Winter and Spring 2016 Religious Holidays

What follows is a list of the upcoming religious holidays for the Winter and Spring 2016 semesters.

Beginning in Fall 2011, I have posted overviews of many of the religious observances for most of the major religions. In the following semesters,  I posted a list of the religious holidays as well. Positive response has led me to do so again for the Winter and Spring 2016 semesters.

As the Winter 2016 semester begins, I would like to refer back to the posts for these holidays made last year.  For many of these holidays (those from religions that follow calendars that differ from the Gregorian calendar), the dates in the secular year will differ but the main content of the posts should not. 

To that end, I would like to give the dates for the holidays in the next few months paralleling the Winter, Spring and Summer semesters in US universities (I am, after all, a professor in the United States).

WINTER AND SPRING 2016 RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS

The list below gives the date for 2016, the name of the holiday, the main religion observing the holiday and the previous David Victor Vector post on that holiday. Some of the links here are older posts that have been updated posts for the current year. Other of these holiday posts will be entirely new posts (for example, the upcoming Asian New Year of the Monkey).  I have indicated that this will be posted at a later date in those instances.

January 7
Eastern Orthodox Christmas/Feast of the Nativity

Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Christianity

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-day.html

January 19
Timket (Ethiopian Orthodox Christian)
Ethiopian Orthodox Christian
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-day.html

February 1
Clean Monday
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
             http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-and-pascha.html

February 10
Ash Wednesday
Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist Christianity
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/02/lenten-season.html

  February 2
  Candlemas (Roman Catholic, Epsicopalian, Anglican)

  Presentation of the Lord (Evangelical Lutheran)
     Imbolc (Wicca, Neo-Paganism, Neo-Druidism)

     http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/05/pentecost.html

February 8 (or February 15, depending on tradition)
Festival of Lord Buddha's Renunciation (celebrated by some in place of Paranirvana)
Buddhism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/02/parinirvana-or-nirvana-day.html


February 8-February 11
Asian Lunar New Year: Year of the Monkey
Buddhism, Taoism
Many non-Buddhist observers celebrate the holiday as well
                  (to be posted soon)

March 17
St. Patrick's Day
Roman Catholic Christianity
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/03/saint-patricks-day.html

Sunset March 23 through sunset March 24
Purim
Judaism
            http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2013/02/as-part-of-my-ongoing-on-upcoming.html

March 23-26
Holi
Hindusim
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/03/holi.html

Sunset March 19 through end of March 20
Ostara
Wicca, Neo-Paganism, Neo-Druidism
               http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/03/ostara.html

Sunset March 20 through sunset March 21
Naw Ruz

Bahai'i, Zoroastrianism, Alawite Islam, Alevi Islam, Bektashi Islam

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/ridvan.html

March 25
Good Friday
Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-and-pascha.html

March 27
Easter
Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-and-pascha.html

Sunset April 20 through sunset May 2 (first and last days may affect attendance at school and work)
First Day of Ridvan
Bahai'i
                 http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/ridvan.html

Sunset April 22 through sunset sunset April 30
(first two nights may affect attendance at school and work)
Passover
           Judaism
           http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/passover.html

May 1
Pascha (Orthodox Easter)
Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Christianity
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-and-pascha.html

May 1
Beltane
Wicca, Neo-Pagan, Neo-Druidism
 http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2013/04/beltane.html

May 14
Mahayana Vesak (Buddha's birthday)
Theravada Buddhism
 http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/vesak.html

May 15
Pentecost
Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, and most Protestant Christianity
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/05/pentecost.html


May 20, 21 or 22 (by national tradition)
Theravada Vesak (Buddha's birthday)
Theravada Buddhism
 http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/04/vesak.html

Sunset June 11 through sunset June 13

            Shavuot
            Judaism
            http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/05/shavuot.html

June 19
Orthodox Pentecost
Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Christianity
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/05/pentecost.html
 

Sunset June 5 through sunset July 5
Ramadan
Islam
             http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/07/ramadan.html

  June 21
  Litha
Wicca, Neo-Pagan, Neo-Druidism
 http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2014/06/midsummers-day-litha-and-saint-johns-   eve.html       

Sunset July 4 through sunset July 6
Eid al-Fitr
Islam      
             http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/07/ramadan.html

A FEW CLOSING REMARKS

In all likelihood, I have overlooked a holiday or observance. Please feel free to share this with me.

Relatedly, I am as yet uncertain whether I should repost each holiday with the 2016 occurrence or just leave it be. Please let me know what you think.

Some controversy exists over the specific dates of some holidays in various traditions. For example, I have given both the dates for Paranirvana which differ in the Mahyana and Theravada Buddhist traditions. I am not endorsing one or the other of these by posting this only once with a parenthetical indication of the other.

