~ World Day of Peace ~ United Nations ~ Jan 1st.

~ Carnival ~ Christianity ~ People enjoy themselves before the period of Lent begins. The colourful costume and float parades in Latin countries, especially in Brazil, are famous during this period. The word 'carnival' is derived from "carne Vale" which means 'good-bye to meat' (during Lent). Hence Carnival is the last chance to eat meat before the 40 days of Lent.

~ N'cwala ~ Zambia ~ In 1835 the Ngoni tribe of Zulus, in South Africa, crossed the Zambezi river into what is now Zambia. The tribe's good fortune since then is celebrated on N'cwala, during February. It signals the beginning of the harvest. The festival is based on a tradition of offering the first produce of the year to the 'Paramount Chief'. Twelve local chiefs travel from their districts to Mutenguleni, to dance, sing and feast. One group is elected best warrior dancers.

~ Epiphany ~ Christianity ~ This day marks the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles, and is associated with the three wise men journeying to see the infant Jesus. The Eastern Church associates it with the baptism of Jesus by John, while some Orthodox churches celebrate the nativity on this day, known as Theophany.

~ Chinese New Year ~ The exact date is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar where the new moon marks the beginning of each new month. Chinese New Year is one of the world's most colourful celebrations. It lasts for fifteen days, and usually falls in February. Celebrations are based on bringing luck, health, wealth and happiness during the coming year. Chinese families thoroughly clean their homes before the celebrations begin, in order to rid them of last year's bad luck. Festivities include street parades of floats and huge dancing dragons, firecrackers (since loud noises scare evil spirits), and the giving of 'lucky money' in red envelopes (to children and single people). Red is the main colour for clothing and decorations since it symbolises joy and happiness. Lucky fruits & flowers are kumquat, tangerine and peach blossom. Many Chinese do not eat meat on New Years day since each year is named after an animal.

~ Sankranti ~ Hinduism ~ This festival marks the change from decrease to increase of the sun. Hence the sun and it's nurturing relationship to the crop, is featured in the celebrations.

~ Laylat al-Qadr ~ Islam ~ Known as the 'Night of Power' this festival celebrates the first revelation of the Qur'an to the Prophet Mohammad, in 610 CE, when he was 40 years old. The festival begins in the evening.
Depending on the Lunar calendar, the month-long celebration of Ramadan may also be being observed during January or February.

~ Tu B'Shevat ~ Judaism ~ Known as the 'new years day of trees' this day now celebrates Judaism's roots in the natural world. It is a day of environmental awareness and tree-planting. The day may conclude with a celebratory meal (Seder), including the seven fruits of the land (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and date-honey), each of which symbolise a spiritual reality.

~ Coming-of-Age Day ~ Shinto ~ On this national holiday in Japan, men and women of 20 years of age, wearing traditional clothing, visit the shrines. Their families then announce their adulthood to the spirits.

~ Birthday of the Guru ~ Sikhism ~ On this day in January Sikhs celebrate the birth of the tenth and final Sikh master, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708). He declared the Adi Granth - the Sikh Scriptures - to be the Guru from then on.

~ Imbolic ~ Earth Spirituality ~ in the Northern Hemisphere. This festival, also known as Candlemas, or 'the Feast of the Waxing Light', celebrates the increasing strength of the God, given as the first and greatest gift of the Goddess. Many Wiccans honour the Goddess on this day, as the source of fire, poetry, arts, crafts, agriculture and smith-craft.

~ International Workers Day ~ United Nations ~ is observed on May 1st.

~ May Day~ Northern Europe ~ is celebrated on the first Monday of May. It marks the first day of spring.

~ Shavout ~ Judaism ~ This, the Jewish festival of Pentecost, is one of the three pilgrim festivals. It originally marked the end of barley and beginning of wheat. "First Fruits' were brought to the temple. It also celebrates the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt Sinai Dairy food is consumed on this day.

~ International Day of Families ~ United Nations ~ is celebrated on the 15th of May.

