Temporal Numerology

or Arithmology, if etymology’s your thing.

Numerology refers to occult, supernatural, or mystical association between numbers and events: birthdays, dates of deaths, volcanic eruptions and so on. It can be useful, however, in linking numbers to common uses, and in so doing, generate a common meaning.

24-7-365 is one example, drawn from the 24-hour day, the 7-day week, and the 365-day year. We don’t have an idiom for the month, as it isn’t so definitive: the lunar month has 29 or 30 days, the Gregorian calendar month has 28 to 31 days. theAbysmal Calendar has such a variety of measures that it’s unclear how any of this might be meaningful.

That’s not to dissuade one from trying.

11 and 33

These two numbers are associated with the 363-day calendar which has 11-day week and 33-day months. These measures don’t fit evenly into other divisions of the year, and so, might be used idiomatically to represent this particular way of reckoning time.

Glyph XI on the 260-day calendar stands for the Trickster, Raccoon, in theAbysmal’s system.

The 363-day calendar might be referred to as the Trickster’s, or Raccoon calendar. This isn’t definitive, but it’s a thought.

7 and 13

The 364-day calendar has a 7- and 13-day week. The equivalent glyphs are VII (Deer) and XIII (Tobacco). The meaning in these glyphs is not so clear as with XI above. As the 7-day week is the foundation of the 13-month calendar, and the 13-day week the foundation of the 7-month calendar, the two numbers are entangled. Their sum, 20, also happens to be the number of glyphs in the 260-day calendar. The final glyph is XX (Muskrat).

19

The 361-day calendar has a 19-day period, 19 of which fit into the year. Glyph XIX (Storm) signifies energetic disruption. Again, the meaning of this association is up for consideration. In any case, 19 is linked excusively to the 361-day calendar.

9

The 729-day calendar is the most suitable for the 9-day week. However, as glyph IX stands for Moon, it may be confused with the lunar calendar. There is also the 9-month year to consider, which is a feature of the 360-day calendar.

The number 9 is considered the magic number in different traditions, and indeed, it is essential to how theAbysmal system scales time from the vibrations of Caesium atoms to the age of the Milky Way.

15, 18, 20

The 360-day calendar. has 3 months of duration equivalent to glyphs: XV (Goshawk), XVIII (Mirror), XX (Muskrat). Again, these associations are up for consideration.

Conclusion

Inconclusive, most disappointingly. Numerology is a system that requires a community to give it life, and as theAbysmal is a system available for any community to use, these numbers are waiting for you to breathe new life into them.

What are we waiting for?