This page groups holidays by whether they are still kept today. Wikipedia notes that "the science of religious rites and festivals is known as heortology," a field that studies festivals whether or not they are still actively observed. Browsing by status today lets a visitor separate a holiday still widely kept from one now studied only historically.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingRecurring days of public celebration in a tradition's calendar, usually communal and usually marked by gathering, food, procession or lights. It is the widest of the holiday groupings and the least precise: what it collects is defined against the narrower labels - not a fast, not a feast of appointed liturgical rank, not a day of highest rank - rather than by a property of its own. 2 Learn More
The Festivals
This group gathers festivals, the joyous celebrations of the religious calendar, marking sacred events, seasons and divine figures with feasting, gathering, ritual and rejoicing. Festivals are among the most visible and communal expressions of religious life, and this is the largest holiday grouping in the atlas.
The browser will find festivals from across the world's traditions. The entries describe each festival's occasion, customs and meaning, noting the tradition and the calendar on which it falls.
Status Today
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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