Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday To Go

Day 17: Chalica

Christians have the Advent wreath, Judaism the menorah, and African-Americans have the kinara. If you're Unitarian Universalist, then you also have your very own object to light on fire in the winter thanks to the relatively new holiday of Chalica.

Created in 2005, the purpose of Chalica is to celebrate the seven principles of the UU faith. Each day, a chalice is lit (the chalice being one of the major symbols of the church), and you then spend the day reflecting on one of the seven principles and then acting upon it.

While the holiday typically starts on the first Monday in December and runs through the following Sunday, there are some people who observe it over seven weeks to make it easier to find the time to act on each principle, rather than have to fit all seven acts into one week.

This page has a brief description of Chalica, with links to the seven principles and an article on the founding and growth of the holiday.