Secudays (Not Holy Days)
To Observe, Celebrate, or Ignore

There are many observances and celebrations around the world, many religious and many secular. Here are a few that may be of particular note to our secular community. As freethinkers, we’re free to observe or ignore holidays as we see fit.

Year-round Observance

  • When, through a coincidence of calendar design, the 13th of the month falls on a Friday, the credulous and superstitious give it a level of important that is not deserved, falling victim to friggatriskaidekaphobia, or a fear of Friday the 13th (rooted perhaps in paraskavedekatriaphobia, the fear of the number 13). Is this because on the start of the worst Easter weekend Jesus ever had there were 13 attendees to the Last Supper (seder?), not counting Leonardo Da Vinci taking the table portrait and Mel Brooks taking the orders? Maybe, but we do know know is that as rational skeptics, we don’t buy into this malarky. We do, however, like to get together sometimes on Friday the 13th to poke fun at the superstitions by walking under ladders, opening umbrellas indoors, breaking mirrors, etc.

January

  • January 1

    Cultures have celebrated the start of the new year, on various calendars. On the Gregorian calendar, it falls on January 1st. While many celebrate by sleeping in and nursing a hangover, there are many superstitions that align with the observance as well. Here in North Carolina that can include a meal featuring some kind of pork dish accompanied by black-eyed peas, collard greens, and some cornbread. This meal is supposed to herald good fortune for the coming year, at least for those who don’t keep kosher or halal. As freethinkers, we’re free to enjoy that meal, or not, without concern about supernatural food preferences due to religion or Lady Luck’s whims.

  • January 8

    Freethinkers Day or Thomas Paine Day is observed on the anniversary of Thomas Paine’s death in 1809. Margaret Downey, president of Thomas Paine Memorial Association, describes Paine as, “A friend to humanity and a foe to tyrants, Thomas Paine championed the rights of the “common” people and believed emphatically in the dignity and rights of all humans, which drove him to challenge the divine rights of kings, forever changing the course of history.” It is fitting to read up on this early freethinker on this day and put his philosophies into action.

  • January 16

    On Oct. 23, 1992, President George H. W. Bush passed a law designating January 16 as Religious Freedom Day. He probably didn’t have the non-religious first in mind when he signed the bill into law, but as our friend Andrew Seidel is fond of saying, “You can’t have freedom of religion without freedom from religion.”

February

  • February 12

    Darwin Day is celebrated on the anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birthday as a day to reflect and act on the principles of intellectual bravery, perpetual curiosity, scientific thinking, and hunger for truth as embodied by Charles Darwin.

  • February 15

    Galileo Day is celebrated on the anniversary of Galileo Galilei’s birthday. Typical celebrations including a festive meal with friends followed by stargazing. If you like a high level of spice, maybe include Stargazer Hot Sauce in that meal; heat that’ll put you in orbit!

  • February 19

    Copernicus Day is celebrated on the anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus’s birthday. Educational institutions may host astronomy-related activities, encouraging us to explore the wonders of the universe. It's a good day to attend a talk by an astronomer, but not an astrologer.

March

  • March 8

    International Women's Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.

  • March 14

    Pi Day is celebrated on 3/14. In mathematics, π represents the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — approximately 3.14159. So, on Pi Day, show off how many digits of Pi you can recite from memory and maybe eat your favorite pie at 1:59pm (3.14 1:59).

  • March 20-21

    The Vernal Equinox (or Spring Equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere falls about March 20 or 21, as the Sun crosses the celestial equator going north resulting in a day that is almost equal in times of light and dark. It’s a good time to reconnect with nature, so maybe consider a nature hike or a trip to the zoo or a science museum with a focus on nature and life sciences.

April

  • April 1

    April Fools’ Day, they day that everyone thinks they are a comedian and that comedy means lying to someone and then yelling April Fools!

  • April 22

    At TFS we focus on the Triangle area of North Carolina, our home. But, this home happens to be on the planet Earth and April 22 is Earth Day, a day to celebrate our favorite planet. It is a time to focus on the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability and to rededicate ourselves to taking action to slow the climate crisis.

  • April 30

    Just as April comes in like a lyin’, it goes out with some honesty. Honesty Day balances April Fool’s Day and as humanists, it’s not a bad idea to reflect on the honesty, or as Greg learned on the Brady Bunch, “Exact Words!”

May

  • May 1

    May Day is based on Belthane/Beltane, an ancient Celtic astronomical holiday falling between the vernal equinox and summer solstice. Beltane was a spring celebration that included dancing, singing, special bonfires, and house doors and animals would be decorated with yellow May flowers and ribbons.

    Since the 19th century, May Day also became known as International Workers’ Day for labor rights memorializing the birth of the eight hour workday in the United States.

