6/1 - 30:

June is named for the divine mother Juno (Greek Hera), wife of Zeus/Jupiter. Juno is the protector of the sanctity of marriage and the family. She is the Triple Goddess as Mother, and she is so committed to this duty that in her wisdom she forgives the constant, flamboyant infidelities of her husband, and knows when it is time to teach, and when it is time to get out of her children's way.

6/3 (Tue), 9:24am HT; 7:24pm UT:

New Moon conjunct Sun in Gemini. This time favors teamwork, mental activity, fluid plans, brainstorming and improvisation. This is why so many marriages occur now, as the Gemini season (5/22 - 6/21), fosters the cooperation, equal partnership and teamwork of Figaro and Susanna (left), and other clever couples. The New Moon of June 2008 is the best Marrying Moon to come in many years. Mercury and Venus in Gemini are conjunct the Sun-Moon nexus, and Mars in Leo is sextile to it (at 60°), making this time superbly auspicious for new marriages founded on love and communication.

In the Beth-Luis-Nion Celtic tree calendar used by devotees of the faerie path, this sixth New Moon following the Winter Solstice begins Huath, or hawthorn month.

6/4 (Wed):

Birthday of Socrates (470 BCE). His habitual claim to ignorance (eironeia) is the source of irony, and its implication that the one who claims not to know is more awake than anyone else on the stage.

Baha'i Feast honoring the Deity as Nur, or Light.

6/7 - 15 (8 days):

Vesta Aperit, the day when the sanctuary doors of Vesta's temple are opened before the onset of summer, and the ancient Romans celebrate for eight days the rites of Vesta (Greek Hestia), the goddess protector of virginal womanhood. Vesta's devotees, the Vestal virgins, embody the unlimited creative power of the Triple Goddess at the moment of her first great rite of passage, from Virgin to Mother. The main events of the Vestalia:  

6/7 The Feast of Vesta. 

6/8  Festival of Mens, goddess of Mind. Intellectual attainments are still traditionally held on and near this day each spring, at the end of each academic year.  

6/15 The Ides of June, the climactic celebrations of the first fruits of the harvest. The doors of Vesta's temple are closed again.

6/7 (Sat):

The Chinese lunar calendar, like the Western solar calendars, has its late spring rites and celebrations in honor of beauty and learning at this time.

June 7 is the extremely auspicious fifth day of the fifth lunar month, when the famous Dragon Boat Festival is held in honor of all the arts, especially poetry. The poet Qu Yuan is particularly honored at this time.

6/9 (Mon):

In the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, this is the 7th day of the 4th lunar month. It begins the late spring festival cycle that is one of the four great annual feasts. This day commemorates the birth of prince Siddartha Gautama, who would become the Buddha Sakyamuni. His attainment of enlightenment as the Awakened One, and his passage into parinirvana, are celebrated eight days from now, on the 15th day of the lunar month. Note that in this unusual year, as the March Full Moon has fallen so close to the Spring Equinox, the Tibetans are using an unusual composite timing for Buddhist holy days. Losar was celebrated on the Chinese New Year date of Feb. 7. Other feasts like this one are, as usual, are dintinct in their timing, to avoid synchony with the Chinese lunar calendar.

6/9 eve - 6/10 eve (two days):

In the Jewish calendar, the feast of Shavuot. While celebrated in early Jewish history as a festival of the first fruits, observed with offerings of bread, Shavuot has since come to serve the more profound purpose of commemorating the revealing of the Torah, and the moment when Moses received the tablets of the Law on Mt. Sinai. Among some Jews, the revelation of the Torah is the most important event in the history of the Jewish people, and thereby gives Shavuot a dignity equal to that of the High Holy Days of the autumn. 

 6/10 (Tue):

In the Celtic tree calendar, this pivotal day is the Oak Moon, said to be the halfway point of the lunar year that begins in December. On this day awakened and reverent human beings renew commitments to their gods, their guides and the path of their work.

6/11 (Wed):

In the Roman Catholic calendar, this day is the annual feast of St. Barnabas, whose name was Joseph until he gave all his considerable wealth to the early Church and was called "the son of consolation", and ultimately became so eloquent and compelling an evangelist that he teamed with St. Paul. It was said in Athens that the distinguished Barnabas played Jupiter to Paul's Mercury.

6/12 (Thu):

In the ancient Khemitian calendar, Festival of Mut, the primal mother neter who, as wife of Amun the creator and mother of Khonsu the Moon, was the female figure in the great Theban triad. Mut was represented by a vulture, said to be the most fiercely protective of all mothers and the most nurturing, even shedding her own blood to feed her young. On this day food offerings from Mut were given to all the neters. (Month of Epipi, day 29).

6/13 (Fri):

In the Greco-Roman world, this day was sacred to Athene- Minerva, whose double aspect of warrior and healer embodied the ideal combination of strength and wisdom.

In ancient Khemt, this day celebrates Hor ("Horus") the Beloved, that is, the heroic falcon-headed neter of light in his mildest aspect as divine child of Aset (Isis) and Ausar (Osiris). On this day stories of the birth and infancy of Hor, and how Aset, Djehuti (Thoth) and Amun protected him from his murderous uncle Set by enclosing the baby in a reed cradle and hiding him in a papyrus swamp, were told in poetry and music ceremonies. (Epipi, day 30).

Copyright 2008 Dan Furst. All Rights Reserved.