International Holidays

Bodhi Day

Who/Where:

Bodhi Day commemorates when Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha by reaching enlightenment (bodhi) while sitting under the Ficus religiosa tree (a bodhi tree). There the Buddha experienced the three stages of true enlightenment as described in the Pali Canon ( a collection of scriptures in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition) (Cohen):

1. During the first watch – Buddha discovered his past lives in the cycle of rebirth.
2. During the second watch – Buddha discovered the law of Karma, and the Eightfold Path (the painful cycle of rebirth).
3. During the third watch, Buddha discovered the Four Noble Truths (the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering), and reaches Nirvana, or true enlightenment (Basics of Buddhism).

Celebrations of Bodhi Day include meditating, studying the Dharma (the teachings of Buddha), chanting sutras, and holding services to honor Buddha’s achievement of enlightenment. “Some may decorate a Bodhi tree, string up colorful lights to represent the paths to enlightenment, or celebrate with a traditional meal of rice and milk (or cookies in the shape of the Bodhi tree)” (Cohen).

Why:

Bodhi Day’s significance connects to the story of Siddhartha Gautama 566(?) to 480(?) B.C., an Indian warrior-king’s son who lived a life of privilege (Basics of Buddhism). After leaving the comforts of his royal life and discovering life was full of suffering, he renounces his princely title to become a monk in the hope of understanding the truth of the world around him. Bodhi Day honors Siddhartha Gautama transformation into Buddha through the “discovery of a path to the resolution of why people must suffer on earth”: “Buddhism teaches that all things have Buddha nature or the potential to become a Buddha. And so Buddha is the enlightened one. It is a state of true liberation from this world of confusion and delusion.” (Takashi Miyaji, “Buddhist Prepare”).

When:

For Buddhist who follow the Chinese lunar calendar, the day of Buddha’s enlightenment is on the 8th day of the 12th month, which usually falls in January. For those who follow the Gregorian calendar, Bodhi Day is assigned a fixed date of December 8th, also known as Rohatsu, which means the 8th day of the 12th month (Cohen).

Picture of the Bodhi tree that Buddhists believe the Buddha sat under during his experience of enlightenment. It is located in Bodh Gaya, India, and is an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists across the world.

Works Cited:

Buddhists Prepare To Observe Bodhi Day, When Siddhartha Gautama Became Buddha.” NPR.Org, https://www.npr.org/2020/12/05/943453999/buddhists-prepare-to-observe-bodhi-day-when-siddhartha-gautama-became-buddha. Accessed 15 Jan. 2021.

Cohen, Laura Rosen. “12 Days of Celebrations - Bodhi Day.” Food Services, 15 Dec. 2015, https://ueat.utoronto.ca/12-days-of-celebrations-bodhi-day/.

Basics of Buddhism. https://www.pbs.org/edens/thailand/buddhism.htm. Accessed 15 Jan. 2021.

Lunar New Year marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar that is traditional to many East Asian nations. This year, Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 1, 2022, and the event is the most important holiday to many Asian countries, including Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, and China. Ushering in the Year of the Tiger, people will begin celebrations well in advance.

Within a household, it is traditional to cleanse the home prior to the new year. This is referred to as a “spring cleaning” in Chinese Traditions, and the Lunar New Year is called the “Spring Festival.” The ritual of sweeping removes harmful spirits lurking in the corners of one’s home. Windows are washed, parts of a house might be repainted, and renovations to the home are completed.

The day for sweeping marks the beginning of the major pre-holiday housecleaning projects, and on this day, according to tradition, the Kitchen God who has been watching over the household departs to the Jade Emperor in heaven to give his report of the household activities. If the individuals had been generous throughout the year, they will be rewarded in the next. But had they been unkind, the following year might bring hardship.

Lunar New Year is celebrated with one’s family, and individuals travel great distances to return home. Rituals include honoring family’s ancestors, and families eat foods with great symbolic meaning. One of these is a whole fish because in Chinese, fish is called yu. This is a homophone for the word meaning “surplus” or “abundance” in Chinese. Dumplings (jiaozi) are also eaten because the Chinese word for dumpling sounds like a term meaning “the meeting of the last hour of the old year with the first hour of the new.”

Children are given red envelopes (hongbao in Chinese) from their parents, and each envelope contains New Year’s money. Many individuals will furthermore wear clothes that are red because the color is said to bring good luck.

