The Discordian Calendar

The Erisian Reckoning of Time, as Revealed on Page 00034

“To choose order over disorder, or disorder over order, is to accept a conditions that are really identical.” — Principia Discordia

Today’s Erisian Date

— Calculating —

How the Calendar Works

The Discordian calendar (also called the Erisian calendar) is an alternative calendar described on page 00034 of the Principia Discordia. It replaces the Gregorian calendar’s 12 months with a simpler system built entirely around the number five—the holiest number in Discordianism.

Here’s the basic idea:

5 seasons of 73 days each (5 × 73 = 365 days)
5 days in each week (73 ÷ 5 = exactly no remainder!)
5 Apostle Holydays (one per season, on the 5th day)
5 Season Holydays (one per season, on the 50th day)

The Discordian year starts on the same day as the Gregorian year—January 1 is always Chaos 1. This makes conversion straightforward: just figure out what day of the year it is, and the math does the rest.

Why fives? The Law of Fives states that all things happen in fives, or are divisible by or are multiples of five, or are somehow directly or indirectly related to five. “The Law of Fives is never wrong.” — Principia Discordia

The Five Seasons

Each season lasts exactly 73 days and is patronized by one of the five Apostles of Eris. The seasons replace the Gregorian months entirely.

1. Chaos

Season of Beginnings

Gregorian dates: January 1 – March 14

Patron Apostle: Hung Mung

Element: Sweet

2. Discord

Season of Strife

Gregorian dates: March 15 – May 26

Patron Apostle: Dr. Van Van Mojo

Element: Boom

3. Confusion

Season of Bewilderment

Gregorian dates: May 27 – August 7

Patron Apostle: Sri Syadasti

Element: Pungent

4. Bureaucracy

Season of Red Tape

Gregorian dates: August 8 – October 19

Patron Apostle: Zarathud the Incorrigible

Element: Prickle

5. The Aftermath

Season of What Comes After

Gregorian dates: October 20 – December 31

Patron Apostle: Malaclypse the Elder

Element: Orange

Easy way to remember the order: First comes Chaos (things begin), then Discord (things clash), then Confusion (nobody understands), then Bureaucracy (somebody tries to control it), and finally The Aftermath (whatever’s left over). This is also, coincidentally, the lifecycle of every group project.

The Five Days of the Week

The Erisian week has five days, named after the five Discordian elements. Because each season has exactly 73 days and 73 ÷ 5 = 14 remainder 3… wait, no. Actually 73 is not divisible by 5. But each year (365 days) divides into exactly 73 five-day weeks. Every year starts on Sweetmorn and ends on Setting Orange.

#	Day Name	Element	Abbreviation
1	Sweetmorn	Sweet	SM
2	Boomtime	Boom	BT
3	Pungenday	Pungent	PD
4	Prickle-Prickle	Prickle	PP
5	Setting Orange	Orange	SO

How to figure out the day of the week: Take the day number within the season (1–73) and find the remainder when dividing by 5:

Remainder 1 = Sweetmorn
Remainder 2 = Boomtime
Remainder 3 = Pungenday
Remainder 4 = Prickle-Prickle
Remainder 0 (divisible by 5) = Setting Orange

For example: Chaos 26. 26 ÷ 5 = 5 remainder 1 → Sweetmorn.

Holy Days

There are 10 named holy days each year—two per season. The Principia Discordia specifies only these; however, Discordians have freely invented additional holidays over the decades.

Apostle Holydays (5th of each season)

Each holyday honors the patron Apostle of its season. They all fall on the 5th day because, of course, five.

Holyday	Season	Discordian Date	Gregorian Date	Apostle
Mungday	Chaos	Chaos 5	January 5	Hung Mung
Mojoday	Discord	Discord 5	March 19	Dr. Van Van Mojo
Syaday	Confusion	Confusion 5	May 31	Sri Syadasti
Zaraday	Bureaucracy	Bureaucracy 5	August 12	Zarathud
Maladay	The Aftermath	Aftermath 5	October 24	Malaclypse the Elder

Season Holydays (50th of each season)

The “flux” days mark the midpoint of each season. Their names combine the season name with the suffix “-flux.”

Holyday	Season	Discordian Date	Gregorian Date
Chaoflux	Chaos	Chaos 50	February 19
Discoflux	Discord	Discord 50	May 3
Confuflux	Confusion	Confusion 50	July 15
Bureflux	Bureaucracy	Bureaucracy 50	September 26
Afflux	The Aftermath	Aftermath 50	December 8

St. Tib’s Day & Leap Years

Every four years, the Discordian calendar inserts an extra day called St. Tib’s Day. It falls between Chaos 59 and Chaos 60 (which corresponds to February 29 in the Gregorian calendar—Leap Day).

St. Tib’s Day is special because it exists outside the normal week. It is not a Sweetmorn, Boomtime, Pungenday, Prickle-Prickle, or Setting Orange. It is simply St. Tib’s Day—a day that belongs to no weekday at all.

Why does this work? Because 4 years + 1 extra day = 5, a sacred Discordian number. The math of chaos provides.

Note: The Principia Discordia is ambiguous about whether St. Tib’s Day follows the Julian rule (every 4 years, no exceptions) or the Gregorian rule (skip centuries except every 400 years). This has caused a minor schism. Most Discordians follow the Gregorian rule because it’s funnier to argue about.

Year Numbering (YOLD)

Discordian years are counted from 1166 BC, traditionally the date of the Original Snub—when Eris was not invited to a party on Olympus, leading to the Trojan War and, by extension, all subsequent chaos in human history. This is also described as the year of the Curse of Greyface.

The abbreviation YOLD stands for “Year of Our Lady of Discord.” Converting is simple:

YOLD = Gregorian Year + 1166

Example: 2026 + 1166 = 3192 YOLD

Gregorian Year	YOLD	Significance
1166 BC	1 YOLD	The Original Snub / Curse of Greyface
1 AD	1167 YOLD	—
1958	3124 YOLD	Discordianism founded
1970	3136 YOLD	Principia Discordia 4th edition
2026	3192 YOLD	The current year

Gregorian ↔ Discordian Date Converter

Pick any Gregorian date and see its Discordian equivalent instantly.

Gregorian Date

Test Your Erisian Knowledge

Five questions, randomly generated from the sacred mysteries of the Discordian calendar. Each time you reload, the questions change—because nothing in Discordianism stays the same for long.