DECEMBER FESTIVALS (2008)

Info courtesy: www.FoundationforPluralism.com:

Eid-al-Adha, Hanukkah, Khushali, Pancha Ganapati, Winter Solstice, Christmas and Kwanza

Good Friday! Happy Purim, Narouz & Eid Milad Mubarak, Magha Puja

"Half the world's population is going to be celebrating something," says Raymond Clothey, Professor Emeritus of Religious studies at the University of Pittsburgh. "My goodness," says Delton Krueger, owner of interfaith calendar, who follows "14 major religions and six others." He counts 20 holidays altogether (including some religious double-dips, like Maundy Thursday and Good Friday) between the 20th (which is also quite crowded) and the 21st. He marvels: "There is no other time in 2008 when there is this kind of concentration."

See on the same shelf and aisle: Definitions of Religious Holiday Terms @ MikeGhouse.com

By DAVID VAN BIEMA WITH SIMON ROBINSON/NEW DELHI Fri Mar 21,

On Friday more than a billion Christians around the world will mark the gravest observance on their Calendar, Good Friday, the day Jesus died on the cross. (To be followed in two days by Easter Sunday, to mark his Resurrection).

But unlike some holy days - say, Christmas, which some non-Christians in the U.S. observe informally by going to a movie and ordering Chinese food - on this particular Friday, March 21, it seems almost no believer of any sort will be left without his or her own holiday. In what is statistically, at least, a once-in-a-millennium combination, the following will all occur on the 21st:

Purim, a Jewish festival celebrating the biblical book of Esther

Narouz, the Persian New Year, which is observed with Islamic elaboration in Iran and all the "stan" countries, as well as by Zoroastrians and Baha'is.

Eid Milad an Nabi, the Birth of the Prophet, which is celebrated by some but not all Sunni Muslims and, though officially beginning on Thursday, is often marked on Friday.

Small Holi, Hindu, an Indian festival of bonfires, to be followed on Saturday by Holi, a kind of Mardi Gras.

Magha Puja, a celebration of the Buddha's first group of followers, marked primarily in Thailand. AKA Sangha Day.

[Info courtesy: Davendra Gupta]

The calendar of commercialism does not reflect our spiritual rhythms

Geoffrey Rowell , Times Online

Extract: "...Christians have not always kept new year on January 1 -that was the Roman new year, and the Church was often very suspicious of it. Only in 1582 did Pope Gregory XIII's reform of the calendar mean that January 1 was generally adopted.

Jews kept the new year at the Feast of the New Moon at the end of September.

England began the new year with the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25, and adopted January 1 only in 1752. Germany began with Christmas, and France and the Low Countries with Easter. The Orthodox East keeps New Year's Day on September 1. " continue reading

Jewish High Holidays and the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan Coincide This Year

By Adam Phillips New York11 September 2007, VOA NEWS
Phillips report — Download 2.14MB (mp3)

Listen to Phillips report — Download 2.14MB (mp3)

Wednesday evening September 12th marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, or Rosh haShana. It's the start of a ten-day period of reflection, repentance and celebration that climaxes on the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. This year, the Jewish High Holidays coincide with Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of daylong fasts that mark the giving of the Qur'an to Mohammed.

See also: Religious holidays start for Jews and Muslims

Sweet calendars set for Ramadan, BBC News [see alos on countdown calendars: Ramadan Activities and Countdown Calendar]

Religious feasts feed soul

Ramadan & Rosh Hashanah: A Beautiful Clash of Civilizations

Multifaith Calendars - Visualize the Festivals, Feasts, Fasts, Festoons, etc

Be Informed, Then Celebrate!
Did you know that your employer has to accommodate your religious rights to celebrate whatever you wish to? Read:
The Employer’s Duty to Provide Religious Accommodation. By P.A. Neena Gupta at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP for HRinfodesk - Canadian Payroll and Employment Law News, June 2004

1. AMSSA - The Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies

Through education and advocacy AMSSA seeks to create a just and equitable society for all Canadians, and The Multifaith Calendar plays an integral role in our efforts by providing a source of complete and accurate dates, times, and descriptions for over 140 religious and cultural occasions. [Calendar]

2.BBC: - Religion & Ethics - Multifaith Calendar

Holy days and festivals calendar
All dates are shown using the Gregorian (Western) calendar. The calendar is accurate, but some dates may vary regionally because they are determined by the lunar calendar. Jewish festivals usually begin at sundown on the previous day. [Calendar]

3. INTERFAITH CALENDAR: Primary sacred times for world religions

The interfaith calendar is an open source provision of information. We believe in the peace making value of religious understanding and the importance of clear and accurate information. [Calendar]

4. Beliefnet.com: Calendar of Holidays & Festivals, Religious holidays, observances, festivals, commemorations [Calendar]

More Online Multifaith Calendars[source]

Red River College in Manitoba (PDF format for each month)

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly (from WNET PBS broadcasting, N.Y.) – Weekly/monthly calendar with info from the Multi-Faith calendar above.

