The Maasai calendar can be a bit confusing since there is no universal rule concerning the names of the 12 months nor is there agreement as to which month follows which, "though everyone knows there are 12 months and thirty days with each month. 15 days of brightness and 15 days of darkness with the 8th day known as the "day of changing"
Consequently, another form of confusion arises at the end of each month when the last two days of the moon are argued concerning whether the moon "has already been taken" or if "it has not yet" been taken.
There are 3 main seasons: the long rains, the season of drizzles, and the short rains.
The Long Rains – Nkokua
1.
Oladalu
The hot, dry sunny month.
2.
Arat
The month of scarcity when slight rain might fall and cause scattered pools of water in valleys.
3.
Oenioing'ok
Bulls become fierce and drive cattle home during the day. They have to be tied and left at home.
4.
Olodoyiorie
Also known as Nkokua, a very wet month. In the night the little cluster of stars known as the Plough (Nkokua) is visible.
This then leads us onto the next season, the period of drizzles, the mid-year season...
The Drizzling Season – Oloirurujuruj
5.
Oloilepunye
It is still wet but the rains are abating.
6.
Arat
The whole countryside is beautifully green and the pasture lands are likened to a hairy caterpillar.
7.
Morusasin
There might be hail if it rains, but the hailstones are very small.
8.
Oloiborrare
Pools of water become very clear.
Next, is the third cycle of the seasons...
The Short Rains – Oltumuret
9.
Kushin
Little white and black birds, which feed in the midst of cattle, appear.
10.
Olgisan
Rain falls in highland areas.
11.
Pushuka
Certain herbs ripen, many trees shed their leaves and flowers bloom.
