* 7/2: Visitation Day--Christian feast marking St. Elizabeth’s recognition of Blessed Mary’s divine destiny as catalyst for human liberation and redemption.* 7/4: 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.
* 7/6 (1:00 p.m. EDT): Earth Aphelion--when the Earth is farthest from the Sun.* 7/6: Birthday of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.* 7/7: Tanabata--Shinto rite honoring the Kami of the Stars.* 7/7: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for being mindful that alienation and hunger for possessions results from ignorance of interconnectedness.* 7/12 (10:48 p.m. EDT): New Moon.* 7/12: Day to meditate on the social costs of climate change.
* 7/12: Birthday of Henry David Thoreau (1817), Transcendentalist and naturalist who believed in individualism and living simply in harmony with Nature.* 7/12 to 7/15: Iroquois Green Bean Ceremony--in thanksgiving for the bean harvest; celebrated with tobacco offerings, singing, drumming, dancing, and feasting.
* 7/13 to 7/15: Obon--Zen Buddhist festival honoring departed ancestors.* 7/14: 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 7/25 (I 7/19): 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.* 7/15: Secular Humanism Day--Day to celebrate all life-affirming humanist, rationalist, and scientific belief systems.* 7/16: Chokhor Duchen--Tibetan Buddhist celebration of the Buddha’s first teaching. The Buddha taught an Eightfold Path to enlightenment - right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.* 7/17: 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.* 7/19 to 8/1: Old Egyptian festival marking the return to Egypt of Neteret Isis, Neter Osiris, and the rains that inundate the Nile River.
* 7/20: Day Tibetan Buddhists meditate on and emulate Bodhisattva Goddess Red Tara’s conquest of fear and anger.* 7/21 eve to 7/22 eve: Tish’a B’Av--Jewish fast day mourning the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem dedicated to Elohim.* 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 to 7/31: Chinese Buddhist festival of Kuan Yin, Supreme Goddess of Nature and Perfect Buddha of many emanations; celebrates Her enlightenment and Her bodhisattva vow to help all sentient beings.* 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.* 7/27 (4:20 p.m. EDT): Full Moon (Grain-Harvest/Thunder Moon).* 7/28: Day the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment went into effect, guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the law to all (1868).* 7/28 eve to 7/29 eve: Synoikia--Old Greek festival celebrating the peaceful cooperation of states. Offerings were made to Aphrodite and Eirene, Goddesses of friendship and peace.* 7/29 eve to 8/17 eve (8/12 peak): Perseid Meteor Showers.
* 7/31 eve to 8/2 eve: Lughnasadh--Old Celtic/Irish Feast of Goddess Tailtiu and God Lugh (Deities of Sustenance and Light).* 7/31 eve to 8/7 eve: Mid-Summer/First Harvest/Lammas--Festival of thanksgiving for the first of the grain harvest; celebrated by offering the first fruits of the grain harvest and prayers for sustenance for all.Permission to use and distribute these excerpts is granted for non-commercial purposes, provided Excerpted fromTHE MYSTIC'S WHEEL OF THE YEAR 2018A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality© 2017 Marija Miovskiwww.WheeloftheYear.com
