Note: If you are not confident with the astronomical terms, please read the glossary at the bottom of the page.
 

Hidden Clues in the Marsigli Calendar

 

By Gabor Z. Bodroghy, ©1998

(i) Creation of the Marsigli Calendar

The first clue: there are certain holidays in the Calendar, that are remnants of the ancient times, much older than the emergence of the Christianity. By comparing the occurrence of these days with the ancient symbols of the Zodiac, it is possible to extract information about the date of origin of this Calendar. There are four pivotal points, which this consideration is based on.
* According to the accepted periods of the Zodiac. Presently we experience even bigger delay to the actual occurrence of a particular Zodiac sign by some 30 days. See notes below: Precession.
The Great Year- clue for timing 
 The shift of the constellations of the Zodiac in the "Great Year" is the clue for timing: 
Vizkereszt > Aquarius
Böjtelő    > Pisces
Kisasszony > Virgo
S. Mihály  > Libra

The mismatch of the days in the Calendar and the Zodiac periods is a consequence of the precession of the ecliptic across the Zodiac band, which is known to have a cycle period called "The Great Year" and it takes approximately 25,000 years to rotate. Every 480 years the Zodiac signs shift to the East by 1 week, and every 2,080 years they shift by one whole month. In the examples above, the mismatch is between 1 and 3 weeks, so the time of the creation of the holidays (when the match was perfect) was between 480 and 1,440 years ago*(in reference to the Zodiac), or 930 BCE and 1,890 BCE, or 2,930 and 3,890 years ago. The zodiac sign of Libra does not appear to be shifted at all. This seems to confirm, that it is a new Zodiac sign, which was formerly part of the Babylonian sign of Scorpion (the claws of Scorpion) and it has been detached by the Romans in 450 BCE.

(ii) Emergence of the Astronomy

The Hungarian Boldogasszony can be linked to the Constellation of Virgo.
"Virgo is undoubtedly one of the oldest and astrologically most important zodiacal constellations. In the earliest records, she appears as a mother goddess, sometimes a wife to a creator or major god. She was Kanya, mother of Krishna in India, Ishtar in Babylon, Isis in Egypt, and the Saxon Eostre, from which our word Easter is derived. The Greeks and Romans had her as Astrea, daughter of Zeus and Themis. In most cases she carries a sheaf of wheat in honor of the harvest (the heliacal rising of Spica occurs at harvest time). The Virgin may come from her identification with Mary by the medieval Christians." [Quoted from Bibl.3 p.170]
The second clue: the Hungarian word for God, Isten may be linked up with the Etruscan Aes, Saxon Eostre and ultimately may lead back to Phoenician or Babylonian Astarte and Ishtar. It is not without consideration, that she may be linked with the most important holiday of the Christian Church, the Easter.
The mismatch between our Easter (presently locked to the vernal equinox by a lunar calendar), the harvest time of Babylonians and the today's position of the constellation of Virgo in Autumn happened, when the time counting was separated by two methods of calendars in the ancient past: first method was locked to the movements of the Sun and the Moon (this is the ancient one) and the second method became locked to the movements of the stars and the Sun (this was the innovation). We can find out when did this separation occur, by going back into the past and finding when did the match happened for the last time. For this purpose we have to "wind back" the position of Virgo till the vernal equinox by 5 months. This gives us: 5x2,080 years = 10,400 years before Zodiac*, or 10,850 BCE, or 12,850 years ago.
We can even reconstruct, when did the Mesopotamians add the sheaf to her, as a symbol of fertility. The Virgo coincided with the harvest period, when it was two positions back, that gives: 2x2months = 2x2,080 years = 4,160 years* or it happened in 4610 BCE, or 6,610 years ago.
* According to the accepted periods of the Zodiac, which was reorganized about 2,450 years ago.

