Etymology of the months of the year

As a bit of a footnote to my thoughts on the names of the days of the week, the months of the year are named:

January- after the Roman god Ianuarius, the god of the doorway, because January is the door to the year.
February- from the Latin, Februum, named after the Roman purification festival Februa, held on the 15th of the month.
March- named after the Roman god of war Martius (Mars). So Mars gets a month and a day.
April- from the Latin Aprilis, which most likely means "opening", referring to the opening of buds in Spring.
May- named after the Greek goddess of fertility, Maia.
June- named after the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno.
July- named after Julius Caesar, although the name Julius comes from the Roman goddess Julus (Venus). Venus also has a month and a day (Friday).
August- named after Caesar Augustus. Augustus means "majestic", "increaser", "venerable."

It is worth noting that July used to be called "Quintilis" (fifth month) and August was "Sextilis" (sixth month). January and February were added later than the other months. There were originally 10 months when the Roman empire first started a calendar, with a monthless Winter period of approximately 61 days. Read more about the Roman calendar.

September- from the Latin "septem" meaning seven; i.e the seventh month.
October- from the Latin "octo" meaning eight.
November- from the Latin "novem" meaning nine.
December- from the Latin "decem" meaning ten.

So five of the months of the year are named for Roman gods, the other seven not. All months of the year in English and in Russian are borrowed from Latin. So it could be argued that the meaning is not carried forward the same way as days of the week are. A borrowing does not carry the same meanings as a "proto" (proto means first, pro means before) word does.

Etymology of the days of the week

A linguist's brain is always dissecting language. I find that I learn language better when I know the root meaning of a word. It is often a fun game to then learn all of the other words connected to a root meaning, or a word tree, so to speak. I have a bit of a personal theory that words carry on the psyche of a culture and previous generations as we pass them on to the next. It's a hard theory to prove and I have other things to work towards that are more important such as saving endangered languages.
I did get to thinking about the days of the week. It is pretty easy for an English speaker to see that Sunday is named after the sun and Monday is named after the moon. Thursday is named after Thor (Norse god) and Saturday after Saturn. But what are the other days named after?
I did a bit of a search and discovered that all of the days of the week are named after Germanic, Norse or Roman gods.

Sunday: named after the Germanic sun goddess "Sunne."
Monday: named after the Germanic moon god "Mani" (old English "Mona").
Tuesday: named after the Norse god Tyr (or Mars) became Twis in old English.
Wednesday: named after the Germanic god Woden or Norse god Odin, who is Mercury.
Thursday: named after the Germanic god, or Norse god Thor, who is Jupiter.
Friday: from the old English Frige meaning Venus.
Saturday: from the old English Saetern or Saturn.

While it is true that all of the days of the week are named for bodies in the heavens, they were also named for pagan gods. The concept of a heavenly body and a god were one and the same to the ancient peoples who gave the names. This pattern of naming the days is the most common through out all languages of the world. The pattern is broken in cultures that experienced a spiritual awakening in ancient times.

Russian is a language that does not name the days of the week for pagan gods. Russian names the days of the week largely based upon the numbering system.

(Sunday) Воскресенье, (Voskreseniye) -Meaning resurrection, referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
(Monday) Понедельник, (Ponedelnik)- All other Slavic languages call Sunday "Nedelya", literally no business or no work. Sunday is the day of no work. Ponedelnik is the day after no work. Interestingly, Russian is the only Slavic language to use the word resurrection to refer to Sunday. Russian uses the Slavic word for Sunday, "nedelya" to refer to "week."
(Tuesday) Вторник, (Vtornik)- literally, the second (day).
(Wednesday) Среда, (Sreda)- literally, the middle. This however is inconsistent with Tuesday being numbered second.
(Thursday) Четверг, (Chetverg)- literally, the fourth (day).
(Friday) Пятница, (Pyatnitsa)- literally, the fifth (day).
(Saturday) Суббота (Subbota)- literally, the Sabbath,

The Russian language really came into birth after 800 AD and was still a very young language by the time of official Christianisation in 988 AD. So any usage of Old Slavic pagan names for days of the week would have been quite obvious to early Russian Christians. I have tried to research on the internet Old Slavic names for days of the week and have been unsuccessful at turning anything up. Early Russian Christians would have had a strong desire to change the naming system fo days of the week.

