i will be be sharing astrological, prophecy & other stuff there in a calender form
NUIT/January
Dec. 25 to Jan 5—Yule
Old Teutonic festival honoring Frey & Freya & newborn Balder (God of Light)
New Year’s Day
Named for the Roman god Janus, the two-faced god of beginnings, January was originally the 11th month, not the 1st, until at least 153 B.C. Janus looks simultaneously to the future and the past, a fitting symbol for this first day of the year. The weather of the first 12 days of the year is said to be indicative of the following 12 months.
Every Year
January
Full Wolf Moon
This full Moon appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages. It is also known as the Old Moon. To some Native American tribes, this was the Snow Moon, but most applied that name to the next full Moon, in February.
Jan. 1—Kwanzaa Ends (African American)
Jan. 2—Advent of Isis
Jan. 3—Pueblo Deer Dances (Native American)
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night is an English folk custom that marks the end of Christmas merrymaking and, in the ancient Celtic tradition, the end of the 12-day winter solstice celebration. On Twelfth Night, it was customary for the assembled company to toast one another from the wassail bowl. In Old English, wassail means “Be in good health,” but the term also was applied to the drink itself (usually spiced ale).
Jan. 5—Feast of Befana (Italian)
Jan 6 Original Christmas Day. In the original Church of the Way for the first 325 years of Christianity, January 6, was celebrated as Jesus / Yeshua’s birthday. Then Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, even making it the official state religion of Rome. He couldn’t resist moving Yeshua’s birthday to his own god, Sol Invictus’ birthday, Dec. 25 on the Roman calendar (which was the Winter Solstice back then, a day which in our modern calendar usually falls on Dec. 21). Many early Christian churches continued to celebrate Jan 6 as Yeshua’s birthday up into the 600’s AD even though Constantine had changed the date.
Epiphany
According to the New Testament’s Gospels, on this date the Magi, the three wise men or kings, venerated and brought gifts to the infant Jesus. The word epiphany is not specific to Christianity, as Zeus’s alias, “Epiphanes,” can attest. It comes from the Greek epiphaneia,meaning “manifestation.” In many countries, Three Kings Day is a traditional time of gift giving. Bake a traditional King Cake with a lucky bean inside! Whoever finds the bean is the king of the feast.
Jan. 6—Haxey Hood (English
Three King’s Day (Puerto Rican)
Nativity of Inanna (Sumerian)
Distaff Day
The day after Epiphany (January 6) was traditionally the one on which women went back to work after the 12-day Christmas celebration. A distaff is the wooden rod (staff) that holds the flax or wool on a spinning wheel. The term distaff came to refer to both women’s work and the female branch (distaff side) of the family. The women’s husbands did not go back to work until the following Monday (see below), so they would mischievously try to set fire to the flax on their wives’ distaffs, while the women, lying in wait, would douse them with buckets of water. The English poet Robert Herrick wrote: If the maids a-spinning goe Burn their flax and fire their tow. Bring the pails of water then Let the maids bewash the men.
Jan. 7—Feast of Sekhmet
Jan. 7—Sekhmet’s Day (Egyptian)
Jan. 8—Druidic New Year
Jan. 9—Festival of Janus (Roman)
Jan. 10—Geriant’s Day (Welsh)
Jan. 11—Festival of Carmentalia (Roman)
Plough Monday
The first Monday after Epiphany (January 6) was the day for the menfolk to return to work after the holidays — although no work was actually done on this day. Dressed in clean white smocks decorated with ribbons, the men dragged a plow (plough) through the village and collected money for the “plow light” that was kept burning in the church all year. Often men from several farms joined together to pull the plow through all their villages. They sang and danced their way from village to village to the accompaniment of music. In the evening, each farmer provided a Plough Monday supper for his workers, with plentiful beef and ale for all.
Jan. 12—The Lares (household gods)
Jan. 12—Nez Perce War Dances (Native American)
St. Knut’s Day
In Sweden, January 13 is the traditional day to discard the Christmas tree and end the season’s festivities. A children’s party is the favored way to strip the tree of its decorations, after which the children are free to “plunder” the edible treats and small gifts placed on the tree especially for the occasion. Finally, everyone “dances” the tree out the door. Singing special songs, they pick up the tree and toss it out into the snow.
Jan. 13—Midvintersblöt (norse)
Feast of Brewing (Celtic)
Jan. 14—Makar Sankrati
Jan. 15—Black Christ Festival (Guatemalan)
Jan. 16—Festival of Ganisha
Jan. 17-18–Ashera
Jan. 17 to Feb. 1—Sementivae
Old Roman festival of sowing, honoring Earth Goddess Terra (Greek Gaia), Grain Goddess Ceres (Greek Demeter), and Seed Goddess Proserpine (Greek Persephone)
Jan. 18—Surya (Hindu)
Jan. 19—Festival of Thor
Jan. 24—Blessing of the Happy Woman’s Candle
Burns Night
The birthday of Scotland’s most famous poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796), has become an occasion for Scots all over the world to gather together in his honor. A Burns Night supper usually includes haggis, a traditional dish of the heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf minced with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings. Burns’s words “Hail Great Chieftan o’ the Puddin-race!” greets the dish’s entry into the room. Men wear kilts and women their tartan sashes, and the evening’s celebration includes reading Burns’s poems and singing his songs, ending with one of his most famous, “Auld Lang Syne.
Jan. 25 to Feb 30—Old Roman festival of sowing, honoring Earth Goddess Terra (Greek Gaia), Grain Goddess Ceres (Greek Demeter), and Seed Goddess Proserpine (Greek Persephone)
Jan. 26—Festival of Ekekeo (Bolivian)
Jan 25-30 Feast of Old Egyptian creating and destroying God-Goddess Amen-Amenet – The eternal transformer. Egyptians perceived the many Gods and Goddesses to be aspects of the one God-Goddess Neter-Neteret.
Jan. 30—Festival of the Goddess Pax (Peace)
Jan. 31—Hekate’s Feast (Greek)
Jan. 31—Imbolc Eve (sunset)
Jan 31-Feb 2 Imbolc/St. Brigid’s Day – Old Celtic/Irish feast of Goddess Brigid; merged with the Christian feast of St. Brigid. Fires were lit to welcome Her as She traveled about blessing fields, animals, and people.
Jan 31-Feb 3 Old European Lunar New Year – Celebration of the Triple Goddess (Goddess of the Moon and the Seasons) being transformed from the Crone into the Virgin; celebrated with ritual bathing of divine images.