Celebrations continue until the 15th day of the first lunar month, known as the “Lantern Festival.” This day signals the end of the new year festival period, and it is another occasion for inviting guests to one’s home and holding feasts.

2022 marks the beginning of the Year of the Tiger, who is an animal known for being grounded, loyal, gentle, and trustworthy.

For more information see:

Asia For Educators. The Lunar New Year: Rituals and Legends. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_general_lunar.htm

Steph Yin. “What Lunar New Year Reveals About the World’s Calendars.” New York Times. Feb. 5, 2019.

International Women’s Day’s - March

International Women’s Day’s history began on February 28, 1909. Known originally as “National Woman’s Day” it was first proposed by activist Theresa Malkiel and loosely based on the urban legend commemorating a protest by women garment workers in New York City, on March 8, 1857.

Inspired by Malkeil and other American activists, women’s rights activists Luise Zietz, Clara Zetkin and Kate Duncker suggested there should be an annual Women’s Day. One hundred women delegates at an international women’s rights conference from 17 countries agreed. On March 19, 1911, International Women’s Day was officially marked for the first time. More than one million people celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Women wanted not just the right to vote, but to fight against sex discrimination in the workplace and to hold public office.

In 1913, International Women’s Day was recognized in Russia for the first time, and became a part of a movement that led to the Russian Revolution in 1917. At that time, in St. Petersburg, women went on strike for “Bread and Peace” demanding the end to World War I, Czarism, and the shortage of food in Russia.

That day was March 8. The next day workers walked out of factories leading to mass strikes and the abdication of Nicholas II just 7 days later, all resulting in Russian women earning the right to vote.

International Women’s Day began to spread to different countries and by 1949, it reached China where March 8th was declared an office “half-day of work” for women.

In 1967, the notion of women’s rights was taken up by the next generation of feminists, including those in the U.S. who called for equal pay, equal economic opportunity, equal legal rights, reproductive rights, subsidized child care and the prevention of violence against women.

The United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day in 1975, which was declared “International Women’s Year”. In 1977, the United Nations invited members to proclaim March 8th as the UN Day for Women’s Rights and World Peace.

The 100 year celebration of International Women's Day occurred in 2011. In the United Kingdom activist Annie Lennox lead a march across one of London's iconic bridges raising awareness IWD and in support for global charity Women for Women International. By this time, IWD had become an official holiday in most countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Laos, Madagascar, Mongolia, Nepal, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers. In others political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events are held as well as local women's craft markets, theatrical performances, fashion parades and the like. Many global corporations have come on board and actively supported IWD by running their own events and campaigns.

In the year 2022, with larger representations of women role models in every walk of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. While great improvements have been made in the last century, the unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. And so each year International Women’s Day not only inspires women to reach their dreams and celebrate their achievements, but also is a call to action for gender parity for all women throughout the world.

For more Information See: International Women’s Day official website

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and is considered the Sacred (most important) month. It is remembered as the month that the Prophet Muhammed received the first revelations that comprise the Holy Quran. This religious annual observance and month of fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

During the month of Ramadan, adult Muslims fast from dusk until dawn, unless ill, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic, or traveling. The goal is for Muslims to grow spiritually and build stronger relationships with Allah, accomplished by:

• Praying and reciting of Quran
• Being intentional and selfless in actions
• Abstaining from gossiping, lying and fighting
• Fasting between sunrise and sunset
• Giving and performing generous acts

For 2022, Ramadan begins at sunset on Friday, April 1, and will end at sunset on Sunday, May 1.

• The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar; therefore, the month of Ramadan migrates through the solar seasons, and it takes approximately 33 years to complete the backward migration through the Gregorian/western calendar.
• Traditionally, each day the fast is broken at sunset by drinking water and eating dates. Typically, the breaking of the fast ‘iftar’ is celebrated with family and friends, strengthening these relationships.

Eid Al-Fitr ‘Festival of Breaking the Fast’

• Eid Al-Fitr is a three-day festival after the last day of Ramadan. It is a coming together of community, friends, and family to eat special foods, enjoy each other's company, and exchange gifts.
• Eid is also celebrated to pay respect to Allah for providing the strength and endurance during the month-long fasting rituals.
• During Eid, fasting is not permitted.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/ramadan

Celebrated on June 19th, this holiday commemorates the end of slavery. Although Juneteenth (also known as Freedom Day) was signed into law as a federal holiday by President Joe Biden in 2021, it has been celebrated for more than 150 years.

