By: Shahin Soltanian
Human societies have many events of significance that are either celebrated or commemorated as a yearly anniversary. Such events might have religious, national or ethnic significance or a combination of one or more things.
National celebrations and commemorations could be the day a nation declared its independence from another nation. It could be the anniversary of the day when a system of government was changed. A national day of celebration could also include such things as signing of a peace treaty between two groups of people that coexist within a state or celebrate the birth of a monarch.
Religious celebrations and commemorations can include the birth or demise of an important figure in that religion. It could also include a significant event in the mythology or history of a religion. Some religious anniversaries might include rituals or acts that were intended in the opinion of the founder or founders to teach self-discipline, improve society, improve oneself or seek some kind of attachment or closeness to God.
Ethnic holidays have usually concentrated on times of the year that were important to that ethnic group such as for example, celebration of the coming of the Spring season for harvesting crops.
What many of these celebrations and commemorations have in common is that it is usually a communal or familial event. People get together either with their community or with their family for the purpose of celebrating or commemorating an event. Common understanding and agreement about a particular day or time and the rituals and customs surrounding it serves the purpose of bonding and social cohesion between people.
Having a specific day to celebrate and commemorate organises people’s lives so that they can pre-plan their lives around it.
Due to the secular nature of the Kashfence philosophical doctrine, two days of celebration have been established to celebrate and commemorate what can be universally accepted as being fundamental to happiness and a moral life.
One is on 1st of May known as Good Deeds Day. On Good Deeds Day a person intends and strives to do a good deed. There is no specific custom of what kind of good deeds can be done to celebrate this day. It is up to the person to choose what they are capable of and they feel strongly about. Hence, each person might do a different kind of good deed.
The second day of celebration in Kashfence Philosophy is on the 1st of November known as the Family and Friends Day. Family and Friends Day is a commemorative event intended to be a day you spend with your family and/or friends. Gifts can be exchanged on Family and Friends Day or a person might just choose to spend quality time with their family and friends.
The reason it is called Family and Friends day is because there could be individuals who do not have a family or their family might be too far away. Still they can celebrate the joy of spending time with a loved one or loved ones who might be just their friends.
The two commemorative days were specifically chosen because they did not have any seasonal significance.