Jan 31 – Feb 4 Mid-Winter/Candlemas – Festival marking the transformation from death to life, the beginning of the agricultural year, awakening of hibernating animals, and return of migrating birds and fish. Observed with a candlelight procession to bless fields and seeds, recognition of newborns, and contemplation of life.
ASTARTE February
Jan 31- Feb 2 Imbolc/St.Brigid’s Day – Old Celtic/Irish feast of Goddess Brigid; merged with the Christian feast of St. Brigid. Fires were lit to welcome Her as She traveled about blessing fields, animals, and people.
Feb. 1/12—Dionysia
Feb 1-14 Old Greek festival of God Dionysos – in which vines were pruned and sprinkled with wine, accompanied by ritual singing and dancing.
Candlemas/Groundhog Day
It’s no accident that Groundhog Day and Candlemas are celebrated together, for both signify the triumph of light over darkness, spring over winter.
Candlemas was originally a Celtic festival marking the “cross-quarter day,” or midpoint of the season. The Sun is halfway on its advance from the winter solstice to the spring equinox. The Christian church expanded this festival of light to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and her presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple. Candlelit processions accompanied the feast day.
Since the traditional Candlemas celebration anticipated the planting of crops, a central focus of the festivities was the forecasting of either an early spring or a lingering winter. Sunshine on Candlemas was said to indicate the return of winter. Similarly, “When the wind’s in the east on Candlemas Day / There it will stick till the second of May.”
A bear brought the forecast to the people of France and England, while those in Germany looked to a badger for a sign. In the 1800s, German immigrants to Pennsylvania brought their Candlemas legends with them. Finding no badgers but lots of groundhogs, or woodchucks, there, they adapted the New World species to fit the lore.
Today that lore has grown into a full-blown festival, with Punxsutawney Phil presiding. For all things groundhog, visit the folks at Punxsutawney and see what Phil is predicting this year.
Feb. 2—Imbolc/Brigid
Full Snow Moon
Usually the heaviest snows fall in February. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some Native American tribes this was the Hunger Moon.
Feb. 3 Powamu Festival (Hopi)
Feb. 4 King Frost Day (English)
Feb. 5 Feast of St. Agatha (Sicilian)
Feb. 6 Festival of Aphrodite (Greek)
Feb. 7 Day of Selene (Greek)
Feb 7-8 Feast of Old Greek Goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) – as creatrix, midwife of birthing creatures, protector of the young, and punisher of child abusers.
Feb. 8 Mass for Broken Needles (Japanese)
Feb. 9 Dakini Day (Tibetan)
Feast of Apollo (Greek)
Feb. 10 Li Chum (Chinese)
Feb. 11 Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (French)
Feb. 12 Festival of Diana (Roman)
Feb. 13/15—Lupercalia
Feb 13 – Feb 15 Lupercalia / St. Valentine’s Day / Norse Family Festival – Old Roman festival (Lupercalia – Festival of the Wolf) of God-Goddess Faunus-Fauna, celebrating Pan, fertility, and the coming Spring; merged with he Christian feast of St. Valentine, celebrating love of all kinds.
St. Valentine
Although a Christian bishop named Valentine was martyred on February 14 in A.D. 271, there is nothing in this legend to account for the custom of choosing a sweetheart on this day.
By the early 1600s, handmade valentines were customarily sent from admirers to sweethearts. About 1800 the first commercial cards appeared. Cards were usually sent anonymously. As early as 1822, an English official reported having to hire extra postal workers on this day. In 1849, Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, started selling quality valentines so popular that she was called “Mother of the American Valentine.”
Feb. 14 Disting (Teutonic)
Feb. 15 Lupercalia (Roman)
Sigfrid’s Day (Odinist)
Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday
Mardi Gras is French for “fat Tuesday”–the final feasting before the fasting of Lent, which begins tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. Fat Tuesday is also called Shrove Tuesday, a name that comes from the practice of shriving–purifying oneself through confession–prior to Lent. Many of the names applied to this day relate to food and eating. In many Latin countries, Mardi Gras is the culmination of the carnival season of revelry and feasting. Among the Pennsylvania Dutch, this Tuesday is Fastnacht (fast night), and everyone enjoys the traditional fastnachtkuchen, a rectangular doughnut with a slit in the middle. If you’re not up to traveling to the big Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, you might want to build a miniature float for the parade or sample some of the food served at this event. Visit the Mardis Gras and Cajun Food Recipe Guide to find out how to make Crawfish Bisque or Cajun Shrimp Creole. Or check out the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s very own Shrove Tuesday Pancakes for a tamer change of pace.
Ash Wednesday
The Christian season of Lent begins today, 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays). Many Christians attend church services on Ash Wednesday to receive ashes on their foreheads in the sign of the cross. (Ashes are a symbol of penance in the Old Testament and in pagan antiquity.) In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting. In the sixth century, Christians who had committed grave faults were obliged to do public penance. On Ash Wednesday, they donned a hair shirt (which they wore for 40 days), and the local bishop blessed them and sprinkled them with ashes. Then, while others recited the Seven Penitential Psalms, the penitents were turned out of the holy place. They could not enter the church again until Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter), when they received absolution.
Feb. 18 Spenta Armaiti (Zoroastrian)
Chinese New Year
The new year is by far the most important festival of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is celebrated on the second new Moon after the winter solstice. The holiday is a time of renewal, with debts cleared, new clothes bought, shops and homes decorated, and families gathered for a reunion dinner. Chinese New Year is marked by fireworks, traditional lion dances, gift giving, and special foods.
Feb. 20 Day of Tacita (Roman)
Feb. 21 Ramadan Ends (Moslem)
Feb 21 – 28 Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries – Old Greek festival celebrating the marriage of Goddess Kore and God Dionysos, following their return from Elysium.
Feb. 22 St. Lucia’s Day (Italian)
Feb 22 Caristia – Old Roman festival for renewing family ties and patching up quarrels.
Pure Monday
This is a Christian religious observance of the Eastern Orthodox Church and falls on the 7th Monday before Orthodox Easter. It is also called Clean Monday and is a day of fasting and spiritual purification and reflection, similar to Ash Wednesday of the Western Church. Pure Monday is the day Great Lent begins.
The first week of Great Lent is also called Pure Week. Great Lent lasts for 40 days and ends on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Orthodox Palm Sunday. The next week is Holy Week, and ends on Easter, the day of Christ’s resurrection.
