Mysterious "Bruce calendar" of 1709

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In January 1709, the Bryusov calendar was published. For centuries he "dictated" the "rules of life" to people. He predicted the weather, “predicted” the next troubles and shocks, and could also “decipher” the fate of each individual person.

First edition

Peter the Great initiated the release of the first secular calendar. This difficult task was entrusted to Yakov Bruce, a man of encyclopedic knowledge, head of the Moscow Civil Printing House. It was under his "supervision" that the first two leaves of the "Universal Calendar, or Christian Months" were published, for which the popular name "Bruce's Calendar" was fixed for many centuries. Very soon, four more sheets were printed, thus, the first "Bryusov calendar" consisted of six sheets of A2 format.

Subsequently, the calendar will be revised and republished many times, but its basis will remain unchanged. It is believed that Jacob Bruce acted as an editor, while another associate of Peter, Vasily Kipriyanov, became the compiler of the national calendar (his authorship is reported on the first page of the calendar).

Russian Faust

The man who gave the name to the popular calendar had a truly versatile range of interests: astrology and astronomy, mathematics and geography, botany and mineralogy, physics and meteorology - this is not a complete list of Jacob Bruce's “hobbies”. However, the people stubbornly called him nothing more than a warlock or a sorcerer from the Sukharev tower (it was in it that the scientist conducted research work day and night).

Pushkin called Jacob Bruce "Russian Faust", and Moscow inhabitants gossiped about his ability to turn lead into gold, experiments in creating an artificial man and knowledge of the recipe for "living" water. It was rumored that a real dragon is in the service of the servant of the devil, while the sorcerer himself flies over Moscow on a mechanical bird (they say that its drawings made it possible to create the first Russian airplanes at the beginning of the 20th century). In addition to the "Bryusov Calendar", the planning of Moscow will remain an eternal monument to the scientist: 12 rays radiating in different directions from the Kremlin.

Sensation

The "Bruce calendar" became a real sensation, because before it, people used only Orthodox saints or months. The saints were left in the new calendar, but besides this, the publication was supplemented with astronomical data and an "abyss" of useful information. Structurally, it consisted of two parts: one was for reference, the other was “predictive”.

In the reference part one could find the "Inexpendable Passover" (the so-called Perpetual Easter Calendar); extremely useful for farmers Lunar calendar, based on the 19-year cycle of the position of the Moon. The calendar made it possible to study the features of a particular year based on the characteristics of the planet "assigned" to it. The calculation of the position of the Sun and planets based on the 28-year cycle, as well as the Lunar cycle, are still used by astrologers today to make modern forecasts.

Tourist memo

The reference part also included useful information that was primarily required by people who are shopping or travelers. If necessary, the calendar could find the geographical coordinates of Russian and foreign cities, find out the distance from the largest cities to Moscow, study the list of postal stations, including those located on the road to China.

In addition, it was possible to find out the distance from post stations to St. Petersburg or the main European states. The curious could read the maps of the Petersburg and Moscow provinces, including the detailed plan of the Gold-domed one. Well, it was suggested to take a break after "intense" mental work while "studying" the coats of arms of the Russian state.

Russian "predictions of Nostradamus"

But the wide popularity of the "Bryusov calendar" was brought by its second part - predictive, the accuracy of which was amazing. The calendar predicted not only the weather, but also natural disasters, as well as the future political and economic situation in the country. For example, in 1917 a "happy battle" was predicted - "a bloody war between enlightened peoples", and in 1998 it was also a "great change" and a "new way of government."

"Bryusov calendar" predicted the birth of Dostoevsky: in 1821 "a great man will be born", who, despite "bodily ailments", will find glory "through his labor." Over time, the "Bryusov calendar" will turn into a voluminous reference book. With each new edition, new sections will be included in it, and forecasts of the past years will be replaced by actual predictions for future years.

Individual horoscope

The layman, far from politics, was fond of the so-called "private predictions", as they would say today, horoscopes. Each person had the opportunity to look into their own future: all they had to do was know the date of birth and have the "Bruce calendar" at hand. The calendar “sentenced” those born on a lucky day to fame and wealth, on an unsuccessful day to poverty and life turmoil. Following his recommendations, on certain days they did not start new business, did not change their place of residence, work, or, on the contrary, boldly started changes.

Advice for every day

Here you could find useful tips for every day: when to bleed or shave a beard, when to “have a marriage” or to sew a new outfit, when to build a new house or start a war, when to wash in a bath or take babies away from their mother, and many others. For example, it was recommended to prepare firewood without fail at a time when the Moon is in Aries, to send children to schools - when in Gemini, to start a war - when in Cancer, to go to sea - in Aquarius, to address requests to superiors - in Capricorn.

The popularity of the "Bryusov calendar" is not surprising - many people liked such an exact "layout" of life, and "if something happened" could easily be attributed to the bad luck Bruce.