December 16 pagan holy day calendar

fixed holy days (same date every year)
Kemetic calendar
Zoroastrian calendar
Celtic Ogham tree calendar
Roman calendar
numerology
tarot
2010 lunar days
2010 astrological
2009 holy days
2009 lunar days
2009 astrological
2008 lunar days
2008 astrological

fixed holy days

These holy days are on the same day every year on the solar calendar.

Festival of the Little-Heat:

Festival of the Little-Heat: Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) holy day. Festival of the Little-Heat.

Feast of Ptah:

Feast of Ptah: Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) holy day. Feast of Ptah lifting up Ra to Heaven with His hands. Deities in festivity.

Day of Sapientia:

Festival of Sapientia: Roman holy day. Day of Sapientia, wisdom. She is associated with Sophia, Minerva, Athena, Ma’at.

Name Day:

Name Day of Day: Zoroastran holy day. Each day and month of the Zoroastrian calendar is presided over by a spiritual being. When the spiritual being of the day and the month are the same, such as today (Day and the first day of the week, in this case, Ohrmazd), the day is particularly sacred. In the Fasli (seasonal) calendar, this is the sacred day of Ohrmazd. Ohrmazd celebrates the Av. Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom and Zarathustra’s name for God.

Amenet-Rait-Mwt:

Festival of Amenet-Rait-Mut: Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) holy day.

Burning Times:

Burning Times: Alison Balfour burned alive for witchcraft at Edinburgh, Scotland, on December 16, 1594. For more information on the Burning Times see Witch Hunt

Posadas:

Posadas: Mexican holy day. December 16-24 is Posadas, the ritual enactment and celebration of the Yule Child, who was originally the Twins, Heru Sa Aset [Horus/Apollo] and Bast [Artemis].

Halcyon Days:

Halcyon Days: Greek holy day. December 14-28 are the Halcyon Days, the seven days before and after Yule, a time of calm and tranquility derived from Alcyone, a Greek Goddess of the Pleiades connected with Artemis [Bast] and Aphrodite [Het Heret].

Navidades:

Navidades: Puerto Rican holy day. December 15-January 6 are the Navidades, for the Yule Child, which is based on the older Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) Twins, Heru Sa Aset [Horus/Apollo] and Bast [Artemis].

calendar

This day on different world calendars.

Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) information

Season of Proyet (Sowing - the emergence of the land and of green things)
Month of Mekhir (Rekh-Ur)
Day 1

Zoroastrian information
(Fasli calendar)

Month of Day (tenth month)
Day of Ohrmazd
Day 1

The day of Ohrmazd celebrates the Av. Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom and Zarathustra’s name for God. Special prayers from the Khorda Avesta are recited in honor of the day’s spiritual being.

Activity for the day from the Counsels of Adhurbadh, Son of Mahraspand: “(119) On the day of Ohrmazd drink wine and make merry.” Adarbad Mahraspandan was a famous saint, high priest, and prime minister of Shapur II (309-379 C.E.).

The first seven days (first week) of each Zoroastrian month celebrate Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas (literally translated Beneficent Immortals). They are the highest spiritual beings created by Ahura Mazda.

The Fasli, or seasonal, calendar is one of three Zoroastrian calendars still in use.

Celtic (ancient Druid) information

Ogham tree calendar

Ruis (R)

Elder Moon
Day 22

The Celtic calendar started out as a moon calendar, but was aligned with the solar year during antiquity. Robert Graves proposed the Celtic tree calendar described here. While widely used by Neo-Pagans, many critics dispute the authenticity. The Beth-Luis-Nion calendar (the one used here) starts with New Year on the Winter Solstice. The Beth-Luis-Faern calendar starts with New Year on Samhain.

Each Celtic tree month (or moon) is named for a Celtic Ogham letter (first line above) and a tree (second line above). All of the Celtic months also had additional folk names (folk names for this month listed below).

Polarity: Masculine
Planet: Saturn
Archetype: Pryderi, son of Pwyll
Symbol: raven
Folk Names:
Moon of Completeness

Asatru (ancient Norse) information

Month: Yule

Roman information

a.d. XVII Kal. Ian.
17 days before the Kalends of January
Month: December

The a.d. XVII Kal. designation means ante diem or 17 “days before” the Kalends (first day or New Moon) of the next month. When counting days, the Romans included both the start and end day (in modern Western culture, we skip the start day). When the Romans switched to a solar calendar, they continued to use the lunar day names.

The Roman month of December is named for decem, because it was originally the tenth month of the Roman solar year. December was sacred to Vesta, the Roman Goddess of hearth, home, and family.

