Feasts of Dae

Dae, Feasts of

December-January, April-May, May-June; 1st, 8th, 15th, and 23rd of Dae, the 10th Zoroastrian month

The Feasts of Dae occur during the month of Dae on the four days that are ruled by Dae, which is the name for the creator aspect of Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord and primary deity of the Zoroastrian religion. Because there are four days in each month named after and dedicated to the Creator—the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 23rd—there are four name-day feasts in the month of Dae where the same yazata, or spiritual being, presides over both the day and the month.
It was on the first of Dae that the king of Persia used to descend from his throne, dressed entirely in white, and suspend the duties of his attendants and make himself available to anyone who wanted to speak to him. He would hold meetings with small landowners and farmers, sharing a meal and reminding them that the continued existence of their culture depended upon each one of them.
The Zoroastrian calendar has 12 months of 30 days each, plus five extra days at the end of the year. Because of discrepancies in the calendars used by widely separated Zoroastrian communities around the world, there are now three different calendars in use, and the Feasts of Dae can fall either in December-January, April-May, or May-June.
Followers of the Zoroastrian religion, which was founded by the prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathushtra, believed to have lived around 1200 b.c.e.), today live primarily in Iran and northwestern India, although smaller communities exist in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada, the U.S., England, and Australia.

SOURCES:
RelHolCal-2004, p. 69