A lunary (from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''lunarium''), also called a selenodromion or moonbook, is a book of prognostication based on the position of the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

at any given time. It is an

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

genre with parallels as far back as Akkadian literature. From the 2nd century AD, it is common in the Greco-Roman world. There are examples in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, Coptic,

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

and

Old Nubian Old Nubian (also called Middle Nubian or Old Nobiin) is an extinct Nubian language, attested in writing from the 8th to the 15th century AD. It is ancestral to modern-day Nobiin and closely related to Dongolawi and Kenzi. It was used throughou ...

. Pagan,

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and Christian examples are known. The lunary was "by far the most popular and widely circulated prognostic genre" during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. Use of the term "lunary" for the genre is a modern convention. In Middle English, ''lunarie'' referred to

volvelle A volvelle or wheel chart is a type of slide chart, a paper construction with rotating parts. It is considered an early example of a paper analog computer. Volvelles have been produced to accommodate organization and calculation in many divers ...

s and not prognostic texts. The Latin ''lunaria'' had a similar usage. The term "lunary" is sometimes applied to the practice of creating lunaries and determining propitious days on the basis of the moon, a form of hemerology. Lunaries are similar to electionaries in that they were used for choosing (electing) astrological propitious dates for events. They differ in that they limit themselves to the moon, ignoring the other planets and stars. Lunaries were used for predicting and planning birth, business, death, illness, marriage, planting, phlebotomy and travel. There are two main types of lunary: the day or mansion lunary, which is concerned with the station of the moon in its cycle (

lunar month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Eur ...

of 28 days or

synodic month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Euro ...

of 30), and the month or sign lunary, which is concerned with the moon's successive risings in the twelve signs of the

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...

. There are picture lunaries in which the things to be done or avoided on a given day of the moon are illustrated.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{refend Astrological texts