Steelworkers multifaith calendar

Bates College, Lewiston Maine, chaplain's office

Printed calendars:

"Mystics Wheel of the Year"

Additional Sources for calendars by Faith (general and specific) [source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]:

Calendar

Islamic calendar

Hindu calendar

Zoroastrian calendar

Bahá'í calendar

Buddhist calendar

Note:
A calendar date for any faith may require some additional sensitivity in relation to factors, such as, time and space. A few examples are given below:

The Hindu Calendar software, developed specifically for its Vaishnava denomination, states:

Respected adiyens / maharajs / prabhus / matajis, please remember that the calendar of dates is only a dummy calendar and dates & breakfast times mentioned here are specifically for new Zealand in the given year may not be applicable for your longitude, latitude and time zone - check your local panjikas - which are free and available to download from the site below. The purpose of this database is to provide you will all information relevant to the events (festivals, feasts, fasts, etc). Trusting this finds you all well.
(NOTE: the Luna based Tithis - phases of the Moon will be one day ahead for some places, ie., the USA - places West of Greenwich; while the Solar based Varams - days, will be ahead or behind depending on the Time Zone + or - from Greenwich, GMT )

For the information about Muslim or Islamic Calendar, see the web site: moonsighting.com.
See also: A Brief Introduction To The Islamic (Hijri) Calendar

For religious reasons, the beginning of a Hijri month is marked not by the start of a new moon, but by a physical (i.e., an actual human) sighting of the crescent moon at a given locale.
The slight differences in printed Islamic calendars, worldwide, can therefore be traced to two primary factors: (1) the absence of a global criterion for first visibility; and (2) the use of different visibility criterion (or method of calculation). Weather conditions and differences in the observer's location also explain why there are sometimes differences in the observances of Islamic dates, worldwide [source]
Further, "holidays such as Ramadan, Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha, Ashura and Mawlud Nabi are dependent on the Islamic lunar calendar and vary from year to year." [Holidays & Attractions]

The Seventh-day Adventist Church states:

Calculation of sunset and sunrise times are dependent on your exact latitude, and longitude coordinates. The continental maps do not provide accurate positioning. For more accurate results, manually enter latitude and longitude (Coordiantes south of equator, and west of Greenwich Meridian, must be negative), which can be obtained from Xerox PARC Map Server.

See news from other corners with similar interests:

Multi-Faith Calendar for May 2006: Students with Informed Faith Tolerance

For the next week, the multifaith calendar of multicultural London looks like this: details

The below calendar will be removed at the end of 2005 and replaced early in 2006 with an improved multifaith calendar." Details

want to wake up one day as a new multifaith calendar, leaving all bad thoughts, bad times and pains behind, but how can that be? details

The 2007 Multifaith Calendar produced by the Vancouver-based Multifaith Action Society will for the first time include the religion of Scientology amongst the world's faiths it celebrates. Details

As the internet continues to grow multifaith calendar web pages, we will strive to bring them to you. Details

See also Google for Multifaith calendar OR calendars

What is Multifaith?

We have many references to explain this term, both in print and online resources. Few are mentioned below:

1. The term multifaith is used to refer to a gathering of people of different traditions where each is responsible for contributing something of their tradition in turn, in parallel so to speak. The strength of this approach is that it can give equal treatment and recognition to each; the weakness is when the different traditions come together, in a form of lamination, without sharing in a cohesive act. source: One Faith - Multifaith’ - A theological basis for multifaith gatherings, Faith and Order Commission. Victorian Council of Churches

2. ‘Multifaith’ is the obvious way of referring to many faiths existing alongside each other. ‘Religious pluralism’, on the other hand, is the notion that all religions are equally valid as a way to God, and are to be respected as such. Source: Multifaith and religious pluralism, by Timothy G. Alford

3. “Multifaith is a wide variety of faith traditions presented simultaneously. Multifaith is not a religion, but an approach to living in a religiously and spiritually diverse world that respects the integrity of different faith traditions and promotes diversity. In What is diversity? “Diversity is ‘otherness,’ or those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong, yet are present in other individuals and groups.” Business Women’s Network. Diversity Best Practices. WOW! Facts 2002.” (Washington, Business Women’s Network, 2003), 865.