History

President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The intent of the Proclamation was to free all slaves in the United States. Unfortunately, this news did not make it to the slaves of Texas until Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with his regiment on June 19, 1865. There he informed the people of Texas that the war was over and the slaves were free. The abolition of slavery was ratified into the U.S. Constitution with the 13th Amendment on December 6, 1865.

Ways to Celebrate

Juneteenth can be celebrated in many ways and there are often local community events to participate in. These events can feature guest speakers who provide information to the community about Juneteenth and its history. Fishing, baseball, barbecuing, and fireworks are also typical Juneteenth activities. Education is frequently a focus. Juneteenth provides an opportunity to learn about and appreciate African American history and culture. Some choose to celebrate by shopping at black-owned businesses, sharing history, or taking the day to rest and recharge.

Popular foods include:

• Red foods like strawberry soda pop, red punch, red velvet cake, red beans and rice, red fruits, and hot sauce
• Barbecue
• Corn, cornbread
• Collard greens
• Black-eyed peas
• Potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes

Visit your city’s website for information on Juneteenth events held near you.

Sources/For More Information

Cherelus, G. (2020, June 18). This is how we Juneteenth. The New York Times.

Jean-Philippe, M. (2021, May 21). The traditional foods of Juneteenth carry a rich history, dating back centuries. Oprah Daily.

Juneteenth.com (n.d.). History of Juneteenth.

Bastille Day

Celebrated on July 14th, Bastille Day, or la Fête Nationale, commemorates the storming of the Bastille, a Parisian military fortress and prison. The attack on the Bastille was a defining moment in the French Revolution.

History

The Bastille was built during the 1300s to protect the eastern entrance of the French city, Paris. The Bastille was used to hold prisoners, some of whom were locked up without a trial.

In the late 1780s, excessive spending by King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, pushed the French government closer to economic disaster. On top of the financial hardship of the government, France had experienced a nationwide famine and reduced customs duties caused increased unemployment.

To respond to the crisis, King Louis XVI called up the Estates-General, a national assembly grouped by social class (First Estate: clergy, Second Estate: nobility, and Third Estate: commoners). Although commoners made up nearly all the nation’s population, their group could be outvoted by the other two groups. In attempt to protect their rights, the Third Estate declared themselves a new body, committing to not disband until a new constitution was written.

King Louis XVI fired his finance minister and started moving army troops into Paris causing fear that force would be used to break up the group. In response, crowds of revolutionaries filled the streets of Paris, burning down customs ports and looking for food and weapons. The group eventually surrounded the Bastille. Delegates from the National Assembly were invited in to negotiate, but members outside became restless and swarmed the fortress.

Nearly 100 people died at the Bastille, sparking the country’s ten-year transformation into a republic.

Today

Today, Bastille Day is celebrated much like Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks, parades, and parties. French troops have solemnly marched every year since Bastille Day of 1880 as part of one of the world’s oldest military parades.

Sources/For More Information

History.com Editors. “Bastille Day.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 21 June 2017.

Blakemore, Erin. “Bastille Day Celebrates the Rebellion That Ignited the French Revolution.” History, National Geographic, 26 Jan. 2022.

Day of the Dead: Ancestral Origin and Meaning

The return of the deceased is one of the oldest and most representative traditions among indigenous Mexican festivities. On Día de Muertos, the world of the living welcomes happily and lovingly the souls of the underworld through millenary traditions such as the ofrenda (traditional memorial displays), the sugar skulls, the pan de muerto (sweet bread of the dead), papel picado (pecked paper), candles, or the cempoalxóchitl flower (a marigold genus).

This festivity is one of the richest among the Mexican traditions. UNESCO inscribed Day of the Dead to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

The Mexica used to celebrate their dead by honoring Mictecacihuatl and Mictlantecuhtli, the underworld couple, during the ninth month of their calendar (around August in the Julian calendar) and they would celebrate for an entire month dedicated to Mictlán’s ruling duality.

During the Mexica festivities of the departed, the main days were Miccailhuitontli—the Feast of The Lesser Dead, and the Huey Miccaihuitl, the Feast of The Greater Dead. These coincided with Europe’s Day of the Faithful Departed—then observed because of the deaths caused by epidemics—and All Saints’ Day—when they venerated all the saints without a specific holiday in the ecclesiastic calendar. At around the Day of the Dead and of the Faithful Deceased, the Irish Celtic Samhain Day—a pagan ritual that gave rise to Halloween—celebrated a banquet for the dead.

