Spiritual Development and Faith Awareness

Important cultural and religious holidays

January

• January 1 - 2 | Feast of St Basil | Christian | Church forefather from 329–379 CE. Orthodox celebrate on the 1st, Catholics on the 2nd
• January 6 | Epiphany | Catholic | 12th Day of Christmas, recognising the significance of Jesus
• January 6 | Gurpurab of Guru Gobind Singh Ji | Sikh | Birth of the 10th Guru in 1666
• January 7 | Orthodox Christmas | Orthodox | Christmas according to the Julian calendar
• January 14 | Thai Pongal | Hindu | Start of the Thai month dedicated to the Hindu sun god Surya
• January 19 | Orthodox Epiphany | Orthodox | Recognising the significance of Jesus
• January 19 | World Religion Day | | No additional meaning noted
• January 29 | Chinese New Year | Buddhist | Celebrated throughout Asia under different names

February

• February 12 | Makha Bucha | Buddhist | Buddha commencing teaching to his disciples
• February 15 | Nirvana Day | Buddhist | Buddha’s death
• February 24 | Maslenitsa | Pagan | Eastern Slavic bidding farewell to winter
• February 26 | Maha Shivaratri | Hindu | Festival honouring Shiva
• February 27 | Ramadan | Muslim | The Qur'an initially revealed to Mohamed in 624 CE
• February 28 | Lhosar (Tibetan New Year) | Buddhist | No additional meaning noted

March

• March 1 | St David’s Day | Welsh | Patron saint of Wales
• March 4 | Shrove Tuesday | Catholic | Last day before the Lent period begins
• March 5 | Ash Wednesday | Catholic | First day of Lent
• March 14 | Purim | Jewish | Commemorates the events in the book of Esther
• March 14 | Holi | Hindu | Spring festival
• March 17 | St Patrick’s Day | Irish | Patron saint of Ireland
• March 17 | Harmony Week | | No additional meaning noted
• March 20 | Nowruz | Iranian | Spring festival
• March 30 | Ugadi | Hindu | New Year
• March 31 | Eid al-Fitr | Muslim | End of Ramadan

April

• April 1 | Kha b-Nisan | Assyrian | New Year
• April 4 | Qingming | Chinese | Tomb sweeping day — showing respect to ancestors
• April 8 | Hana Matsuri | Buddhist | Japan celebrates Buddha's birthday
• April 12 | Hanuman Jayanti | Hindu | Celebration of the Hindu god Hanuman
• April 12 | Passover | Jewish | Commemorates the biblical events of Exodus
• April 13 | Palm Sunday | Christian | Last Sunday before Easter
• April 13-14 | New Year for Indo-Chinese Countries | Various | Known by various names in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, and parts of India
• April 17 | Maundy Thursday & Easter | Christian | Commemorates the death of Jesus. Orthodox and Catholic Easter are together this year
• April 20 | Ridvan (12 Days) | Bahai | Revelation of the mission
• April 23 | St George’s Day | English | Patron saint of England

May

• May 22 | Declaration of the Bab | Bahai | The Bab announces his mission in 1844 CE
• May 23 | Buddha Day | Buddhist | Commemorates the Buddha
• May 28 | Baha'u'llah | Bahai | Commemorates the death of the founder of Bahai in 1892 CE
• May 29 | Ascension of Christ | Christian | Jesus entering heaven

June

• June 2-3 | Shavuot | Jewish | Receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai
• June 4 | Hajj Pilgrimage | Muslim | Pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site, Mecca
• June 6 | Eid al-Adha | Muslim | Feast of Sacrifice
• June 8 | Pentecost | Christian | 50 days after Easter
• June 27 | Al Hijri | Muslim | Muslim New Year

July

• July 6 | Ashura | Muslim | Sunni Muslim celebration of Noah leaving the Ark and Moses leaving Egypt
• July 10 | Asalha Puja (Dhamma Day) | Buddhist | The first teaching of the Buddha

August

• August 9 | Raksha Bandhan | Hindu | Bond of protection between brothers and sisters
• August 15 | Feast of the Assumption of Mary | Christian | Death of Mary (mother of Jesus)
• August 16 | Krishna Janmashtami | Hindu | Birth of Lord Krishna
• August 26-27 | Ganesh Chaturthi | Hindu | Birth of Lord Ganesha

