The 2009 Multifaith Calendar, “Reflections of Joy,” is published by the Multifaith Action Society of British Columbia. To order copies of the calendar contact: Multifaith Action Society of BC — 305 41st Ave West — Vancouver, BC V5Y 2S5
Multifaith Calendar
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Aboriginal peoples see themselves in continuity with the natural world, and the timings of their celebrations reflect their harmony with a wider spectrum of rhythms in nature than just the cycles of the sun and moon. For this reason, and because of the many different societies that make up aboriginal peoples, it is not possible to schedule the many events and celebrations as specific dates on a calendar.
For many aboriginal people, the key concept of time is the season. There is a season for each of the important necessities of life, and the activity names the season. For instance, in British Columbia, the seasons include those valued for sustenance: berry picking, fishing, hunting and trapping. At the close of each season, and after food is gathered and preserved, the community assembles to celebrate through dance, song, and the telling of legends, mythical stories or clan histories. They combine these celebrations with the discharge of other community obligations such as care for those suffering and in grief, adoptions, material assistance to others, and the giving of names. The giving and transfer of names occurs when the community has assembled to share and witness the event, and hereditary names carry a responsibility for managing natural resources that sustain a tribe.
Every season is a time of thanksgiving to the Creator, the Supreme Spirit and Provider. Each season is sacred - a part of the continuing circle of creation in which all beings share.
As an illustration of aboriginal seasonal names, The Multifaith Calendar includes those used by the Nisga'a people of the Nass Valley in the Northwest British Columbia, and describes the activities associated with the seasons.
Bahá'ís follow a solar calendar containing 19 months of 19 days each. To complete 365 - (366) day solar year, Baha'ís insert four (five in leap years) intercalary days, known as Ayyam-i-Ha, between the 18th and 19th months of their calendar. The Bahá'í year begins on March 21and their day begins at sunset. Baha'ís name their months and days with Arabic names for attributes of God (for example, the name of the third month is Jamál meaning Beauty; the eighth month is Kamál meaning Perfection). On the first day of each month, the Bahá'í community gathers for a spiritual feast of fellowship, unity and peace. Holy days follow a fixed schedule.
The Bab inaugurated the Bahá'í era in 1844 CE. Baha'ís regard him as the messenger of God who promised the coming of a greater one, a promise fulfilled in the person of Bahá'u'lláh, the prophet for this age. The Bahá'í era is abbreviated BE for Bahá'í Era.
Buddhist calendars are as varied as the different schools and traditions that make up international Buddhism. While some celebrations are common to all Buddhists, many are unique to particular schools or national traditions. Several factors have contributed to this variety.
First is the difference between early Theravada (Way of the Wise Ones) Buddhism, found in Burma, Kampuchea, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka and parts of Vietnam, and later Mahayana (Great Vehicle) Buddhism, found primarily in China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Tibet.
Second, Buddhists in different countries venerate different past and future Buddhas (the enlightened ones) or Bodhisattvas (Buddhas-to-be). Thus, the Japanese Jodo Shinshu Buddhists hold Amida Buddha in the highest esteem. While Chinese Buddhists venerate him under the name Amitabha, it is Kuan Yin (Avalokitesvara), the female Bodhisattva of mercy and a thousand hands, who is most important in the Chinese, East Asian, Korean Zen and Vietnamese-Chinese Buddhist traditions. Theravada Buddhists venerate Metteyya (Maitreya Bodhisattva, the Buddha of the next age).
Third, Buddhists celebrate the birthdays of regional patriarchs, both living and dead. Tibetans celebrate the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is both spiritual leader and monarch, on July 1. Among Chinese Buddhists, the birthday of Bodhidharma, whose name is associated with the introduction of Ch'an (Zen) to China, is a time for great celebration in November. Soblong Sunism's birthday is of significance for Korean Buddhists. The Chinese and Koreans commemorate the birthday of the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng in March and in August respectively.