Likewise, considerable difference of opinion exists as to what is the proper date for the beginning of holidays in Islam, with some holding that the date is that of when the moon is sighted in Mecca while others with the date that the moon is sighted in the specific location where one lives (e.g., a different day for those in the Western hemisphere than those in the Eastern hemisphere.). I am not endorsing one or the other of these by posting the date that is here, and I have explained to the best of my ability the difference of opinion in the blogpost itself. Please take this as a good-faith effort toward information rather than an opinion on the matter (of which I am attempting here to be neutral).  Relatedly, all holidays in Islam depend on the actual sighting of the moon. If the moon is not sighted, the holiday date is adjusted. The dates here presume that the moon will be sighted on the date indicated.

Finally, I would like to ask you to spread the word about this blog. If you are not formally a follower, please do add your name to the list through your Google, Twitter, AIM, Netlog or Yahoo account.


Thanks so much!

FALL 2014 RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS

For several years now, I have posted as a reference overviews for many of the religious observances for Bahai'ism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, neo-Paganism, Sikhism and Wicca. This is intended to allow those teaching or otherwise following a semester academic calendar to  accommodate students, faculty and staff who wish to observe them.

As September approaches again, we are now coming upon the start of the cycle of holidays once more. For many of these holidays (those from religions that follow calendars that differ from the Gregorian calendar), the dates in the secular year will differ but the main content of the posts should not. 

To that end, I would like to give the dates for the holidays in the next few months paralleling the Fall semester in most US universities (I am, after all, a professor in the United States).

I have noted only holidays to which I have already written a post. These are those holidays that I would argue are the most important holidays within their religion. Admittedly, there are others which may be of strong importance to those who observe them. Thus, I have not included, for example,  the Christian holiday of Advent Sunday on December 1. This does not, however, mean that such holidays are unimportant to those who wish to observe them, which should be kept in mind for religious accommodation purposes.

Similarly, I have left out some holidays that are regionally of importance within a religion but not of such significance beyond the regional context..  For example, I have left out the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) which is primarily observed among Mexican Catholics. Likewise excluded is Onam (this year on September 7) which is primarily observed among Hindus from Kerala state in India.

Note also that observance varies according to practice. For example, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews may observe a holiday for one day that Orthodox and Conservative Jews observe for two days. Some streams of Hinduism may observe Diwali for five full days, while others may do so for one, two or three days. While all Muslims recognize Ashurah as a holiday, it holds much greater significance in Shi'a tradition than in most other branches of Islam. Because of this, two people of the same faith may observe the same holiday for different lengths. These are explained for each holiday in the connected blog post. The main point here, though, is that we should recognize such differences in practice as legitimate.

FALL 2014 RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS

The list below gives the date for 2014, the name of the holiday, the main religion observing the holiday and the previous David Victor Vector post on that holiday.While the dates on the links may be from an earlier year, most of these are regularly updated, and all are corrected for the date when it changes.

September 24 sunset through September 26 sunset

Rosh HaShanah

Judaism

            http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/09/rosh-hashanah-2012.html

September 23

Autumnal Equinox/Mabon

Wicca, Neo-Paganism, Neo-Druidism

 http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/09/autumnal-equinox.html

September 30-October 4

Durga Puja

Hinduism

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/durga-puja.html

October 3 sunset through October 4 sunset

Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement

Judaism
            http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/09/yom-kippur.html

October 4 sunset through October 5 sunset (depending on the sighting of the moon)

Eid al-Adha/Festival of the Sacrifice

Islam

             http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/11/eid-al-adha.html

October 8 sunset through October 15 sunset

Sukkot/Festival of Booths/Festival of Tabernacles 

Judaism

            http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/sukkot-hoshanah-rabah-shemini-atzeret.html


October 16 sunset through October 17 sunset

        Shemini Atzeret

        Judaism

        http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/sukkot-hoshanah-rabah-shemini-atzeret.html

October 17 sunset through October 18 sunset

Simchat Torah

Judaism

            http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/sukkot-hoshanah-rabah-shemini-atzeret.html

October 20

Birth of the Bab

Bahai’ism

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/10/birth-of-bab.html

October 23-27

          Devali

          Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism

          http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/divali.html

October 31 sunset through November 1 Samhain

Wicca, Neo-Paganism, Neo-Druidism

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/samhain-all-saints-day-dia-de-los.html

November 1

  All Saints Day

  Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Methodism

  http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/samhain-all-saints-day-dia-de-los.html

November 1

Reformation Day

Lutheranism, some Protestant sects

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/samhain-all-saints-day-dia-de-los.html

November 2

All Souls Day/Día de los Muertos

Roman Catholicism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/10/samhain-all-saints-day-dia-de-los.html

November 3 sunset through November 4 sunset (depending on the sighting of the moon)

Ashura

Islam, especially Shi’a
              http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/11/ashura-2012.html

November 12

Birthday of Bahá'u'lláh

Bahai'ism

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/11/birthday-of-bahaullah.html