There are two basic systems for naming days of the week- numbering or pagan gods. There are some religious variations, work based variations and legal based variations in various languages. There is no system that uses a "world" religious name for every day of the week. The Irish language uses Lord's Day for Sunday, First fast for Wednesday, Day between fasts for Thursday and Fast for Friday. It maintains the planets/ pagan gods for the remaining days.

Many Muslim countries have changed their languages throughout history to a numbering system (this is a supposition of mine, I would have to check up each respective proto language to confirm this), while often referring to Friday as a meeting or gathering day.

My question is, how important is is that English days (and many other languages) are named after pagan gods? It could be argued that it is not important, because language changes and people do not think of pagan gods when naming days of the week. But is this really true? On a latent level many of us know that the days are named for pagan gods. Of course, western societies by and large are not majority Christian any more, so there would be no desire to change the system for a majority of people.

The Quakers were a deep thinking people and decided to drop the pagan system and change to a numbered system- Lord's Day, second day, third day etc. The Hebrew days of the week were first day, second day, so on and Sabbath for the seventh day. One day, when there is a great spiritual awakening in the nations of the west again (which I theologically believe there will be), I wonder if the names of the days of the week will be changed accordingly.

End of the world just round the corner?

Well I think I have painstakingly explained previously why I think the end of the world is a long way off. But there has been some interesting news this week to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. I was reading theage.com.au and stumbled on this article "World's largest experiment set to go off with a big bang."
It is about the world's largest particle accelerator underground in Switzerland. The experiment is scheduled for July, when two atoms are set to collide at a speed just short of light. The temperature created will be 100 000 times hotter than the centre of the sun. (That's a figure that is completely academic to me.) It is hoped that the experiment will create matter and anti-matter previously unobserved. This of course is quite fascinating. It is hoped that analysis of the new matter created will give clues about the big bang.
There are some environmentalists from Hawaii (not physicists) who are afraid that the experiment will create a black hole that will suck up all life on the planet. They have attempted to legally stop the experiment from going ahead. I tend to think that their fears are completely unfounded.

But you never know, perhaps they are on to something along with the cult that just came out of the cave in European Russia. Perhaps if the Hawaiian environmentalists ask really nicely the Russians will let them join their cult.

Read here for some opinions from the public.

Kingdom of Comfort- Delirious? (review)

I'm not gonna take the time to review this entire record for you, except to say, it's grrrrreat mate. Seems I got it earlier than most, and for this I am happy, even if I can hardly brag to anyone about it from deep inside Siberia.

First of all, you can completely skip my attempt at a review and head straight to the Delirious? website and listen to it there, in entirety. This album is seriously growing on me very quickly. One of the things I look for in a new Delirious record is a song that I can worship God too. At first they appear to be almost missing. But I love the way that this band does not stick to any formulas at all. They never try to write a worship song per se, but the depth of love of God just overflows in every song, and it is impossible not to worship God in every song.

This album has a lot of depth to it. The band had spent a lot of time in India and Cambodia, not seeking inspiration as such, but simply to share their music there with people as an act of generosity. Their experiences obviously rattled them and have wrought a different kind of Delirious?, a Delirious that has obviously danced with cynicism and despair and yet the Holy Spirit has won out in their hearts. Lyrics such as: "I thought I believed but I just turn away from these souls living in this hell today" are then followed up with "Your love, finds a way to break through this love finds a way to kiss you" to prove that there is always hope when Jesus' love is part of the equation. The title track is a healthy reminder to not be consumed by the consumer age: "Save me, save me from the kingdom of comfort where I am king from my unhealthy lust of material things."

Musically, there is not a huge departure from previous records, but a welcome progression into new strong melodies, riffs and choruses. The biggest change is that the choruses are packed full of harmonies, and the strength shines through, only to improve on previous performances.

