Seeking a calendar that compares the seasons and festivals of major world religions.

September 20, 2011 6:55 AM

Comparative religion filter: Seeking a calendar, chart or similar that takes a seasonal approach to listing/identifying religious events, festivals and important occasions for major world religions.

We are interested in beginning discussions about religions with our 7-year-old. Our goal is to take a comparative religion approach to this effort, not focusing on any one religion in particular, but talking about the "big stories" in general. We are NOT seeking specific religious texts! The twist is that we'd like to tie things in to the seasonal (calendar) year as much as possible. We do not, however, have more than a cursory knowledge of the religious calendars of the world. Can you help us find a visual / chart that compares the religious seasons and calendars of multiple major religions?

posted by tidecat to religion & philosophy (6 answers total)

This one? http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/religion/calendar.htm
posted by michaelh at 7:00 AM on September 20, 2011

I use the Peel (Canada) School Board's Calendar. It has 11 religious groups on it on it as Peel is one of the most culturally diverse communities in Canada.
posted by saucysault at 7:20 AM on September 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

These are both helpful, thanks!
posted by tidecat at 8:03 AM on September 20, 2011

Just thought I'd point out that the Islamic calendar has no connection with seasons, since it works purely on lunar months. Over the course of about 20-odd years, any given holiday will have occurred in every season.
posted by bardophile at 8:18 AM on September 20, 2011

It's worth noting that although the Jewish calendar is also commonly called a lunar calendar, the holidays do more or less match up seasonally (due to the addition of an extra month every couple of years to keep things matching.)
posted by restless_nomad at 8:37 AM on September 20, 2011

And Sikh's have their own calendar controversies...
posted by saucysault at 2:36 PM on September 20, 2011