January 11th and 15th- The Carmentalia (Ancient Rome)

Celebrated as two separate festivals, January 11th and January 15th in ancient Rome honor Carmenta, the goddess of birth. Carmenta was the leader of the four Carmenae, whose group also consisted of her sister-goddesses Antevorta, Postvorta, and Egeria.  Carmenta was a deity associated not only with pregnancy and childbirth, but also with fertility, prophecy, and technological advances. Although the cold weather and cropless season of Winter may seem like a strange time to celebrate the goddess of birth, January is exactly 9 months after April--the most popular month for marriage.


As for Carmenta's origin, some believed that she came to Rome from Greece where she had been serving as a prophetess of Aracadia. These people believe that her name was initially Nicostrate and that she had a son named Evander who killed his father leaving himself and his mother with no option but to flee to Italy. Once in Latium, Nicostrate became known for her prophecies and was revered as a deity. The Italians renamed her "Carmenta" for the Latin word "Carmen" meaning "charm". Carmenta is credited with the invention of the Latin alphabet and supposedly altered 15 Greek letters to form it while Evander is known as one of the heroes in Rome's foundation. 


To celebrate the holiday, Romans would bring offerings to Carmenta's sacred temple, located southeast of the Capitoline near a gate called the Porta Carmentalis. It was important to remember not to wear leather or any clothing made of animal skin into Carmenta's temple because it would be disrespectful to her emphasis on new life.  Women brought milk, honey, cereal, grain and herbs to Carmenta's temple and would pray to her for fertility and an easy pregnancy. The women would speak to wise old members of Carmenta's cult, who would tell them of their unborn children's future. 

Sources: 
http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Carmentalia_(Nova_Roma)
http://hotelmule.com/wiki/Carmentalia
http://www.jofletcherbooks.com/2012/01/carmentalia/
http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Article/1258623
http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/camenae.html

September 9th- California Admission Day (USA)

Happy Birthday, California! Today is the 161st anniversary of the "Golden State". The treaty between the USA and Mexico that ended the Mexican war specified a large piece of the Southwest (including California) as belonging to America. California became wildly popular in 1848 as a result of the Gold Rush. People from all over hurried to the territory in search of their fortune, and before long, a civil government was needed to settle disputes among them and provide equal law for them. On this day in 1850, President Millard Fillmore signed the bill that would admit California as the 31st state of the Union. California was accepted as a state under The Compromise of 1850, which rejected the slave-owning Southern states  access to the Pacific. 

Today, California will honor the day with a celebration on the South Steps in Sacremento. The state of California announced: “Together, we celebrate a more inclusive story of the History of California, targeting 4th grade students through Official Statewide History and Social Studies Content Standards and Practice[this is implemented and ongoing in California state public school curriculum]." 

This holiday has provided a perfect opportunity to learn about the impact California has had on American history. To bring this article to a close, I'll leave you with a few funny Californian laws I happened upon while researching. 

1. "In Arcadia, peacocks have the right of way to cross any street, including driveways."

2. "In Carmel, ice cream may not be eaten while standing on the sidewalk." (Ironic, no?)

Sources:
http://parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23856
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/62735.html
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/09/am-alert-242.html
http://www.examiner.com/history-art-in-monterey/friday-september-9-california-admission-day

June 1st- First World Hypoparathyroidism Awareness Day (World)

World Hypoparathyroidism Awareness Day on June 1st, 2011 was the very first Hypoparathyroidism Awareness day. This was an especially important holiday for me because I was diagnosed with Hypoparathyroidism almost exactly two years ago. 


Hypoparathyroidism (HPTH) is a rare endocrine condition that is unknown by many people because it is so uncommon. Although it only affects a small number of people, its effects on a person are huge. People with Hypoparathyroidism, whether it is Iatrogenic (caused by surgical removal) or Idiopathic (without a defined cause), all have insufficient levels of parathyroid hormone causing the inability to regulate blood calcium levels. Although living with falling blood calcium levels is difficult, it is possible by taking a precarious combination of many medicines and supplements. Hypoparathyroidism causes extreme weakness among other unpleasant symptoms and can be life-threatening if calcium blood levels drop too low. 


To raise awareness for our uncommon condition, my friends and I at HPTH UK honored the day by wearing green and encouraging our friends, family, and peers to do the same. We used phrases such as "Going Green for Hypoparathyroidism!" and "Green for a Growing Awareness for HPTH!" to spread the word of our day. 


The day was a success as we had 463 people from all over the world confirm via Facebook that they would wear green June 1st to support us. My family, friends, and school community at The Galloway School in Atlanta, GA were wonderful and went all-out to support me by wearing green for the first World HPTH Awareness Day as you will see in the following pictures.

Over 75 students and teachers at The Galloway School in Atlanta, GA wore green to support HPTH Awareness Day

Morgan (right) and I (left) Going Green for HPTH!

Close-up of the group

Friends Laura (left) and Erin (right) and I (center) wearing green HPTH Awareness shirts.

To learn more about Hypoparathyroidism, please visit http://hpth.org.uk/

May 30th- Canary Islands' Day (Canary Islands)

The Canary Islands are made up of 7 inhabited islands between Europe and Africa: Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife, El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera, and Chinijo Archipelago (which is made up of the smaller islands La Graciosa, Alegranza, Montaña Clara, Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste). The Canary Islands are an autonomous (meaning self-governing) Spanish community with their own parliament. Canary Islands Day marks the day of the Canary Islands' very first parliament session in 1983. 

Although the holiday celebrates government, it is also a celebration of the islands' rich culture. On this day, schools hold extra classes about the history of their homeland. The Canarians eat communal meals and host festivals in honor of the day. There are also domestic animals shows and exhibits of cows pulling sleighs. Another large part of the celebration consists of children singing cultural music and playing traditional games such as "watch-your-step" and "tug-of-war". This is indeed the day when the people of the Canary Islands celebrate their ancestry and exhibit their pride for bringing joy to so many. 