Fourth, Buddhists celebrate important local historical events. For instance, Poson (in June) is a celebration when Sri Lankan Buddhists commemorate the introduction of Buddhism to their country. Similarly, in October, Japanese Canadian Buddhists celebrate the founding of the first Jodo Shinshu Buddhist monastery in Vancouver in 1905.
Finally, Buddhists have adopted local pre-Buddhist traditions and festivals. For example, the Chinese folk festival Ullambana celebrated in August became 'Buddha's Happy Day.' The Koreans Buddhists celebrate Ullambana in the fall as the last day of that the three months of the 'Rains Retreat' for monks and nuns of the Sangha, the monastic community.
To add to the complexity of the situation, the different Buddhist traditions use different calendar systems. Theravada Buddhists use a lunar calendar and the year begins with the Buddha's birthday in the month of Wesak (April-May). The Chinese Buddhist year begins in January or February and follows a luni-solar calendar that adds one month about every three years to bring it into phase with the solar calendar. Jodo Shinshu Buddhists use the Gregorian calendar.
Because of the immense complexity of all the national and local variations of Buddhist calendars, The Multifaith Calendar includes core celebrations of significance to Buddhists everywhere. These are events related to the life and teachings of Gotama or Siddhartha, the Buddha of the present area, who lived in India ca. 560-480 BCE. While Buddhists celebrate events related to Gotama Buddha at different times in different temples, they commonly recognize the day of the full moon as the most important for celebration.
Christians use one of two solar calendars: the Julian (Eastern) or the Gregorian (Western). Julius Caesar instituted the Julian calendar in 46 BCE. Caesar's astronomical advisor calculated the time it takes the earth to make one revolution around the sun to be 365.25 days. From this calculation came the 365-day year and the 366-day leap year.
In 325 CE, the Council of Nicea adopted the Julian calendar as the official calendar of the Christian church. The Council also abandoned the traditional practice of naming eras after Roman emperors, in favor of a Christian era, namely, the era of the reign of Christ.
However, the actual solar year is 365.2422 days long, approximately 11.25 minutes shorter than the Julian year. The result was by the 16th century, the Julian calendar was 10 days behind the solar year. On March 1, 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed the Julian calendar to harmonize it with the solar year. By the 18th century, all Western Christian churches had adopted this reformed or Gregorian calendar. Many Eastern Churches, however, continue to use the Julian calendar to determine Easter, while some use the Gregorian calendar also to celebrate Christmas and Pentecost. Presently, the Julian and the Gregorian calendars are about 13 days out of phase.
Fixed feasts such as Christmas and Epiphany are determined by solar reckoning and therefore occur on the same date every year. Movable feasts such as Easter and the holy days dependent on it (Good Friday, Pentecost and Ascension) are set in relation to the moon and the March equinox. Consequently, their dates vary from year to year. In addition, many Eastern churches celebrate Easter up to five weeks later than Western churches because of their different calendar systems.
The Christian era is abbreviated AD for Anno Domini, "the year of the Lord." Dates before the Christian era are designated BC for 'before Christ.' Alternatively, many Christians use CE (Common Era) instead of AD, and BCE (Before the Common Era) instead of BC.
Although Hindus now live in many parts of the world, their cultural heritage is Indian and they use traditional Indian calendars, such as the Bikarami and the Saka, to determine Hindu festivals. While these calendars are lunar, the addition of a month every second or third year brings them into phase with the solar year. The Hindu lunar month consists of two halves of fifteen days each, one half beginning with the new moon (the bright half or shudi), and other half with the full moon (the dark half or badi). Hindus identify a date by stating in order the month, fortnight and day. For example, Bhadra badi 3 is the third day after the full moon in the month of Bhadra.
Hindus time celebrations and events such as marriages, dedications of temples and the building of homes to coincide with auspicious days in the calendar. The annual festivals are three days each month - Amavasya (the new moon), Purnima (the full moon) and Ekadashi (the eleventh day) - are auspicious. Hindus consider the full moon a particularly important and opportune time.