If you're a big fan and you want to put Kingdom of Comfort on your ipod now, then you will need a US credit card. I bought it from Amazon for $8.99. It will be on iTunes Canada on April 22nd. I have no idea when it will be available in Australia. Apparently I will miss out on a 32 page booklet packed with stories. That's a little disappointing, but hey, I got it early and I'm doing a little for the planet along the way.

The record has 12 tracks, but there are some bonus tracks for free download on the band's website in the "Living Room." Personally, I find the bonus song "Hallelujah" as strong if not stronger than some songs that made the cut. I hope they do it, in concert, and I hope I get the chance to see them play again. They are playing Australia now. There are some dates in North America in July, August and November, and a big gap in between. Here's hoping some of that gap in between will be in western Canada in August or September.

Rock on.

When was the world created?

The Jews believe that the world was created on March 29th, 3760 B.C. Were they even close?

Chronicles of the Kings- Lynn Austin

My wife has convinced me to read some of the books she has been reading. Normally I don't read a lot of novels from the Christian book market. I usually find them too tame. The truth is that the evangelical market can be easily offended and therefore the content often strays from the depths of reality.
Anyway, the books that were put into my hand were a series called "Chronicles of the Kings." The author, Lynn Austin has chosen to portray the life of King Hezekiah in fiction. Hezekiah was one of the few kings in the history of Judah to truly honour God and his law. As far as the novels have been concerned (I am reading the third book in a five part series), the over all enjoyment factor for a good read has been reasonable. I guess I would give them a score of 7/10. A couple of things have annoyed me though. The prophets seem rather weak. When Micah came to Hezekiah at the start of his reign he "prophesied" on his academic knowledge of the Torah, rather than by a burning of the Holy Spirit inside of him. This seems to all to easily fit in with an evangelical stream that would rather have the Father, Son and Holy Book, rather than the Holy Spirit. So many evangelicals seem to be afraid of the power of the Holy Spirit, and it certainly comes through in Lynn Austin's books. Secondly, there is no doubting that these books are written for women, as much of the Christian fiction market is (perhaps why it is seen as impotent by people like me). There are far too many times when the heroine of the story dreams of her love for her man, and of being held in his arms etc. Now this is all very good when these books are mostly read by women, but when is someone going to have the courage to write something a little more palatable for both genders?
Aside from the fictionalisation of the story (which I will not spoil for you) one of Lynn Austin's obvious goals was to get people to pick up their bible's and read the stories of the kings in a new light. This is something I am greatly appreciative to her for. She has put faces on the characters of the bible. This is necessary because the biblical stories are set so far in the past and in such different cultures, that it is often difficult to relate to them. It certainly encouraged me to read the stories of the kings again to get a better context for the story I was reading in a novel.
Lynn Austin manages to make the Assyrians seem rather mean, but not as ghastly as a writer like John Grisham or Steven Lawhead would have the guts to do. But then those writers (Christians as they are) have been given the cold shoulder by much of the evangelical world for publishing in the secular market. It does give the reader a better impression of why Jonah wanted to disobey God when he was called to prophesy to Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrians.
So, I read the books of 1st and 2nd Kings. I decided to skip Samuel on this occasion, as I know the stories of King David better. A few things stood out to me as I read these books. (I calculated that they would be about 250 pages in normal paper back spacing, but the bible pages are rather thin with tiny type on them.) Firstly, Solomon was at once the biggest success and biggest failure that Israel ever had. It would be fair to say that God has accommodated our mistakes many times in his plans. Solomon is a big example of God doing this.
Let me digress. God never intended for sin to be in the world. But he lovingly decided to give us free choice. When sin entered the garden of Eden, God decided to come up with a salvation plan. Very early on God promised he would send a Saviour, who was yet unnamed. Later on, after many more human mistakes God let the Israelites know that it was his preference for them to not have a king like the other nations, because he wanted to be their King. Yet God showed grace to the Israelites and allowed them to have a king, even though it would be their down fall in the end.
Saul may have been Israel's first king, but David was God's choice for Israel's king. David was a man after God's own heart, yet even he had a lot to learn about God's will. Israel prospered under David. Israel began to fulfil its purpose as a light among the nations. Under Solomon, Israel prospered beyond imagination. Gold was so plentiful in his kingdom, that silver was considered worthless. He kingdom stretched up to the Euphrates river, just as God had promised Abraham. Kings and queens from all over the known world came to Solomon to seek his wisdom and hear where his wealth had come from. Israel was the most prosperous nation in the world under King Solomon.
But Solomon had a fateful flaw. He took on foreign wives. In fact the Torah already gave instructions that a king should not have many wives. It seems that Solomon did not know the law well enough. As Solomon took on 700 wives, many of them to form alliances with other nations, they also brought their foreign demigods. Solomon was tempted into worship of gods other than the true Creator God Yahweh. As he was tempted, he led his nation into the same sins. It was as a direct result of Solomon's sin of idol worship that Israel was split under his son Rehaboam. Rehaboam remained the king of Judah, and Jeroboam (not in the line of King David) became the king of Israel.
So many of the kings of Israel and Judah worshipped idols because Solomon led them into sin. So much of the old testament story is about Israel's struggle with temptation and God's desire for them to be a light to the world. Imagine if Solomon had remained a godly man and had not taken on extra wives. Imagine if his son had been a godly man too. It would stand to reason that a godly son would have inherited his kingdom and not only maintained it, but would have seen it prosper even more. The fame of Israel would have spread even further through out the world. Israel would truly have been a light to the nations. A succession of godly kings that did not take on idol worshipping wives would have made for a very different history.

