
future, as humanity takes increasing notice of Bahá’u’llah’s revelation,
it may well be that this new calendar, with its carefully-measured rhythms and
its built-in remembrance of the Names of God, may prove to have a significant
effect not only in organizing the affairs of all people, but also in drawing
them nearer to the Source of their being.
Sure, this is just one person's speculation. But
it's something to think about...
All
Faiths Public Gathering for Prayer and Devotions
Fillmore CommUnity
1st Saturday of the Month, February 4th Call
Luanne at 524-0683 for details
Oxnard CommUnity
1st Sunday of the Month, February 5th 10:30 AM.
Locations May vary. Call Barbara at 984-4390
Camarillo CommUnity
3rd Sunday of the Month, February 19th Call Renee
at 383-3904 for details.
Dawn Prayers
Ongoing every Wednesday morning, 7 am, at the beach at San
Jon and Harbor in Ventura. Bring
your favorite prayer. Followed by a
quick trip to the coffee shop.
To learn more about the
Bahá’í Faith, contact the Bahá’í House of Worship or the Bahá’í
community in your area. Further information is also available at www.us.bahai.org
and www.bahai.org.
Visit the Ventura Bahá’i
Website located at: www.venturabahai.org
