Saules kalendārs

A calendar has a significant meaning of the folklore and cultural lifestyle in the land that lives in. We have created a calendar that would help parents and teachers introduce children to the ancient Latvian way of life and early traditions.

Working with this calendar in practice, the child will learn and memorize the sequence of seasons and the corresponding months, dates and sequence of days of the week. Awaiting and celebrating each of the 8 annual anniversaries together with parents, will enrich the child's knowledge of culture and possibly continue their folk traditions in the future.

This calendar combines the Gregorian calendar with the Sun’s annual rhythm. The Baltic nations, historically and even in the modern day, have lived according to the solar calendar. This unique Latvian time measuring system has been mentioned and seen throughout in folklore, for example, in “dainas'' (Latvian folk songs) which testify the high level of understanding early Latvian people had of the Sun’s annual rhythm. For the ancient Latvians, the counting of days started on December 25, immediately after the Winter Solstice; eras - from the period of “Meteņi”, and the farming year starts in “Ūsiņdiena”. Our Latvian ancestors lived in harmony with nature, and we too must continue to carry the culture of our people by passing it on to future generations.

The year is divided by the rhythm of the sun, creating eight special events - 8 Godly holidays. We should identify them and celebrate them accordingly.

The calendar is accompanied by a description of these 8 mentioned holidays.