The second thing that stood out to me, was that God promised that there would also be a son of David sitting on the throne of Judah. God promised that he would reserve a remnant for himself in the nation of Judah for "the sake of David." David is a "type" or a foreshadow of the Messiah Jesus. When God promised that he would do this "for the sake of David" he was in many ways saying he would do this for the sake of his Son, the coming Messiah.
When Jesus was born, he was the last King in the line of David to be born. He inherited the "throne" of Judah. This was declared to the world as he hung dying on the cross under the sign "King of the Jews" (Jew, being a derivative of Judah). Since Jesus rose from the dead, and lives for evermore, he continues to be the King of Judah, of the new spiritual Israel. No nation of Israel or Judah can exist without God's king in place.
Many believed that Israel being established in 1948 was a fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecies that the Jews would return to Judah. But it would pay to read the return to Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra as a fulfillment of these prophecies. The modern nation of Israel does not pay any attention to the King in the line of David, therefore they are not the biblical nation of Judah. They are not some special fulfillment of prophecy. They need a saviour just like the rest of us, they need to call on King Jesus.
Reading 1st and 2nd Kings also helped me realise that I have both an earthly and a heavenly King in Jesus. He will return to establish his reign on earth some day. It is clear though, that Israel failed in being the light to the nations that God desired. The nation of Judah was destroyed in AD 70. His plan now is for the spiritual nation of Israel with Jesus as King to be his Light to the nations. But I do not buy into some notion in the middle east having a special part to play in that plan.

iPod touch- no pairing record (welcome confused iPod users)

I have been quite surprised by the number of people who have come to my blog in the last few days because of the problem they have been having with their iPod. There are LOTS of people out there with the same problem. I think it may be a problem with software update 1.1.3. If you are able to get it working and update to 1.1.4 then the problem should hopefully go away. Read the post below for the story. If my experience does not help you, call the technical assistance line and make sure they help you, don't let them get away with anything. (Number in post below).

I have a new gripe now. I can only charge the iPod touch through iTunes on my computer. I have a separate usb hub and can not charge it there. That does not make logical sense to me. If electricity is all that is needed to charge then it should work through the usb hub overnight when the computer is off. I don't want to have spend extra money to buy a special charger just so I can use my iPod on a trip when I don't want to take my computer. I'm kind of annoyed now. Does anyone have any advice on this matter.

