In the folklore of Scandinavia, Tycho Brahe days (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

: ''Tycho Brahes-dage'';

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: ''Tycho Brahedager'';

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Tycho Brahe-dagar'') are

days A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two solar ...

judged to be especially

unlucky Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

, especially for magical work, and important business transactions (and personal events).

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was k ...

(1546–1601) was a

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

astrologer 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 ...

, and

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

and as such achieved some acclaim in popular folklore as a sage and magician.

Origins

The idea that certain calendar dates are lucky or unlucky is of ancient origin, going back as far as the Mesopotamian civilizations. Tables that identify lucky and unlucky days are sometimes known by their German category name ''Tagwählerei''. * The

Coligny calendar The Coligny calendar is a second century Celtic calendar found in 1897 in Coligny, France. It is a lunisolar calendar with a five-year cycle of 62 months. It has been used to reconstruct the ancient Celtic calendar. The letters on the cale ...

identifies certain calendar dates as lucky (''mat'') or unlucky (''anmat''). * The

Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. The term often includes the Julian calendar established by the reforms of the Roman dictator, dictator Julius Caesar and Roman emperor, emperor Augustus in the ...

marks many days and parts of others as '' dies nefasti'', religiously unsuitable for the conduct of public business. * Contemporary North America has a tradition that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day. It has been called a "pervasive form of divination" that "is found in all societies which regulate their days and nights in calendric system". The received idea concerning the origin of Tycho Brahe days was that : "Tycho Brahe, the celebrated Danish astronomer of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was very superstitious, considering certain days in the year pregnant with misfortune, wherefore in Denmark, up to this very day, the laboring class call such days on which they happen to meet with some unfortunate accident, ''Tycho Brahe's days''." In his travelogue ''A Poet's Bazaar'',

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

alludes to Tycho Brahe's death while living in exile, in Prague, observing that : "Denmark owns not even his dust; but the Danes mention his name in their bad times, as if a denunciation proceeded out of it: These are 'Tycho Brahe's days!' they say." However, no mention of the days now called ''Tycho Brahe days'' is actually found in any work of Tycho Brahe. They nevertheless are often referenced in

almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other ...

s and recur in Scandinavian folklore. In the

Cyprianus ''Cyprianus'' is a name given in Scandinavian traditions of folk magic to the "black book" ("''Svarteboken"''): a grimoire or manuscript collection of spell (magic), spells; and by extension to the magical tradition that these spells form a part o ...

tradition, Tycho Brahe days are considered unlucky for magical work; several of the spells in the ''Black Books of Elverum'' note that they should not be carried out on a Tycho Brahe day.

Days

:''Based on 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 ...

'' *January 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, 29 *February 11, 17, 18 *March 1, 4, 14, 15 *April 9, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 29 *May 10, 17, 18 *June 6 *July 17, 21 *August 20, 21 *September 16, 18 *October 6 *November 6, 18 *December 6, 11, 18 These days were supposed to be unlucky to perform tasks such as getting married, starting a journey, or to fall ill on. Some versions claim that Tycho Brahe also identified several days as particularly lucky: *January 26 *February 9 and 10 *June 15 Some lists omit certain days, or add others; there is no standard list. Denmark was on the

until 1700, when it switched to the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

References

{{Superstitions Danish folklore Norwegian folklore Swedish folklore Luck Unofficial observances Superstitions of Scandinavia

Days A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two solar ...

Supernatural legends

Origins

Days

See also

References