In ancient Mexico, the dead continued having an important role in society as they were honored depending on their rank and spiritual and social achievements. When someone died, the female elders in Tenochtitlan would announce plaintively the loss of that person. They could be memorialized by their families or by their calpulli (neighborhood), or by all the Mexica. For example, those hidden by Mictlantecuhtli, or who had gone to atlan oztoc, “the place of water in the cave” were called upon with rituals for sowing, hunting, or war. It also included birth and marriage as well as other magical rituals.

For the Mexica, skulls were important in their rituals. In the main temple, they would exhibit skulls of captives publicly impaled in the sacrificial altar to Tzompantli, to honor their deities and to show the power they had and extended beyond Tenochtitlán.

The precursor of the Pan de Muerto was the baking tradition in the Spanish kingdoms of León, Aragón and Castile to shape bread in the form of bones to imitate those that had allegedly belonged to saints (relics).

Each of the thirty-two Mexican states nowadays has its own distinctive touch for this celebration. For example, On October 28, some memorialize people who died in an accident; on October 30, some honor the babies who died before their Baptism. On October 31, they pay respect to children younger than 12, and November 1st is All Saints Day, when they honor the souls of those who died of natural causes. Finally, on November 2nd, after noon, this is when the souls of the departed return to their world. It is then that the ofrendas and the altars are cleared.

The communities prepare ahead of time and pay a lot of attention to the details because the ritual is extremely important, and as long as they do it properly, they believe that the dead are capable of bringing prosperity, for instance, an abundant corn harvest, or disgrace to their families. This encounter among the living and the dead consolidates the community’s social connections.

References:

“Día De Muertos: Su Origen y Significado En 10 Datos Curiosos.” NeoMexicanismos, 1 Nov. 2020, https://neomexicanismos.com/cultura-mexico/dia-de-muertos-origen-en-mexico-porque-se-celebra-significado-tradiciones/. Portions accessed and translated from original in Spanish with permission on 10/24/2021

García, Barbara. “Mictlan: Souls' Journey through the Underworld.” Mas México USA, Pepe Perez, 30 Oct. 2019, http://mas-mexico.com.mx/usa/index.php/2019/10/31/mictlan-souls-journey-through-the-underworld/.

Herz, May. Inside Mexico, Babbel, 27 Sept. 2021, https://www.inside-mexico.com/category/myths-and-legends/.

“Indigenous Festivity Dedicated to the Dead.” UNESCO, https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/indigenous-festivity-dedicated-to-the-dead-00054.

“Mexica.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexica.

Patowary, Kaushik. “Tzompantli: The Gruesome Skull Racks of the Aztecs.” Amusing Planet, Blogger, 25 Aug. 2021, https://www.amusingplanet.com/2021/08/tzompantli-gruesome-skull-racks-of.html.

Vela, Enrique, “Días de Muertos”, Arqueología Mexicana, edición especial núm. 77, p. 80.

Indian "Festival of Lights

What: Diwali celebrates the triumph of light over dark and good over evil.

When: Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu month of Kartik, on the darkest day of the lunar month. Celebrated in India over a 5-day period, this year, the main (third) day of Diwali is November 4.

Where: Diwali is a national holiday in India, Singapore, and several other South Asian countries. However, it is celebrated around the world.

How: In India, celebrants light dozens of candles and clay lamps (called diyas), placing them throughout their homes and in the streets. Candles and lamps are also floated in lakes and rivers, and fireworks are lit to brighten the night sky.

Who: Diwali is primarily celebrated by followers of the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain faiths. Hindus celebrate the return of deities Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after their 14-year exile. They also celebrate the day Mother Goddess Durga destroyed a demon called Mahisha. For Hindus, it's also the start of the new year so there are special prayers offered to the goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) for blessings and cash money in the new year Sikhs particularly celebrate the release from prison of the sixth guru Hargobind Singh in 1619. Jains celebrate the moment the founder of Jainism, Lord Mahavira, reached a state called Moksha (nirvana, or eternal bliss).

Sources: Burnett, C. (2021). Diwali 2021: What is Diwali? The Old Farmer’s Almanac, https://www.almanac.com/content/diwali

Diwali: What is it? (2020). BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/15451833