(iii) 'Venus' figurines of the Paleolithic

the Paleolithic Venus the Neolithic Venus
The Venus of Laussel carved 22,000 years ago in a block of limestone, represents a type of voluptuous female often portrayed by artists of the Cro-Magnon period, perhaps as a fertility symbol. In her right hand she holds an animal horn, suggesting some sort of ritual. The figure was found in 1911 in a cave in France's Dordogne region; it still bears traces of pigment that once colored it. [Bibl.4] The Neolithic Venus, found in the temple complex of Hajar Qim on Malta, the most elaborate temples of the Ggantija epoch, built exclusively of limestone blocks. The statues of "fat" women (one height 45 cm) have been found, all without heads. The heads were separate from the bodies and were fixed in position by a hole in the neck. It is thought they may have been of wood, which would explain their disappearance. [Bibl.9]
The third clue: everywhere in the Paleolithic past of Europe, especially in Central Europe leading up to Siberia we can find figurines of naked, sometimes fat women, nicknamed "Venuses". They appear from the Solutrean period and continue into the Magdalenian, reaching their apogee in its first phase. They seem to have a continuation in the Maltese megalithic culture in the Mediterranean Sea. The Hungarian pre-Christian calendar seems to show as well, that the cult did survive till our days. In the Marsigli Calendar we can read BOGSZNY BOldoGasSZoNY, meaning Boldogasszony (literally it means Blessed Woman), but we know this pronunciation only from ethnographic studies [Bibl.2&7]. The original reading (which may be only a ligature not uncommon in Hungarian runic) has got an eerie resemblance to the Slavic word for God: BOG, giving the meaning for composition Women God, or God Mistress. Both words of the composition are extremely old.

(iv) Origins of the Words

The last clue: the word boldog in Hungarian means 1. (adj.) happy, glad, joyful joyous, delighted (with), beaming, blissful, lucky, fortunate 2. (adj.) blessed, beatific.
Boldogság (n) happiness, joy, gladness, bliss, rapture, felicity, delight, beatitude, blessedness.
Boldogságos (adj.) blessed, saintly, [~Szüz] the Blessed Virgin Mary
Boldogult (adj.) the late, lamented, the late lamented, deceased. [Bibl.8]
This word similarly exists in many European languages.
In Croatian: blag (adj.) gentle, meek, mild
blagdan (n) (religious) holiday
blago (n) 1. wealth, property 2. treasure 3. cattle, domestic animals
blagodaran (adj.) thankful
blagodarenje I (religious service of) thanksgiving, II (deverb of I)
blagodarnost (n) gratitude
blagodat (n) blessing, boon, benefit
blagorodan (adj.) 1. noble, exalted, lofty, 2. calm, even-tempered, 3. distinguished, eminent, 4. thoroughbred (of animals).
blagoslov (n) blessing
blagosloviti, blagosiljati (v) 1. to bless, 2. to thrash, beat, 3. to express one's gratitude to smb.
blazen (adj.) 1. happy, radiant 2. bringing happiness 3. blessed
blazenstvo (n) bliss, happiness
blaziti (v) to mitigate, lessen, to alleviate (sentence, pain).
The Slavic word Bog (m) god, is most likely etymologically linked to the meaning of "blag". Its masculine gender is revealing the relative late date of its origin (we know that the male members of the society came to power when the egalitarian society of ancient times broke down).
In Latin: beatitas, -atis (f), beatitudo, -inis (f) happiness
beatulus, -i (m) the blessed man
beatus (adj.) happy, prosperous, well off, rich, abundant.
beo, -are, -avi, -atum (vt) to gladden, bless, enrich.
In English: bless (v), blessed (adj.), blessing (n), bliss (n).

The asszony in Hungarian: (n) woman, female; mistress/missis, lady; wife.
In Croatian: (f) 1. woman, lady 2. wife 3. domestic, cleaning woman.
In Greek: gunh, gunaikos, h woman, lady; wife; mistress; widow; servant.
In Persian: (zan) meaning 'woman', in Zend-Avesta: ghena also 'women', in Sanskrit: (gná) meaning 'wife, divine female, kind of goddess', or (jani), meaning 'woman, wife, mother', and also 'birth, production', as a verb 'generate, beget, procreate'. [Bibl.10,11]
All this points into a common origin of not only of these words, but also of the cult of respect for a "Great Blessed Woman" originally maybe as an ancestor, later as a God. The mythologists call her "Mother Nature" or "Earth Mother". Today the Blessed Virgin is her representation.
 

(v) Conclusions

The Marsigli calendar gives a faint glimpse of the old times. It connects the word "boldog" with the notion of holiness and sanctity, the ligature "bog" links this notion with the God (only one god - unlike the pre-Christian Roman and Greek pantheon). It as well, links the notion of God with a female character, which is identifiable with a Zodiac constellation of Virgo. The anomaly in the position of this constellation enables to calculate the date of origin of this constellation, which falls to 12,850 years ago. As well it links the "God Mistress" to the powerful female figurines of the Old Stone Age. It is a unique evidence of a continuity of cultures from some 35,000 years ago till our days.