  • First Thursday

    If there is going to continue to be a blatantly Unconstitutional National Day of Prayer, we can balance it with a National Day of Reason.
    At TFS we do our Advocacy Day in May as close to the National Day of Reason as the General Assembly schedule will allow.

June

  • First Friday

    Get consent first, but a day to hug as many atheists as you can.

  • June 5

    World Environment Day (WED) is another day to encourage awareness and action for the protection of the environment, and we can't have too many of those. Established by the United Nations in 1972, it has a different focus/theme every year.

  • June 19

    Juneteenth National Independence Day commemorates the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation as it reached Texas on June 19, 1865. Many feel it is a more appropriate day to celebrate American Independence as freedom finally came to all races . . . at least on paper. The fight continues.

  • June 21

    World Humanist Day is celebrated annually around the world to coincide June solstice, which usually falls on June 21. According to Humanists International, the day is a way of spreading awareness of Humanism as a philosophical life stance and means to effect change in the world. It is also seen as a time for Humanists to gather socially and promote the positive values of Humanism.

  • June 20-22

    In longest day, in shortest night, no solstice shall escape my sight…

    Humans may have observed the summer solstice as early as the Stone Age. Cultures around the world still celebrate the day with feasts, bonfires, picnics and songs.

July

  • July 4

    Former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura believed that the phrase ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance goes against the Establishment Clause of America’s Constitution when used in a government setting (such as public schools) and established Indivisible Day to raise the awareness of separation of church and state and set it to coincide with Independence Day.

August

  • August 11

    "When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell.” - Robert Ingersoll, b. August 11, 1833

September

  • September 11

    Patriot Day is set aside to honor the memory of the victims of the terrorist attack on Sept 11, 2001.

  • September 19

    The most self evident of all holidays, a day to talk like a pirate! Other pirate activities are encouraged as well (within local laws).

  • September 21

    The International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) is observed around the world each year on 21 September and in America on Sept 21. Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, Peace Day is a day for all humanity to commit to peace above all differences and to contribute to building a culture of peace.

  • September 20-23

    Equinox comes from the Latin words “aequi,” which means equal, and “nox,” or night. On the equinox, day and night are of nearly equal length across the planet. In the Northern Hemisphere this equinox marks the start of fall (in the Southern Hemisphere it marks the start of spring).

October

  • October 11

    Since 1998 the LGBTQIA+ community has recognized Oct 11 as National Coming Out Day.

  • October 12

    October is considered National Freethought Month, with Oct 12 being highlighted as the day in 1692 that the Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor William Phips wrote to England's Privy Council complaining about the religious fervor of the Salem Witch Trials.

November

  • Fourth Thursday

    Dating back as far as 1607, Thanksgiving serves as a secular harvest festival in America. Wait, why are we describing this? You know this stuff. Eat, enjoy time with family and friends, watch football . . . and Survivor Series.

  • Tuesday After Thanksgiving

    The Tuesday after Thanksgiving (which can be in Dec) is Giving Tuesday, when many nonprofits have special fundraising drives, often with matching donations, making your gifts even giftier.

December

  • December 10

    Human Rights Day was first recognized in 1950 to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights. It is also the date that the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights and the Nobel Peace Prize are awarded.

  • December 20-23

    The hibernal sostice is marked by the Earth reaching it's maximum tilt away from the sun. It is the winter solstice for the northern hemisphere and is also known as the reason for the season.

  • December 23

    Festivus is celebrated on December 23 in contrast to the crass commercialism of the other holidays during the winter season in America. It was created by author Daniel O'Keefe, but went mainstream with the 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike", co-written by his son, Dan O'Keefe. Per the episode, Festivus includes a dinner (usually featuring meatloaf and other everyday meal choices), an unadorned aluminum Festivus pole, and traditions such as the "airing of grievances" and "feats of strength", and the labeling of easily explainable events as "Festivus miracles". Festivus truly is, "a Festivus for the rest of us".

  • December 25

    Sir Isaac Newton was born on 25 December 1642. While he was almost certainly not an atheist, he was also almost certainly a heretic compared to the Christianity of his time. Newtonmas celebrates his advances as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and as an alchemist! The traditional greeting is "Reason's Greetings!" and gifts related to science or apples are common. The holiday is also known as Gravmas (gravitational mass) as a nod to Newton's Theory of Gravitation. His forays into alchemy are a great reminder than no matter how hard we try to be skeptics, we all have our biases and blind spots.

  • December 31

    Celebrating the last day of the Gregorian calendar, New Year’s Eve can be a time for parties, food and drink, celebrating with friends, fireworks, and consensual kisses at midnight as the old year ends and the new year begins (see January 1 entry above).