Nyepi

For March 8^th I am cheating a little, the actual date of this observance is 6am on the 7^th through 6am on the 8^th, but I am also including the activities for the following day.

Nyepi is part of the Bali tradition of the Hindu religion.  Though it is not mandatory for those who are not Hindu to observe the day all the residents of the nation do, as well as those traveling in the country.  The day is part of the new year celebration and is recognized by four rules that govern the day.

1)      Amati Geni – No lighting of fire or light

2)      Amati Karya – No work

3)      Amati Lelunganan – No travel

4)      Amati Lelanguan. – No entertaining/fasting

This day is intended to be a day to reflect on ones spirituality and many take this to mean that there should be no talking of any kind.  Many people spend the day in meditation and prayer.  This is to cleans the person for the following year.  To this end no one is allowed to drive a car, go to the beach, walk down the street and all the shops are closed.  Even the airport is closed on this day, though emergency vehicles are allowed. 

With all these things happening the normally busy streets and the noise of every day life is gone.  This makes the whole island seem transformed which one could not help but feel and participate even if it is inadvertently.

The day after Nyepi is Ngembak Geni which is when society goes back to normal but many people spend the day visiting each other and forgiving one another.

Seems to me this would be a great idea for all of us to do no matter what faith you may follow or even if you do not have one to follow.  To spend twenty four hours in contemplation of ones life and place in the world, we run though life quite often not even knowing why we are doing any of the things we do.  You may have missed the day (sorry for that) but that does not mean you can not take at least a few hours soon to do the same.

Links:

Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyepi

General links

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/24/opinion/edhogue.php

http://www.indo.com/culture/nyepi.html

http://www.essortment.com/all/nyepibalinese_rnqr.htm

Feast Day of Perpetua and Felicity

Today I will be writing about another Saints feast day.  This one though is venerated by other faiths than just the Catholic Church, including both the Lutheran and Episcopal Churches.  This is not the only thing that helps to set this particular day apart, this feast day is for two Saints who died at the same time and together. 

In 203 A.D. Vibia Perpetu became a Christian even though the Caesar had declared that no one could become either Christian or a Jew.  She was quickly arrested along with four others who had also recently become Christian and was taken to prison but not before they where baptized.  She had only recently given birth and was still nursing her baby boy when she was taken so was very distraught at being away from him.  Some missionaries where able to bribe their way in and took her mother who in turn took her son.  This seemed to have strengthened her spirits.  Perpetu’s father also came to visit her while she was in prison to try and persuade her to recant but she rebuked him. 

When the five where taken to the judge they were asked to all recant but all stood steadfast even with the additional prompting of Perpetu’s father and even the judge trying to convince her.  They were all sentenced to be thrown to wild animals in the arena on the celebration of the day of the Caeser’s birth.  This was considered a military exercise and so they were transferred to a military prison to await their fate.  While there they showed great faith that is said to have eventually caused the warden to become a Christian.

The two of them are the Patron Saints of Married Women.

Saint Felicity was also one of the five to be thrown to the wild animals but she worried that she would not be able to accompany other four as she was pregnant.  She was in her eight month and there was a law that forbade the killing of a pregnant women, but two days before the sentence was to be carried out she gave birth to a health baby girl.  The baby was adopted by a Christian women who raised her. 

On the day of their execution only four remanded, one had died in prison.  The two women were thrown to a wild bull, stripped naked.  The crowed showed their disapproval of this and they where taken back, clothed and killed by soldiers.

The thing that I found most interesting about this, other then there being two martyrs woven together is the reason that we have a full account of this story.  It is from Saint Perpetu writings that we have this history.  Not only does this provide an interesting background to this events but she is the (according to one source I found) first women Christian to whom we have a writings of.

   

I am trying to be representative of all cultures and religions in my writings, but have not had much time to search for other festivals so there may be a large number of Catholic feast days included for now.  If you know of any holidays please send them to holidayaweek AT gmail.com.

Links:

Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Perpetua_and_Felicitas

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=48

International Women's Day

Links:

sirdidamus42.libsyn.com (The speed of the playback does not seem to be correct, still working on that)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day

http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/womensday/index.asp

This is my second podcast, still working out the kinks.

Alamo Day

Unfortunately not every day has a large amount of holidays or festivals to pick from and this seems to be one of them. Now I am not saying that there is nothing else, just that at the moment I found very little. This reminds me that if you have any particular days you would like recognized please let me know and I will do my best.

March 6th is the last day of the Battle of the Alamo. In Texas this is known as Alamo Day, but from the little I have found on the subject it does not look like it is celebrated or recognized very well. One of the websites I found went up and asked some of the state legislators what day it was a few years ago and very few were sure what day it was.

A little back ground in case someone who is not from the United States reads this:

"On February 23, 1836 the Alamo fell. A 13 day siege by Mexican forces consisting of around 6,000 men against the Texas contingent of between 120 - 250 men. Texas had been apart of Mexico but the people of the area had decided to leave to become their own country or perhaps to join the United States. Santa Anna wishing to keep Texas apart of Mexico took forces there to regaincontrol. When he had come upon the old fortified Spanish mission he took to sieging it. All those who where in the mission where killed and this lead to the battle cry "Remember the Alamo".

Links:

http://shagtown.com/days/usa.html

http://dallasmorningviews.beloblog.com/archives/2006/03/and_today_is_1.html

St. Piran's Day

The 5^th of March is the Feast Day of Saint Piran, thought I am not really spotlighting another Saints feast day, it is the Cornish celebration that takes this day to celebrate their heritage, language and history. St Piran is also the Patron Saint of tin, once a very important business in the country.

The story of St. Piran is said to start in Ireland where he was born. He studied in Rome and went back to Ireland and is credited with many miracles but the king was not impressed, though the people loved him. The king had him thrown into the ocean with a millstone tied to his neck but he floated, making it all the way to Cornwall. There he is said to have started the first Christian church. According to legend he did not die till the age of 206.

Cornwall was once a great tin mining area and so the patron saint of tin was very important to the people. St. Piran has been credited with discovering tin when a blackstone in his fireplace got so hot that a white liquid poured out, the first tin.

Apparently he was also known for his fondness to alcohol and so is naturally a favorite of the working man who loves to have a good reason to relax, by emulating the Saint.

There has been a resurgence to make this day more important within the Cornish community and make it an official bank holiday. There are many celebrations, parades and even a play that is said to reenact his life.

The flag of St. Piran, black background represents the blackstone and the white the tin he is credited with discovering.

Links:

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Piran%27s_Day

General links:

http://www.an-daras.com/cutoms/cu_stpirans_who.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/uncovered/stories/march2004/stpirans_2004.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/4766464.stm