Feb. 23 Terminalia (Roman)
Feb.25 Day of Mut (Egyptian)
Time of the Old Woman (Moroccan)
Ember Days
Upcoming Ember Days are February 25, 27, 28. The Almanac traditionally marks the four periods formerly observed by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches for prayer, fasting, and the ordination of clergy. These Ember Days are the Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays that follow in succession after (1) the First Sunday in Lent; (2) Whitsunday/Pentecost; (3) the Feast of the Holy Cross, September 14; and (4) the Feast of St. Lucia, December 13. The word ember is perhaps a corruption of the Latin quatuor tempora, “four times.” Folklore has it that the weather on each of the three days foretells the weather for three successive months; for example, in the case of September’s Ember Days: Wednesday, September 17, forecasts the weather for October; Friday, September 19, for November; and Saturday, September 20, for December.
Feb.26 Hygeia’s Day (North African)
Feb. 26—Day of Nuit
Feb 26 Egyptian Day of Nuit – Goddess of Healing and Fertility.
Day of Mihr (Armenian)
Feb. 27 Feast of Esther (Hebrew)
Feb 28 Saxon Cake Day – cakes offered to the God and the Goddess
Feb. 28 Buddha’s Conception (Tibetan)
OSTARA/March
March 1 – Roman New Year
– St. David’s Day
1 Matronalia (Roman)
March 1-2 Mahashivaratri – Hindu fast, night vigil, and feast for God-Goddess Shiva-Shakti (union of Will and Power), who dances to create, destroy, and re-create the universe. Tantric Hindus believe Shiva is within all men and Shakti within all women; they recognize gender equality and reject caste.
March 2 – Holy Wells’ Day (Norse)
2—Mahashivaratri
2 Mother March (Bulgarian)
March 3 – Aegir’s Day (Teutonic)
3 Doll Festival (Japanese)
March 4 – Feast of Rhiannon (Welsh)
– Egyptian Day
– Anthesteria (Greek)
– Mothering Day (English)
4 Purim *begins at sundown* (Jewish)
March 5 Navigium Isis – Old Egyptian festival honoring Goddess Isis as Lady of the Moon and Ruler of the Sea; celebrated with the launching of a boat of offerings.
5—Naviguim Isis
5 Celebration of Isis (North African)
Purim Ends (Jewish)
March 6 – Mars Day
7 Junonalia (Roman)
March 8-9 Feast of Old Greek Goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) – as protector of wild animals and vegetation
March 8 – Birthday of Mother Earth (Chinese)
March 9 – Mother Goddess Day, Honoring all Mother Goddesses
– Feast of the 40 Martyrs (Greek)
– Celebration of Aphrodite and Adonis (Greek)
March 10 – Hypatia’s Day (Greek)
10 Holi (Indian)
March 11 – Hercules Day
– Great Night of Shiva, Vigil and feast for Transcendence
March 12 – Feast of Marduk (Mesopotamian)
13 Purification Feast (Balinese)
March 14 – Cathar Remembrance Day. On March 16 their last fortress fell, but March 14 is a Cathar holy day and on that last March 14, 1244, they performed a special Easter Rite (it was also Easter that year). Two days later they were burnt alive by the Roman Catholic Church, a day also remembered by modern gnostics called Montsegur Day (see below).
– Roman Equirria/Horse race dedicated to Mars.
14 Veturius Mamurius (Roman)
March 14-18 Holi-Hindu Festival – celebrating the courting of God Shiva by Goddess Parvati, and the efforts on Her behalf by Kama (God of Love) and Rati (Goddess of Passion). Hindus believe all Gods and Goddesses are aspects of the one Great God-Goddess Maha Deva-Maha Devi, the limitless, attributeless, immanent, and transcendent Brahman. Shaivas are devoted to God Shiva in all His aspects.
March 15 – Ides of March (Roman)
– Rhea’s Day (Greek)
– Holiday of Cybele (Anatolian, Roman)
March 15-27 Phrygian Festival of Cybele and Attis – Goddess of Earth/Wild Animals and God of Vegetation, Death and Rebirth
March 16 – Montsegur Day, Gnostic holy remembrance day of the slain Cathar gnostics burned at the stake on this day in 1244 A.D.
– Dionysos’ Festival (Greek)
– Bacchus’ Day (Roman)
March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day – Old European festival marking rebirth of the Green Man / Green George (God as Deciduous Vegetation); merged with the Christian feast of St. Patrick.
– Festival of Astarte – Celebrating the Canaanite Holy Land Goddess of Love
– Liberalia (Roman)
18 Sheela’s Day (Icelandic)
March 19 – Eyvind Kinnrifi (Odinist)
– Athena’s Day (Greek)
– Minerva’s Day (Roman)
19 Day of Aganyu (Santeria)
March 20 – Ala Festival (Nigerian)
– Iduna’s Day (Norse)
– Alban Eilir (Celtic, Druid holiday)
– Spring Harvest Festival (Egyptian)
March 20-21 Old Sumerian Festival – celebrating the return of Dumuzi (God of Life and Death) from the Underworld to be with Inanna (Goddess of Life) for the verdant part of the year.
March 20 or 21 Spring Equinox/Vernal Equinox/Ostara & marks the beginning of Spring. This holiday represents the first creation, but also the annual creation (planting so crops grow each year) and most symbolic, the perpetual creation. Fertility symbols abound such as eggs and rabbits. Spring or Vernal Equinox begins a forty day period which culminates with May Day, another fertility Spring festival of ancient origin. This forty day period is one of four such in the esoteric Church year. The other three forty day periods are: Fall Equinox (Sept 22 or 23) to Halloween/AllSaints Day (Oct. 31, Nov.1), Dec. 25 to Candlemas(Feb 1 or 2) and of course, Lent. Lent is the forty day period beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday every year.
20 Ala Festival (Nigerian)
21 Tea and Tephi Day (Irish)
Feast of San Gregorio (Mexican)
March 23 – Venus’ Day
– Summer Finding (Norse)
March 24: Feast Day of Archangel Gabriel whose name means, “The High One’s Hero,” or “Hero of God,” or “Power of God,” or “Might of God.” Note this day comes one day before Annunciation Day when Gabriel performed his most famous
– Britannia’s Day
– Heimdall’s Day (Norse)
March 25 – Annunciation Day, Christian feast commemorating Blessed Maria’s choosing to conceive Child Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and to become a catalyst of liberation and redemption
– Hilaria’s Day (Roman)
– Return of the Goddess
– Mars and Neria (Roman)
25 Anunciación (Mexican)
26 Plowing Day (Slavic)
27 Gauri (Hindu)
March 28 – Birthday of Kwan Yin (Chinese)
– Sacrifice at the Tombs (Roman
28 Birthday of Kwan Yin (Chinese)
March 29 – Festival of Ishtar (Babylonian)
– St. Mark’s Day
– Delphinia (Greece)
– Expulsions of the Demons of Bad Luck (Tibetan)
March 30 – Eostre’s Day (Germanic)
30 Day of Bau (Babylonian)
March 31 – Luna (Roman)
MAAT/April
April 1 Day of Venus – Goddess of Love vanquishes Mars, God of War, with love (Roman).