~ Mothers Day ~ Various Traditions ~ Mother's Day is celebrated by different traditions at different times - for example as Mothering Sunday on the 4th Sunday in Lent in the Christian Calendar, and as Fete des Meres on the last Sunday in May in France. We include it in the May calendar as a greater number of people celebrate Mother's Day sometime in May.

~ Kodomono-Hi ~ Shintoism ~ In Japan, the fifth day of the fifth month, families with young boys fly huge, carp-shaped kites from their houses. The carp species of fish, is regarded as a symbol of success. The purpose is to inspire the boys in qualities such as strength and determination.

~ Pentecost ~ Christian ~ 50 days after Passover, Christians celebrate the Holy Spirit speaking in tongues through the apostles. It is also known as Whitsunday feast, a secondary date for baptisms.

~ Declaration of the Bab ~ Baha'i Faith ~ May 23rd marks a founding moment in the Baha'i Faith. This celebration is followed a few days later when the Ascension of Baha'u'llah (founder), is celebrated over two days.

~ Wesak ~ Buddhism ~ falls on the full moon in May. There are very few global religious festivals in Buddhism, though Wesak comes close. On this day, many Buddhists celebrate the birth, death and enlightenment of the Buddha.

~ Solstice ~ Earth Spirituality ~ is celebrated in mid June according to which hemisphere: in the North it is Summer Solstice, and in the South Winter Solstice.

~ World Environment Day ~ United Nations ~ is celebrated on June 5th. Often this is celebrated as Arbor Day, and people in the community plant trees in celebration.

~ Matariki ~ Maori Spirituality ~ In the Southern hemisphere winter, when the star cluster Matariki (Pleiades) appears in the dawn sky, Maori New Year starts (usually late May - late June). This time for festivity, and celebration is sometimes celebrated alongside Winter Solstice. It begins with the first new moon after the first appearance of Matariki. The bright star Puanga (Rigel), emerges at about the same time, and for some it is this appearance rather than Matariki that has significance and is celebrated.

~ World Refugee Day ~ United Nations ~ is celebrated on the 20th of June

Calendars in many cultures follow the moon, or other calendars, and are described as 'moving', (in relation to Greenwich Mean Time). Holy days on these calendars do not fall on the same date each year. O Bon, or Family Remembrance Day, is celebrated sometime in July or August, as is Tish B'av, a Jewish festival. Eid ul-Fitr, the major Muslim festival at this time of the year, is also a moving date...

~ Eid ul-Fitr ~ Islam ~ This three day celebration celebrates the end of Ramadan, the fast which is observed by Moslems in the ninth lunar month of the year. Eid ul-Fitr (meaning 'breaking of the fast'), is a joyous tiime of feasting, giving food to the poor, visiting relatives and friends, and exchanging cards and gifts.

~ International Day of Cooperatives~ United Nations ~ is observed on July 6th.

~ Martyrdom of the Bab ~ Baha'i Faith ~ Followers of the Baha'i Faith do not work on this day early in July, in order to pay tribute to the Bab, one of the founders of their Faith.

~ Guru Poornima ~ Hinduism ~ On this day, on the full moon, (around 13th July), Hindus honour their spiritual teachers through spiritual practices such as purity in thought speech and action.

~ Wassana ~ Buddhism ~ On July 16th, Buddhist monks and nuns in the Theravada tradititon (not the Tibetan tradition), begin the three month 'Rains Retreat'.

~ Oh-harai-taisai ~ Shinto ~ This festival usually falls in July. To purify themselves from offences during the first half of the lunar year, Shintos observe the Grand Purification Ceremony. A large ring of woven reeds and grassses is placed at the entranceways of Shrines, so one may be purifued while walking through it.

~ Lammas ~ Earth Spirituality ~ In the Northern hemisphere, Lammas celebrates the harvesting of the grain, or first fruits.

