Year and a Day
A year and a day is a period of time often seen in many Pagan religions. The most common usage is in reference to handfastings. Pagan handfastings are not necessarily for life, as are Christian marriages. It's acceptable for a man and woman to 'marry' for a year and a day, before making a lifelong commitment. After the time has passed, they are free to go their separate ways should the relationship not work out. Having such time pass also gave the couple a chance to see if children would be produced. Not such an important issue these days, but in the past, it was certainly something to consider.
Another area where a year and a day is a popular time frame is for initiation into a coven. Of course, different covens will have different initiation requirements, but a year and a day of study or apprenticeship is a common one. There may also be another year and a day between degrees or levels within a coven. It's usually considered a minimum period of time, rather than a definite length.
So what's with that extra day? Using a lunar calendar of 13 months with 28 days in each gives a year of 364 days. But since the solar calendar has 365 days, an extra day is 'added' to make it balance out.
Also, if you want your time period to end on the same date that it started, you need to add the extra day. For example, starting on January 1st, if you counted out a year, you would end up on December 31st. If you wanted the time frame to end on the 1st again, you need to allow for a year and a day. It's this reasoning that keeps the year and a day custom in use today.
A year and a day time period is still seen in modern times, in non-Pagan contexts:
- At one time in the UK, a murder could not be charged if the victim died more than a year and a day after the offense took place. I believe this law was abolished in 1996.
- In the financial world, assets must be held for a minimum of a year and a day in order for them to be considered 'long term'.
- Light prison sentences in the US are sometimes for a year and a day
- There are also a multitude of customs from times past, involving slave ownership, land holdings, legal status and more.
If you're thinking of committing yourself to a project of study, a year and a day would be a traditional choice.