– Day of Kali – Dark Mother who liberates (Hindu).
– Loki’s Day, Norse Teutonic trickster god
– Hathor’s Day (Egyptian)
1—Loki/Victory of Venus
1 Iroquois Corn Planting Festival (Native American)
April 1-4 Iroquois Thunder Ceremony – In thanksgiving for the rains. Iroquois believe Sky Woman descended from the Sky and Created Earth.
April 2-10 Hindu Festival honoring Maha Devi as Gauri – life, growth, and fruition.
2/10—Maha Devi (Hindu)
April 3 – the Ascension of Persephone
– Buddha’s Birthday
Passover Begins at sundown (Jewish)
April 4 Greek Megalesia of Cybele – Games dedicated to the Great Mother (Greek).
April 5 Roman Day of Fortuna – Goddess of Fate (Roman).
5 Tomb Sweeping Day (Chinese)
6 Ching Ming (Chinese)
7 Feast of Blagini (Romanian)
April 7-8 Feast of Greek Goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) – who represents the feminine in Nature and protects women throughout their lives.
April 8 – Zen Buddhist celebration of Buddha’s birth (563 BCE)
8 Hana Matsuri (Japanese)
11 Passover Ends (Jewish)
Feast of San Leo (Mexican)
13 Baisakhi (Hindu)
14 Sommarsblót (Norse)
April 15 – Celtic Tree Month of Willow begins
– Feast of Tellus Mater (Roman)
– Festival of Ba’ast, Feast of Bast (Egyptian cat goddess)
15 Buddhist New Year
Feast of Tellus Mater (Roman)
April 15-17 Feast of the Seas – Honoring God-Goddess as Olokun-Yemaya (Yoruba/Santeria) and Okeanos-Tethys (Old Greek).
April 16 – St. Padarn’s Day (Celtic)
– Feast of St. George (Byzantine)
16 St. Padarm’s Day (Celtic)
Feast of St. George (Byzantine)
April 18 – Thargelia (Greek)
-Rava Navami (Hindu)
18 Thargelia (Greek)
Rava Navami (Hindu)
19 Women’s Celebration (Balinese)
20 Yaqui Pageant (Native American)
Egg Rolling Day (English)
21 Feast of Pales (Roman)
Dea Roma (Roman)
April 22 Earth Day – Day to honor the Earth and to meditate on Deity manifesting as Mother Earth
– Festival of Isthar (Babylonian)
– Feast of the Divine Couple (Japanese)
– Feast of Elaphebolia (Greek)
– Odin’s Day – Norse festival.
April 23 – European Festival of the Green Man, Spirit of Vegetation and Forests
– Sigurd’s Day (Germanic)
23 St. Georges’ Day (English)
Venus of the Vinalia (Roman)
24 Children’s Day (Icelandic)
April 25 – Holy Prophet Mani’s Day (he was born on this day in the 3rd century A.D.) Manichaeans were his followers, predecessors of modern gnostics
– Spring Festivals – Dedicated to Cerne, Pan, Horned God.
Roman Robligalia – Corn Mothers (Ceres and Demeter) and Harvest.
Arbor Day – Day to honor trees, to plant trees, and to meditate on Deity manifesting as trees, such as Goddesses Helice/Willow (Greek) and Yggdrasill/Ash (Norse).
25 Feast of San Jorge (Mexican)
28 Eid el-Adha (Moslem)
Floralia Begins (Roman)
April 30 – Walpurgisnacht (Germanic)
– Floralia Ends (Roman)
– Beltane Begins at Sundown (Celtic, Wiccan)
– Salus
St. Sophia’s Day
April 30 – May 2 Old Norse Feast.
Beltaine (Eve.) – Celtic festival marking the arrival of summer in ancient times
N.O.X. Night of Pan/Feast of Set
ISIS/May
“I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever me unveiled.”
April 30 – May 2 – Beltane – Celtic festival marking the arrival of summer in ancient times, celebrating Blodeuwedd (Goddess of Flowers) and Llew (Oak King, God of the Waxing Sun).
Old Norse Feast – Celebrating Nanna (Goddess of Flowers), true love of Baldur (God of Light).
Feast of Sacred Marriage – Honoring Goddess-God as Inanna & Dumuzi , Ishtar & Tammuz (Old Sumerian), Isis & Osiris (Egyptian), Oshun & Shango (Yoruba/Santeria).
May 1 – May Day (European holy day)
Babylonian Celebration of Asherah
1—May Day/Isis/International Worker’s Day
May 2 – Elena’s Day (Welsh)
– St. Helen’s Day (British)
3 Cruces (Mexican)
Corn Festival (Native American)
May 4 – Celtic Festival of Cerridwen and Brigit – Corn Goddesses of fertility, healing, and poets.
– St. Monica’s Day (Irish)
– Veneration of the Thorn (Irish)
– Festival of Sheila Na Gig (Irish)
4—Celtic Festival of Cerridwen and Brigit
4 St. Monica’s Day (Irish)
5 Feast of Banners (Japanese)
May 6 Shepherd’s Day – Day to meditate on Deity as Lord of Animals: Dumuzi (Old Sumerian), Osiris (Egyptian), Pan (Old Greek), Shiva Pasupati (Hindu).
6 Cinco de Mayo (Mexican)
8 Stork Day (Danish)
Helston Furry Dance (English)
May 9 – Greek Feast of Artemis
9— Feast of Artemis
May 9-12 Lemuria – Roman festival when the spirits of the dead are thought to revisit their homes.
10 Tin Han’s Day (Chinese)
11 Ceremony for Rain (Guatemalan)
St. Mamertius’ Day (German)
12 Festival of Sashti (Indian)
May 13 – Roman Garland Day, Offering garlands to Neptune.
-Month of Hawthorn, Celtic festival of the tree.
