A Foot In the Door?

[Retro Red]

Reggie,

I work for a large, international company. I went through a similar hassle 3 years ago when I first wore a kilt to work. Their final judgement was that a kilt is not considered acceptable business attire, BUT I would be allowed to wear a kilt on casual ware Fridays & (I love this part) on Celtic holidays. Pretty sad for a company that loves to tote how diverse they are & the dress code, in regards to skirts, is gender-neutral. Anyway, as to your question about Celtic holidays, here's what I use...

31 October-1 November - Samhain (pronounced sow-in); most important of ancient Celt holidays; Celtic New Year

30 November - St Andrew's Day; patron saint of Scotland

21-22 December - Yule or Alban Arthuan; observance of winter soltice

25 January - Burns Night; this is kind of stretching things, but there's usually a lot of ritualized celebration in the Scottish community on Robert Burns' birthday, the national bard of Scotland

1-2 February - Imbolc (pronounced im-bulk); same day as Groundhog Day, foreshadows Spring

17 March - St Patrick's Day; patron saint of Ireland

20-21 March - Oestre or Alban Eiler; Spring equinox

6 April - National Tartan Day; by proclamation of the U.S. Congress in recognition of the many contribution to American society by Scottish-Americans

30 April-1 May - Beltaine; start of Summer season & most important of the ancient Celt holidays after Samhain

21-22 June - Coamhain or Alban Heruin; Summer solstice

31 July-1 August - Lughnasdha; harvest festival

21-22 September - Mabon or Alban Elued; autumn equinox

As you can see, the ancient Celt holidays corresponded to major seasonal & celestial milestones. The ancient Celt holidays were celebrated from sundown on the eve of the event to sundown on the day of the event, thus the dual dates for the ancient Celt holidays.

Hope this helps...
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