4. It is not an attempt to convert people from one faith to another or to meld different beliefs and practices into a new faith.” Source: “Gathering of Light Multifaith Spiritual Fellowship” gatheringoflight.com

5. “An attempt to initiate dialog, cooperation, and understanding among individuals of many different faiths. It is occasionally used as a synonym for "interfaith." Unfortunately, various religious groups define the term “faith” differently. For example, some conservative Christians regard a person who is not of their denomination to be from a different faith. Other conservative Christians would regard liberal Christians as being of a different faith. Still other Christians interpret "multifaith" as involving other religions, as in a Christian-Jewish-Muslim exchange.”. “Glossary [A To M] of Religious Terms.”

6. It is possible for this same cycle to become endemic within the multifaith movement. In other words, it is very easy to think of the term multifaith as a ‘noun’, and thereby give it the potential of a body that can be described, measured, and evaluated. Already there is considerable effort to give it a structure by developing generic mission statements and constitutional rules and regulations. Even though these housekeeping details may be necessary for any group of people from diverse faith backgrounds to dialogue, this should not be considered as multifaith activity. On the contrary, it could easily become an attempt to form another syncretistic religious expression. It is only when the term “multifaith” is thought of as a ‘verb’ that it will serve its essential purpose and avoid becoming another religion. In The Benchmarks of Spirituality: Spirituality vis-a-vis the Development of Other Religious and Social Organizations

7. Multicultural/multifaith is good so long as ALL people (including Muslim extremists) respect the rights of others to their own religion or culture. IMO the guy on 60mins sounded like he didn't have any respect for the rights of established Australians, that's what frustrated me.Chookyn: poulet de montagne

8. Multifaith is not a new religion out of mixture or compound of all faiths. Each religion maintains its individuality and accepts the viewpoints of all other religions. Prakash Mody

9. Multifaith is one of the topics in focus at Global Oneness

10. Perhaps we could reflect on what we understand by culture, multifaith and multiculture. Multiculture of course denotes plurality of cultures. Multifaith meansseveral religiousbeliefs existing sideby side. The suffix -ism gives it the necessary stamp of a discipline of abiding valueand importance Multiculturalism, Bhuban Baruah, UK

11. Multifaith is about respecting each other, and each other's religious paths and traditions. And that includes those from no faith or religious tradition Flinders University Religious Centre

.

12. A Website, Multifaithnet, explains its focus in the words:
MultiFaithNet is a self-access research, learning, information and dialogue tool, providing updated access to global electronic resources and interactions useful for study of world religious traditions and communities and the practice of inter-faith dialogue. It is invaluable for those with information, community liaison and equal opportunities responsibilities in the public, private and voluntary (including religious) sectors offering a participative electronic forum for dialogue and debate among and between faith communities.

13. A Canadian magazine, Voices Across Boundaries, states its goal as:
Voices Across Boundaries is published by Across Boundaries Multifaith Institute, whose goal isto increase knowledge and understanding of religious faith traditions, their history,practices and place in the contemporary world...
Across Boundaries Multifaith Institute is a Canadian-based educational organization with an international scope, providing a venue in which people from diverse traditions and beliefs can begin to communicate with one another in a context of growing understanding and sympathy. Source

Obiously, in a broader sense the term Multifaith refers to multiple faiths representing a unity in diversity. As the world tries to understand the other, this term includes first, mainstream religions and spirituality, and second alternative paths of belief and practice—a.k.a. new age movements, non-traditional movements, paganism, etc.

Additional Readings:
----Multifaith Competencies of Chaplains, by Desmond Sequeira [Rev. Sequeira is the Spiritual Care Provider at the Rideau Regional Centre, Smith Falls, Ontario.]

----Christianity in a Multifaith World, UCSB Front Porch, February 1, 2002

----Introduction: Why Faith in Partnership? John Devine, Churches’ Officer for the North West, explains

----RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND INTOLERANCE: Tolerance is not much, but it would be a great improvement over what we have now...or would it?