-Our Lady of Fatima Day (Portugal)
May 14 – Isis Day in ancient Egypt
May 14-16 Feast of Divine Love and Compassion – Source of healing and beneficence, honoring Goddess as Isis (Old Egyptian), Oshun (Yoruba/Santeria), Lakshmi (Hindu).
May 15 – Cold Sophie (German)
– Festival of Vesta (Roman)
– Maia and Mercury’s Day (Roman)
15— Festival of Vesta
15 Feast of Isidro (Filipino)
Cold Sophie (German)
16 Savitu-Vrata (Indian)
St. Brendan the Navigator (Celtic)
May 17 – Dea Dia (Roman)
17 Dea Dia (Roman)
Mut L-Ard (Moroccan)
May 18 Celtic Feast of Old Greek God Pan – Who represents the masculine in Nature and protects men throughout their lives. Men recognized the transitions in their lives and honored male fertility.
18—Feast of Pan
May 19 Old Celtic Feast of Brigid – In which sacred healing wells and springs were adorned with flowers in honor of Goddess Brigid, daughter of Mother Goddess Danu and Father God Dagda.
19 Feast of Pudenciana (Mexican)
Moslem New Year
20 Victoria Day (Canadian)
Okinaga-Tarashi-Hime (Japanese)
May 21 – Dark/Bright Mother Goddesses Day – Kali/Parvati and Hecate/Demeter.
21 Plato’s Birthday (Greek)
Day of Tefnut (Egyptian)
22 Ragnar Lodbrok’s Day (Odinist)
23 Rosalia (Roman)
Semik (Russian)
24 The Three Maries (French)
May 24 – Day of the Three Maries (special to Mary Magdalene and Grail Christianity)
– Feast Day of Hermes Trismegistus
– Celtic Festival to the Three Mothers
-Greek Celebration of the Horae
24– Day of the Three Maries (special to Mary Magdalene and Grail Christianity)
May 25 – Assassination of Edmund I (Anglo-Saxon)
– Celebration of the Tao, Mother of the World (Chinese, Japanese)
May 26 – Festival of Diana begins (ends 31st) (ancient Roman holiday)
– Dakinis’ Day – Day Tantric Buddhists make offerings to Mother Tantra; day
to unite will and power to manifest positive social change and environmental healing.
27 Ashura (Moslem)
29 Oak Apple Day (English)
May 30 – Frigg’s Day, Northern Goddess, spouse of Odin (Teutonic “heathen” European pre-Christian holiday)
– Feast of the Queen of the Underworld Begins (Roman)
– Feast of the Queen of Heaven (European)
May 31 – Feast of the Triple Goddess – Marking the transformation of the Virgin into the Mother.
– Feast of Stella Maris – Venus, (and Asherah) as Star of the Sea. Mother Mary was later given the title Stella Maris
26/31—Festival of Diana
31—Feast of the Triple Goddess
31 Day of Oggum (Cuban)
Day of Santa Petronila (Mexican)
HERA/June
Month of Juno – Dedicated to Roman Goddess Juno, partner of Jove (God of Happiness), protector of marriage and family
Movable Holiday: sometimes in May, sometimes in June: Shavuot/Feast of First Fruits, Pentecost, Sacred Marriage holiday
June 2 – Juno Regina’s Day (Roman)
– Sin’s Day (Norse)
– Shapatu of Ishtar (Babylonian)
– Seamen’s Day (Icelandish)
– St. Elmo’s Day
June 4 – Socrates’ Birthday
June 5: Earth Mother Day – Call forth good harvests
5—Earth Mother Day
June 11 – Feast of Matuta (Roman)
– Matralia (Roman)
– Fortuna’s Day (Roman)
11—Fortuna
June 13: Feast of Epona – The Celtic Horse Goddess
– All Soul’s Day (Tibetan)
– Children’s Day (USA)
– Athena’s Day (Greek)
– Minerva’s Day (Roman)
13—Feast of Epona
June 14 – Vidar’s Day (Norse Heathen)
– Birthday of the Muses (Greek). Music, the arts & inspiration “born”
June 16 – Night of the Teardrop (Egyptian)
16—Night of the Teardrop
June 17 – Ludi Piscatari (Roman)
-Marriage of Orpheus and Eurydike (Greek)
June 18: Roman Day of Anna – Goddess Danu to the Celts. Early Christian-Pagans made sure Anna entered the Kristian story, making her Yeshua’s grandmother, Mary’s mother.
June 20 – Iron Skegge’s Day (Norse Heathen)
– Festival of Edfu (Egyptian)
– Kuan-Yin Day (day she became a Bodhisattva)
20—Kwon-Yin Day
June 21: Summer Solstice (Click for details)
– Day of Cerridwen and her Cauldron (English/Welsh)
– Day of Aine of Knockaine (Irish)
– Day of the Green Man (Northern Europe)
– The Great Mother (British)
– Alban Hefin (Druidic)
– Waa-Laa Ends (Native American)
– Litha (Wiccan)
– All Hera’s Day (Roman)
– Ishtar’s Day (Babylonian)
– Astarte’s Day (Canaanite)
– Aphrodite’s Day (Greek)
– Yemaya’s Day (Brazilian)
– Aine’s Day (Irish)
21—Hera
June 23: Celtic Day of the Green Man – In honor of Cerne, Cernernos, Lugh.
23—Green Man Day
June 24: TEMPLAR HOLY DAY. In the Roman calendar this day was thought to be Summer Solstice. The Church renamed this pagan holiday to St. John the Baptist Day. Templars revered it highly. On Jun 24, 1314 a mysterious band of knights joined Robert the Bruce of Scotland on the battlefield making his victory at Bannockburn possible. These knights could only have been a troop of disbanded and now in-hiding Templars who had fled to western Scotland. St. John’s day was used by Freemasons in 1717 to found the first public (non-Scottish) Order of Freemasonry in London. Masonic teachings are said to descend from the esoteric Christianity of Templarism. St. John the Baptizer was beheaded because he wouldn’t give in and sacrifice his principles. This is a Templar ideal, as is the constancy and regularity (order out of chaos) of the solstices and equinoxes.
– Feast of the Sun (Aztec)
– Feast of St. John the Baptist
– Midsummer Bride (Swedish)
– Inti Raymi (Incan)
– Lady Luck (European)
– Burning of the Lamps at Sais (Egyptian)
June 25 – Parvati Praise Day – Hindu Women’s Festival for Earth Mother.