(vi) Bibliography

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Glossary: (©1994-1998 Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Equinox: the either of two points in the sky where the ecliptic and the celestial equator intersect. In spring equinox the Sun is crossing the equator from south to north, in autumnal equinox the other way around. At these points the length of days and nights are equal. They mark the beginning of the spring or autumn.
Spring (vernal) equinox March 20/21.
Autumn equinox Sept. 22/23.
Solstice: the summer and winter solstice are two moments in the year when the Sun's apparent path is farthest north or south from the Earth's equator. At the time of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted 23.45o towards the Sun (and it is the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere).
Winter solstice Dec 21/22.
Summer solstice Jun 21/22.
Seasons: are any of four divisions of the year according to consistent annual changes in the weather. The seasons - winter, spring, summer, and autumn - are commonly regarded in the Northern Hemisphere as the beginning on the regarding solstices or equinoxes. Outside the tropics and the Polar Regions, the essential characteristic of the annual cycle is a temperature oscillation between a single maximum and a single minimum. This oscillation results from the annual variation in the angle at which the Sun's rays reach the Earth's surface and from the annual variation in the duration of Sunlight on the Earth's surface each day.
Precession: is the wobbling motion of the Earth's axis of rotation. It is the third-discovered motion of the Earth (daily rotation, annual revolution and precession). Due to the precession of the Earth's axis, the intersection point of the ecliptic and the celestial equator is constantly moving Westwards. The precession has a cycle period of more than 25,000 years and is known as the "Great Year". This movement is slowly but constantly shifting the constellations Eastwards in comparison to the Earth's vernal equinox point.
First point of Aries: is a reference point measured from the vernal equinox. It was the beginning of that constellation some 2,000 years ago (in Roman times). The term is still used, though precession of the equinoxes has moved the vernal equinox into Pisces. Today the First Point of Aries is around Apr 21st.
 First Point of Aries today  The first Point of Aries as seen presently.
The broken line represents the Ecliptic. It is visible that the equinox (point where the Ecliptic crosses the Equator) is located on March 21st and it is in the Zodiac sign of Pisces. Aries is around 30o to the East or at Apr 21st. This shift occurred during the 2,450 years of precession since the reorganization of the Zodiac belt by Romans in 450 BCE.
[Planisphere: Bibl.6]
Ecliptic: annual pathway of the Sun among the constellations. From another viewpoint: the projection on the celestial sphere of the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.
Zodiac: The constellations along the ecliptic. They are:
(1)AriesMarch 21- Apr 19RamApr 22- May 21 (presently)
(2)TaurusApr 20- May 20BullMay 22- June 21
(3)GeminiMay 21- June 21TwinsJune 22- July 21
(4)CancerJune 22- July 22CrabJuly 22- Aug. 20
(5)LeoJuly 23- Aug. 22LionAug. 21- Sept. 20
(6)VirgoAug. 23- Sept. 22VirginSept. 21- Oct. 20
(7)LibraSept. 23- Oct. 23BalanceOct. 21- Nov. 20
(8)ScorpiusOct. 24- Nov. 21ScorpionNov. 21- Dec 20
(9)SagittariusNov. 22- Dec 21ArcherDec 21- Jan 20
(10)Capricornus Dec 22- Jan 19GoatJan 21- Feb. 20
(11)AquariusJan 20- Feb. 18Water Bearer Feb. 21- March 21
(12) PiscesFeb. 19- March 20 FishesMarch 22- Apr 21

The astronomical reference systems: two systems developed independently in early antiquity: the Lunar mansions and the Egyptian decans (36 star configurations circling the sky somewhat south of ecliptic). The Babylonian Zodiac is incorporated into decans. The Mesopotamian arrangement of constellations was reorganized at 450 BCE into 12 equal signs of the Zodiac (ecliptical signs). Libra was a new sign, which was earlier attached to the Scorpion.


Copyright Note ©1998: I reserve all rights to publish or change this document without notice. You may freely link this document to, but you may not reproduce it in any form or sell it. All the opinions are my own. I can not enter into any debate about the validity of the above conclusions.

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