Where Did Neopia’s Months Get Their Names?

The month of Sleeping

The month of Sleeping is a recovery period after the month of Celebrating. There aren’t really more celebrations in the last month of the year than in any other (and fewer than in the month of Awakening, for instance). However, Neopians traditionally go all out on the Day of Giving. They have a potlatch spirit - status among Neopians (with a few nasty exceptions) is determined by what you give away, not by what you have. “Day of Giving” really should be “Week of Giving,” for festivities can last for several days, tending to run into the New Year. This means Neopians are pretty much all exhausted, bloated and broke by the time the month of Sleeping arrives, so they curl up in their Neohomes and sleep it off.

This means they aren’t terribly interested in the special days held during the month of Sleeping. The date for “Sloth Appreciation Day” was chosen with this in mind, to keep celebrations to a minimum while placating Sloth. It’s hard on pets whose special day comes this month, however. Many Aishas and Buzzes sleep through their festivals. If they do wake up, they have an awful time awakening their masters, and tend to miss the parties anyway. Cap’n Threelegs doesn’t give out too much free training - few are awake enough to profit from it.

The month of Awakening

Even the most bloated Neopets have slept off the effects of the month of Celebrating by now, so, a little frowzled, they slowly go back to their regular activities. The week of the 12th to the 18th is especially active, with Lenny Day and Chia Day, and most of all, Valentine’s Day. The chocolate factory works overtime, and so does the plushie factory, making gifts for all.

The month of Running

The month of Running is really the month of Realizing. Neopets who napped through the month of Sleeping and overindulged on Valentine’s Day realize that they have to get in shape. Gadgadsbogen, the festival of fruit, is the perfect time to start a healthier diet. By the 22nd, active, athletic Neopians are ready to enjoy the Chomby Carnival.

The month of Eating

All good things come to an end. This includes good resolutions. Whether because of indulging in the pleasures of the Chomby Carnival, or through just plain laziness, most Neopians have given up on healthy pursuits like running by now. Back they go to normal - back to food, games and fun. Only the few serious Battledome contenders can resist the main activity of the month of Eating.

The month of Hunting

What do Neopians hunt? Mostly rare objects, ghosts, elusive faeries and whatever their friends hid from them on April Fool’s Day that still hasn’t turned up. Do Neopians hunt each other? Perish the thought! Despite all the weapons floating around, true Neopians contain any violence to the Battledome and only hunt each other when playing hide and go seek.

Part of the reason for the month of Hunting’s name is to honour Lupes, whose day it is on the 2nd. These greatest of Neopian hunters set the tone for the whole month.

The month of Relaxing

Frantic activity never lasts long in Neopia. Having found what they were hunting for or given up in disgust, most Neopians are quite happy to relax. The weather is sublime all over the planet, and Neopians kick back and enjoy it.

Some disgruntled faerie-hunters have been known to complain that the whole idea of the month of Relaxing was invented by Queen Fyora, whose day it is on the 2nd, to make them stop hunting faeries for a while, but Her Majesty isn’t telling.

The month of Swimming

Swimming isn’t just for the inhabitants of Mystery Island this month, though the beaches there are even more crowded than usual. Krawk Island celebrates a month-long truce with the rest of Neopia, allowing any and all to swim in the waters around the island without being bothered by pirates. Swimming/diving tours of Maraqua are organized. Even the rink in Happy Valley has been known to thaw enough for polar dips near the end of the month.

It is very appropriate that Flotsam Day and Peophin Day are both this month.

The month of Hiding

Things are back to normal in Neopian waters this month, and don’t you forget it. Krawk Island pirates are back to being the scourge of the seas. Maraquans, annoyed by all the messy, noisy tourists the month before, suddenly enforce all their anti-littering, anti-treasure-hunting laws to the fullest again. So at this time of year we have the pirates and raiders hiding from each other and from everyone else, and everyone else hiding from the pirates and raiders.

Those not on or under the seas are hiding, too - hiding from the heat that strikes most of Neopia at this season, hiding from the minions of anyone who decides to use the good weather as cover for another takeover attempt, hiding from the relentless cuteness of the Annual Usuki Doll Convention.

The month of Gathering

The month of Gathering is devoted to gathering together. Festivity-loving Neopians gather for the Annual Chocolate Ball. They dance, they sing, they eat chocolate, they give chocolate away. One little-known Neopian custom is for younger Neopets (anyone who isn’t actually a baby can’t get away with this) to hide in the bushes near where the ball is being held and leap out to smear chocolate on unsuspecting revelers.

Barely have Neopians recovered from the ball and washed the chocolate out of their fur when it’s time for the Poogle Parade, another excuse for taking to the streets in merriment. This is followed the next day by the Faerie Festival, when generous faeries celebrate by helping all those who ask in humbleness of heart.

Some of those who ask for the faeries’ aid are probably looking for help with the Annual Gormball Championships scheduled for a few days later. Speed, agility, strength, cunning - all are in greater demand, as Neopians of all species vie for the Gormball title.

The month of Collecting

Packrats, avatar hunters, stamp collectors, book lovers and gourmets love the month of Collecting. It is totally devoted to them, and their love of stuff. There’s a peculiar passion in having all the possible shapes of sand sculpture or all the colours of Mynci plushie. Then there’s the even more peculiar passion that draws someone to collect piles of dung, but let’s not go there. Some things are better left unexamined, and the average pile of dung fits nicely in that category.

The month of Storing

After spending a month collecting, most Neopians need to spend at least another month organizing their new possessions. The furniture stores quickly sell out of wardrobes, shelves, desks, bookshelves and boxes. Stamps are stuck in albums. Lucky Neopets who have received loads of new books crawl into quiet corners to read them. Safety deposit boxes are emptied, shaken out and refilled. The auction and the trading post are especially busy. Anyone looking for presents to give in the month of Celebrating can find bargains galore.

The month of Celebrating

The month of Celebrating almost doesn’t need an explanation. This is when Neopia comes into its own. Almost all Neopians are born generous and caring (with a very few nasty exceptions, whom we will not name here), and now they show it.

Neopians celebrate almost everything, as you can see from the number of holidays in their calendar, but now they go all out. That’s why they need so much rest and recuperation in the month of Sleeping, when the cycle begins all over again.

Is any of this true? Well, calendars tend to have mythical or fantasy elements, and the Neopian calendar is no exception.