The Cherokee Calendar is a Venutian [based on the movements of the planet Venus] calendar of 260 days This consists of the 20 day signs and 13 numbers [20x13=260]. This is not to be confused with the time it takes Venus to orbit the sun. Venus appears in the East as the Morning star for a little over 260 days, and in the West as the Evening Star for a little over 260 days. It is interesting to note that 260 days is also the approximate gestation time of a human. It amuses me that everything in nature is always approximate, nothing is carved in stone or completely predictable. We do well to learn this lesson... Nothing comes out as a whole number. The time it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun is also approximate... approximately 365.24 days. The moon takes anywhere from 27 to 30 days to orbit the Earth -- depending on the point of reference used to calculate the orbit. As Cherokees we celebrate the Solar New Year on the first new moon after the setting of the Pleiades Star Cluster, which was somtime around the first of November. Traditionally it was the responsibility of the Daykeeper to synthesise the Calendars of Venus, teh Sun, and the Moon, and to select the most appropriate [and usually approximate!]Day for each New Moon Ceremony. The twenty Days of the Cherokee calendar move around the circle counterclockwise, thus harmonising with the direction that the Earth orbits the Sun.