Most Hindu festivals celebrate events narrated in the national epics or other classical writings involving a deity such as Ganesh, Krishna, Durga or Kali and Shiva. Festivals characteristically include fasting, Puja (worship or acts of devotion to a deity) and feasting. Many Hindu festivals are observed only locally or regionally. Those included in The Multifaith Calendar are widely celebrated.
The Islamic Calendar is based on lunar reckoning. The months begin with the appearance of the new moon and alternate in length between 29 and 30 days. Although the final month of the year occasionally has an intercalated day to make it 30 days in length, Muslims do no intercalate months to bring the lunar year into correspondence with the solar year. The result is a 354-day year, approximately 11.25 days short of the solar year. Consequently, it takes 32.5 years for a given Islamic calendar date to coincide once again wit h the same Gregorian calendar date. Put differently, an Islamic lunar month is in phase with a solar season three times a century.
The Holy Qur'an (or Koran) commands Muslims to fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the ninth month. In latitudes relatively near the equator, the difference in the lengths of a summer day and a winter day is not significant. However, in latitudes closer to either pole. Muslims may be required to fast through a month of either very short or very long days, depending on the season in which Ramadan falls.
Two other months are also special: Muharram, which begins the year, is a sacred month, and Dhul-Hijja, the last month of the year, is the time for pilgrimage. Most festivals begin in the morning, but four (Mawlid al-Nabiy, Mi'raj al-Nabiy, Nisf Sha'ban, Laylat al-Qadr) begin in the evening.
While the moon determines the dating of festivals, prayer times, including those of the five daily prayers, are set according to sunrise and sunset. During Ramadan, Muslims observe the daily fast from the first appearance of light on the eastern horizon to sunset.
The dating of the Islamic calendar begins with the migration (Hijra) of the Holy Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. The Islamic era is abbreviated AH for Anno Hegirae, 'the year of the Hijra'. The Gregorian dates for the Islamic festivals and observances are calculated for the west coast of North America and these festivals and observances may fall on adjacent dates elsewhere in the world.
Jainism, like Hinduism and Buddhism, originated thousands of years ago in India. A Jain is one who, by following traditional Jain teaching, aspires to "conquer" inner enemies such as anger, ego and deceit.
The Jain era takes as its starting point the Moksha (attainment of final enlightenment and release) of Mahavira (died in 527 BCE), whom Jains regard as the least of 24 Tirthankaras (Ford-finders or Bridge-builders across the river of samsara, the cycle of birth and death) of this aeon. For setting its festival dates, Jainism follows the traditional luni-solar calendar of western India.
Most of the Jain festivals celebrate events in the lives of the Tirthankaras, who exemplify the ideal ascetic life so highly esteemed by the Jains, and the qualities of Ahimsa (non-injury) and non-possession.
The Jewish year consists of 12 or 13 lunar months. Since the solar year is 11.25 days longer than 12 lunar months of 354 days, an extra month is added periodically (seven times in 19 years) to bring the lunar year back into phase with the solar year. Approximately every three years, the month named Adar II is intercalated after the sixth month of Adar I. The 12-month Jewish year consists of 353 to 355 days, while the leap year of 13 months contains 383 to 385 days.
Each month begins with the appearance of the new moon and has either 29 or 30 days. The annual cycle of festivals begins with the month of Nisan (March or April), Pesah being the first festival of the year. Jewish years are numbered from the creation of the world, which, according to tradition, took place on the autumnal new moon of Tishri, in the year 3761 BCE (Before the Common Era). Since the Jewish religious day runs from sunset to sunset rather than from midnight to midnight, festivals normally begin in the evening (the eve) before the date given in The Multifaith Calendar. Jews celebrate the beginning of the year at sundown on Rosh Hashanah (New Year's Day).
Jewish holidays are characteristically celebrations of important historical events.