September

• September 5 | Mawlid Al-Nabi | Muslim | Birth of Prophet Muhammad
• September 11 | Enkutatash/Nayrouz | Ethiopia/Coptic | New Year
• September 23-24 | Rosh Hashanah | Jewish | Jewish New Year
• September 28 | Durga Puja | Hindu | Homage to Goddess Durga

October

• October 2 | Yom Kippur | Jewish | Day of Atonement
• October 6 | Tsukimi | Japan | Full moon ceremony
• October 6 | Succot | Jewish | Biblical holiday
• October 7 | Kathina | Buddhist | End of monks’ retreat
• October 14-15 | Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah | Jewish | Biblical holiday
• October 20 | Gurgaddi of Guru Granth Sahib | Sikh | Respect for holy scriptures
• October 20 | Deepavali | Hindu | Festival of Lights
• October 22-23 | Birth of Bab and Baha'u'llah | Bahai | Birth of the prophets
• October 31 | Halloween | Pagan | No additional meaning noted

November

• November 1 | All Saints’ Day | Christian | Commemorates all saints
• November 2 | All Souls’ Day | Christian | To remember all those who have died
• November 2 | Dia de los Muertos | Mexican | Day of the Dead
• November 5 | Guru Nanak Gurpurab | Sikh | Birth of the 1st Guru
• November 30 | St Andrew’s Day | Scottish | Patron saint of Scotland
• November 30 | First Sunday of Advent | Christian | Countdown to Christmas

December

• December 8 | Bodhi Day | Buddhist | Buddha attains enlightenment under the Bodhi tree
• December 14 | Chanukah (week) | Jewish | Commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem (164 BCE)
• December 25 | Christmas | Christian | Commemorates the birth of Jesus

Spotlight Days

Saints Days
What is a Saints day? Saints Day are annual commemoration day for significant people in Christianity (predominantly Catholic) usually on the anniversary of their death or other significant day. Other religions Bahai, Hindu, Sikh etc. also commemorate significant days of people in their religion.

Vesak
There are different ways of celebrating the holiday. Often the festivities begin with a good 'spring clean' and homes are freshened up and decorated. In the morning, Buddhists visit their temples and give offerings to the monks of food, candles and flowers. There is chanting and praying, incense, music and colour. There may be exciting parades through the streets.

In some areas, there will be a 'Bathing the Buddha' ceremony, with water poured over a statue of Buddha. Special lanterns of paper and wood (sometimes homemade) are hung from houses and trees, along with electric lights and exciting light displays. Caged birds may be released, symbolising the release of sorrows. In China, there may be dragon dances.

Activities for your Units

• • Make a Chinese lantern
  • Make a bean mandela
    
    

September – What’s in a name?
September like many of our month's names is actually Latin. It means the seventh month. The Roman calendar started with the northern spring in March (ie. September is 7 months from March). Later January and February were added.

However, it’s the eighth month in the Chinese lunar year (used by many Asian countries). To confuse things even more, the Jewish holy days are usually in September which the Bible’s book of Numbers calls the seventh month, but this year they will be in October, meaning that this September is the sixth month. It is the third month of the year in the Muslim calendar.

Confused? There are two factors affecting an annual calendar: A. the day of the New Year and B. how months/years are calculated.

• The Western world starts the calendar on 1 January (a random date) and consists of 365 and a quarter days, the period for the earth to rotate around the sun giving us our seasons. (known as a solar calendar)
• The Muslim calendar follows a lunar calendar where a new month starts on every new moon and lasts 12 months. Because the lunar year is around 354 days long, New Year is 11 days earlier than the solar year and consequentially Muslim holy days migrate through the year. The calendar started on July 16, 622.
• The Chinese (Asian) and Jewish calendars are Lunar/Solar calendars. They use the Muslim calendar of changing months every new moon but have a leap year (add a month every so often) to keep the year aligned with the solar year.

For more information, to join the team or to learn more contact Peter Moore at sl.faithawareness@scoutsvictoria.com.au