Since you have arrived at my blog, please feel free to look around. There may be some other topics that interest you. Just have a look at the labels in the side column. Good luck with your iPod. You'll get it working eventually.

iPod touch- no pairing record

When I knew a friend was going to the States, I decided I would buy a new iPod. For the last two years I have had a 512mb shuffle. Some people I know have even made fun of me, but I am secure in my iDentity. I have wanted an iPod for a long time. It's my birthday this month. My wife kindly let me have the iPod touch as an early birthday present. I refrained from getting the iPhone for a number of reasons, not the least that the ongoing expense would currently be quite high. I guess I will upgrade to an iPhone within a couple of years.

The retail price in the States was $299. Plus tax it was $307. I forked out 7500 rubles (conversion based on date of internet purchase) which worked out to be $339 AUD, a $60 saving on the Australian retail price of $399.

My friend arrived yesterday and I picked up the package this morning. The presentation was classy.

The box was small and shiny. Although, I would rather have had U2 on the front than John Lennon. He's never gettin' in to my iTunes.

I calmly walked home and even picked up some groceries on the way.

Out it came from the box.

Still shiny, still happy.


It's really thin too- 8mm x 61mm x 110mm.

Next came the exciting moment, plugging the usb cable into the computer. iTunes did not open by itself. I waited a while. I opened iTunes manually. "iTunes is unable to connect the iPod "iPOd" because the pairing record is missing." Arrrrgh!! What could be wrong. I wasn't happy. I disconnected and tried again. Still the "pairing record" was missing. I was beginning to freak out. $340 and all I had was a shiny looking (albeit wafer thin) brick. After four tries I was dismayed and ringing friends. I found out I could call Apple Customer Service (US) 1800 MYAPPLE. When I did get through, I was told that I could call technical support when they open, but was shown very little sympathy. The shine was really beginning to wear off.

Some forums spoke of other people having the same problem. I stumbled upon one person saying that it worked for them on the sixth try. Another person said to try a different usb port. I tried the all faithful restart on the computer. My wife sat down to have a go, I suggested trying a different port, and thankfully it worked that time. I still think I will ring Apple Technical support. If you have found my blog and you want to speak with them their number is (US) 1800 275 2273. If you are calling outside the US, use your international code first. I called on Skype and it was still a free call.

I intend to call them now, and ask them what the situation is......

As far as the iPod is concerned, I am still very happy. Unfortunately, my internet provider has me set up on VPN. I will have to install Leopard before I can do VPN sharing and be able to use my iPod online. It will still work in wireless cafes though.

..... I'm on hold right now, while the consultant checks with the "product specialist".

....."It was a problem with the Apple ID"

....."excuse me, I don't understand, could you explain that to me"

....."I will transfer you to the product specialist."

On hold again.


The product itself is extremely intuitive. Even my 2 1/2 year old daughter could work it. I showed it to her and she immediately said "clock!" and pressed the clock button. She also found it very easy to scroll through photos.

I have my "answer" from Apple technical support. It was rather vague. There was possibly some confusion with the Apple ID (the one I use to log in to the iTunes store). I don't believe the explanation. It would explain the problem if the ipod was already connected, but not the very first time I took it out of the box. Apparently restarting the computer was the right thing to do.

God help you if restarting the computer does not help.

And God help you, if it doesn't work and you live in a place a loooong way from Apple support.

P.S (Since you have taken the time to read my blog, please feel free to have a look around if anything else interests you. The labels in the side column are a good starting point.)

Creation Day

March 1st 2009 is to be celebrated as "Creation Day."

World Cup Soccer (Football) 2018 bid

I hate soccer.

It is lauded as the "world game." So often in Australia people cringe at the dominance of American culture and resist it as strongly as possible. So why then are people falling so madly in love with the dull round ball game? To do so is as much an abandonment of Australian culture as pursuing American culture is.

Kevin Rudd has announced that Australia will bid for the 2018 soccer world cup. Arguments are always made about the economic advantages of large events. No doubt that is true. But arguments have also been made that a world cup would help "social cohesion" for Australia with the rest of the world.