While the major traditional festivals and fasts originated in biblical times, Yom Ha-Shoah (Holocaust Day) was instituted in 1951, in response to the tragedy that befell the Jewish people during the Second World War. Orthodox and Conservative Jews in the Diaspora, that is, outside Israel, celebrate the pilgrimage festivals of Pesah, Shavuot, and Sukkot one or two days longer than Reform Jews who follow the practice in Israel.
Shinto is the religious tradition native to Japan. The Japanese also know it as kami no michi, the way of the kami. Kami are spirits associated both with the natural world (for example, fertility, mountains, rivers and heavenly bodies) and with the human realm (for example, the souls of ancestors and illustrious persons). There are a number of sectarian forms of Shinto practice.
The Shinto traditionally celebrates festivals honoring kami at shrines, in homes and in public processions or displays. Until the late 19th century, Shinto celebrations were determined by the Chinese calendar. Some events followed the sun's movements and others the moon's, with occasional intercalary months. Since the Japanese officially adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873, annual festivals have been set according to it.
The Multifaith Calendar lists a selection of the more widespread events of the Shinto calendar. These express traditional values, such as prayers and thanks for blessings, seasonal changes, purification of the inner spirit, rites of passage and reverence for ancestors.
Sikhs have employed both a traditional Indian luni-solar calendar and a solar calendar for the determination of their own festivals. The luni-solar year begins between March 14 and April 14, while the solar year begins on Vaisakhi Day, which falls on either April 13 or 14. On January 1, 1999, a new (Nanakshahi) solar calendar was introduced with the year starting on March 14. The Nanakshahi calendar has now officially replaced the earlier Bikarami calendar, as of April 14, 2003. Henceforth, Sikh dates will be given according to the new calendar.
Most of the Sikh festivals commemorate events in the early history of the faith. These include the birthdays of the first and tenth Gurus, and the martyrdoms of the fifth and ninth Gurus. Other festivals celebrate the importance of the scriptures; the founding of the Khalsa; a battle in which forty Sikhs gave their lives for their Guru; the release of the sixth Guru, and the beginning of the New Year.
Using the Bikarami calendar, with the exception of Vaisakhi, all festivals move with respect to the Gregorian calendar. Using the new Nanakshahi calendar, with the exception of Hola Mohalla, Bandi Chhor Divas and the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Sahib, all festivals are fixed. The Multifaith Calendar had included both the old and new calendar dates until 2003 when we were advised that the Bikarami Calendar was no longer in use.
Organized Unitarianism dates from sixteenth-century Europe. While it had Christian roots, Unitarianism was also heavily influenced by the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution and the 18th century Enlightenment. Although some Unitarians continue to regard themselves as Christians, the influence of other world faiths is substantial, and adherents from a wide variety of backgrounds continue to come together to build a liberal religious community. In the USA, the merger between the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America in 1961 led to the movement being known as Unitarian Universalist.
Like some other religious traditions, Unitarians do not have a single founder whose life can be commemorated at special times. However, the movement has inherited many festivals and holidays from worldwide traditions, particularly those that celebrate the natural rhythms of the year, such the equinoxes and solstices, the universal aspects of which are emphasized. More recently established festivals such as United Nations Day, for which Unitarians campaigned, International Women's Day, Human Rights Day, and Earth Day, are also widely celebrated.
While the diverse nature of the movement has not encouraged the development of uniquely Unitarian observances, those of local significance sometimes gain wider acceptance. For instance, Romanian Unitarians annually mark the death of their founder Francis Dvid on November 15, and there have been moves to have this more widely observed. Similarly, the Flower Communion celebrated by Czech Unitarians in June is being widely adopted, though not always on the same date.
The Wiccan calendar reveals its origin in rural, earth-based religious traditions of earlier times. Its festival follows the logic of seasonal progression as experienced by agricultural and herding peoples whose lives are centered on planting, harvesting and storing the winter food supply produced by crops and herds. Of great importance in such societies is also the proper storage of seed for next year's planting. Contemporary Wiccan festivals are not concerned with historical figures, founders or events, but rather with the mysterious elemental forces inherent in nature and in the human psyche. Wiccan earth-based spirituality emphasizes the immanence of divinity in all reality, including the forces and rhythms of nature and human beings.
