April 2010...
* 2/17 to 4/1
(OC 2/15 to 3/27): Lent. * 4/1: Veneralia--Old Roman festival celebrating
Venus (Goddess of Peace) vanquishing Mars (God of War) with love.
* 4/1 (OC 4/1): 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. * 4/1: Day that same-sex marriage was first
legally recognized (2001). * 4/2 (OC 4/2): 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. * 4/3: Mahayana Buddhist festival of Bodhisattva
Tara/Kuan Yin/Kannon; celebrates Her “birth.” She declared women the
spiritual equals of men. * 4/3: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for
being mindful that the joys and suffering of others are your joys and suffering.
* 4/3 (OC 4/3): Holy Saturday--Vigil remembering Savior Jesus in
His cave tomb. * 4/4 (OC 4/4): Easter/Pascha--Christian celebration of
Lord Jesus’ resurrection by the power of the Holy Spirit. * 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:
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: 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: Holocaust Remembrance
Day--Day to mourn Jewish victims of genocide and anti-Semitism, make peace, and
celebrate empowerment of Jewish Americans. * 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). * 4/12 eve to 4/13 eve: Celebration day for Muhyi ad-Din
Ibn El-Arabi (d. 1240), Sufi saint who honored Deity as a unity manifested in
all Nature, both genders, and countless forms. * 4/14 (8:29 a.m. EDT): New Moon. * 4/14:
Shakyamuni Buddha Day--Day Tibetan Buddhists meditate on the Buddha’s
teachings and strive to fulfill the Precepts. The Buddha taught an
eight-fold path to enlightenment - right views, right aspiration, right speech,
right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right
contemplation. * 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 4/17:
Iroquois Thunder Ceremony--in thanksgiving for the rains. * 4/14 to 4/25
(I 4/22): Old Norse Summer Days Feast--Offerings were made to the Deities
(particularly Odin, Thor, and Freyr) for success, peace,
and plenty. * 4/17: Akshay Tritiya--Final day of Jain fast; day of Jain
pilgrimage. Jainas who have undertaken fasts are rewarded with sugar cane juice.
* 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. * 4/19 eve to 4/20 eve: Feast of Old
Greek Goddess Artemis, who represents the feminine in Nature and protects
women throughout their lives. * 4/20: Beginning of Taurus (the
Bull/Cow/Calf). * 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 eve to 4/22 eve: Feast of God Poseidon, Goddess
Amphritrite, and all Old Greek Gods and Goddesses of the seas. * 4/21 to
5/2: Ridvan--Baha’i celebration of Baha’u’llah’s declaration
identifying himself as the New Prophet. * 4/22: Day for meditation
on Tantric Bodhisattva Deities Avalokitesvara and Green Tara,
consciousness and empowerment of Compassion. Buddhists recognize the equality of
all sentient beings. * 4/22: Earth Day--Day to honor the Earth and to
meditate on Deity manifesting as Mother Earth. * 4/22: Day to take
your children to work to teach them the value of self-sufficiency. * 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). * 4/23:
Yoruba/Santeria feast of Ogun, Orisha of Self-reliance and Industrious
Labor. * 4/26 to 5/3: Mayan Rain Festival--honoring Rain God Chac
and His attendant Chacmool, and welcoming the fructifying rains. *
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 (8:18 a.m. EDT): Full Moon
(Flower/Corn-Planting Moon). * 4/28: Baha’i feast honoring the one Deity
as Jamal - Beauty. * 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: 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). * 4/30: 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 of Divine Spirit Khshathra Vairya,
creator and protector of the Sky. Zoroastrians worship the one transcendent and
immanent Deity Ahura Mazda, who is symbolized by a sacred fire. * 4/30
eve to 5/5 eve: Mid-Spring/May Day/Walpurgis--Celebrates sacred love and the
flowering vegetation by gathering flowers and dancing around a Maypole.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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 2010
A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality
© 2009 Marija Miovski
www.WheeloftheYear.com
