* 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.
* 12/31 to 1/4: Zoroastrian celebration of Divine Spirit Vohu Manah, creator and protector of animals. Vohu Manah is one of seven male and female divine emanations of Deity Ahura Mazda.* 1/1 (9:24 p.m. EST): Full Moon (Black/Death-Crone Moon).* 1/1: World Peace Day--Day to meditate for peace throughout the world.* 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.* 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.* 1/3 (1:00 a.m. EST): Earth Perihelion--when the Earth is closest to the Sun.* 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.* 1/6: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for being mindful of the peace, joy, and beauty of the moment.* 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.* 1/13 to 1/25 (I 1/19): Old Norse Mid-Winter Feast--Offerings were made to the Deities (particularly Jord, Thor, and Freyr) for growth of crops.* 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 limitless, attributeless, immanent, and transcendent Brahman.* 1/14 eve to 1/15 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.* 1/14 to 1/16: 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.
*1/16 (9:17 p.m. EST): New Moon.* 1/16 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).* 1/16 eve to 1/17 eve: Feast of Old Greek Goddess Hekate, who guides all through transitions and crisis.* 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.* 1/19: Baha’i feast honoring the one Deity as Sultan - Sovereignty. Baha’i's believe in the oneness of Deity.* 1/20: Beginning of Aquarius (the Water Bearer)
* 1/22: Sarasvati Puja--Hindu festival honoring Goddess Sarasvati, who represents wisdom, intellect, and knowledge, as well as inspiration, arts, and music. Hindus believe all Gods and Goddesses are aspects of the one Great God-Goddess Maha Deva-Maha Devi.* 1/24 to 2/1: Sementivae--Old Roman festival of sowing, honoring Earth Goddess Terra, Grain Goddess Ceres, and Seed Goddess Proserpina.
* 1/25: 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.* 1/30 eve to 1/31 eve: Tu B’Shevat--Jewish Festival of Trees, celebrated with tree plantings and orchard blessings.* 1/31 (8:27 a.m. EST): Full Moon (Cold/Seed Moon).* 1/31: Total Lunar Eclipse (visible in North America).* 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.
* 1/31 eve to 2/3 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.* 1/31 to 2/8: Navajo Sing--Festival in preparation for the coming agricultural season; celebrated with prayer, chanting, dancing, and healing.Excerpted fromTHE MYSTIC'S WHEEL OF THE YEAR 2017A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality© 2016 Marija Miovskiwww.WheeloftheYear.com
