July 2008...
* 6/29 to 7/3: Zoroastrian celebration. * 7/1: Canada Day--Day to celebrate the union of diverse peoples, languages, and cultures into one nation. * 7/1: Day the world's nations committed to stop proliferation of nuclear weapons (1968); vigil to protest the production and use of all nuclear weapons world-wide. * 7/1: Day endangered species became internationally protected (1975); day to celebrate all the world's creatures. * 7/1: Day the International Criminal Court came into being to prosecute those who commit acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, international terrorism, and war crimes (2002). * 7/2 (10:19 p.m. EDT): New Moon. * 7/2: Visitation Day--Christian feast marking St. Elizabeth's recognition of Blessed Mary's divine destiny as catalyst for human liberation and redemption. * 7/2: Day discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender, and religion was prohibited in public accommodations and employment (1964). * 7/2 eve to 7/3 eve: Feast of Old Greek Goddess Hekate, who guides all through transitions and crisis. * 7/2 to 7/5: Iroquois Green Bean Ceremony--in thanksgiving for the bean harvest; celebrated with tobacco offerings, singing, drumming, dancing, and feasting. * 7/3 eve to 7/4 eve: Hekatombaion Noumenia/Old Athenian New Year--Old Greek festival honoring all the Gods and Goddesses. * 7/3 eve to 7/4 eve: Remembrance day for Sufi saint Haji Bektash (d. 1337). He initiated women into his order equally with men and advocated gender equality in Islamic society. * 7/4 (4:00 a.m. EDT): Earth Aphelion--when the Earth is farthest from the Sun. * 7/4: U.S. Independence Day--Day to celebrate the right of all peoples to exercise peaceful, democratic self-determination. * 7/4: Death day of Thomas Jefferson (1826), who ensured that the U.S. Constitution would protect basic rights and liberties. A Deist, he practiced a religion that was based on Nature, reason, and ethics. * 7/5: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for being mindful that alienation and hunger for possessions results from ignorance of interconnectedness. * 7/6 (Th B 7/18): Chokhor Duchen Tibetan Buddhist celebration of the Buddha's first teaching. * 7/6: Birthday of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. * 7/7: Tanabata--Shinto rite honoring the Kami of the Stars. * 7/10: Day the World Union for Progressive Judaism was founded (1926). It was formed to promote progressive values within Judaism. * 7/10: Day Pope John Paul II acknowledged the evil of sexism and apologized for the Catholic Church's past oppression of women (1995); day to mourn the continued subordination of women by the Church. * 7/11: World Population Day--Day to meditate on the social and environmental costs of overpopulation. * 7/11: Day Srebrenica, Bosnia, fell to attacking Serbs (1995), beginning a massacre of thousands of civilians because of their ethnicity and religion; vigil for true peace, justice, religious tolerance, and respect for the human rights of all in the Balkans. * 7/12: Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (1690); vigil for true peace, justice, religious tolerance, and equal rights for all in Northern Ireland. * 7/12: Birthday of Henry David Thoreau (1817), Transcendentalist and naturalist who believed in individualism and living simply in harmony with Nature. * 7/13: Baha'i feast honoring the one Deity as Kalimat--Sacred Words. * 7/13 to 7/15: Obon--Zen Buddhist festival honoring departed ancestors. * 7/14 (A 8/24): Old Egyptian birthday feast of Neter Osiris--partner and true love of Isis, and father of Horus; guide of all husbands, fathers, and judges. * 7/14 to 7/21: Mahayana Buddhist festival of Tara/Kuan Yin/Kannon, Supreme Goddess of Nature and Perfect Buddha of many emanations; celebrates Her enlightenment and Her vow to help all sentient beings. * 7/14 to 7/25 (I 7/24): Old Norse/Icelandic Mid-Summer Althingi--Community gathering for democratic decision making. Forseti and Tyr, Gods of Justice and Self-Sacrifice, were honored. * 7/14 eve to 8/19 eve (7/28 peak): Delta Aquarid Meteor Showers. * 7/16: Birthday of Mary Baker Eddy (1821), founder of Christian Science, who honored Deity as Father-Mother God. * 7/17 (A 8/27): Old Egyptian birthday feast of Neteret Isis--partner and true love of Osiris, and mother of Horus; guide of all wives, mothers, healers, advocates, and teachers. * 7/18 (3:59 a.m. EDT): Full Moon ( Red/Mother Moon). * 7/18: Day South Africa's apartheid was internationally outlawed (1976); birthday of Nelson Mandela, non-violent anti-apartheid activist. * 7/18 eve to 7/19 eve: Synoikia--Old Greek festival celebrating the peaceful cooperation of states. Offerings were made to Aphrodite and Eirene, Goddesses of friendship and peace. * 7/19: Day women demanded recognition of their equality to men in the legal, political, economic, religious, and domestic spheres (Seneca Falls, New York 1848). * 7/19 to 8/1 (A 8/29 to 9/11): Old Egyptian festival marking the return to Egypt of Neteret Isis, Neter Osiris, and the rains that inundate the Nile River. * 7/20: Old Slavic festival of God Perun (the Thunderer). * 7/20: Secular Humanism Day--Day to celebrate all life-affirming humanist, rationalist, and scientific belief systems. * 7/20: Vigil for peace, justice, and respect for the human rights of all in Colombia--now in the throes of civil war. * 7/22: Christian feast of St. Mary Magdalen, disciple and priestess--Savior Jesus made her His priestess by purifying her seven times; she anointed Him in preparation for His sacrifice and witnessed His torture, death, and resurrection. * 7/23: Beginning of Leo (the Lion/Lioness). * 7/23: Mayan Sun Festival--honoring Sun God Ahau Kin; celebrated with devotional offerings of food, song, prayer, and a ritual procession that symbolically travels to the four quarters of the Universe. * 7/24: Day that aggressive war was outlawed and the right to defend victims of aggression was recognized world-wide (1929). * 7/25 eve to 7/31 eve: Panathenaea--Old Greek festival of Goddess Athena--as daughter of Wisdom (Goddess Metis) and font of reason. * 7/26: Christian feast of St. Anna, mother of Blessed Mary and grandmother of Blessed Jesus; guide of grandmothers and elderly women. * 7/26: Birthday of Dr. Carl Gustav Jung (1875), founder of archetypal psychology, which explores universal concepts of Deity and their relation to the individual psyche. * 7/26: Day discrimination against the disabled was prohibited in public accommodations and employment (1990); day to celebrate empowerment of the disabled. * 7/28: Day the Constitution's 14th Amendment went into effect, guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the law to all (1868). * 7/29 eve: Laylat al-Mi'raj Commemorates the night journey of Muslim Prophet Muhammad to heaven. * 7/29 eve to 8/17 eve (8/12 peak): Perseid Meteor Showers. * 7/31 eve to 8/2 eve: Lughnasadh. * 7/31 eve to 8/6 eve: Mid-Summer/First Harvest/Lammas.
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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 2008
A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality
© 2007 Marija Miovski
www.WheeloftheYear.com