Australia needs to be secure in its own identity. The Australian populace right now thinks that we need to get with the rest of the world and join in the "world game". As an Aussie living in Russia I feel I have something to say about the "world game". Russia is another country that is often insecure in its identity and wants to be like the rest of the world. Russia used to be a champion nation at ice hockey. Canadians remember the glory of defeating the Soviet Union at ice hockey in the early 70s because the Soviet Union ice hockey team was a force to be reckoned with. There are still Russian players in the NHL, but I think that will decline in the future.
Ice hockey is dropping in popularity in Russia because of soccer. There are outdoor ice hockey rinks in neighbourhoods all over Russia, but they don't get used any more. People play soccer on them, all year round. I have often marvelled at the craziness of people running around playing soccer at -20 degrees. Russians are now mad about soccer. They want to be like Europe. Young people want the money that soccer offers in Europe. But somehow they have forgotten that the NHL also pay big money in ice hockey. Soccer is killing Russian culture. Russians do ice hockey well, but not soccer.
The Russian national team can not even qualify for the world cup. Russia is the most populated country in Europe. Europe have more seeds at the world cup than any other region. All of Russia's sporting muscle is being poured into soccer these days and yet they still can not qualify for the world cup. They have thrown their ice hockey legacy away for the dull round ball game.



If Australia insists on pursuing this love affair with soccer we will also throw away much of our heritage. We actually already have two world games that we are very good at. Cricket is a world game. No one can dispute this. Cricket is only growing in popularity in the world. It may not be as big as soccer, but it is actually second. There is more and more money in cricket all the time, due to the booming Indian economy. We have a world game that we are champions at, why do we need to pursue soccer at the expense of other sports?
Rugby Union is another world game that Australia is good at. Rugby is also growing in popularity in Europe. The Rugby Union world cup was held last year in France. France won the Rugby world cup in 1999. Italy are also pursuing the game of Rugby. Australians feel we should pursue soccer because it is big in Europe. But this is simply an attitude of following. If we want to be leaders then we should continue to lead in the sports we are good at.

If Australia is to host the 2018 soccer world cup then the AFL and NRL will have to suspend their seasons in the middle of the year in June and July. This is because the soccer world cup has to be held during the European off season. It seems ludicrous that Aussie Rules and Rugby should have to shut down so that Australia can watch soccer. This is a bit strangulating and arrogant of soccer. They would have to take over all of the large stadiums in Australia to make the world cup happen.
The AFL and NRL have legal rights to the stadiums during the winter. So legally they should have the power to stop the world cup from coming to Australia. The AFL were pressured by the government to accept an international drug code that they were not keen to sign for various reasons. It would be a shame and disgrace if the governments of Australia pressure the AFL and NRL into suspending their 2018 seasons.

Aussie Rules football is the only truly Australian game. It was invented in rural Victoria in the 1850s. It has its roots in three sports- an Australian Aboriginal ball game played with a ball made of possum hide and certain aspects of Gaelic Football and Rugby. Tom Wills is credited with the invention of the game in 1858, Wills grew up playing the Aboriginal game with Aboriginal children in western Victoria during the 1840s.
If social cohesion is something we desire in Australia then Aussie Rules Football is well qualified to do this. Aussie Rules is the most popular sport in indigenous Australia. Recent programs in South Africa have seen white and black children playing Aussie Rules together. It is viewed as the sport of reconciliation in South Africa, as soccer is the sport for black people and rugby for white people. Soccer however in Europe has a long history of racially motivated violence. How is this good for social cohesion?

Of course the biggest indictment against soccer is that it is boring. Many of the games end in 0-0 or 1-1 draws. Many soccer world cups have been decided on penalty shoot outs. Cricket has been accused of being boring in the past. But draws are almost non existent in test cricket these days. In limited overs cricket a tie is extremely rare. Draws proliferate in soccer.
Soccer scores are always low. Even in professional ice hockey, scores are regularly 6-5 or 4-3 etc. Scores in Rugby usually get up to 20 or 30 points. Scores in Aussie Rules football usually get up to 100 points. An Aussie rules game will usually see around 10 or more goals per team.

Soccer is boring and a dull cancer on the cultural heritage of Australia. Soccer is greedy and wants to crush all other sports in its wake including ice hockey and Aussie rules football.

I hate soccer and hope it never succeeds in Australia.