Map of Canary Islands

View from Canary Islands Beach

Sources: 

http://hubpages.com/hub/Canary-Islands-Day-was-when-traditional-games-returned-to-a-Garachico-school

http://www.barriemahoney.com/Twitters/files/a654a4a4ac5f3b8c7741fba4b87e5270-57.html

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/spain/canaries-day-observed

Photos from: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/spain-photos/

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/africa/canary-islands/map_of_canary-islands.jpg

May 8th- White Lotus Day (Theosophy)

Although this Sunday is Mother's Day in America, there is an additional holiday that is much lesser known held annually on May 8th. This holiday is called White Lotus Day, and it is celebrated to commemorate the passing of Madame Helena Patrovna Blavatsky (also referred to as HPB). Madame Blavatsky was born into a well-to-do Russian family in 1831. During her life, she travelled around the world never staying in any one place very long. Madame Blavatsky was known as a psychic and was one of the founding members of the Theosophical Society. She is credited with launching the Theosophical Movement and first introducing the knowledge of Eastern Religions to the West. 


White Lotus Day is a holiday that encourages meditation and observation of the metaphor of the lotus. The lotus's life begins in the mud and travels through the water to reach the clear air and warmth of the sun. Madame Blavatsky and her fellow members of Theosophy believed that life structured itself in a quite a similar way. White Lotus Day is celebrated in several ways: 


1. At noon, a commemorative meeting is held at headquarters in which excerpts from Theosophical works are read. 
2. Food is given in Madame Blavatsky's to the poor fishermen of Adyar, India.
3. The flag is half-masted from sunrise to sunset. 
4. The convention hall is adorned with white lotus flowers. 
5. All braches of Theosophy meet on this day and express their love for Madame Blavatsky "in some simple, unsectarian, yet dignified way, avoiding all slavish adulation and empty compliments [...] for her who brought us the chart of the climbing Path which leads to the summits of Knowledge". 

White Lotus

Madame Blavatsky

Sources: 
http://www.blavatsky.net/blavatsky/madame-blavatsky.htm
http://intuitivemeaning.com/2010/05/spotlight-white-lotus-day/
http://www.katinkahesselink.net/other/algeo-white-lotus.htm
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/b/blavatsky_helena_petrovna.html
Photos from: 
http://www.blavatsky.net/ and http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-6423201-white-lotus-floating-in-water.php

May 7th- Radio Day (Russia, Bulgaria, and Armenia)

The invention of the radio in 1895 had a large impact on communication for individual countries and the world as a whole. Radio Day (or Radio and Television Day, as it is called in Bulgaria) became a holiday on May 7th 1945, exactly 50 years from the Day Alexander Popov first successfully established the Radio as a tool. The brilliant Russian physicist built upon Tesla and Marconi's prior achievements in the process of radio development and is generally credited in Eastern Europe with its invention. Because Tesla and Marconi had already begun work with the idea of "emission and reception of signals by means of electromagnetic oscillations", Western Europeans typically acknowledge them as the radio's inventors. 


In celebration of the holiday, some radio stations in Russia, Bulgaria, and Armenia will be running commercial-free all day. In downtown Sofia, The Bulgarian National Orchestra will be conducting a concert to mark the day. Today in Armenia, the Prime Minister visited the Yerevan Office for RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty and praised them for their exposure of "problems and shortcomings in Armenian society". However they may celebrate, it is clear that the people in these  Eastern European countries have an appreciation for all that radio broadcasting has done for the world's expansion of communication. 

Sources: 
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/07/49979351.html
http://times.am/2011/05/07/congratulations-on-radio-day/
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=128007
http://www.armradio.am/eng/news/?part=soc&id=19918
http://www.rferl.org/content/armenian_prime_minister_visits_rferl/24094253.html
Picture from: http://cdn.dipity.com/uploads/events/b7aeddf2380aeb91ee5f9d258fa9ca7d.jpg

May 3rd- Polish Constitution Day (Poland)

Polish Constitution Day is the 3rd day in a series of Polish holidays following Labor Day on May 1st and Flag Day on May 2nd. 


The Polish Constitution, adopted in 1791, was based on ideals of the Age of Enlightenment and established Poland's move toward a parliamentary system and rule of law. The Polish Constitution was the first modern, codified constitution in Europe and only the second one in the world, preceded by that of the United States. The constitution instituted the world's first Constitutional Monarchy, meaning that the king keeps his status as head of state, but it still subject to the law's rules. It also abolished the "Liberum Veto" (Latin for "I freely forbid), which allowed any one nobleman to veto the decision come to by the Nobleman's Assembly led by the king. 


The Polish Constitution was retained for a year but fell when the king joined the Targowica Confederation, and Poland was divided between Russia, Prussia, and Austria. 125 years later, Poland finally regained is sovereignty and constitution. May 3rd was even banned as a holiday several times, but it was restored in 1989 after the fall of communism. Even though it went back and forth as a legal holiday, Constitution Day was always honored as a celebration of hope and inspiration for the Polish people. 

The President of America, Barack Obama, released a statement yesterday wishing the Polish well on their celebration of Constitution day. He says, "Even today, fledgling democratic movements look to Poland as an example and guide."

Polish Flag

Sources: 

http://www.thenews.pl/national/artykul154624_poland-celebrates-constitution-day.html

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/global-dispatches-poland-may-3-constitution-day-55698.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/02/statement-president-polish-constitution-day
Picture from: 
http://www.petergreenberg.com/2007/06/25/off-the-brochure-chicago/