I spent a good bit of time, thinking about planets. I wonder now, how much richer the existing five books would have been, for having this tiny bit of world-building included. People could talk about “A Hadra child” or a “Takkara child” to reference being a good worker, or a good lover:) Although I think that a lot of Chanmyr may have lost their astrology belief and understanding. Except perhaps maybe the Beddo, and the shadow dancers:)

Anyway- here is an overview of how things work in Chanmyr:)

The world of Chanmyr is ruled by the gods. Each planet represents one of the known gods. Chayan, who is perceived as the father and his four (five) children. Takkara the warrior, Hadra, Ashok the thinker (wisdom), Iyana And Aja-nu, who is the lost/missing child.

More on these guys later;)

The Chanmyran year is 453 days long, with each day being slightly longer than an earth-day. The calendar is divided up into ten months that are forty-five days each. There is a pre-day at the beginning of each month. It is not counted as one of the days in the month. That day is a sacred day. People are expected to fast from sunset on the day before and spend the day making offerings to the gods and do penance for any transgressions.

There are ten months, comprised of five weeks. The weeks are ascribed to the Chayan and his four children. The first day of each god’s week is devoted to that god. These are considered lesser days than the BIG HOLY DAY between each month, but is a time to focus on specific requests and needs. Offerings vary depending on the god.

• Chanmyr 471.3
• Takkara 827
• Hadra – 982
• Ashok 6482
• Iyana 94 day orbit
• Aja-nu indeterminate, random orbit

Back on Chanmyr: There are nine days of each week. The gods-day is a day of nominal work, and the fourth-day of the week, work generally stops at the middle of the day. This is often used for celebrating or recreational events.

This makes a calendar year of 460 days. But wait. We have an additional eight days! What? Well, These days are what are called intercalary days that sit outside of the calendar, just like the sacred day before each new month. Three days are inserted into the calendar at the summer and winter solstices. That makes six days. The final two days are alloted to the two equinoxes in spring and fall.

The solstice days are the Days of the Red God. They happen twice every year, once in the winter season, where death and mourning rites are observed. In the summer, it is a celebration of life, fertility and abundance. Such is the dual nature of The Red God:)

TIME- The days are also slightly longer than a human-standard day. Probably a little closer to thirty hours. (can you tell I always wish I had more time, and more hours in a day?:).

Now, as the Chanmyrans haven’t yet invented clocks to measure time, because they are still fairly agrarian and advanced-ancient civilization, they use the moons. More specifically, they use the Nibbin– which conveniently races across the sky several times each day. The Nibbin makes four passes in a thirty hour period, rising roughly at 6AM and again at noon (remember, these are earth approximations). So “A Nibbin” is considered the time from rise to set, or approximately three hours. A half-nibbin is the time from nibbin-rise to nibbin-high, or nibbin-high to nibbin-set, depending on where the moon is in its orbit. Incidentally, it also travels a reverse path, rising in the west and setting in the east– just because its a contrary little bugger!

THE PLANETS

Iyana is closest to the sun- This accounts for the fickle nature of chance, fate and destiny

Chanmyr is the second planet. The ancient world perceived this as Chayan. Current belief holds the sun as Chayan. The Beddo, in particular consider Chayan as the supreme deity over the others. Some believe that Chayan is the father of all and equate him with the Sun, for that reason.

Takkara is the next planet out- the warrior god is the god over work, duty

Hadra is next- the god of compassion/love and emotions– she is in close proximity and similar orbit to Takkara

The proximity of these two, is perceived as the eternal struggle between duty-work, and the heart.

Ashok (wisdom) is the furthest planet out- affects generations more than individuals.

The Red god– little is known about this elusive and currently missing deity. His appearance in the pantheon is random and unpredictable. He has not appeared in three hundred fifty years

Aja-nu, change/ trickster irregular orbit. furthest out but depending on cycle comes in fairly close  last time the red god appeared was 350 years. before that was 572 before that was a short cycle 80 years before that 56 years before that was 547 yrs.

Note- In most cultures, Aja-nu and the Red God are perceived as the same entity, due to the long periods between its appearance in the heavens.

Note- this does not include the various moon-satellites of each of the gods, often perceived in mythology as their pets or powers/totems.