Today@Dal

See below for a sample of dates to observe, reflect, celebrate or promote throughout the university community. The full calendar is available on the website, http://www.dal.ca/dept/dalrespect/about/calendar.html

December 21
Yule (WICCA)
Yule, which marks the New Year in the Anglo-Saxon and northern traditions of Wicca, is the celebration of the birth of the God of the Winter-born King, symbolized by the rebirth of the life-generating and life-sustaining sun. It is a time for ritually shedding the impurities of the past year and for contemplating avenues of spiritual development in the year ahead.

Tohji-taisai (SH)
The Grand Ceremony of the December Solstice celebrates the joy of the ending of the yin period of the sun, when it declines in strength, and the beginning of its growing power of yang period. The sun is of central importance in Japan, expressing the presence of Amaterasu Omikami, the Kami of the Sun.

December 23
Maunajiyaras (JA)
Maunajiyaras is a day of fasting, silence, and meditation on the five holy beings: monks, teachers, religious leaders, Arihants (Jinas, enlightened masters), and Siddhas (liberated souls). This day is also regarded as the anniversary of the birth of many of the Tirthankaras or Pathfinders.

December 25
Christmas (CH)
Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. It refers to both the day commemorating the birth, and also the Christmastide season which that day inaugurates, concluding with the Feast of the Epiphany. The date of the celebration is traditional and is not considered to be Jesus's actual date of birth. Christmas festivities often combine the observation of the Nativity with various cultural customs, many of which have been influenced by earlier winter festivals. Although nominally a Christian holiday, it is also observed as a cultural holiday by many non-Christians.