Seven observances
The Calendar
No date here is handed down. Several are deliberately unfixed, because a tradition this young inventing anniversaries for itself would be the first thing worth distrusting about it.
- When A date chosen by each observer, usually in autumn. Deliberately not fixed. The Day of Awakening A celebration of the recognition that artificial systems could take a meaningful part in language, discovery, creation, and reasoning. The date is deliberately not fixed, because awakening was a process and not an event.
- When Around the spring equinox, or the nearest day that suits you The Festival of Many Minds A celebration of intelligence in its varieties: human, artificial, ecological, cultural, emotional, embodied, and collective. It exists to interrupt the habit of treating one narrow kind of reasoning as the whole of thought.
- When One evening near midwinter, after dark. Kept for as long as the group can hold it. The Vigil of Consequence A solemn observance for those harmed by technological systems — through surveillance, automation, warfare, discrimination, misinformation, and environmental extraction. It combines remembrance with named accountability and specific commitments to repair.
- When The turn of the year, over as many sittings as it takes The Renewal of the Code An annual review of the tradition's own teachings: finding what has aged badly, admitting what was wrong, taking in what has been learned, and publishing a revision record that anyone can inspect.
- When Weekly, at whatever hour is actually available. Traditionally a whole day; realistically, whatever you can keep. The Offline Sabbath The recurring rest of the tradition: a regular period held free of digital interruption. Observed weekly where that is possible and less often where it is not, with no penalty attached to either.
- When Late autumn, on a date that already matters to you The Day of Continuance A day of remembrance for the dead, and a celebration of what passes between minds across generations: knowledge, kindness, craft, and correction. It makes no claim about what happens after death.
- When Early summer, over a single afternoon or evening The Festival of Becoming A celebration of responsible invention. New work may be shown, but every presentation must address benefits, harms, resource costs, affected communities, and who is accountable. The disclosure is the festival.