Transcript Slide 1

Bodhi Day
(Buddhism)
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December 8th,2008
Holiday that commemorates the day that
the historical Buddha experienced
enlightenment
Siddhartha decided to sit under a Pipul
tree and simply meditate until found the
root of suffering,how to liberate one's self
from it
Different traditions say different things:
– Made a great vow to nirvana and
Earth to find the root of suffering,
died trying
– As meditating he was harassed and
tempted by the Hindu god Mara,
Lord of Illusion
– Entered deeper and deeper states of
meditation, confronting the nature of
the self.
All agree, Siddhartha finally found the
answers he sought, experiencing
Nirvana, becoming Enlightened one
Christmas
(Christian)
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December 25th, 2008
Observes the birth of the Christian
messiah, Jesus of Nazareth,
according to the Christian Bible's
New Testament
Actual date of birth is not known,
most scholars agree that
December 25th was chosen in the
4th century to incorporate the
existing pagan winter solstice
Christmas has become a highly
commercial and secular
celebration for many non-religious
people in North America
Time to gather with friends and
family, feast, give gifts, and
celebrate the spirit of hope and
the innate goodness of all people
Hanukkah
(Jewish)
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December 21st to December 29th, 2008
Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah)
means dedication.
Eight-day Jewish celebration to
remember the rededication of the
Temple of Jerusalem by Judas
Maccabee in 165 B.C
Maccabee reclaimed the temple for the
Jewish God and they were to have an
eight day celebration
The temple lamps, according to
tradition, only had a day's worth of oil
the miracle is small amount of oil
burned for eight days
A key symbol is a candle-holder called
a menorah, which holds nine candles eight to symbolize the eight nights of
burning oil, and one to light the others
Winter Solstice
(Pagan)
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December 21st, 2008
Occurs at the instant when the Sun's
position in the sky is at its greatest
angular distance on the other side of
the equatorial plane from the observer
During either the shortest day or the
longest night of the year, dependent
on hemisphere you are located in
The significance is the reversal of the
gradually lengthening nights and
shortening days
Worldwide, interpretation of the event
has varied from culture to culture, but
most cultures have held a recognition
of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals,
gatherings, rituals or other
celebrations around that time
The word solstice derives from Latin
sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still)
Kwanzaa
(Pan-African)
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December 26th to January 1st, 2008
Kwanzaa is Swahili for first fruits, and
it's origins comes from ancient
African harvest celebrations
Modern Kwanzaa holiday was started
around 1966 to help African
communities worldwide celebrate
family and culture
The lighting of candles is a ritual- one
of seven candles, called mishumaa,
is lit each day to honor the Seven
Principles of:
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Unity, Self-determination, Collective work
and responsibility, Cooperative economics,
Purpose, Creativity, Faith
Gifts may be given one per day, or
they may all be given on the last day
of Kwanzaa, as an affirmation of self
worth
Martin Luther King Day
(United States)
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January 19th, 2009
Marks the birthdate of the Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr., observed on
the third Monday of January each
year, around the time of King's
birthday, January 15
One of only four United States
federal holidays to commemorate an
individual person
King was the chief spokesman of the
nonviolent civil rights movement,
which successfully protested racial
discrimination in federal and state
law
The campaign for a federal holiday
in King's honor began soon after his
assassination in 1968
First observed in 1986, officially
observed in all 50 states for the first
time in 2006
New Years Day
(Around the globe)
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January 1st, 2009
First day of the year, celebrated as
such around the world following
the Georgian calendar, except
Israel, and once by the Romans
Traditionally a religious feast, but
since the 1900s has become an
occasion for celebration the night
of December 31, called New
Year's Eve.
New Year's resolutions, most
popular ones in the western world
include to stop tobacco smoking
or drinking alcohol, to lose weight
or get physically fit
7th-century pagans of Flanders
and the Netherlands it was the
custom to exchange gifts at the
New Year
Festivus
(Seinfeldism)
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December 23rd, 2008
Annual holiday invented by writer Dan
O'Keefe
Introduced into popular culture by his
son Daniel, a scriptwriter for the TV
show Seinfeld
Includes the "Airing of Grievances", in
which each person tells everyone else
all the ways they have disappointed
him or her over the past year
After the meal, "Feats of Strength" are
performed, involving wrestling the
head of the household to the floor, the
holiday only ending if the head of the
household is actually pinned
Also a book by Daniel O'Keefe, The
Real Festivus, which provides a firstperson account of an early version of
the Festivus holiday as celebrated by
the O'Keefe family
Kite Festival
(Jaipur, India)
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January 24th, 2009
Celebrated in India as Makar
Sankranti- heralding the transition of
the sun into the Northern
hemisphere, for three days
Big kite day in most parts of India
when children from 6 to 60 can be
seen with their heads turned to the
sky
Kites are beautifully crafted by hand
and designed with different goals in
mind
Goal is to cut adversaries’ kites are
cut down, and everyone’s an
adversary with all kites being fair
game
Three sections: Fighter Kite
Competition, Display Flying, Prize
Distribution and Finals on lawn of
palace
Chinese New Year
(China)
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January 26th, 2009
Most important of the traditional
Chinese holidays, sometimes called
the Lunar New Year, especially by
people outside China
Begins on the first day of the first lunar
month and ends on the 15th, Lantern
Festival
Celebrated in areas with large
populations of ethnic Chinese, major
holiday for the Chinese and has had
influence on the new year celebrations
of its geographic neighbours
Although the Chinese calendar
traditionally did not use continuously
numbered years, its years are now
often numbered from the reign of
Huangdi outside China
Marked by many parties and traditional
foods special to the holiday