Feast of Spendarmad

Spendarmad, Feast of

February, June, July; fifth day of Spendarmad, the 12th Zoroastrian monthThe Feast of Spendarmad is one of the "sacred name days" in the Zoroastrian religion, where the day and the month share the name of the same yazata, or spiritual being—in this case, Spendarmad, who represents Holy Devotion and who presides over the earth. In the past, the Feast of Spendarmad was also a special feast for women, whose husbands would give them presents on this day. Such gift giving is still a part of the festival in some areas, but the practice is no longer widespread.
Among the followers of Zoroaster (also known as Zarathushtra, believed to have lived around 1200 b.c.e.), the Persian prophet, a name-day feast is an occasion for religious ceremonies which can be performed in a fire temple, meeting hall, or private home. Because there are actually three different Zoroastrian calendars in use by widely separated Zoroastrian communities, the Feast of Spendarmad occurs either in February, June, or July in the Gregorian calendar.
There are only about 100,000 followers of Zoroastrianism today, and most of them live in northwestern India or Iran. Smaller communities exist in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada, the U.S., England, and Australia.
SOURCES:
RelHolCal-2004, p. 69