Lekhikàn · the seventh book
Kishux òk Aquechque
the moon and the sun
The Sacred Calendar of Mikumwakàn
The shape of the year
The year begins on Day One, the first day of spring, when the sun crosses into Aries at the spring equinox. From Day One, the year is counted by the moon: each new moon opens a new moon cycle, and each cycle carries its own name.
The sun gives the year its beginning; the moon gives the year its rhythm. Both can be seen by anyone who looks up, so no outside authority is needed to keep this calendar true.
The day, the moon, and its phases
Each day begins at sunset, so every day opens in rest and the fertile dark and rises into light. Each moon cycle begins at the new moon and lasts 29 or 30 days, counted Day 1 through Day 29 or 30.
The moon cycle is honored as the rhythm of the womb: the same span of about 29.5 days that women carry in their own bodies. As the womb gathers, ripens, and releases, so does the moon.
| Phase | Days | Moabe | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dark moon | 1 to 7 | samp-oo-somow (darkness) | Rest, setting intentions, inner work; women's gathering at the new moon |
| Waxing moon | 8 to 14 | òxe (it is light) | Building, learning, planting, labor |
| Full moon | 15 to 22 | word for fullness to come in the second Moabe edition | The monthly gathering of the whole circle; ceremony and celebration |
| Waning moon | 23 to 29 or 30 | npìlsi (I am clean) | Release, cleansing, completion, giving back to the land |
The phases replace the seven-day week. Facilitators mark the first visible crescent with a short sighting rite, while the count itself follows the astronomical new moon so the whole community stays together.
The names of the moons
Each moon is named for what the land and sky are doing in that season on the church's land in Georgia. Every name joins an ancestral word with kishux (moon); the joined names are Moabe coinages built on Lenape (L) and Nanticoke (N) roots.
| Moon | Moabe name | Meaning | Root | Season on the land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Òtaès Kishux | Flower Moon | òtaès, flower (L) | Blossoms open; corn and beans go into the ground |
| 2 | Òkhatim Kishux | Mulberry Moon | òkhatim, mulberry (L) | Mulberries ripen; the first wild fruit of the year |
| 3 | Hmuwìnkwës Kishux | Blackberry Moon | hmuwìnkwës, blackberry (L) | Blackberries ripen; summer begins in strength |
| 4 | Mëlingwèm Kishux | Green Corn Moon | mëlingwèm, green corn (L) | Corn in the milk stage; the season of the young harvest |
| 5 | Pèthakhòn Kishux | Thunder Moon | pèthakhòn, it is thundering (L) | Summer storms water the fields |
| 6 | Xàskwim Kishux | Corn Moon | xàskwim, corn (L) | The great corn harvest; autumn balance arrives |
| 7 | Ximin Kishux | Persimmon Moon | ximin, persimmon (L) | Persimmons ripen after the first cool nights |
| 8 | Wee-saw-panu Kishux | Autumn Moon | wee-saw-panu, autumn (N) | Leaves fall; the land begins its rest |
| 9 | Samp-oo-somow Kishux | Darkness Moon | samp-oo-somow, darkness (N) | The longest nights; the sun reborn at the winter solstice |
| 10 | Nuhàm Kishux | Grandmother Moon | nuhàm, my grandmother (L) | Deep winter; the season of elders, stories, and the Nuhàm Circle |
| 11 | Wawpaney Kishux | Daybreak Moon | wawpaney, daybreak (N) | Light returns; the seed stirs beneath the soil |
| 12 | Pìl Kishux | Cleansing Moon | pil-, to be clean in body and ceremony (L) | Purification before the new year |
| 13 | Gahès Kishux | Mother Moon | gahès, my mother (L) | Appears only in some years; the womb that holds the year until it is ready to be born |
The 13th moon carries the womb at the center of the calendar: in the years it appears, the Mother holds the year a little longer so that the moons and the sun are born together.
The Crossing and the 13th moon
The sun's year runs about 365 days, while 12 moons run about 354, so the two never begin on the same day. The calendar honors both with three rules.
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Day One is the spring equinox. The year's number changes on that day.
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Moon 1 begins at the first new moon after Day One. The days between Day One and that new moon are the Threshold Days: sacred days of opening, kept for planting intentions and the new year rites.
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The Crossing Moon is the moon still in progress when the next Day One arrives. Its days before the equinox close the old year; its days after the equinox become the new year's Threshold Days.
Most years hold 12 moons, ending with Pìl Kishux as the Crossing Moon. When 13 new moons fall between one Day One and the next, Gahès Kishux is born as the 13th and becomes the Crossing Moon. This happens 7 times in every 19 years, and it keeps every moon in its season forever.