~ Pakawera/First Light ~ Earth Spirituality ~ In the Southern hemisphere, Pakawera, for Maori, is when the leaves are shrivelled by frost. But the whitebait begin to swim upstream and the moki are said to be growing fat. So we have the first foetal stirrings of spring in the womb of Papatuanuku - Mother Earth.

~ Raksha Bandhan ~ Hinduism ~ This festival, in August, is a time when Hindu women and girls affectionately tie a protection thread on the wrists of their brothers.

~ Krishna Jayanti ~ Hinduism ~ The birthday of Lord Krishna is celebrated near the end of August. It is a time of dancing and singing bhajans - (devotional songs).

~ Parushana-parva ~ Jainism ~ In late August, Jains celebrate with a public reading the life story of Lord Mahavira. This, the holiest period of the Jain year, is also a time for fasting and worship.

~ Muktad, and Naw Ruz ~ Zoroastrianism ~ for ten days Zoroastrians and Parsis prepare for Naw Ruz - New Year on the Shensai calendar. This time honours the memory of their ancestors. At Naw Ruz, they celebrate New Year - their calendar having begun in 1369AY (after Yazdegird 111, the last of the Zoroastrian Kings of Persia).

~ Anniversary of the Formation of the World Council of Churches is celebrated on Sept 20th.

~ World Day of Planetary Ethics ~ United Nations ~ is celebrated on the 22nd of September.

~ End of Rains Retreat ~ Buddhism ~ Theravada monks and nuns come out of their month of retreat at full moon.

~ Festival of the Ten Virtues ~ Jainism ~ Jains observe fasting worship meditation and confession during ten days, when each days is dedicated to a virtue: forgiveness, humility, honesty, purity, truthfulness, self-restraint, asceticism, study, detachment and celibacy.

~ Spring Equinox / Te Wha o Mahura ~ Earth Spirituality ~ In the Southern Hemisphere the Spring Equinox is celebrated on September 21st. In ancient New Zealand Maori culture, the rising of the star Aotahi (Canopus), together with flowering of kowhai, rangiora and kotukutuku the plants, announced the arrival of spring during September & October. This was also a sign for kumara(sweet potato), planting to begin. A key event at this time was the return of pipiwharauroa, the shining cuckoo, from its winter stay in Hawaiki, the legendary Pacific homeland of the Maori.

~ Ghambar Patishem ~ Zoroasterianism ~ Parsis celebrate the creation of the Earth and the harvesting of the summer crops usually around equinox time.

~ Thrung Too ~ Vietnamese Spirituality ~ On the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, people celebrate the mid-autumn festival by taking glowing lanterns out into the streets. At family gatherings people enjoy eating moon cakes, which remind them that the moon is brightest at this time of year.

~ Harvest Home ~ Earth Spirituality ~ This autumn festival is observed in the Northern Hemisphere with feasting and celebration.

~ Rosh Hashanah ~ Judaism ~ is the Jewish New Year, and the anniversary of the creation of the world. It is the first of the 10 days of Awe and is celebrated for 2 days, beginning at sundown.

~ Communion ~ Christianity ~ On the 1st of October, member churches of the World Council of Churches observe communion around the globe.

~ Celtic New Year ~ Earth Spirituality ~ Samhain or the Feast of Hecate, marks the final harvest. The veil between the physical and spiritual worlds is thinnest at this time, and people bid farewell to those who died during the past year's wheel.

~ Dassehra ~ Hinduism ~ Early in October, Dassehra celebrates the victory of good over evil. It follows the nine day celebration of Durga Puja and Navaratri - nine days when the goddesses are worshiped.

~ United Nations Day ~ around 24th October.

~ Yom Kippur ~ Judaism ~ This 'Day of Atonement' is a time when people ask forgiveness for wrong-doings, and forgive others who have caused them pain. Then one can ask the forgiveness of God. Jews fast during this, the holiest day of the year, beginning at sundown.