The earliest Roman months were lunar. According to Roman mythology, the ten month solar calendar aligned to the vernal equinox was introduced by Romulus, the founder of Rome, around 753 BCE. In Romulus’ calendar, December (the tenth month) had 30 days. Numa Pompilius, the second of the seven traditional kings of Rome, added two more months, for a 12 month year. In Numa’s calendar, December had 29 days. Gaius Julius Caesar, as Pontifex Maximus (supreme bridge-builder, a religious title), reorganized the calendar on the first day of 45 BCE. In Caesar’s calendar (the Julian Calendar), December had 31 days. Caesar’s calendar was calculated by Sosigenes, an Egyptian astrologer/astronomer. In 8 BCE, Augustus Caesar fixed errors by pontiffs after Julius’ death and made other minor modifications, resulting in the modern Western calendar. The modern Gregorian Calendar, named for Roman Catholic Pope Gregory the Thirteenth, was a realignment in 1582.

numerology

Today totals 7 in modern Western numerology. See the article on seven for more information.

tarot

Today’s tarot card is The Chariot.

date:	Thursday	December 16, 2010
Moon:	waxing gibbous	2nd Quarter	enters Taurus
Mercury:	Retrograde until December 30

lunar information 2010

Moon:	waxing gibbous	2nd Quarter	enters Taurus
Next Full Moon December 21	Next Waning Quarter December 27	Next New Moon January 4	Next Waxing Quarter January 12

Second Quarter in Aries:

Second Quarter: The moon is in the second (2nd) quarter (waxing gibbous) in Aries.

Void of Course:

Moon Void of Course: The moon is Void of Course (V/C) starting at 6:41 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) or 3:41 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). The Moon is void of course from the last traditional aspect in a sign to the ingress into the next sign. Moon void of course is a time of distractions and miscommunications. Things started during Moon void of course tend to sputter and fail.

Moon enters Taurus:

Moon Enters Taurus: Lunar Ingress. The Moon enters the sign Taurus at 1:49 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) or 10:49 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Second Quarter in Taurus:

Second Quarter: The moon is in the second (2nd) quarter (waxing gibbous) in Taurus.

Taurus Rewarding: This day in 2010 is rewarding for those who are Sun sign Taurus because the Moon is in your Sun sign.

Scorpio Challenging: This day in 2010 is challenging for those who are Sun sign Scorpio because the Moon is in the sign opposite your Sun sign.

astrological information 2010

Sun Trine Moon: The Sun is trine the Moon at 2:32 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) today or 11:32 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) yesterday (Dec 15). Man and woman well aspected. Easy time with the opposite sex.

Moon Sextile Neptune: The Moon is sextile Neptune at 6:41 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) or 3:41 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). Time for intuition, creativity, and meditation. Meditation magick. Spells for ceativity, music, and art. Intuition activated. Moon Void of Course (V/C). Perform magick and ritual before the Moon is void of course.

Sun Square Jupiter: The Sun is square Jupiter at 4:47 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) or 1:47 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). Dream big, but don’t overdo. Time to be philosophical. Strong possibility of personal problems. Ritual to Ptah or Serapis.

Moon Trine Mercury: The Moon is trine Mercury at 5:52 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) or 2:52 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). Come to decisions. Influence and persuade others.

Moon Trine Pluto: The Moon is trine Pluto at 11:07 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) or 8:07 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). Spells regarding romance, pleasure, and popularity. Love magick. Time for pleasure and romance. Ritual to Bastet.

Magick Color:

Purple: The magick color for this day, based on planetary influences and the day of the week, is purple. You may want to burn a purple candle or wear some purple this day.

Magick Incense:

Jasmine: The magick incense for this day, based on planetary influences and the day of the week, is jasmine. You may want to burn jasmine incense this day. You may substitute a similar incense if you don’t have or don’t like jasmine.

See also the article on incense. An American source for high quality incense is Mountain Rose Herbs. A British source for incense is Pagan Magic.

date:	Wednesday	December 16, 2009
Moon:	New Moon		enters Capricorn
Mercury:	Direct until December 26

holy days 2009

These holy days are on different day each year on the solar calendar.

Hanukkah:

Hanukkah ends: Jewish holy day. Celebrated December 12th-19th in 2009.

Amavasya:

Amavasya: Hindu holy day. The New Moon Day that begins the Hindu lunar month.

lunar information 2009

Moon:	New Moon		enters Capricorn
Next Waxing Quarter December 24	Next Full Moon December 31	Next Waning Quarter January 7	Next New Moon January 15

Fourth Quarter in Sagittarius:

Fourth (Last) Quarter: The moon is in the fourth (4th) quarter (waning crescent) in Sagittarius.

New Moon:

New Moon: Lunar. Occurs at 7:02 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) in 2009. This is a Wiccan Esbat. See also Aphrodite New Moon love spell. Moon Void of Course (V/C).