June 27 – Roman Day of the Lares – Household Deities honored and tended
– Daemon/The Holy Guardian Angel
27—The Lares/Household protectors
Daemon/The Holy Guardian Angel
June 29 – Shiva Day – Hindu Lord of the Dance invoked for blessings
– Runic New Year
– Petosiris’ Day (Egyptian)
– St. Peter’s Day
– Herb Harvesting Day (East Anglican)
29—Shiva
SEKHMET/July
July 1 Greek Kronia – Honoring Kronos (Father Time) and Rhea (Old Mother Nature).
July 2 Roman Feast of Expectant Mothers.
3 Sothis (Egyptian)
4 Waterfall Ceremony (Native American)
7 Tanabata (Japanese) Consualia (Roman)
July 8 Celtic Month of Holly – Honoring the Holly tree.
10 Panathenæa (Greek)
Lady Godiva Day (English)
11 Theano’s Day (Greek)
Naadam Festival (Mongolian)
July 12-14 Feast of the Moon – Honoring Goddess as Selene (Old Greek), Ixchel (Maya), and Manat (Old Arabic-Sufi).
July 13 Birth of Osiris – Egyptian God of Divine Youth, annually resurrected by Isis.
13—Birth of Osiris/Celebration of the Living Waters
13 Reed Dance Day (African)
Bon Festival (Japanese)
14 Bastille Day (French)
15 Day of Rauni (Finnish)
Olympian New Year
16 Rosa Mundi (Palestinian)
Birthday of Set (Egyptian)
July 17 Celtic Feast of Tailtiu – Mother Nature Goddess who fostered Lugh.
17 Festival of Ama-Terasu-O-Mi-Kami (Japanese)
July 19 Egyptian Opet Festival – Celebrating the marriage of Isis and Osiris.
19—Celebration of The Holy Marriage/Isis & Osiris
19 Wedding of Adonis and Aphrodite (Greek)
20 Binding of the Wreaths (Lithuanian)
21 Damo’s Day (Greek)
July 22 Mary Magdalene Feast Day – the Holy Grail. Official Christian feast of St. Maria Magdalen, both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. Bake some Madeleine cakes for the Queen of Heaven using these recipes in honor of her day.
22—Mary Magdalene Feast Day
25 Feast of Salacia (Roman)
26 Sleipnir (Odinist)
27 Hatshepsut’s Day (Egyptian)
July 28 Archangel Auriel (Uriel) Day. His/Her name means “Fire or Light of God,” and titles include, Regent of the Sun, Angel of Music, Patron of Prophecy, Archangel of Salvation, Angel of the Presence. See Uriel.org for more.
28 Pythias’ Day (Greek)
Domhnach Chrom Dubh (Irish)
July 29 – Festival of Thor – Celebration of Norse God Thor
29 Feast of Santa Marta (Mexican)
July 31 – Lammas, harvest festival coming 40 days after Summer Solstice, offer 1st fruits to the Divine (See Aug. 1)
– Festival of Loki – Day to honor Norse trickster god Loki and his consort Sigyn
31 Day of Loki and Sigyn (Odinist)
July 31 thru Aug 2 – Lughnasadh – Old Celtic / Irish Feast of Goddess Tailtiu and God Lugh (Deities of Life and Light), celebrating the grain harvest.
DEMETER/August
1—Lammas / Lughnassadh
Aug 1 – Lammas / Lughnassadh – Mid-Summer, First Harvest Festival of the Celtic Sun God Lugh
Aug 2 Feast of the Black Madonna – Gnostic celebration of the Dark Goddess
Aug 3 Day of the Dryads – Greek celebration of the Macedonian maiden spirits of woods and water.
Aug 3-4 Feast of Old Greek Goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) – Defender of rights and liberties, and punisher of rapists and oppressors.
4—Feast of Artemis
Aug 5 Celtic Tree Month of Hazel begins.
Aug 6 Celtic Fire Festival of Tan Hill.
Aug 9 Druid Feast of the Fire Spirits
Aug 11-13 Feast of Father Sky – Honoring God as Obatala (Yoruba/Santeria), Ouranos (Greek), Svarog (Slavic), Thor (Norse), Taranis (Celtic), Dyaus (Hindu).
-Celtic Puck Fair/Fertility Festival.
Aug 12 – The Lights of Isis, Festival of the Egyptian Goddess Isis
12—Lights of Isis
Aug 15 – Assumption Day – Christian feast commemorating Blessed Maria rising into Heaven, being crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth, and being transformed into Our Lady, the Paraclete (the Holy Spirit) who appears everywhere.
Aug 15 was originally THE ASSUMPTION OF THE HOLY SOPHIA, The Assumption of the Holy Sophia into the Pleroma is commemorated on August 15th. This correlates in the orthodox church with the (bodily Assumption of the Virgin Mary, a recent addition to the Roman liturgical life. The ancient Gnostic scriptures tell of Sophia, the feminine aspect of the highest God, who wanders out of heaven and gets lost in the lower regions. By singing praises to the Light, she is rescued by the Savior and he aids her return to heaven by a mystery. In our psychological perspective, we are cast out of the Fullness of Being to become differentiated egos. By the mystery figure of the Logos we are able to individuate and return to the state of Wholeness. Thus Sophia’s plight is our own, and by her example we may be inspired to continue on our path. (from: http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/cal_mandala.htm )
Aug 17 – Feast Day of Saint Sophia, the saintly version of the ancient Goddess Sophia, Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Other sources list her feast day as September 30, and as Aug 15 above.
Aug 21 Greek Festival of Hekate – To protect the harvest.
21—Festival of Hekate Goddess of the Highway/Kali
Aug 24 Feast of Egyptian God Osiris – Partner and true love of Isis, and father of Horus; guide of all husbands, fathers, and judges.
Aug 25 Norse God Odin receives knowledge.
Roman Festival of Goddess Ops – Lady of the Cornucopia, Bounty of the Harvest and Sustainer of Life.
Aug 27 Feast of Egyptian Goddess Isis – Partner and true love of Osiris, and mother of Horus; guide of all wives, mothers, healers, advocates, and teachers.
Aug 28 Norse Harvest Festival.
Aug 29 -Sep 11 Return of Isis – Egyptian festival marking the return to Egypt of Goddess Isis (as the star of Sept/Sirius) and God Osiris (as the rising Nile River).