The solar stations and planetary shifts
Eight solar stations mark the sun's path through the year, each at a fixed point of the sun's journey through the zodiac. They fall on the same sky positions every year, so their dates shift by only a day or so.
| Station | Sun enters | Meaning | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day One, the spring equinox | 0° Aries | Balance; the year is born; planting begins | àskàskw, green |
| Midpoint to summer | 15° Taurus | Blossoming and growth | àskàskw, green |
| Summer solstice | 0° Cancer | The sun at full strength | wisaw, yellow |
| Midpoint to autumn | 15° Leo | First fruits | wisaw, yellow |
| Autumn equinox | 0° Libra | Balance; the great harvest | màxk, red |
| Midpoint to winter | 15° Scorpio | The ancestors; the land goes to rest | màxk, red |
| Winter solstice | 0° Capricorn | The longest night; the sun reborn | sëk, black |
| Midpoint to spring | 15° Aquarius | The seed stirs; purification | òp, white |
Planetary shifts. Beyond the sun and moon, the church acknowledges every planetary movement:
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Each planet's entry into a new sign
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Each retrograde and each return to direct motion
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Solar and lunar eclipses
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Major alignments between planets
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The moon's monthly passage through all twelve signs
These events are calculated from the actual positions of the planets each year, never estimated. The living Kishux Calendar on the church's site computes and announces them, so facilitators mark each one in ceremony.
Naxa Kishku, the monthly celebration
Naxa Kishku, the Day of Three, is held at the full moon of every moon cycle. The whole circle gathers to honor the four peaks each moon carries: the peak of love, the root, and the three fruits that grow from it, one for peace, one for power, and one for prosperity.
| Peak | Moabe | Alignment | Root of the name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peace | Isla | The moon in harmony with Venus | isla, peace (W) |
| Power | Pèthakhòn | The moon in harmony with Mars | pèthakhòn, it is thundering (L) |
| Prosperity | Xàskwim | The moon in harmony with Jupiter | xàskwim, corn, the abundance of the land (L) |
The root: Këkhitaholtëwakàn. Peace, power, and prosperity come through unconditional love. The peak of love is the moon in harmony with the sun, the source of all its light: the day the growing moon stands in trine to the sun, near the tenth day of each moon. The root of the name is aholtëwakàn, love that flows both ways (L), as the sun's light flows into the moon and the moon returns it to the earth.
How each peak is chosen. Every moon cycle, the moon meets each planet several times in harmonious alignment: joining it (☌), or standing at a sextile (⚹) or trine (△). The peak is the strongest of these, weighted toward a trine or a joining, a planet moving forward rather than retrograde, and a moon growing in light. The Kishux Calendar calculates each peak and marks it with a colored dot: white for Këkhitaholtëwakàn, green for Isla, red for Pèthakhòn, gold for Xàskwim.
The order of the gathering
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Opening with Isla, fa hu lan, and water purification (npìlsi).
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The First Grandmother names the moon and its three peak days.
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Këkhitaholtëwakàn: each person speaks one act of love without measure given or received this moon.
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Isla: each person speaks one act of peace made or received on the peace day.
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Pèthakhòn: each person names one power claimed or a step they took with courage.
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Xàskwim: the harvest of the moon is shared as food from the land, and each person names one abundance received.
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Intentions are set for the three peaks of the coming moon.
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Closing with òngùndëwakàn, the empowering intention spoken over the people, and wanishi.
On each peak day itself, members keep a short personal practice: a moment at sunrise facing east with the intention of that peak.
This year's dates
Kweti Aquechque, Year One, holds 12 moons: Day One stands on March 20, 2026, and Pìl Kishux is the Crossing Moon into the next Day One on March 20, 2027. Tonight, October 26, 2026, is the full moon of Ximin Kishux, Day 17 of the seventh moon. Dates are calculated for Eastern Time on the church's land in Georgia; the Gregorian dates are given only as a bridge for newcomers.
| Event | Moabe | Begins (new moon) | Full moon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day One, spring equinox | March 20, 2026 | ||
| Threshold Days | March 20 to April 16, 2026 | ||
| Moon 1 | Òtaès Kishux | April 17, 2026 | May 1 |
| Midpoint to summer | May 5, 2026 | ||
| Moon 2 | Òkhatim Kishux | May 16, 2026 | May 31 |
| Moon 3 | Hmuwìnkwës Kishux | June 14, 2026 | June 29 |
| Summer solstice | June 21, 2026 | ||
| Moon 4 | Mëlingwèm Kishux | July 14, 2026 | July 29 |
| Midpoint to autumn | August 7, 2026 | ||
| Moon 5 | Pèthakhòn Kishux | August 12, 2026 | August 28 |
| Moon 6 | Xàskwim Kishux | September 10, 2026 | September 26 |
| Autumn equinox | September 22, 2026 | ||
| Moon 7 | Ximin Kishux | October 10, 2026 | October 26 |
| Midpoint to winter | November 7, 2026 | ||
| Moon 8 | Wee-saw-panu Kishux | November 9, 2026 | November 24 |
| Moon 9 | Samp-oo-somow Kishux | December 8, 2026 | December 23 |
| Winter solstice | December 21, 2026 | ||
| Moon 10 | Nuhàm Kishux | January 7, 2027 | January 22 |
| Midpoint to spring | February 3, 2027 | ||
| Moon 11 | Wawpaney Kishux | February 6, 2027 | February 20 |
| Moon 12, the Crossing Moon | Pìl Kishux | March 8, 2027 | March 22 |
| Day One, spring equinox | March 20, 2027 | ||
| Threshold Days | March 20 to April 5, 2027 | ||
| Moon 1 of the new year | Òtaès Kishux | April 6, 2027 | April 20 |
Open for the church to decide: the number of this year in the church's own count, and whether it begins from the church's founding or an ancestral event.