July Observances

Thanks to The Daily Globe: "J" WORLD

1st Canada Day/Naga Panchami

Canada Day marks Canada's independence from Great Britain which took place in 1982. This meant Canada no longer had to pass its legislation through the British Parliament. Parades and picnics are just some of the ways Canadians celebrate this special day.

Naga Panchami is a festival devoted to the Snake-Gods called Nagas. Snake images are displayed on altars, offerings made at snake holds, and parades with live serpents crowd the main streets in many villages.

2nd Feast of Expectant Mothers

A festival in which pregnant women gathered at temples throughout the city to receive blessings and honor goddesses associated with birth and fertility.

3rd Green Corn Dance/Sothis/Loki's Brand

The Seminole Tribe of Florida celebrates their New Year with an annual Green Corn Dance honoring the new corn crop.

4th US Independence Day/Day of Pax/Gahan Ceremonial

Independence Day is the "birth" of the United States is celebrated by Pagans and non-Pagans alike. Many patriotic Witches honor and give thanks to Lady Liberty, and perform magickal spells and rituals for the benefit of the country.

In ancient Rome, the joyous Day of Pax was celebrated on this date with feasting and revelry. Pax was the Goddess of peace and harmony identified with the Greek Goddess Concordia, also honored on this day.

Annually on this date, the spirits of the mountains are honored by the Mescalero Apache Gahan.

5th Sun Dance Festival/Poplifugia

Sun Dance Festival is the rite of the Ute Tribe of Utah and Colorado honoring the Great God who dwells within the fire of the Sun.

Poplifugia is a festival in honor of Jupiter. It was a day of feasting and celebration but the rites are not known with certainty. Poplifugia means "The Flight of The People" and refers to events that were ancient and obscure even to the Romans

7th Tanabata/Consualia/Festival of the Handmaidens

Tanabata is a popular Japanese festival is based upon a Chinese myth. This holiday is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month when the stars Vega and Alair are connected by a group of magpies and the two lovers can be together. Today the Japanese children write poems on long strips of paper and tie them to branches of trees. Also flowers, animals, and stars all made of paper are hung up as decorations.

In ancient Rome, the Consualia was held annually on this date in honor of Consus, the God of harvests, presaging a good harvest later in the month.

In ancient Rome on this day, the Feria Ancillarum or Festival of Handmaids was held. This was the maids' day out, when the maids of Rome were beyond the control of their mistresses. Fig trees were venerated on this day, with feasting beneath them in honor of Caprotina, an aspect of the Goddess Juno.

10th Lady Godiva Day/Day of Hel/Day of Knut the Reaper

The sky-clad Lady Godiva was said to have ridden through Coventry on this day. Her procession at Southam, near Coventry, was said to include the images of two Goddesses, one the White Holda and the other the black Hela.

The Anglo-Saxon and Norse Goddess of the Underworld is honored annually on the Day of Hel with prayers, the lighting of black candles, and offerings of rose petals.

Day of Knut the Reaper is a centuries-old festival in which wickerwork giants are paraded through city streets of Douai, France to drive away evil spirits and demons.

11th Theano's DayTheano's Day/Naadam Festiva

On this day, Theano, wife of the Greek philospher Pythagoras, and a philosopher in her own right, is honored. She is often seen as patroness of vegetarianism.

13th Festival of Lanterns/Festival of Demeter

According to Japanese Buddhist belief, every summer at this time spirits of the dead return to visit their families. In preparation, the houses are cleaned and decorated and a place is set at the family table for the recently departed. Lanterns and bonfires are lit to guide the spirits home. At the end of three days, the lanterns are again set out to guide the spirits back.

14th Bastille Day/Osiris' Birthday

Dismantling the Bastille prison stone by stone and freeing the political prisoners marked the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789. The French monarchy was very oppressive and they used the Bastille to lock up and punish people who disagreed with them. This French national holiday is celebrated by dances, parades, dinners, and a fireworks display.

The birth of the Egyptian falcon-headed God Horus is celebrated on this day by many Witches and Wiccans of the Egyptian tradition. It is customary to light a royal-blue candle and burn frankincense and myrrh as an offering to the God.

15th Day of Rauni/Olympic New Year/Feast of Athena Sciras

16th Rosa Mundi/Birthday of Set/Feast of the Virgin of Carmine

17th Festival of Ama-Terasu-O-Mi-Kami

A festival in honor of the sun goddess Amaterasu.

19th Feast of Kuan Yin/O-Bon Festival/Guru Purnima

20th Moon Day/Binding the Wreaths

Man's first landing on the moon on July 20, 1969 is commemorated Moon Day. Neil Armstrong descended to the surface of the moon with these words: "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Edwin Aldrin, Jr., also walked upon the moon's surface. Michael Collins, the third man, stayed aboard the spaceship Columbia which orbited the moon

In Lithuania, the ancient Goddesses of love are invoked during an annual lover's festival called The Binding of the Wreaths, which takes place on this day.

21st Damo's Day/Mayan New Year

The seeress Damo, venerated today, was the daughter of the Greek sage, Pythagoras. All of the secrets of his philosophy were entrusted to her at his death

The Mayan New Year is celebrated annually on this date in South America. This was a very sacred day to the Maya, who held feasts and conducted prayer rituals in honor of the Old Gods.

23rd Neptunalia/Salacia's Day

Neptune, God of the sea and earthquakes, was honored in ancient Rome on this date with the festival of Neptunalia. Modern Italian Witches honor Neptune on this day by lighting a blue candle, inscribed with the trident symbol and anointed with seawater, and placing it on an altar along with assorted sea objects, such as shells, driftwood, and so on.

Salacia's Day is the Norse celebration of Aegir and Ran.

25th Feast of Furrinalia

On this date in ancient Rome, the annual Furrinalia took place in honor of the Goddess of springs, Furrina. This was the time when a drought might begin to "bite," and the value of springs is appreciated. This is a good day to remember our vital reliance on sources of water.

26th Kachina ceremony/Sleipnir/Festival of St. Anne

Kachina ceremony isthe rite of the Hopi tribe of Arizona in honor of the Kachinas, ancient spirits that guide and protect the Hopi. They are honored with religious ceremonies and a cycle of dances

27th Hatshepsut's Day/St. Pantaleone's Day

Hatshepsut's Day is the birthday of the goddess Hatsheput.

28th Domhnach Chrom Dubh/Hurricane Supplication Day

The sacrificial God, Domhnach Chrom Dubh, is honored.

29th St. Olaf's Day/Feast of Santa Marta

31st Lammas Eve/St. Ignatius Loyola

Lammas Eve or Oidche Lugnasa is the festival celebrated on this night in honor of the sun god Lugh. His yearly sacrifice at the end of the harvest ensured the fertility of the corn and grain for the next growing season. An old August Eve tradition practiced by rural Scots is predicting the following year's marriages and deaths by throwing sickles into the air and drawing omens from the position in which they fall.

St. Ignatius Loyola was the founder of the Society of Jesus which eventually became the largest single religious order in the world. Ingatius believed that education was one of the best ways to help people. During the 1500s, he helped establish some of the best schools of the time in Europe. Like other special people, he is a patron saint of the Basques.

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