Universal Celestial Calendar

The Universal Celestial Calendar (UCC), created by Litmus A Freeman, is a 12 month, non-sectarian, perennial, solar, and balanced zodiac calendar, aimed at helping to foster a deeper awareness of our place and time in relation to natural celestial cycles.

It proposes a 'Universal' calendar system for the planet that is independent of any religion and closely tied astronomically to Earth's relationship to the Sun and the Zodiac.

The Universal Celestial Calendar

It is particularly aimed at new/emerging communities and/or individuals who are seeking natural harmony and who do not need to conform to the Gregorian seven day week system.

It has been made a 'Standing Proposal For Calendar Reform' since its launch in 13513 UCC (2012 AD Gregorian).

UCC Main Features

The Year Start

The end and beginning of the UCC's yearly cycle is determined by the Aries♈Equinox (circa March 20/21 Gregorian), with the last day of its year - 'New Year's Eve' - generally occurring on the day of the equinox (usually March 20th Gregorian), and the first day of its year - 'New Year's Day' - generally occurring on the first full day after the equinox (usually March 21st Gregorian).

Epoch/Year Numbering

The Year Numbers of the calendar are based on the 'Great Year/Yuga Cycle' i.e. the precession of the equinoxes, an average 24,000 year cycle. This epoch commenced 11,501/11,500 BC Gregorian and reached its 12,000 year mid point at 499/500 AD Gregorian, hence the year from 21st March 1999 to 20th March 2000 in the Gregorian Calendar corresponded to the year 13500 UCC.

The UCC Year

The UCC year comprises 360 standard days and 5 special intercalary days (6 in leap years) to balance the year into equal quarters. (Intercalary days are days outside of the main calendar groupings).

The 360 Standard Days

The 360 standard days are grouped into 36 ten day 'Decans' (weeks) which in turn are grouped into twelve 30 Day 'Triads' (months), similar to the French Republican Calendar and the Ancient Egyptian Calendar. The 12 Triads form 4 equal Quarters (seasons), each of 3 Triads encompassing 9 Decans and therefore 90 days. The 12 Triads also closely align with the 12 Sun Signs of the Western Tropical Zodiac

The 5 or 6 Intercalary Days

Unlike the previous calendars mentioned above however, the UCC's 5 or 6 intercalary days do not occur at the end of the year, but are instead distributed between the Quarters (*see note below)

The 1st of these intercalary days is the first day of a standard year, Day number 001 of 365, and is called 'New Year's Day'. The remaining 4 in standard years are called 'New Season's Days', each celebrating an equinox or solstice and occurring before each Quarter. In leap years a 6th intercalary day, called 'Leap Year's Day', is inserted before New Year's Day as Day 000 at the start of the year, thereby maintaining the 001 to 365 day numbering.

Year Structure

The intercalary days (ICDs) thereby have the positions indicated in bold in the following year structure:

ICD 0 = Leap Year's Day - Day 000 - (Only in non standard/leap years) (c March 20th)

ICD 1 = New Year's Day - Day 001 (c March 21st Gregorian)

ICD 2 = 1st Season's Day - Day 002 (c March 22nd Gregorian) - Celebrates the Aries♈Equinox

• Quarter/Season 1 (3 Triads/9 Decans/90 Days - from day 003 to 092)

ICD 3 = 2nd Season's Day - Day 093 (c June 21st Gregorian) - Celebrates the Cancer♋Solstice

• Quarter/Season 2 (3 Triads/9 Decans/90 Days - from day 094 to 183)

ICD 4 = 3rd Season's Day - Day 184 (c September 20th Gregorian) - Celebrates the Libra♎Equinox

• Quarter/Season 3 (3 Triads/9 Decans/90 Days - from day 185 to 274)

ICD 5 = 4th Season's Day - Day 275 (c December 20th Gregorian) - Celebrates the Capricorn♑Solstice

• Quarter/Season 4 (3 Triads/9 Decans/90 Days - from day 276 to 365)

Leap Years

The UCC has 8 Leap Years in a 33 year cycle (as per the Persian Calendar) whereby years 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 22, 26 & 30 of these 33 years are Leap Years, commencing with the additional Intercalary Day 0, inserted as Day Zero at the start of the year.

UCC Links

The UCC has the following web resources:

• For those interested in the background to the development of the calendar - The Free Man Calendar
• For newcomers to the UCC who may have Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) such as 'Why A New Calendar?' and 'How Does It Benefit My Life?' - The UCC Zone
• For the Main calendar page, including the About page, a detailed Wiki page, a UCC 'Calendar Clock' Web APP, Calendar Date Calculator & Convertor, Full Year Calendar & Year Planner Downloads - The Universal Celestial Calendar

[*A similar calendar known as the Balanced French Calendar has since been proposed (2018) - as a modified version of the French Republican Calendar - with its year start at the Libra♎Equinox (September) as per the FRC. Like the UCC it spreads the 5 or 6 out-of-month days between the four quarters.]

A related calendar known as 'Nature's Calendar', and previously as 'The Aquarian Calendar', created by Kelly O'Donnell, has a very similar structure to the UCC (although the two were developed independently) but with its year start at the Capricorn♑Solstice.