September means seven, yet it is the ninth month of the year.
That contradiction has followed humanity for over two thousand years. Most people never stop to question it. We accept “Happy New Month” messages every September 1st without asking why “Sept,” the Latin root for seven, has somehow shifted to number nine.
The story begins in ancient Rome. Their earliest calendar started in March, not January. Back then, September was truly the seventh month, October the eighth, November the ninth, and December the tenth. The names matched the numbers. But politics reshaped the calendar. King Numa Pompilius added two new months — January and February — to honor Rome’s gods and to make the calendar align more neatly with the lunar year. Overnight, September was pushed to ninth place. Later emperors like Julius Caesar and Augustus even renamed months after themselves, but September’s name remained stuck in time.
The order changed, but the names never did. And so the mismatch survived, passed from empire to empire, century to century, until it sits today on every phone and computer in the world.
It is not just a quirk of history. It is a parable of how human beings inherit broken systems and learn to live with them. The calendar says September is nine while meaning seven — and nobody blinks. In the same way, societies claim equality while practising inequality. Governments call themselves democratic while silencing dissent. Corporations preach sustainability while draining the planet. The names no longer match the reality, but like the Romans, we keep them anyway.
That is why September matters. It is not just another page on the calendar. It is a reminder that words and systems can drift away from truth, and the world will carry on as though nothing happened. But if we pause to notice, we can ask harder questions. Do our labels still fit our reality? Do the words we repeat every day still mean what they claim?
September is not just about seven and nine. It is about courage — the courage to make sure our world matches its language with its truth. Until then, every time you write the date in September, remember: the error is not the month. The error is us.
September is proof that lies can last for centuries if nobody questions them.
— Saintmoses Eromosele
Executive Director, ONEGHE SELE FOUNDATION
📞 08079436049, talktosme@gmail.com
