thanks for sharing that awesome article, tonyz.
i like they way it explains the lunar/solar disconnect and how you could reconcile it
Any effective lunar calendar must be in sync with the seasonal or solar year, which the crop cycle follows. But as nature would have it, the moon and sun have trouble living together in harmony. Our years of 365+ days can accommodate twelve lunar cycles, or 354 days, with a shortfall of eleven days, or thirteen with an overrun of eighteen, that is to say, 383 days. Our Roman forebears, who bequeathed us the calendar we use, force-fitted the two cycles together. They artificially lengthened the months to thirty and thirty-one days, a most unnatural choice for attentive sky watchers, which the Romans decidedly were not. Another solution for keeping seasonal time by the moon would be to keep successive twelve-month years, inserting a thirteenth month into the year cycle when necessary to make up for lost time, as we do with our Leap Year. Many Native American tribes, likely including the Powhatans, did just that.Some were more precise with their lunar reckoning. We know the Delaware named the phases of the same moon; for example, the new moon, likely the first visible crescent; the round or full moon; and the half round, or probably last quarter, moon. The intervals between the directly visible phasesâ€â€ranging from a few to several daysâ€â€proved convenient in day-to-day practical operations. Think of how often in a given day you refer to activities that will take place “after the weekend,” “early next week,” or “in a few weeks.”