* 6/1 (5:03 p.m. EDT): Partial Solar Eclipse (visible in northern North America). * 6/1 to 6/30: June dedicated to Old Roman Goddess Juno - partner of Jove (God of Happiness), protector of marriage and family, and punisher of abusive and adulterous spouses.
* 6/2: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for mindfully seeing the interdependence of all things at all times.
* 6/3: Trinity Sunday--Christian celebration of the one universal Deity as Holy Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit Mother, and Holy Christ Child.
* 6/4 (4:47 a.m. to 9:20 a.m. EDT): Partial Lunar Eclipse (visible in North America). * 6/4 (7:12 a.m. EDT): Full Moon (Rose/Berry Moon). * 6/4: Saga Dawa Duchen--Tibetan Buddhist festival celebrating the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE). * 6/4: Day to mourn the massacre of the peaceful pro-democracy protesters in China (1989); vigil for democracy and respect for the human rights of all in China.
* 6/6: First appearance of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Compassionate Mother who answers all pleas (France 1830).
* 6/7 to 6/15: Vestalia--Old Roman festival honoring Goddess Vesta. Women made food offerings at the sacred hearths of home and temple.
* 6/8: World Oceans Day--Day to recognize the world's dependence on the oceans for food and medicine; day to advocate for the sustainable management of all ocean resources and for an end to the pollution of the ocean with toxins and trash.
* 6/13 (A 7/24): Old Egyptian feast of Neteret Hathor, Goddess of Love and Fertility. * 6/13: Christian feast of St. Anthony (d. 1231), guardian of the poor and the powerless, and guide of social justice activists.
* 6/15: Suijin Matsuri--Shinto rite honoring the Kami of Water.
* 6/16 eve: Vigil for lost fathers; night of mourning and healing.
* 6/17: Fathers’ Day--Day to give love and thanks to all fathers; day for all fathers to celebrate fatherhood and contemplate their sacred duty to provide for the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs of their children. * 6/17: Day to celebrate Starhawk’s work in reclaiming the Goddess and raising Goddess-consciousness. She teaches an eco-egalitarian form of Wicca. Wiccans advocate for environmental protection and gender equality out of reverence for Goddess, who controls, and is manifested in, Nature.
* 6/19 (11:02 a.m. EDT): New Moon. * 6/19 eve: Old European feast of the Triple Goddess (Goddess of the Moon and the Seasons), marking the transformation of the Virgin into the Mother. * 6/19 to 6/22: Iroquois Green Bean Ceremony--in thanksgiving for the bean harvest; celebrated with tobacco offerings, singing, drumming, dancing, and feasting.
* 6/20 (7:09 p.m. EDT): Summer Solstice--Marks the beginning of Summer and the longest day and shortest night of the year; celebration of the light with dancing around a bonfire. * 6/20: Old Slavic Kupala--Goddess Morana/Lada and God Jarilo/Lado marry, bringing peace and ensuring a good harvest. * 6/20: Solar Day--Day to promote solar power as a safe, clean, and renewable energy. * 6/20 to 6/21: Inti Rayni--Inca festival honoring Sun God Inti. * 6/20 to 6/21: Feast of the Great Spirit/Great Mystery that encompasses Mother Earth and Father Sky - honoring Deity as Orenda (Iroquois), Asgaya Galun Lati (Cherokee), Wakan Tanka (Lakota) & Awonawilona (Zuni). * 6/20 to 6/23: Lakota Sun Dance--Festival of prayer, fasting, dancing, and healing in honor of Sun God Wi; offerings are also made to Maka/Mother Earth and Haokah/Father Sky. Lakotas believe all Deities are aspects of Creator Takuskanskan.
* 6/21: Taoist festival honoring Shang-Ti/Heavenly Emperor, Father of Justice and Law, and manifestation of the Te (Virtuous Inner Power). Also celebrates the peak of the masculine Yang half of the year and the Shen of Fire, South, and Summer; prayers are made for strength and maturity, and offerings are made to the ancestors. * 6/21: Beginning of Cancer (the Crab/Scarab).
* 6/22 eve to 6/23 eve: Feast of Old Greek Goddess Athena - as protector and defender.
* 6/24: Baha’i feast honoring the one Deity as Rahmat - Mercy. * 6/24: First appearance of Our Lady of Medjugorje, Queen of Peace, Mother of All Peoples (Yugoslavia 1981). * 6/24 to 6/27: Zuni Corn Dance--for fertility and rains to aid the maize, bean, and squash crops. Prayer sticks are planted in the fields.
* 6/30 to 7/7: Chinese Buddhist festival of Kuan Yin/Kannon/Tara, Supreme Goddess of Nature and Perfect Buddha of many emanations; celebrates Her enlightenment and Her bodhisattva vow to help all sentient beings.
June Action OfferingsHeal and nurture your relationships with your siblings. Volunteer to work at a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen. Ask local officials to set aside land for a community garden to enable the poor and others to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Write to your congressmen/women in support of stronger laws to protect forests from being logged above the maximum sustainable yield or in ways that destroy bio-diversity. Write to your congressmen/women in support of stronger laws to prevent water pollution and to require clean-up of polluted waters.
Excerpted fromTHE MYSTIC'S WHEEL OF THE YEAR 2012A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality© 2011 Marija Miovskiwww.WheeloftheYear.com