The Wiccan calendar includes two cycles of festivals, lunar and solar. This double lunar and solar cycle, called the Wheel of the Year, celebrates the mysteries of creation associated with the sacred marriage of the Goddess and the God, divinity being both female and male.
The annual cycle includes eight 'sabbats' or solar festivals, and at least thirteen 'esbats' or lunar rituals. The sabbats honor the God and celebrate the various phases of his creative relationship with the Goddess, while the more frequent esbats focus on honoring and serving the Goddess. Four of the sabbats, the Lesser Sabbats or Quarter Days, fall on the solstices and equinoxes marking the change of seasons. The other four, the Greater Sabbats or Cross-quarter Days, traditionally established times for planting, harvesting and slaughtering animals for the winter food supply. All eight reflect traditional views of the rhythms of the Earth as Mother, and continue to speak of the creative cycle of spiritual birth, death, and rebirth, relevant to the environment and the well being of the earth on which Wiccans place great emphasis.
Both the solar sabbats and the lunar esbats celebrate life and lead to deeper personal engagement in the mysteries of creation. The sabbat cycle represents the life cycle of the God and the physical and spiritual life cycle of a person. The esbat cycle reflects the ebb and flow of the psychic life associated with the waxing and waning of the moon. Most Wiccans hold esbats at or just before the full moon, while some celebrate the quarter moon as well.
Although the solar year begins with the Yule festival at the winter solstice, Wiccans celebrate the death of the old year and the birth of the new at Samhain on October 31. In the southern hemisphere, many Wiccans follow the northern dates despite the reversal of seasons. For all, however, October 31 is the pre-eminent date for celebrating the cycle of death and rebirth.
Zoroastrians follow a solar calendar. Their year has 12 months of 30 days each. A month has four weeks (two of seven days followed by two of eight days) beginning on the 1st, the 8th, the 15th and the 23rd day of the month. These are days of thanksgiving. Since the cycle of 12 months, each of 30 days, are five or six days shorter than a solar year, intercalary days are added at the end of the 12th month. Zoroastrians name these intercalary days after hymns called Gathas, composed by Zarathustra (known as Zoroaster in the west), the founder of Zoroastrianism.
Zoroastrians name the months and days of the month after attributes of God. They consider as auspicious and celebrate as 'Jashnes,' or festivals, those days on which the name of the month and the name of the day are identical. Other significant festivals are the Ghambars, which celebrate both an aspect of the creation of the world and an agricultural harvest or a communal distribution of food. Each Ghambar lasts for five or six days, during which time the community gathers to share common meals, socialize and distribute food.
Zoroastrians follow two primary calendars: the Shenshai and the Fasli (meaning Seasonal). The Shenshai calendar follows a system of an uncorrected 365-day year while the Fasli calendar makes corrections for the length of the solar year and is therefore in phase with the Gregorian calendar. Until recently, both took as their starting date the year of the coronation of the last Zoroastrian king of Iran, Yazdegird III (AY), which corresponds to the year 632 CE of the Gregorian calendar.
The date when Zorathustra proclaimed or started the religion has been lost to antiquity, though a recently introduced variation of the Fasli calendar called the Zartoshti calendar estimates the proclamation of the faith (AZ) as 1738 BCE. Ancient Greek authors place Zarathustra's life around 6000 BCE. In all calendars, the year starts on Nowruz or Naw Ruz meaning New Day. In the Fasli calendar, Nowruz falls on the spring equinox, March 21, and Zoroastrians sometimes call it Jamshedi Nowruz, attributing the tradition to legendary King Jamshid of ancient Iran (Nowruz is still celebrated nationally in Iran). Since the Shenshai calendar does not correct for the leap year, its Nowruz has moved over the years to August of the Gregorian calendar. For the main part, The Multifaith Calendar follows the Fasli calendar's dates.
