House Oriens · The Basin

Oriens

East · Spring · Water · Morning

Mascot: Izumi the koi · Head of House: Professor Beryl Fernfoot

Adaptability · Renewal · Creativity · Flow

Our season, month by month: festivals and holidays around the world, the turning of the year, and what to look for in the night sky — north and south, because our scholars live under both.

When it is our season
While spring belongs to Oriens, this house hosts. Any scholar of the house can help plan an event around any date on this calendar: a festival, a meteor shower, a turning of the year. The plans and the rules live here in The Basin; when the event is ready, it is announced in the Quadrivium, with Oriens credited as its planners.

March(in the south: autumn begins)

Around the world

Holi (movable, March) — India's festival of color at winter's end
St. Patrick's Day, Mar 17 — Ireland and its diaspora
Nowruz, at the March equinox — the Persian New Year, kept from Iran to Central Asia
Ostara, at the equinox — a modern name for the spring-equinox festival; the Venerable Bede traced the word "Easter" to a goddess he called Eostre
Eid al-Fitr (movable — in 2027 it falls in March) — the feast ending Ramadan
Passover and Easter season (movable, March–April)

In the sky

March equinox, Mar 20 — day and night stand equal everywhere on Earth; spring begins in the north, autumn in the south
Aurora watchers take note: the weeks around the equinoxes are statistically the best of the year for both northern and southern lights

Look for

North: Leo high in the south, Virgo rising; Gemini sinking in the west
South: the Southern Cross and Centaurus well placed for evening viewing

April(in the south: autumn)

Around the world

Easter (movable — in 2027, Mar 28) and Passover (movable) — the spring feasts
Sham el-Nessim (movable, the Monday after Easter) — Egypt's spring festival, with ancient roots: picnics, painted eggs, and fish by the Nile
Songkran, Apr 13–15 — the Thai New Year, celebrated with water
Earth Day, Apr 22 — marked worldwide
ANZAC Day, Apr 25 — remembrance in Australia and New Zealand

In the sky

Lyrid meteor shower, peak Apr 21–22 — one of the oldest recorded showers; best from the north, visible in the south

Look for

North: Virgo and Boötes ruling the evening; Leo westering
South: the Southern Cross at its finest, nearly overhead at mid-latitudes; Scorpius on the rise late

May(in the south: late autumn)

Around the world

Beltane, May 1 — the old Celtic fire festival that opened summer; the fires of May Day descend from it
May Day, May 1 — spring festivals and Workers' Day across most of the world
Cinco de Mayo, May 5 — Mexico, and Mexican communities abroad
Vesak (movable, at May's full moon) — the Buddha's day, kept across Asia
Eid al-Adha (movable — in 2027 it falls in late May) — the Festival of Sacrifice
Mother's Day (second Sunday of May, in many countries)

In the sky

Eta Aquariid meteor shower, peak May 5–6 — debris of Halley's Comet; best from the tropics and the southern hemisphere

Look for

North: Boötes and Hercules; the Summer Triangle climbing in the east late
South: Scorpius rising in the evening, the Milky Way's bright core on its way up

Dates marked (movable) follow lunar or church calendars and shift each year — check the year before planning an event around one. Solstice and equinox days can shift by one day across time zones.

Plan An Event