NOTE: The Raenbo Calendar is not my invention. (I don' t think it's a bad idea, or I wouldn't have included it here!) I just want to be sure to give credit where credit is due. These thoughts are gathered from Raenbo, home of six revolooshunairy iedeeas for the future in the new milenium. Please direct all inquiries there.

The most compelling reason for changing the calendar is that on the old calendar there is no correlation between the days of the week and the days of the month. On the Raenbo calendar the first day of each month is a Sunday and the last is a Saturday. Every month looks the same!

You notice that the Raenbo calendar uses base 12 numbering instead of base 10. There are 30 days in the month counting in base 10 but 26 days using base 12 counting.

Twelve months of 30 days each equals 360 days but there are 365¼ days in the year. The 5¼ extra days are used as solstice and equinox holidays that come between the three month long seasons. This is the second major advantage of the Raenbo calendar, because the solstices and equinoxes fall between, not within, the months, the months can be grouped into neat three month long seasons.

The 5¼ extra days are used as follows. There are two solstice holidays between December and January and then come the winter months of January, February and March. Next comes the Spring Equinox holiday followed by the spring months of April, May and June. Between June and July there is one Summer Solstice holiday except for leap year when there are two. Then come the summer months of July, August and September followed by the Autumn Equinox holiday followed by the autumn months of October, November and December. That is the year. It is so regular you can keep it in your head.

You have probably also noticed that each Raenbo month has five weeks of six days each. This six day week is the most radical change from the old calendar, but it was necessary. Once you have a six day week, everything falls neatly into place. Seven, for a seven day week, is a number that does not work if you are going to have 365¼ days divided into twelve equal months. You cannot have 12 months of 28 days and four weeks nor is there any other workable combination. However, as you see, a six day week works beautifully.

The Raenbo calendar uses dozenal counting (a base 12 numbering system) for the days of the month and the numbering of the years. In addition, the coming millennium year 2000 has been made the Raenbo millennium year 4000. This works very well because if you take the year 2000₁₀ and make it into 2000₁₂ and count back to the year zero, you are at the traditional year 1458 BC. The problem is that 1458 BC is not a very interesting year to have as your year zero. However, if you make the year 2000₁₀ into the year 4000₁₂ and count back to the year zero you are at the traditional year 4914 BC. Now you have a more meaningful date because 4914 BC is at the dawn of civilization falling between the Years of Creation as reckoned by several of the ancients.

4914 BC is further back in time that 3641 BC which was the Year of Creation on the Mayan Calendar and further back than 3670 BC which is the Year of Creation on the Hebrew Calendar. However, it is not as far back as 5490 BC which was the Year of Creation as reckoned by the early Syrian Christians nor is it as far back as 5508 BC which was the Year of Creation as adopted in the 7th Century at Constantinople by the Eastern Orthodox Church. So, the Raenbo year zero, at 4914 BC, fits nicely between these four historic dates of creation and makes a meaningful starting point for the counting of the years of our calendar. Counting forward, 1996 becomes 3008, 1997 becomes 3009, 1998 becomes 300, 1999 becomes 300, and 2000 becomes 4000.

Note; the character (dek) and character (brad) are explained fully at Raenbo.

Below are links to the Raenbo calendar by season: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

More information on the Raenbo calendar, along with 5 other Utopian ideas, is contained in the book, 4000, THE FIFTH MILENIUM, Six Revolooshunairy Iedeeas, which can be ordered from Aster Esprit Press, PO Box 1615, El Toro, CA 92630-9615 for $14.95. The book is also available from the web bookstore www.amazon.com.

Note: I cannot possibly keep all of these links current. If you find one that doesn't work, I'd appreciate your .

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