See also Web-based sources: Google's DirectoryReligious Tolerance; Religious Tolerance's gateway promoting religious understanding, tolerance and freedom; Beliefnet which is the largest spirituality and faith web portal

Products and Services:
The Ontario Multifaith Council on Spiritual and Religious Care develops and makes available multifaith resource materials for religious and spiritual caregivers, educators, and others. Click here for the following: The Multifaith Information Manual; The Multifaith Calendar 2006; The Golden Rule Poster; Spiritual and Religious Care / Chaplaincy Tent Cards

Look at Amazon.com (and select the items from my Listmania): Multifaith in multimedia - VHS; Multifaith in multimedia - Audio / CD; Multifaith in multimedia - DVD; Religion in workplace (religious practice in work hours); Symbols, Icons, Images; Dress Needs Faithwise; Food Needs Faithwise; Death (near death, after death, end-of-life); Building Bridges - Faithwise; Online Religion / Religion Online.

Religous Tolerance:
"can't we all just get along?"


Image source: A GOD FIGHT for all religions agodfightforallreligions@groups.msn.com

See blogs with similar interests: Multifaith; Religious pluralism; Religious tolerance; Interfaith dialog; Religious harmony; Religious accommodation; Pluralistic society Religious spiritual care; Spiritual care; Best Spiritual Blogs - Beliefnet's picks for the coolest, most interesting faith-based weblogs.

DISCLAIMER: All of the above is the effort of an individual. No institution or agency supports this project. The information is collected, it is hoped, to build bridges in the society.

Multifaith Information Gateway

Welcome to this World's first blogsphere set to disseminate information in the area that is called: Multifaith.


The content, here, manifests three formats: Online, print and multimedia. The context is interdisciplinary, i.e., multifaith literature which encompasses faiths, spiritualities, cults, cultures, races, regions, signs, symbols, actions, activities, as well as, transendental meditation.

And in the beginning there was the word...

Many New England colleges and universities trace their beginnings to religious, in most cases, Protestant Christian, roots. Even as colleges and universities shed their formal religious ties by the end of World War II and declared themselves secular, a Christian ethos continued to permeate their institutional culture. Today on many campuses, past mono-religious practices are colliding with multi-religious realities. This collision has precipitated a crisis in dealing with the increasing religious diversity on campus and addressing issues of spirituality and education.

source:Moments of meaning: Religious pluralism, spirituality and higher education Connection: New England's Journal of Higher Education, Fall 1998 by Kazanjian, Victor H Jr

From the Like-minded Blogspheres (recent postings), Multifaith Issues From Other Blogs - Update No. 1 :
~~~~The Enquirer - View stained glass in a new light (Cincinnati glass):

A series of stained glass windows lines the hallway into the Chapel of the Holy Child and ... the Holy Child and Multifaith Sanctuary. at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center ... Source: www.cincinnatichildrens.org.

~~~~a candle, a prayer, and a salute -- a love letter from an old hippy:

I think it was Wednesday or Thursday of last week, after a multifaith service was held in front of the blue house, that the kids quietly packed up the massive memorial on the sidewalk, boxing up the mementos to give to the various ...

~~~~Multifaith calendar:

I want to wake up one day as a new multifaith calendar, leaving all bad thoughts, bad times and pains behind, but how can that be? If I only have the power to bring back time, I wont let myself into this mess.

~~~~A Glass of White Wine, a Bottle of Neuroses:

Compared to a lot of people, I like my editorial job at Beliefnet.com, what I like to describe to people as a "multifaith religion news website" or "the online version of TIME magazine, with a religious twist." Yes, the pay is probably ...

~~~~The 8 Dynamics of Existence:

It actually embraces the allness of all. When the seventh dynamic is reached in its entirety one will only then discover the true Eighth Dynamic.

~~~~Links to Multifaith and Religion Sites http://www.conjure.com/religion.html.

~~~~Click here to browse the world's leading resource in this area:The Multifaith Library

~~~~The Hindu Business Line, July 27 2005, 'The Hindu ad gets credit at NY fest' by Sankar Radhakrishnan: "We cogratulate THE HINDU for being a Christian, a Muslim, a Parsi, a Sikh, a Buddhist and a Jain for the Last 125 years"

A comment by a reader: The Hindu on its 125th anniversary, the ad also sought to highlight the paper's tradition of dispassionate dissemination of news