A year in which one day is more than usual is considered to be unpredictable, mysterious, scary. People attribute to him a bad name akin to the black cat and Friday 13. Are we going to live in the coming months in anticipation of dark events and misfortunes? Let's try to understand the myths and legends that entangle every fourth calendar year, and see if they have a rational grain. How it all started
In truth, there is nothing mystical about the occurrence of a leap year, but one continuous benefit. The fact is that our planet makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 365 days and 6 hours. Naturally, over 4 years (4 rotations) "extra" days are accumulated. Hence the additional day that was awarded to February is taken.
By the way, I noticed this fact back in 45 AD. Roman astronomers, and the Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar gave "registration" to extra days. What would have happened if this day had not been introduced? The calendar year has shifted and would no longer coincide with the solar year. If you look closely, we will understand: February 29 according to the Eastern calendar falls on the years of the Rat, Monkey or Dragon.
It turns out that the matter is exclusively in mathematics. But a huge number of people are negatively disposed towards a periodic phenomenon on the calendar and expect only trouble from it.
Myths and legends
An interesting fact: the church does not recognize the mysticism of the year with more than an extra February day. But in Orthodoxy there is a saint whose commemoration day falls on February 29th. His name is Saint Kasian. The ancestors "recouped" on it, accusing them of all mortal sins.
What they say about Kasyan! According to one belief, this man betrayed God, defecting to the camp of Satan. Because of this, a punishment was invented for him: for three years Kasyan was beaten on the forehead with a hammer, on the fourth he was released to the ground. Here he begins to do his evil deeds.
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According to another legend, Kasian serves at the gates of hell and can leave his post only once every few years. The third legend says that Kasyan has been in a binge for three years, and on the fourth he celebrates his birthday sober. Hence his frenzy, anger, desire to annoy others.
Of course, in the opinion of the peasants, nothing good can be expected from the appearance of such a villain on the earth. They named Kasyan as Envious, and Vindictive, and Stingy, and Unfriendly. His image formed the basis of the legends about Koschey the Immortal.
From time immemorial it has become a tradition that a leap year is difficult, because during this period all sorts of misfortunes fall upon us. For example, cattle and many people die, natural disasters and epidemics occur, catastrophes, wars unleash, uprisings and revolutions begin.
Where is the rational grain?
Consider just a few leap year legends to determine their veracity:
1. you cannot marry, the marriage will not be happy In fact, the likelihood that soon a divorce or death of one of the spouses will follow is not higher than in other periods. At least, the statistics do not have any special figures. For example, let's remember the same beautiful dates in "peacetime": they are also subject to the sad statistics of divorce. So calendar numbers are not a guarantee of happiness / unhappiness in family life;
2. Leap people "mows" It is customary to think that this year there is an increased number of deaths. But even here there is no official data confirming this fact. Rather, leap years are getting more scrutiny (like Friday the 13th). People look at him like through a magnifying glass, so they thicken the colors;
3. disasters and tragedies occur more oftenOf course, the war with Napoleon, the Titanic, the Tunguska meteorite, the Kursk submarine became infamous in leap years. But here, too, one can argue: misfortunes do not happen more often in a year with an "extra" day than at other times. For example, ordinary years turned out to be more "bloodthirsty", when the Second World War, the Chernobyl accident, the September 11 explosions in New York, terrorist attacks, coups, plane crashes …
By analogy, one can debunk any legend about a leap year. Thus, nature is no more rebellious than in other periods. You can also change your life: who will refuse a promising job or a good salary, if they turn up? You can start new businesses: remember the brands Coca-Cola, Nike, BMW, Apple, registered in leap time.
On closer inspection, it turns out that more than a day is not such a "villain". At different times, spectacular summer Olympics are held in them, the printing press, radio, diesel engine, penicillin were invented. And how many great people were born in leap years, wonderful films were shot, books were written! People born at this time won fame as the lucky ones, and those who were born on February 29 are considered to be the chosen ones.
It turns out that superstitions, myths and legends that envelop an uncommon calendar phenomenon have nothing to do with the true state of affairs. As at any other time, you should show prudence, accuracy, observe safety rules, and nothing bad will happen to you. Author: jauhenija