June 2008...
* 6/1: Partners' Day--Day to give thanks to your spouse/partner for precious love shared. * 6/1 to 6/30: June dedicated to Old Roman Goddess Juno--partner of Jove (God of Happiness), protector of marriage and family, and punisher of abusive and adulterous spouses. * 6/1 to 6/30: Gay and Lesbian Coming Out Month--Time to celebrate all forms of love and family. * 6/3 (3:23 p.m. EDT): New Moon. * 6/3 eve: Old European feast of the Triple Goddess (Goddess of the Moon and the Seasons), marking the transformation of the Virgin into the Mother. * 6/3: Day the first woman was ordained a rabbi in Reform Judaism (1972). * 6/3 to 6/6: Iroquois Strawberry Ceremony--in thanksgiving for the strawberry harvest. Iroquois consider themselves kin to all of Nature. * 6/4: Remembrance day for Moses de Leon (1240-1305), Kabbalistic mystic. He compiled the Zohar, a Kabbalistic commentary on the Torah. * 6/4: Day to mourn the massacre of the peaceful pro-democracy protesters in China (1989); vigil for democracy and respect for the human rights of all in China. * 6/5: Baha'i feast honoring the one Deity as Nur--Light. Baha'is recognize ethnic equality. * 6/5: World Environment Day--Day to mourn the harm done to Mother Earth (past and present), make reparation, and celebrate Her beauty. * 6/6: First appearance of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Compassionate Mother who answers all pleas (France 1830). * 6/6 eve to 6/7 eve: Feast of Old Greek Goddess Athena--as protector and defender. * 6/7: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for mindfully seeing the interdependence of all things at all times. * 6/7 to 6/15: Vestalia--Old Roman festival honoring Goddess Vesta (Greek Hestia). Women made food offerings at the sacred hearths of home and temple. * 6/8 eve to 6/10 eve: Shavuot/Feast of First Fruits--Jewish festival of thanksgiving for the first fruits of the grain harvest. Originally, loaves of bread were offered to Elohim. Also commemorates Moses' receipt of the Ten Commandments. * 6/10: Day Alcoholics Anonymous was founded (1935); day to begin/celebrate recovery from alcohol and drug abuse. * 6/11: Devi Puja--Day to fast from grains (and meat) and make offerings to Hindu Goddess Maha Devi (Great Goddess who encompasses all Goddesses). Flowers, incense, lamps, and vegetarian food are offered; bells are rung and drums beaten. * 6/11: Birthday of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881), founder of Reconstructionist Judaism. He perceived Deity to be a genderless Cosmic Force of Nature, and promoted a Judaism that recognizes gender equality and rejects violence and social injustice. * 6/13 (A 7/24): Old Egyptian feast of Neteret Hathor, Goddess of Love and Fertility. * 6/13: Christian feast of St. Anthony (d. 1231), guardian of the poor and the powerless, and guide of social justice activists. * 6/14: Day the world's nations committed to sustainable development (1992). * 6/14 eve: Vigil for lost fathers; night of mourning and healing. * 6/15: Fathers' Day Day to give love and thanks to all fathers; day for all fathers to celebrate fatherhood and contemplate their sacred duty to provide for the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs of their children. * 6/15: Suijin Matsuri--Shinto rite honoring the Kami of Water. * 6/16: Birthday of Fr. Sergei Bulgakov (1871), Orthodox Christian mystic who believed the one universal Deity to be Father and Mother, Spirit and Matter. * 6/17: Day to celebrate Starhawk's work in reclaiming the Goddess and raising Goddess-consciousness. She teaches an eco-egalitarian form of Wicca. Wiccans advocate for environmental protection and gender equality out of reverence for Goddess, who controls, and is manifested in, Nature. * 6/18 (1:30 p.m. EDT): Full Moon (Rose/Berry Moon). * 6/18: Amitabha Buddha Day Day Tibetan and Mahayana Buddhists do good deeds and chant the name of Buddha God Amitabha/Omito/Amida to gain entry to His Pure Land and aid in attaining nirvana. * 6/20 (7:59 p.m. EDT): Summer Solstice--Marks the beginning of Summer and the longest day and shortest night of the year; celebration of the light with dancing around a bonfire. * 6/20: Old Slavic Kupala--Goddess Morana/Lada and God Jarilo/Lado marry, bringing peace and ensuring a good harvest. * 6/20: World Refugee Day--Day to recognize the plight of the millions of people who, because of persecution, war, or environmental disaster, have become refugees: forced to leave their homes, their jobs, and their countries. * 6/20 to 6/21: Inti RayniInca festival honoring Sun God Inti. * 6/20 to 6/21: Feast of the Great Spirit/Great Mystery that encompasses Mother Earth and Father Sky--honoring Deity as Orenda (Iroquois), Asgaya Galun Lati (Cherokee), Wakan Tanka (Lakota) & Awonawilona (Zuni). * 6/20 to 6/23: Lakota Sun Dance--Festival of prayer, fasting, dancing, and healing in honor of Sun God Wi; offerings are also made to Maka/Mother Earth and Haokah/Father Sky. Lakotas believe all Deities are aspects of Creator Takuskanskan. * 6/21: Taoist festival honoring Shang-Ti/Heavenly Emperor, Father of Justice and Law, and manifestation of the Te (Virtuous Inner Power). Also celebrates the peak of the masculine Yang half of the year and the Shen of Fire, South, and Summer; prayers are made for strength and maturity, and offerings are made to the ancestors. * 6/21: Yoruba/Santeria feast of Orisha Babalu Aye, Guardian of the Disabled. * 6/21: Beginning of Cancer (the Crab/Scarab). * 6/21: Day Unitarian Universalists adopted seven unifying Principles (1985). U.U.'s affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence. * 6/24: Baha'i feast honoring the one Deity as Rahmat--Mercy. * 6/24: First appearance of Our Lady of Medjugorje, Queen of Peace, Mother of All Peoples (Yugoslavia 1981). * 6/24 to 6/27: Zuni Corn Dance--for fertility and rains to aid the maize, bean, and squash crops. Prayer sticks are planted in the fields. * 6/25: Day the first woman was ordained a Universalist minister in the U.S. (1863). * 6/25: Day the Supreme Court recognized that government-sponsored prayer in public schools imposes religion on students and violates the U.S. Constitution (1962). * 6/26: Day torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment were outlawed world-wide (1987); day to mourn their continued existence. * 6/28: First day of the Stonewall riot (1969); day to mourn victims of homophobia (past and present), make peace, and celebrate lesbian and gay empowerment. * 6/29: Yoruba/Santeria feast of Orisha Eleggua, Intercessor and Ruler of Destinies. Yorubas/Santeros communicate with the Orishas through divination. * 6/29 to 7/3: Zoroastrian celebration of Divine Spirit Haurvatat, creator and protector of water. * 6/30: Oharai/Grand Purification Festival--Shinto rite exorcising evil from the world. * 6/30: Vigil for peace, democracy, religious freedom, ethnic equality, and the end of slavery and genocide in Sudan.
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Excerpted from
THE MYSTIC'S WHEEL OF THE YEAR 2008
A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality
© 2007 Marija Miovski
www.WheeloftheYear.com
