One Journey, Many Paths~January 2016

Happy-New-Year-2016-Love-Greetings

* 1/1: New Year’s Day (Gregorian Calendar).

* 12/21 to 1/9: Hopi & Zuni Soyala New Year Festival of purification and renewal.

* 12/25 to 1/5: Yule--Old Anglo-Teutonic festival honoring God Freyr, Goddess Freyja, and God Balder.

* 1/1: World Peace Day--Day to meditate for peace throughout the world.

* 1/1: Ethics Day--Day to commit to cultivating personal honor.

* 1/1 to 1/4: Tewa Turtle Dance--celebrating life and the first Creation, when Sky Father embraced Earth Mother and all life was conceived.

quadrantid-meteor-shower

* 1/1 eve to 1/4 eve (1/3 peak): Quadrantid Meteor Showers.

* 1/1 to 1/6: Shogatsu/Shinto New Year’s Festival--The Kami (Nature Spirits) of the four directions are honored, and prayers for happiness, good health, and prosperity are made. The Kami are manifestations of the one universal, primordial and eternal, immanent and transcendent Deity, Kuni-Tokotachi-no-Kami.

* 1/2 (6:00 p.m. EST): Earth Perihelion--when the Earth is closest to the Sun.

* 1/2: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for being mindful of the peace, joy, and beauty of the moment.

* 1/5: Avian Day--Day to honor all creatures of the air and to meditate on Deity manifesting as birds.

* 1/5: Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, tenth Sikh guru (1666). He believed that only those who love find Deity, and exhorted Sikhs to show compassion for humanity.

The_Magi_Henry_Siddons_Mowbray_1915

* 1/6 (OC 1/19): Epiphany--Christian feast recalling the adoration of Child Jesus by the Magi, and the beginning of Rabbi Jesus’ ministry of love to humanity - when He changed water into wine at Cana.

* 1/7: Koshogatsu--Shinto rite honoring Goddess Izanami, partner of God Izanagi. They created Nature and the Kami.

* 1/7: Orthodox Christian Christmas.

new moon 8

* 1/9 (8:30 p.m. EST): New Moon.

* 1/9 eve to 1/10 eve: Feast of Old Greek Goddess Hekate, who guides all through transitions and crisis.

* 1/10 eve: Rosh Chodesh--Jewish women gather to worship the Shekhinah, the feminine manifestation of Elohim, the one universal Deity; and to pray and act for peace, social justice, and environmental healing, to bring about Tikkun Olam (reparation of the world and reunification of the Divine).

* 1/14: Makar Sakranti--Beginning of Hindu pilgrimage to holy rivers to bathe and pray, to purify themselves of their sins. Hindus believe all Gods and Goddesses are aspects of the one Great God-Goddess Maha Deva-Maha Devi.

* 1/14 to 1/25 (I 1/22): Old Norse Mid-Winter Feast--Offerings were made to the Deities (particularly Jord, Thor, and Freyr) for growth of crops.

* 1/15: Feast of the Black Christ.

Beauraing1

* 1/15: First appearance of Our Lady of Banneux, Virgin of the poor, the sick, and the suffering (Belgium 1933).

* 1/15 to 1/17: Old Egyptian Festival honoring the unseen Neteru Amen and Amenet. Egyptians perceived the many Gods and Goddesses (Neteru) to be aspects of the one God-Goddess Neter-Neteret. * 1/17: Yoruba/Santeria feast of Ogun, Orisha of Strength, Endurance, and Perseverance. Yorubas/Santeros believe the Orishas are emanations and messengers of the one Deity, Olodumare.

* 1/17: Day Tibetan Buddhists meditate on Buddha Deities Amitayus and White Tara, who grant good health and long life. In Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are symbolic abstractions and aspects of Adi-Buddha ‑ the masculine and feminine, transcendent and immanent, omniscient and omnipotent, primordial and eternal Absolute.

* 1/17: World Religions Day--Day to contemplate all religions as different paths to the one universal Deity of many names and aspects.

* 1/20: Beginning of Aquarius (the Water Bearer).

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* 1/23 (8:46 p.m. EST): Full Moon (Cold/Seed Moon).

* 1/23 to 1/31: Navajo Sing--Festival in preparation for the coming agricultural season; celebrated with prayer, chanting, dancing, and healing.

* 1/24 eve to 1/25 eve: Tu B’Shevat--Jewish Festival of Trees, celebrated with tree plantings and orchard blessings.

* 1/24 to 2/1: Sementivae--Old Roman festival of sowing, honoring Earth Goddess Terra, Grain Goddess Ceres, and Seed Goddess Proserpina.

* 1/31: Birthday of Fr. Thomas Merton (1915), Catholic mystic and poet, who found Deity in stillness and silence.

* 1/31 eve to 2/2 eve: Imbolc/St. Brigid’s Day--Old Celtic/Irish feast of Goddess Brigid; merged with the Christian feast of St. Brigid. Fires were lit to welcome Her as She traveled about blessing fields, animals, and people.

candlemas-imbolc

* 1/31 eve to 2/4 eve: Mid-Winter/Groundhog’s Day/Candlemas--Festival marking the transformation from death to life - the beginning of the agricultural year, awakening of hibernating animals, and return of migrating birds and fish. Observed with a candlelight procession to bless fields and seeds, recognition of newborns, and contemplation of life.

Excerpted fromTHE MYSTIC'S WHEEL OF THE YEAR 2016A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality© 2015 Marija Miovskiwww.WheeloftheYear.com

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