~ Succot ~ Judaism ~ A few days after Yom Kippur a 'pilgrimage feast' is celebrated over eight days. During this, harvest time, people erect little 'booths' or tents in the fields - or in their yards in the city. These temporary structures symbolise the shelters in which the Israelites lived during their departure from Egypt. The 8th day of the festival is the highlight, and Jews enjoy joyous feasting and cultural events.

~ Ml'ra al-Nabiy ~ Islam ~ commemorates the ascension of the Prophet to heaven following his night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem. Muslims interpret the event either literally or symbolically, beginning celebrations in the evening.

~ First Parkash~ Sikhism ~ Sikhs celebrate the installation of their Holy Book the Adi Granth, on the Golden Temple in 1604. This, the first edition of the book, was placed in the temple by Arjan Dev, the 5th Guru of Sikhism. Sikhs also celebrate Bandi chhor Divas - the release of the prisoner, commemorating the return of the 6th guru to the holy city of Amritsar, in India. Since he was released on the day of the Hindu festival Diwali, (below), Sikhs celebrate his return by illuminating the city.

~ Diwali / Deepavali ~ Hinduism ~ is perhaps the most well know Hindu festival - the Festival of Lights, celebrated in late October or early November. Houses all over India twinkle with tiny lights from clay lamps, lit to welcome the god Rama. Stalls sell fireworks, sweets, and pictures of the goddess Lakshmi.

~ Festival of Lamps ~ Jainism ~ burning lamps symbolise the light of knowledge that dispels the darkness of ignorance. Jains burn lamps at this time, which also coincides with Diwali and First Parkash.

The following festivals are also included in October calendar, since they fall in Oct or Nov ~

~ First Parkash~ Sikhism ~ Sikhs celebrate the installation of their Holy Book the Adi Granth, on the Golden Temple in 1604. This, the first edition of the book, was placed in the temple by Arjan Dev, the 5th Guru of Sikhism. Sikhs also celebrate Bandi chhor Divas - the release of the prisoner, commemorating the return of the 6th guru to the holy city of Amritsar, in India. Since he was released on the day of the Hindu festival Diwali, (below), Sikhs celebrate his return by illuminating the city.

~ Diwali / Deepavali ~ Hinduism ~ is perhaps the most well know Hindu festival - the Festival of Lights, celebrated in late October or early November. Houses all over India twinkle with tiny lights from clay lamps, lit to welcome the god Rama. Stalls sell fireworks, sweets, and pictures of the goddess Lakshmi.

~ Festival of Lamps ~ Jainism ~ burning lamps symbolise the light of knowledge that dispels the darkness of ignorance. Jains burn lamps at this time, which also coincides with Diwali and First Parkash.

~ Anniversary of the Birth of Baha'u'llah ~ Baha'i Faith ~ Bahai's suspend work on this day in November, and celebrate with feasting and cultural programmes.

~ Advent ~ Christianity ~ In November Christians celebrate this period of preparation before Christmas.

~ Laylat al-Qadr and Eid al-Fitr ~ Islam ~ these festivals, described above, may also fall during this time, depending on the Moslem calendar. Laylat al-Qadr is also known as 'Farewell Friday'.

~ Mahavira ~ Jainism ~ on this day in November, Jains celebrate Mahavira's release from the cycle of rebirth. Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, lived in the 6th century BCE.

~ Hanukkah~ Festival of Lights ~ Judaism ~ by lighting successive candles each day, Jews celebrate the victory of Judah, and the rededication of the Temple in 165 BCE. This festival also celebrates God's power, and the faithfulness of Israel, since the candles remained alight amongst such destruction.

~ Yule ~ Earth Spirituality ~ This festival marks the New Year in the Anglo Saxon tradition. In the Northern hemisphere God is reborn as the Winter King. It is a time for ritually shedding the dross of the past year, and visioning one's spiritual development in the year to come.

~ Anniversary of the Death of Zorathustra ~ Zoroastrianism ~ This festival honours the founder of the Zoroastrian faith, who lived around 6000 BCE.