HUMBER INTERFAITH CALENDAR
MULTIFAITH HOLY DAYS & FESTIVALS

In the spirit of diversity and inclusion, we provide the following Multifaith Holy Days & Festivals realizing that it is not exhaustive. Should you wish your faith’s days to be included, please contact the Chaplain at x4427 or chaplain@humber.ca for due consideration.

01 Tuesday

• Civic Holiday (Canada)
  Most Canadian Territories and Provinces celebrate some aspect of their culture & history.
• August = Datkaagmini Giizis / Wiihoon (Aboriginal)
  Datkaagmini Giizis is also known as Thimbleberry Moon (Ojibwe). Wiihoon is the season of the late salmon runs (Other).
• Tisha B’Av (Judaism)
  A day of mourning and fasting for the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and the Second Temple in 70 CE
• Kamal to August 19 (Baha’i)
  Kamal, meaning Perfection, is the eighth month of the Baha’i year.
• Lugnasad / Lammas (Wicca)
  Celebrates the grain harvest, the Harvest of First Fruits, which many traditions celebrate as the funeral of Lugh, the sun God, whose strength is visibly waning by late summer.

07 Monday

• Full Moon
  The moon is at its greatest visibility.
• Lunar Eclipse (Eastern Hemisphere)
  View of the moon is partially blocked by the Earth.
• Raksha Bandan (Hinduism)
  To defeat evil, Hindu females tie a rahki or threaded amulet  on their brothers’ wrists in commemoration of Indra’s victory over demons when his wife tied a silk charm around his wrist.

08 Tuesday

• Fravardeghan / Muktad to August 17 (Zoroastrianism)
  Memorializes ancestors in preparation for Nowruz (New Year) observed by followers of the Shensai calendar.

15 Tuesday

• Assumption (Christian-Catholic/Orthodox)
  Celebrates the death and ascent to heaven of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
• Janmashtami (Hinduism)
  Celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna and his survival of an early life threat.   

17 Thursday

• Now Ruz (Zoroastrianism)
  Now Ruz means New Day, the Zoroastrian New Year in the Shenshai calendar, when the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) received a revelation.

19 Saturday

• Paryushana Parva to Sep 05 (Jainism)
  The holiest period of the Year for the Shvetambara sect, celebrated for 8 days and a time of dedication to Jain ideals through fasting, worship of the Jina and public reading of the life-story of Lord Mahavira from the Kalpastura.

21 Monday

• New Moon
  The moon is at its least visibility.
• Solar Eclipse (Northern Hemisphere)
  View of the Sun is partially blocked by the Moon

24 Thursday

• Birth of Zarathustra (Zoroastrianism)
  Denotes the birth of Zoroaster, the founder and prophet of the Persian-based faith by the Shensai calendar.

25 Friday

• Ganesh Chaturthi (Hinduism)
  Honours Ganesh, a major deity, the elephant-headed God known as the “remover of all

26 Saturday

• Samvatsari (Jainism)
  Dedicated to introspection, confession and Penance, especially for the Shvetambara sect.
• Dashalakshani-Parva to Sep 04 (Jainism)
  A ten-day celebration of one virtue each day by the Digambara sect, including: Humility; Honesty; Purity (Cleanliness); Forgiveness; Truthfulness; Self-restraint (Discipline); Ascetism; Study, Celibacy; Detachment.

31 Thursday

• Day of Hajj/Day at ‘Arafat (Islam)
  Commemorates the concluding revelation to the Prophet at Mount ‘Arafat shortly before his death. Muslims on Hajj attend a service on the plains in front of Mount ‘Arafat.