About The Thelemic Calendar
The Thelemic calendar counts years from 1904 e.v. (the
year Liber AL was received). Each Thelemic year starts
on March 20th of the civil calendar, at (approximately)
the northern-hemisphere Vernal Equinox.
Rather than simply giving the year count from 1904, the
Thelemic calendar uses a two-tiered system. The "upper"
level gives a count of twenty-two year periods since
1904; the "lower" level gives the years since the start
of the current twenty-two year period. Both are zero-based,
with nonzero numbers being represented as upper and lower
case Roman numerals, respectively. So, for example, the
civil year 1996 is (after March 20) Thelemic year IViv
(because 1904 + (4 * 22) + 4 equals 1996).
Some Thelemites assign the twenty-two years of each cycle
to the twenty-two Trumps of the Tarot. The 22-year period
numbers themselves are also assigned in this way. Hence,
1996 is doubly linked to Trump IV of the Tarot,
the Emperor.
Within each year, dates and times are often expressed by
the positions of Sun and Moon in the Tropical zodiac. For
example, May 12, 1996 e.v. at 6pm PST would be expressed
as "IViv, Sol 22° Taurus, Luna 29° Pisces." This specifies
the precise date and time to within about two hours.
When giving dates in the civil calendar, Thelemites will
often append "e.v." This is an abbreviation of the Latin
phrase "era vulgaris," or "common era."
-- From the O.T.O. Web Page
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