The sun traverses six portals in the east and six in the west, completing its annual course in 364 days. Day and night are measured in eighteen equal parts. An intercalary day is added at the close of every third month, giving four seasons of exactly 91 days. At each solstice the sun reaches the extreme of that portal and works back through the portals in reverse order.
| Month / Period |
Portal (East Rising) |
Days (Exact) |
Key Verses |
Light Balance (of 18 Parts) | Seasonal Point (as described in text) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ◈ Spring — Sun ascending northward through portals 4 → 6 | ||||||
| 1 | 4Fourth (great portal) | 30 morningssun rises & sets | 6–9 |
10 day · 8 night
|
Start of Year Day starts lengthening — Vernal Equinox implied (balance point) | |
| 2 | 5Fifth | 30 morningssun rises & sets | 11 |
11 day · 7 night
|
Days continue lengthening | |
| 3 | 6Sixth | 31 morningssun rises & sets | 13–14 |
12 day · 6 night
|
Summer Solstice Longest day — extreme north (Gate 6). Sun turns here. | |
| ◈ Summer — Sun descending southward through portals 6 → 4 (return pass) | ||||||
| 4 | 6Sixth (return pass) | 30 morningssun rises & sets | 15–16 |
11 day · 7 night
|
Post-solstice — day decreases to 11 parts. Days start shortening. | |
| 5 | 5Fifth (return) | 30 morningssun rises & sets | 17–18 |
10 day · 8 night
|
Continued shortening | |
| 6 | 4Fourth (return) | 31 morningssun rises & sets | 19–20 |
9 day · 9 night
|
Autumnal Equinox Balance restored — equal day and night (9:9) | |
| ◈ Autumn — Sun descending southward through portals 4 → 1 | ||||||
| 7 | 3Third | 30 morningssun rises & sets | 21–22 |
8 day · 10 night
|
Nights now longer than days | |
| 8 | 2Second | 30 morningssun rises & sets | 23–24 |
7 day · 11 night
|
Continued shortening of days | |
| 9 | 1First | 31 morningssun rises & sets | 25–26 |
6 day · 12 night
|
Winter Solstice Shortest day — extreme south (Gate 1). Sun turns here. | |
| ◈ Winter — Sun ascending northward through portals 1 → 3 (return pass) | ||||||
| 10 | 1First (return) | 30 morningssun rises & sets | 27–28 |
7 day · 11 night
|
Post-solstice — night decreases to 11 parts. Days start lengthening. | |
| 11 | 2Second (return) | 30 morningssun rises & sets | 29–30 |
8 day · 10 night
|
Lengthening continues | |
| 12 | 3Third (return) | 31 morningssun rises & sets | 31–32 |
9 day · 9 night
|
Year End 364 days complete — balance restored (9:9). Cycle renews at Gate 4. | |
| Annual Totals | 364 days | vv. 6–32 | 18 parts per day · 4 intercalary days · 4 × 91 days per season | Portal arc: 1 ↔ 6 · Two solstices · Two equinoxes | ||
† Intercalary days — An extra day is appended at the close of months 3, 6, 9, and 12, yielding four quarters of exactly 91 days (30 + 30 + 31 = 91). Four quarters × 91 = 364 days total. Significantly, this 31st day is not reckoned in the ordinary count, placing it outside regular time. This suggests it functions as the day of the boundary — the precise moment the sun stands at the extreme of its portal before reversing course. At Month 3 (Gate 6) it marks the summer solstice turning point; at Month 9 (Gate 1) the winter solstice; at Month 6 and Month 12 the equinox threshold between Gate 3 and Gate 4. A day outside the count belongs to neither the outgoing nor the incoming arc — it belongs to the boundary itself, consistent with ancient Near Eastern practice of treating the four cardinal solar points as days apart from ordinary time.
Portal reuse at solstices — At each solstice the sun reaches the extreme of that portal and works back through the portals in reverse order. At the Summer Solstice (Gate 6, Month 3), the return journey begins in Gate 6 again for Month 4, then steps back through 5, 4. Likewise at the Winter Solstice (Gate 1, Month 9), Month 10 also rises in Gate 1 before ascending through 2, 3. The solstice portal is thus used for two consecutive months — the turning month and the first return month — before the arc resumes.
Light balance — Parts are of 18 equal divisions of the 24-hour period. At Summer Solstice: 12 day / 6 night. At Winter Solstice: 6 day / 12 night. The vernal equinox falls between Gate 3 and Gate 4 — a portal boundary rather than a gate itself. Month 1 already shows 10:8 because the sun has crossed the equal-day point in the unmarked transition from Gate 3 to Gate 4 and is climbing northward. The true equal division (9:9) at Month 6 and Month 12 reflects the return crossing of that same threshold, where the month-end measurement lands precisely on the balance point.