Wednesday, October 31, 2012

November: Holidays & Days of Note



Nov. 1 All Saints Day. / Dia De Los Muertos (Mexico) The Day of the Dead / It was on this day that Claudius poisoned Hamlet's dad by pouring poison in his ear, starting a trend making November a particularly good month for conspiracies.

Nov. 2 Day of the Dead (Haiti) / National Deviled Egg Day (U.S.)

Nov. 3 Housewife's Day (U.S.) / Bunka no hi (Japan) Culture Day for promotion of culture and love for freedom and peace. / Sandwich Day (U.S.)

Nov. 4 Daylight Savings Time Ends / It was on this day 1871 that Alice went through the looking glass. / In 1954 Gojira premiers in Japan, an anti-atom bomb film in which the bomb is metaphorically represented by a 150 tall fire breathing monster. This message, along with over 20 minutes of content were removed and replaced with footage of Raymond Burr when it appeared in America in 1956 as Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Nov. 5 Guy Fawkes Night (England)
Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God's providence he was catch'd,
With a dark lantern and burning match
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, Holloa boys,
God save the King!
Hip hip Hoorah!
Hip hip Hoorah!
A penny loaf to feed ol' Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar,'
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we'll say: ol' Pope is dead


Nov. 6 Saxophone Day (U.S.) And the other musical instruments get their days when?

Nov. 7 Mayan Day of the Dead.


Nov. 8 Fuigo Matsuri (Shinto) Festival in honor of Hettsui no Kami Goddess of the kitchen range.

Nov. 9 Kristallnacht Night (1938) The night of the Nazi attacks on Jewish homes, synagogues, and shops in Germany started, which today has been turned into a night for meditating on the evil of all religion based hatred. / Quatuor Coronati (Freemason)

Nov. 10 Tree Festival (Tunisia) / Festival for the Goddesses of Reason, Liberty & Philosophy (Revolutionary France 1793) which some say never really happened but was disinformation spread by pro-royalists.

Nov. 11 Remembrance Day (Canada, England and others) The tradition is to observe a minute of silence at 11:00 am on this day to remember the dead of World War I. / Martinmas (Old Scotland) The feast of St. Martin. A day to "enjoy" a dish of haggis. To quote Mike Myers character in So I Married An Ax Murderer "I think most Scottish cuisine started out as a dare." But seriously, just where are the haggis frozen dinners in my local grocery? My guess would be right under the liver & onion dinners. / Halloween under the old calendar. / Fast for Balder thru the 17th (Old Anglo-Teutonic) Marking Hod (God of Darkness) unintentionally killing Balder (God of Light), and his true love Nanna (Goddess of Flowers) dying of a broken heart. The dead were honored.

Nov. 12 Veterans Day (U.S.)  / Tesuque Feast Day (Native American) / Lha Bab Duchen (Tibetan Buddhist) Day to celebrate the Buddha's descent from heaven after teaching the Dharma there. / The start of November under the old calendar.

Nov. 13 Festival of Jupiter (Ancient Rome)


Nov. 14 Children's Day (India) / Operating Room Nurse Day (U.S.) Which reminds me, do you know what the 5 levels of cleanliness are?

5. Guy clean.
4. Girl clean.
3. Mom clean.
2. Operating room clean  &
1. Grandmother clean.

Nov. 15 Shichigosan '7 - 5 - 3' (Japan) Children's festival. / National Teddy Bear Day (U.S.) I've read that more people are killed each year by teddy bears (button eyes stuck in throats, allergic reactions to materials) than by real bears. Of course real bears don't kill a lot of people. / It was on this date in 1966 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia that two young couples reported to Mason County sheriff's department that they have had a curious encounter with a something or other that would come to be called the Moth-Man.

Nov. 16 Icelandic Language Day or Dagur íslenskrar tungu (Iceland) / International Day for Tolerance (International) 


Nov. 17 Queen Elizabeth's Day (England) Not the current one Elizabeth I that is... back long in the long ago It had been usual to observe the anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth with rejoicings; and hence  'Queen Elizabeth's Day;' but after the great fire, these rejoicings were converted into a “satirical saturnalia of the most turbulent kind.”

Nov. 18 Occult Day (U.S.). Look as I might the meaning for this day
remains......
wait for it.......

............................ occult.

Nov. 19 Pencil Day. The modern pencil first appears in 1895 / Pop Tarts are one year away from being 50 years old as of today, at first they were called "Country Squares.”

Nov. 20 Shakyamuni or Siddhartha Buddha Day (Tibetan Buddhist) Day to meditate on the Buddha's teachings and strive to fulfill the Precepts.

Nov. 21 World Hello Day (mostly world wide) The objective of World Hello Day is to promote world peace. The theme of this day is "Greet ten people for peace". It is really easy to participate in World Hello Day. Simply, say hello to the people today. And, voice your concern for world peace. / Repentance Day (Germany)


Nov. 22  Thanksgiving Day (U.S.) And for breakfast that first Thanksgiving the Pilgrims served boiled eel, explaining the popularity of Thanksgiving D I N E R.

Also

Remember, remember, the 22 of November,
The Daly Plaza Treason and plot;
I know of no reason why the Daly Plaza Treason Should ever be forgot.

But I'll tell you this right now about that shot
It will be long forgotten before we know the real reason.

/ Noumenia (Ancient Greek) Festival honoring all the Gods and Goddesses.

Nov. 23 Kinro kansha no hi 'Labor Thanksgiving Day' (Japan) A national holiday for honoring labor. / National Cashew Day (U.S.)

Nov. 24 Feast of the Burning Lamps (Egypt)

Nov. 25 Feast of Oya (Yoruba / Santeria) Feast of Oya, Orisha of Wind, Storm, and Sudden Change. / Feast of Aphrodite and Eros (Ancient Greek) Day to honor love and passion. / National Parfait Day (U.S.) "I don't know nobody who don't like a parfait, I think it's the perfect food!" Donkey from Shrek.

Nov. 26 Festival of Lights (Tibetan)


Nov. 27 Pie in the Face Day (U.S.)

Nov. 28 Day of the New Dance (Tibetan) / Bodhisattva White Tara Day. (Tantric Buddhist) Time for meditation on White Tara, who guides the dead to Buddha Amitabha's Pure Land, where all will find salvation.

Nov. 29 Square Dance Day (U.S.) People still do that?

Nov. 30 Stay at Home Because You're Well Day (.U.S.) Sure, whatever.....

And don't forget National Teddy Bear Day on the 15th






Friday, October 19, 2012

For Durga



Piety marks 'Sharadiya Navaratra'

The Times of India: "The primeval force is worshipped in the form of nine plants (navapatrika) wrapped in a red sari. This is placed on an earthen pot, which is known as 'Kalash Sthapana', before commencing the 'path' of Durga Saptasati. Some devotees especially read the 'Sundarkand' as it is believed that Lord Ram killed Ravana on the conjunction of mahashtami and mahanavami - the Sandhikshan - and cremated on Vijaya Dashmi."

For the rest go to

Sharadiya Navaratra