April 2007...
* 2/21 to 4/5 (OC 2/19 to 3/31): Lent. * 4/1: Veneralia--Old Roman festival celebrating Venus (Goddess of Peace) vanquishing Mars (God of War) with love. * 4/1 (OC 4/1): Palm Sunday--Christian feast marking Savior Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem to teach love and justice for all humanity and to sacrifice Himself for the liberation and redemption of all. * 4/1: Day that same-sex marriage was first legally recognized (2001). * 4/2 (1:15 p.m. EDT): Full Moon (White/Virgin Moon). * 4/2 eve to 4/10 eve: Passover/Pesach--Jewish festival recalling their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and celebrating freedom from oppression. * 4/5 (OC 4/5): Maundy Thursday/Last Supper of Savior Jesus--He washed the feet of His male and female disciples, gave them bread and wine as His body and blood, told them to love one another, and told of the Paraclete who would come after Him. * 4/6: Mahayana Buddhist festival of Bodhisattva Tara/Kuan Yin/Kannon; celebrates Her birth. She declared women the spiritual equals of men. * 4/6 (OC 4/6): Passion Friday--Fast day to mourn the torture and killing of Savior Jesus by civil and religious authorities, and to contemplate the sacrifice made for the liberation and redemption of all. * 4/6: Day the Hutus began genocidal massacres of Tutsis in Rwanda (1994); vigil for true peace, justice, and respect for the human rights of all in Africa. * 4/7: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for being mindful that the joys and suffering of others are your joys and suffering. * 4/7 (OC 4/7): Holy Saturday--Vigil remembering Savior Jesus in His cave tomb. * 4/7: World Health Day--Day to pray for healing of all those chronically and seriously ill; day to advocate for adequate health care for all. * 4/7: Birthday of William Wordsworth (1770), poet and mystic who found connection with Deity while communing with Nature. * 4/7: Birthday of William Ellery Channing (1780), Unitarian who believed all concepts of Deity to be aspects of the one Deity, and preached religious tolerance. * 4/8 (OC 4/8): Easter/Pascha--Christian celebration of Lord Jesus' resurrection by the power of the Holy Spirit. * 4/8: Zen Buddhist celebration of the Buddha's birth (563 BCE). Forms of Buddhism include Theravada, Tantra (Tibetan), and Mahayana (Zen and Pure Land). * 4/9: Baha'i feast honoring the one Deity as Jalal - Glory. * 4/11: Day Pope John XXIII called for world peace, recognition of human rights, and justice under law (1963). He recognized that peace will only be realized when social justice is realized. * 4/12: Day the first woman was ordained a rabbi in Orthodox Judaism (2006). * 4/14: Cetacean Day--Day to honor all creatures of the sea and to meditate on Deity manifesting as sea creatures - Goddess as Delphine/Dolphin (Old Greek) & Sgana/Orca Whale (Haida); and God as Qolqalg Odai/Salmon (Haida). * 4/14: Day the Sikh Khalsa was created (1699). Men and women initiated into the Khalsa seek harmony with the Divine through introspection and service to the dispossessed. * 4/14 to 4/25 (I 4/19): Old Norse Summer Days Feast--Offerings were made to the Deities (particularly Odin, Thor, and Freyr) for success, peace, and plenty. * 4/15: Holocaust Remembrance Day--Day to mourn Jewish victims of genocide and anti-Semitism, make peace, and celebrate empowerment of Jewish Americans. * 4/17 (7:36 a.m. EDT): New Moon. * 4/17: Day Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge, who caused the deaths of more than a million civilians (1975); vigil for true peace, justice, and respect for the human rights of all in Asia. * 4/17 to 4/20: Iroquois Corn-Planting Ceremony--in thanksgiving for the corn seed. Iroquois believe Awenhai/Sky Woman descended from the Sky and created Earth. * 4/20: Beginning of Taurus (the Bull/Cow/Calf). * 4/20: Akshay Tritiya--Final day of Jain fast; day of Jain pilgrimage. Jainas who have undertaken fasts are rewarded with sugar cane juice. * 4/20 eve to 4/23 eve (4/21 peak): Lyrid Meteor Showers. * 4/21: Birthday of John Muir (1838), naturalist and conservationist. * 4/21 to 5/2: Ridvan--Baha'i celebration of Baha'u'llah's declaration identifying himself as the New Prophet. * 4/22: Earth Day--Day to honor the Earth and to meditate on Deity manifesting as Mother Earth. * 4/22: Day the world's nations guaranteed asylum to those persecuted in their homelands on account of their ethnicity, religion, or political opinion (1954). * 4/22 eve to 4/23 eve: Feast of Old Greek Goddess Artemis (Roman Diana/Slavic Diwitsa), who represents the feminine in Nature and protects women throughout their lives. Women recognized the transitions in their lives and honored female fertility. * 4/23: Yoruba/Santeria feast of Ogun, Orisha of Self-reliance and Industrious Labor. * 4/24: Day for meditation on Tantric Bodhisattva Deities Avalokitesvara and Green Tara, consciousness and empowerment of Compassion. Buddhists recognize the equality of all sentient beings. * 4/24 eve to 4/25 eve: Feast of God Poseidon, Goddess Amphritrite, and all Old Greek Gods and Goddesses of the seas. * 4/26: Day to take your children to work to teach them the value of self-sufficiency. * 4/26 to 5/3: Mayan Rain Festival--honoring Rain God Chac and His attendant Chacmool, and welcoming the fructifying rains. * 4/27: Arbor Day--Day to honor trees, to plant trees, and to meditate on Deity manifesting as trees - Goddess as Helice/Willow (Old Greek), Yggdrasill/Ash (Old Norse) & Asherah/Palm (Old Canaanite-Hebrew). * 4/27: Death day of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1882), Transcendentalist Unitarian who believed in equality, self reliance, and the immanence of Deity in humans and in all Nature. * 4/28: Baha'i feast honoring the one Deity as Jamal - Beauty. * 4/27 eve to 4/28 eve: Day commemorating the death of Abdul Qadir Jilani (1166), Sufi saint who was renown for his compassion, particularly for the poor. * 4/28 eve to 5/3 eve: Floralia--Old Roman festival devoted to Flora, Goddess of Flowers. * 4/29: Day production and use of chemical weapons was outlawed world-wide (1997); day to mourn their victims. * 4/30: Birthday of Hosea Ballou (1771), Deist Universalist who preached that all are Deity's beloved children. * 4/30 eve to 5/2 eve: Beltaine--Old Celtic/Welsh feast of Blodeuwedd (Goddess of Flowers) and Llew (the Oak King - God of the waxing Sun). * 4/30 to 5/4: Zoroastrian celebration. * 4/30 eve to 5/5 eve: Mid-Spring/May Day/Walpurgis.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Permission to use and distribute these excerpts is granted for non-commercial purposes, provided the following information is included:
Excerpted from
THE MYSTIC'S WHEEL OF THE YEAR 2007
A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality
© 2006 Marija Miovski
www.WheeloftheYear.com