December 8  

Bodhi Day

Buddhism

http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/12/bodhi-day.html

December 16 sunset through December 24 sunset

Chanukah

Judaism
            http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/12/chanukah.html

December 21
Yule/Winter Solstice
Wicca, Neo-Paganism, Neo-Druidism
http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2012/12/yule.html


December 25
Christmas
Western Christian faiths (Roman Catholicism, Protestantism)
 http://davidvictorvector.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-day.html

A FEW CLOSING REMARKS

Before I go on, I should note that all holidays in Islam begin with the actual sighting of the moon. Therefore, the dates given for Eid al-Adha and Ashura are the likely dates for the holiday depending on the sighting conditions. Some debate exists regarding where the moon sighting should occur (e.g., locally or in Mecca). This may also cause observance to fall on a day before or after that indicated in this list. The date given here does not intend to suggest that one or the other interpretation is correct; this date is merely intended to be information for the date most widely observed in North America.

In all likelihood, I have overlooked a holiday or observance. Please feel free to share this with me.

While the links to many of the holidays above were posted in earlier years, they are regularly updated as the holiday approaches for this year. The dates in this post are (to the best of my knowledge) correct for 2014.

Finally, I would like to ask you to spread the word about this blog. If you are not formally a follower, please do add your name to the list through your Google, Twitter, AIM, Netlog or Yahoo account.


Thanks so much!

Birth of the Báb

The Bahai'i holiday of the Birth of the Báb takes place on October 20.

The Birth of the Báb is a holiday on which Baha’i’s do not work which for some would include missing classes.  The holiday is often observed by visits to the Temple and by the recitation of the Prayer of the Tablet of the Visitation.



Iranian Revolutionary Guards destroying
the Birthplace of the Báb in Shiraz in 1979

The Báb was born on October 20, 1844 as Siyyid Ali-Muhammed in Shiraz, Iran (at that time Persia).  The building of the Birthplace of the Báb in Shiraz, Iran was also a point of pilgrimage until it (along with all other Baha’i holy sites) were destroyed in the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

The title “The Báb” means “the Gate” as he foretold the coming of “He whom God shall make manifest” (that is, the Bahá'u'lláh, the religion’s founder).  The Báb is also called “The Herald” by Baha’i’s, who sometimes make the comparison of the role of the Bab in Baha’iism to that of John the Baptist in Christianity. As Dale E. Lehman explains on the website Planet Baha’i:

Unlike John, however, He founded an independent religion and claimed equal station with Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Bahá'ís view the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh both as "Manifestations of God" even though by the Báb's own testimony His mission was subordinate to Bahá'u'lláh's.

 http://www.planetbahai.org/cgi-bin/articles.pl?article=16 

In addition to parallels with Christianity, Baha’i’s emphasize that the Báb was a direct descendant of the Moslem Prophet Mohammed on both his mother’s and father’s side. 

Fromer site of the
Declaration of the the Báb
before its destruction by
Iranian Revolutionary Guards
in 1979

The Báb declared himself to be "the Gate" on May 23, 1844. The room where he made this proclamation was a pilgrimage site among Bahai'is until the building in which it was located was destroyed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in 1979 as part of their formal persecution of the Bahai'is.

The Shrine of the Báb
Haifa, Israel 

After attracting tens of thousands of followers, the Báb was considered a threat to the government leaders and clerics of Persia’s Qajar dynasty. After being imprisoned and brutally beaten, the Báb was put to death by firing squad for heresy in 1850 in Tabriz (in what is now Iran but was then Persia).

After his martyrdom, thousands of his followers – called Bábís – were persecuted and approximately 20,000 were killed.  During this period,  the Báb’s remains were smuggled out of Persia to the Baha’i holy city of Haifa, Israel.

The Shrine of the Báb in Haifa houses the remains of the Báb. In 2008, the Shrine of the Báb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Today, the Shrine of the  Báb is the location of a major Bahai'i pilgrimage, especially on the Birthday of the Báb.

Further Reading

  
Bahai'i Topics, "The Báb,"  http://info.bahai.org/the-bab.html

"Bahai'is to mark the Birth of the Bab," Bahai'i World News Service: http://news.bahai.org/story/659

"The Coming of the Báb," BBC Religions: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/bahai/history/bab_1.shtml#section_2

Dale E. Lehman, "The Birth of the Báb," Planet Bahai'i, http://www.planetbahai.org/cgi-bin/articles.pl?article=16

Clip Art Sources

Opening Bahai'i star clip art: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bahai_star.svg&page=1

Iranian Revolutionary Guards destroying the Birthplace of the Báb in Shiraz in 1979: http://media.bahai.org/subjects/7204/details/

Shrine of the Báb: http://media.bahai.org/subjects/locations/holy_places_hai/shrine_bab/8003/details

Fomer site of the Declaration of the the Báb: http://media.bahai.org/subjects/locations/other_holy/7140/details