POMONA/September
26/5—Navaratri, Hindu Festival of the Great Goddess
Aug 29 – Sept 11: Return of Isis & Osiris (star Sirius, rising Nile
waters)
Sept 2 – Grape Vine Festival honoring Ariadne & Dionysus
Sept 8 – Birthday of Virgin Mary & DESCENT OF THE HOLY SOPHIA The Descent of the Holy Sophia falls on September 8th. In the Roman calendar this day celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and prefigures the sacred birth of Jesus. In the Gnostic tradition, part of Sophia returns to the aeons, to her true home, and part of her being symbolically returns to the lower regions or to earth. She comes to earth to be with us, her children, to be our consolation and the inspiration of our love. By this image we have the promise that we are not left alone in our darkness but have Sophia’s abiding presence in our lives. (from: http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/cal_mandala.htm )
Sept 9 – 11, Feast of Mother Earth (Greek, etc)
Sept 11 Remembrance Day
Sept 9 – 18, Greater Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek)
Sep 13, Egyptian Lighting the Fire Ceremony for all departed souls
Sep 16, Greek Rites of Goddess Demeter
Sep 17, Hildegarde of Bingen Feast Day
Sep 19, Feast of Thoth, Egyptian scribe god
Sep 21, Nativity of Blessed Mary, Eastern Orthodox Church
Birthday of Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom also known as Sophia
21—Fast of Maat
Sep 22 or 23, Autumn Equinox, Mabon, Ishtar’s Day: The Fall Equinox always begins the forty day All Hallows season, which culminates with Halloween, All Saints Day and then All Souls Day (Oct. 31, Nov. 1, Nov. 2 respectively). This forty day period is one of four such in the esoteric Church year. The other three forty day periods are: Spring Equinox (Mar 20 or 21) to May Day, Dec. 25 to Candlemas (Feb 1 or 2) and of course, Lent. Lent is the forty day period beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday every year.
Sep or sometimes Oct (day varies) Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, always followed ten days later by Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the last of the Ten Days of Awe in Hebrew lore. The first of the Ten Days of Awe is Rosh Hoshanah, the Jewish New Year, when the gates of heaven are said to be flung open allowing blessings rain upon us for Ten Days, after which it goes shut again. “May your name be written in the book of life,” is the greeting Jews use during the Ten Days of Awe because on Yom Kippur, the solemn Day of Atonement, the gates and the book go shut again.
Sep 26 – Oct 5 Navaratri, Hindu Festival of the Great Goddess
Huge holiday in India when Goddess destroys evil and restores cosmic order
Sep 27, Day of the Willows,
Mesopotamian Festival of Astarte/Asherah
Sep 29, Michaelmas, one of the oldest Christo-pagan holy days
Sep 30, Feast day of Saint Sophia, mother of Faith, Hope & Charity, saintly version of Goddess of Wisdom. Alternative feastdays for her are August 15 or 17, see above.
HATHOR/October
Oct 2 – Druid Feast of the Guardian Spirits
Oct 4 – St. Francis of Assisi Day, one of the most pagan of the Christian saints, he coined terms “brother sun, sister moon”, and honored the covenant between humans and the animal kingdom
Oct 9-11 Feast of Divine Wisdom – Source of all knowledge, honoring God-Goddess as Odin-Frigg (Norse); and Goddess as Sophia/Wisdom (Christian), Truth/Maat (Egyptian), Metis (Greek), Sarasvati (Hindu), (Arabic-Sufi).
Oct 13, Knights Templar Remembrance Day
Oct 18 English Great Horn Fair – Festival of Cerne.
Oct 24 Raphaelmas, Feast of Archangel Raphael, whose name means, “The High One Heals.” Since 1970, the Catholic Church no longer recognizes this day for Raphael, ending more than a thousand years of tradition by opting to lump him in with Gabriel and Michael for a Feast of the Holy Archangels Day on Sept 29.
Oct 24 – Druid Feast for Spirits of Air
Oct 28 Feast of Baba and Dedo – Slavic protectors of families and elders.
Oct 28 – Nov 3 Isia – Egyptian festival recalling Set (God of Destruction) killing God Osiris; Goddess Isis mourning Him, resurrecting Him, and conceiving God Horus with Him; and Osiris becoming Lord of Amenta, land of the dead. He weighs souls against the Feather of Truth on Goddess Maat’s Scale of Justice, but defers to Isis for those who fail the test.
30—Fast of Thoth
Oct 31 Samhain / Hallowmas / Halloween – Celtic New Year and feast of Cerridwen (Goddess of Death) and Beli (the Holly King, God of the Waning Sun).
31—Feast of Anubis/Samhain
October’s Variable (Movable) Holidays:
Yom Kippur / Day of Atonement – End of the 10 Days of Awe, when the Gates of Heaven go closed again. A day of fasting and repenting for any mistakes made during the year. Yom Kippur is the last of the Ten Days of Awe in Hebrew lore. The first of the Ten Days of Awe is Rosh Hoshanah, the Jewish New Year, when the gates of heaven are said to be flung open allowing blessings rain upon us for Ten Days when it goes shut again. “May your name be written in the book of life,” is the greeting Jews use during the Ten Days of Awe because on Yom Kippur, the solemn day of atonement, the gates and the book go shut again.
-Hindu Festival of Lights, Diwali. India’s Lunar New Year. Celebrated for 3 days up to and including the New Moon. Goddess Lakshmi and her husband God Vishnu are invoked for prosperity
Oct 31 – Nov 2 Descent of Inanna – Sumerian fast recalling the descent of Inanna (Goddess of Life) to the Underworld. Ereshkigal (Goddess of Death and Rebirth) detained Her until She agreed to have Dumuzi (God of Life and Death) remain there each Winter.
-Fast of Hod – Norse fast marking Hod (blind God of Darkness) unintentionally killing Balder (God of Light), and devoted Nanna (Goddess of Flowers) dying of a broken heart.
Oct 31 – Nov 6 Mid-Autumn / Day of the Dead / Hallowmas – Festival marking the transformation of life to death, the end of the agricultural year, departure of migrating and hibernating animals, and decay and death of vegetal and animal life. Observed by remembering departed ancestors and contemplating one’s own mortality.
HEKATE/November
Nov 1/3—Hekate
– All Saints Day – Christians around the world remember all the dead on this day
– Day of the Banshees, Reign of Celtic Cailleach, Crone Goddess.
Nov 2 – All Souls Day, Christians remember their own dead — relatives, ancestors, beloved dead.
– White Tara Day. Day for meditation on Tantric Bodhisattva Goddess, White Tara, who guides the dead to Buddha Amitabha’s Pure Land, where all will find salvation.
Nov 7 – 9 Feast of Divine Justice – Source of just law, honoring Goddess-God as Maat-Thoth (Egyptian); Goddess as Themis (Greek), Justice (Christian), and God as Forseti (Norse).
