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December 2008
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8 December |
Bodhi Day (Buddhist) |
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Monday
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Some Buddhists (e.g. Pure Land followers) celebrate Gautama's attainment of Enlightenment on this day under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, North India.
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8 December |
Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Christian – Catholic) |
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Monday |
Roman Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Christ, was conceived without original sin. Mary received God's grace from the first moment of her existence and was totally and completely redeemed by this grace. Because she was redeemed, Mary spent her whole existence in a perfect relationship with God.
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8 December |
Hajj – start (Muslim) |
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Monday |
The annual pilgrimage to Mecca/Makkah that Muslims should try and complete at least once in their lifetime.
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11 December |
Eid-Ul-Adha – The festival of sacrifice (Muslim) |
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Thursday
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This is the most important spiritual festival in the Islamic calendar, which concludes the Hajj. It remembers prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to.
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21 December |
Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) – longest night of the year (Pagan) |
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Friday |
This is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. The seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives.
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22 December |
Hanukkah or Chanukah – Festival of lights (Jewish) |
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Monday
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This festival lasts for eights days and marks the victory of the Jews (led by Judah Maccabee) over the Syrians after a three year war in 165 BCE. It was also around this time that the Maccabees rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The word Hanukkah means dedication and commemorates the Jews' struggle for religious freedom.
Each evening a candle is lit from right to left in a hanukkiah, a nine-branched menorah. The ninth candle is the Shamash (the servant candle) from which the other candles are lit. Foods cooked with oil, such as doughnuts and latkes (potato cakes), are traditional to remember the miracle with oil that happened at this time.
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25 December |
Christmas Day (Christian) |
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Thursday
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Christmas is a Christian holy day that marks the birth of Jesus, the son of God. However it is not only a Christian festival. Christmas has roots in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the festivals of the ancient Greeks, the beliefs of the Druids and the folk customs of Europe. Christmas comes just after the middle of winter.
The sun is strengthening and the days are beginning to grow longer. For people throughout history this has been a time of feasting and celebration. Many people go to church to sing carols and to celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
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Further information
Natalie Hill
Equality and Diversity Officer
Telephone: 01743 260 200
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