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Seven Sleepers' Day (german: Siebenschläfertag) on
June 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded.
* 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
* 1499 – Americo Vespucci, on Spanish financed trip, sights coas ...
is a
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
commemorating the legend of the
Seven Sleepers
In the Islamic and Christian traditions, the Seven Sleepers, otherwise known as the Sleepers of Ephesus and Companions of the Cave, is a medieval legend about a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus (modern-day S ...
as well as one of the best-known bits of traditional
weather lore
Weather lore is the body of informal folklore related to the prediction of the weather and its greater meaning.
Much like regular folklore, weather lore is passed down through speech and writing from normal people without the use of external me ...
(expressed as a proverb) remaining in
German-speaking Europe
This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in Europe, ...
. The atmospheric conditions on that day are supposed to determine or predict the average summer weather of the next seven weeks.
Origins
The legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus was first presented by
Jacob of Serugh
Jacob of Sarug ( syr, ܝܥܩܘܒ ܣܪܘܓܝܐ, ''Yaʿquḇ Sruḡāyâ'', ; his toponym is also spelled ''Serug'' or ''Serugh''; la, Iacobus Sarugiensis; 451 – 29 November 521), also called Mar Jacob, was one of the foremost Syriac poet-theo ...
around 500 AD and later popularized by
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...
. Its Western version was part of the widely distributed ''
Golden Legend
The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...
'' hagiography collection compiled by
Jacobus de Voragine
Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the ''Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medie ...
about 1260. The cult became common during the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
of the High and Late Middle Ages, and June 27 was declared a commemoration day in most of the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
dioceses. Contrary to popular belief, the name of the day does not refer to the
edible dormouse
''Glis'' is a genus of rodent that contains two extant species, both known as edible dormice or fat dormice: the European edible dormouse ''(Glis glis'') and the Iranian edible dormouse (''Glis persicus''). It also contains a number of fossil spec ...
(''Glis glis''), a rodent known as ''Siebenschläfer'' in German for its seven-month
hibernation
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...
.
The story appears in the Qur'an (Surah Al-Kahf 18:26), where they are called "The people of the cave". The Islamic version includes more details such as the mention of a dog, who accompanied the youths into the cave and appears to keep watch. In this version the people slept for 300 years (according to Gregorian calendar) or 309 years according to the lunar calendar.
Singularity
The Seven Sleepers
singularity is contested as quite inaccurate in practice. Objections have been raised that the weather lore associated with the day might have arisen before the 1582
Gregorian calendar reform
Calendar reform or calendrical reform is any significant revision of a calendar system. The term sometimes is used instead for a proposal to switch to a different calendar design.
Principles
The prime objective of a calendar is to unambigu ...
, and as at this time the difference to the
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
amounted to ten days,
July 7
Events Pre-1600
* 1124 – The city of Tyre falls to the Venetian Crusade after a siege of nineteen weeks.
* 1456 – A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her execution.
* 1520 – Spanish ''conquistado ...
would be the actual Seven Sleepers Day. Based on this date the prediction has a slightly increased probability of about 55–70%, if confined to the
southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
parts of Germany, where the rule seems to have originated.
[
] In contrast, the weather lore is not applicable to
Northern Germany
Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
and its rather
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
.
Depending on the meandering flow of the polar
jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering thermal wind, air currents in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are west ...
in the
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
(
Rossby wave
Rossby waves, also known as planetary waves, are a type of inertial wave naturally occurring in rotating fluids. They were first identified by Sweden-born American meteorologist Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby. They are observed in the atmospheres and ...
s) and the emergence of veering
low-pressure and high-pressure (
anticyclone
An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from abov ...
) systems, the atmospheric conditions tend to stabilize in early July: either a high-pressure
ridge
A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...
takes hold over
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
, which may coalesce with the subtropical
Azores High
The Azores High also known as North Atlantic (Subtropical) High/Anticyclone or the Bermuda-Azores High, is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure typically found south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Hor ...
to form a stable and warm macro weather situation; or a high
North Atlantic oscillation
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a weather phenomenon over the North Atlantic Ocean of fluctuations in the difference of atmospheric pressure at sea level (SLP) between the Icelandic Low and the Azores High. Through fluctuations in the ...
between the
Icelandic Low
The Icelandic Low is a semi-permanent centre of low atmospheric pressure found between Iceland and southern Greenland and extending in the Northern Hemisphere winter into the Barents Sea. In the summer, it weakens and splits into two centres, one ...
and the Azores High implies a long-standing influx of wet air masses into Central Europe.
Similar
weather lore
Weather lore is the body of informal folklore related to the prediction of the weather and its greater meaning.
Much like regular folklore, weather lore is passed down through speech and writing from normal people without the use of external me ...
exists referring to
Saint John's Day
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...
on 24 June,
Saint Medardus' Day on 8 June (especially in the
Czech Republic and
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, but also in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
),
Saints Gervasius and Protasius
Saints Gervasius and Protasius (also Saints Gervase and Protase, Gervasis and Prothasis and in French ''Gervais and Protais'') are venerated as Christian martyrs, probably of the 2nd century. They are the patron saints of Milan and of haymakers a ...
on 19 June, the Feast of the
Visitation on 2 July (pre-1969 calendar),
Seven Brothers' Day on 10 July, and
St Swithun's Day
Swithun (or Swithin; ang, Swīþhūn; la, Swithunus; died 863 AD) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posth ...
on 15 July.
See also
*
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...
, whose weather is supposed to predict the arrival of Spring
*
Ice Saints
The Ice Saints are St. Mamertus (or, in some countries, St. Saint Boniface of Tarsus, Boniface of Tarsus), St. Pancras of Rome, Pancras, and St. Saint Servatius, Servatius. They are so named because their feast days fall on the days of May 11, Ma ...
*
National Sleepy Head Day for the holiday in Finland
*
Saint Swithun's Day
References
{{reflist
Weather lore
June observances
Saints days