Nov 8 – Seven Holy Archangels Day (Orthodox Christian). The seven original Archangels to the Eastern Orthodox Church are: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and the fallen Lucifer. Lucifer lost his place to another Archangel but the various lists can’t make their minds up about the name of the new archangel. Baracael, Ieadiel, Sealtiel, Peliel, and Gamael are some of the possibilities. The Book of Enoch says: The big four plus Raguel, Sariel, and Jerahmeel, while from other apocryphal sources we get the variant names Izidkiel, Hanael, and Kepharel instead of the last three.
Nov 11 Feast of Dionysus – Greek God whom Yeshua was “connected to” as the Cosmic Gnosis. Also Veteran’s Day when we remember the dead. See article.
Celtic Lunatishees – Day of the Fairie Sidhe, Old November Day.
Nov 13 Festival of Jupiter – Roman deity associated with rain and agriculture, prime protector of the state, and concerned with all aspects of life.
Roman Fontinalia – Feast of Fons, God of Springs.
Nov 14 Feast of Musicians and Bards – Druid celebration of the Celtic musical arts.
Nov 16 – Night of Hekate, Greek Goddess of the Hags or Wisewomen, (later called Witches), her name comes from Heqa-ma’at, a goddess in the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead who later became Hekmah or Hokmah (also spelled Chokmah) meaning wisdom in the ancient Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). From Heqa-ma’at / Hecate / Hokmah we get the Greek word for wisewoman or holywoman, “hag”. Hecate was goddess of the hags and it was a very complementary thing to be a hag of the Hagia Sophia tradition!
Nov 20 – Day of All Gnostic Saints (see http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/cal_mandala.htm for explanation)
Nov 22 – Festival of Diana – Roman Goddess of Moon, Hunt, Wilderness, Birth
– Feast of Weyland – Norse God of the Smiths.
22—Festival of the Moon
Nov 24 – Feast of the Burning Lamps, Egyptian festival
– Celtic Tree Month of Reed ends – Tree Month of Elder begins.
Nov 27 – Day of Parvati – Hindu Mother of the Universe
– Feast of Ullr: “The Feast of Ullr was to celebrate the Hunt and to gain the personal luck needed for success. Weapons are dedicated on this day to Ullr. If your arms were blessed by the luck of the God of the Hunt, your family and tribe shared the bounty with a Blot and Feast to Ullr .”
3rd Thursday of November: Thanksgiving Day – Day to give thanks for religious freedom here in this great country, the fertile abundance of mother earth, and basic necessities of life, “thread, bread, and shed.” (Clothes, food, shelter).
Nov 29 Egyptian Feast of Hathor – as Sekhmet, Lioness and Sun Goddess, the alternate of Bast, the Cat Goddess.
Last Sunday of November begins Advent, the Festival of Lights for the Coming of the Light of the World – Christian vigil for the birth of the Cosmic Christ. Advent candles are lit on each of the four Sundays before Christmas. A purple one on the 1st, 2nd and 4th Sundays, and a pink one on the 3rd Sunday. Here’s a traditional Advent Wreath “how-to” page.
VESTA/December
Dec 1 – Greek / Roman Day of Pallas Athena / Minerva.
– Day for Meditation on Tantric Bodhisattva Goddess Red Tara – Protector against evil and harm.
1—Maat as Athena
Dec 3 Roman Day of Cybele / Rhea /The Great Mother.
Dec 4 – Feast of Shango, Orisha who defends against evil.
Dec 6 – St Nicholas of Myra Day, patron saint of children & mariners, original Santa Claus, known for his love of children
– Mindfulness Day – Zen Buddhist day for mindfully seeing and acting with compassion for the poor and oppressed.
Dec 7 – Haloia of Demeter.
Dec 7 – 9 Feast of the Immanent Feminine Divine Spirit – Honoring Goddess as Maha Devi Shakti (Hindu), Holy Spirit Wisdom (Christian).
Dec 8 Rohatsu – Zen Buddhist celebration of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Dec 11 – Sacred to Arianrhod.
Dec 12 – Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe – Mother of God and Mother of the Oppressed.
Dec 13 – Feast of the Light-bringer – Honoring Goddess as Juno Lucina (Old Roman)
13—Prometheus
Dec 17 – Yoruba / Santeria feast of Orisha Babalu Aye – Healer of deadly diseases.
Dec 18 – Sacred to Epona.
Dec 19 – Return of the Sun God. Druid Festival of Alban Arthuan
– Day of Holy Apostle Thomas (of the Gospel of Thomas). Celebrated December 21st.
Dec 21 thru 25 – Old Egyptian festival of Isis, the Magna Mater (Mother of God and Mother of All) giving birth to God Horus.
Dec 22 – Yule, Winter Solstice
– Day of Archangel Raphael, whose name means “Healing power of El”. Celebrated December 22nd. Raphael is the angel of healing and health, and is always invoked in the Sacrament of Unction. Raphael represents the principle of regeneration as related to the powers of health and also the regeneration of the Light in the realm of darkness. Thus Raphael has been celebrated in our tradition at the winter solstice, because when the darkness has reached its epitome, it engenders the renewed Light, which is then “born” on Christmas Day. From: http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/cal_mandala.htm
Dec 21/22— Dies Natalis Solis Invictus Return of the Invincible Sun (Horus)
Winter Solstice
23 – Sacred to Hathor.
Dec 24 – Celtic Tree Month – Month of Reed ends, Tree Month of Elder begins.
Dec 25 – Christmas Day, Christian celebration of Blessed Maria giving birth to Child Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.
– European Feasts of Herne, Frey, Dionysus – Birth of the God, the Light of the World.
Dec 25 thru Jan 5 Norse Yule: Old Norse festival honoring Frey and Freya (Deities of Fertility) and the new-born Baldur (God of Light) with evergreens, fires, and feasting.
Dec 26 thru Jan 1 – Kwanzaa: Festival celebrating positive African traditions; emphasizes unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
Dec 28 – Sacred to Freya.
Dec 31 – Egyptian Lucky Day of Sekhmet – Sekhmet, the ravaging lioness, with her burning solar eye, is the destroyer/devourer aspect of the goddess.
Hymn to Vesta
Homeric
Come, Vesta,
To live in this beautiful home.
Come with warm feelings of friendship.
Bring your intelligence,
Your energy and your passion
To join us with your goodwill.
Burn brightly at my hearth.
Burn always in my soul.
You are welcome here.
I remember you.
Alex Infohub 