Cynemernes

Cynemernes is the Utopians’ name for the festival marking the beginning of a calendrical period, making the turn of time a public religious observance rather than a merely administrative boundary. In the calendar Raphael describes, its counterpart is Trapemernes, the festival at a period’s end; the paired observances frame communal life with thanksgiving for what has passed and prayer for what is to come.

Calendar and Meaning

The Utopians reckon their months by the moon and their years by the sun. The first and last days of both month and year are festivals: the opening days are called Cynemernes, while the closing days are called Trapemernes. These names correspond, in Raphael’s account, to festivals that begin or end a season. The calendar thus links recurring natural cycles to a shared religious rhythm, while marking beginnings and endings as distinct occasions.

Observance at the Turning

The evening festival that concludes a period belongs to Trapemernes: while still fasting, the Utopians gather in their temples to thank God for the period just completed. Early the following day, Cynemernes, they return to pray for the successful course of the new period. The sequence gives the beginning its forward-looking character: gratitude closes the old cycle, and collective prayer opens the next.

Family and Public Worship

The account also describes preparations associated with the concluding festival. Before going to the temple, wives and children kneel before their husbands or parents, acknowledge ways they have failed in their duties, and ask pardon. The ritual is intended to settle small domestic grievances before worship, since the Utopians consider resentment and anger incompatible with approaching God. At the temple, men and women sit separately, and family members are arranged before the head of their household, placing domestic order visibly within the public ceremony. Together, these customs show how the calendar’s boundary connects household reconciliation with shared devotion, even as Cynemernes itself directs attention to the period ahead.