Abstraction Alert!!

In the beginning is the act.
Later comes the explanation.

Avoid conflating the two.

Once open a time recurring celestial events were the only options for marking "long" time intervals.

A farmer in a place with seasons (as opposed to a farmer at the equator) needs to know two things before he does his farmerly thing.
What time of the year - month (zodiac)
what time of the month - phase of the moon