Wheel of the Year

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter - birth, growth, fading, death - the Wheel turns, on and on. For everyone that celebrates these cycles of our lives, the Calling of the Directions begins each ritual as we move around the Wheel of the Year. These beautiful words are spoken to invoke the energy and sacred element each direction represents.http://www.mindspring.com/~stardancer/





Yule Dec. 20-23

Winter Solstice marks the time of the year when the light returns as the sun shifts and starts to move northward again. In Europe, the tradition of the yule log is celebrated on Winter Solstice. A special log is brought in and placed on the hearth where it glows for the twelve nights of the holiday season. After that, it is kept in the house all year to protect the home and its inhabitants from illness and any adverse condition. The yule log is the counterpart of the midsummer bonfires, which are held outdoors on Summer Solstice to celebrate the shortest night of the year. It is also customary to place mistletoe around the fire, which is the plant that grew on the oak tree, sacred to the Druids, the priests of the old Celts. Among other uses, mistletoe is thought to help women conceive. The Christmas tree also dates from old European or pagan rituals. It was the time to celebrate the renewal of the earth, and greens were used as the symbol. Branches of pine, cedar, and juniper commonly used brings wonderful fragrance into the home. Red candles are used to symbolize the fire and heat of the returning sun as the days begin to lengthen.

Candlemas/ Imbloc Feb. 2
Candlemas or St. Brigit's (or Brigid) Day is one of the four Celtic fire festivals which fall on the cross-quarter days, six weeks between the solstices and equinoxes. This day is also known as Imbolc. Candlemas is a time when the light of rebirth grows stronger. Brigit is the triple Goddess of the flame. Her fire was carried from the land of Brigantia on the British Isles to Kildare, not far from Dublin, Ireland. These fires were tended by the Daughters of the Flame, nine sacred Virgins who could be looked at by no man. Brigit's, fires are the fires of purification and healing. It is a time to purify ourselfs as we continue to emerge from the dark of winter.  

Ostara March 20-23
Spring Equinox is the time when day and night are equal, when plants begin to burst forth from the earth, leaves appear on the trees, and insects begin to move once again. Spring is the time when Persephone returns from the underworld as a young girl and she and her mother, Demeter, Goddess of the Grain, giver of the crops, play together in the fields and usher in new growth. The celebration of Easter occurs close to the time of this equinox. Oestre or Eostar was a feast of the Goddess Ishtar/Astarte/Esther and celebrated her rebirth. The egg was used as a symbol for Eostar as it represented the birth of the Goddess and all of nature.


Beltane May 1
Beltane is another of the ancient fire festivles in Europe. The name derives from the Celtic god Belenus. The Beltane fires and the Maypole celebrate fertility and the earth's ripe abundance. Persephone comes of age and is ready to experience her sexuality. In ancient times, lovers would sleep outdoors and celebrate the 'Great Rite' (use your imagination) in the fields to ensure the fertility of the crops. Dances were (and still are) done around the Maypole during the day, and at night lovers jump over the Beltane fires and declare their intention to marry or handfast at the Midsummer Solstice. Beltane is the time of the sacred marriage; the Goddess and God were known as the Queen and King of the May. All these rites were performed to insure the fertility of nature, just as the fires were believed to purify and protect against pestilence, plague, and epidemics.


Litha June 20-23
As the light of the sun increases, we approach the time of the Summer Solstice or Midsummer's Eve, the longest day of the year.  This is the time when the sun reaches its zenith, and then turns southward and the days begin to shorten. In Europe, Midsummer's Eve was the strongest of the fire festivals. It was a time to prepare for the waning of the sun's power. Fires were kept burning all night with singing, dancing, and drinking of mead and ale. In the Persephone/Demeter myth, Persephone enters the labyrinth leading to the underworld at Summer Solstice, which eventually leads to the grief of Demeter causing all vegetation to die in the Fall. But for now, Summer Solstice is just the beginning of darkness so let's "make hay while the sun shines".  


Lammas Aug. 1
Lammas, or Lughnasadh (after the Celtic God Lugus) is one of the harvest festivals. It is a time of corn festivals and corn dances. All cultures had representations of a corn mother or corn Goddess. In Europe the corn mother was made of the last sheaves of corn harvested; as her spirit was believed to be embodied in these sheaves of corn. The decent into the darkness of winter has just begun, but the lushness of summer is still aparent in our summer gardens. This is the season when everything seems 'full' - trees, crops, and still, long, warm days. These are the "dog days" of summer so called because the "dog star" Sirius rises and sets with the sun between mid-July and September. The word 'Lammas' comes from "loaf mass" which celebrates the bread made from the first grain to be harvested. This is the time of the year when Demeter is just beginning to realize that Persephone is gone and begins to search for her daughter.


Mabon Sept. 20-23
As the sun crosses the equator and continues its journey south, this is the time of harvest. The season to reap what we have sown from our spring planting, the time of thanksgiving. When day and night are once again equal, time is in balance. The abundance of the harvest is present, but so is our sense of preparation for the dark, cold winter and the death of nature. Fall Equinox is the time Demeter mourns for Persephone and thus causes all in the natural world to die and mourn with her. Another name for the autumn equinox, Mabon, comes from the Celtic Queen Mab of the Fairies.





Samhain Oct. 31
The most sacred holiday celebrated throughout the Wheel of the Year is Samhian. Sometimes referred to as Halloween, Hallows, Hallowmas, or All Hallows Eve - the "hollow" in all of these names comes from the Middle English word that means "holy." The name "Halloween" means "hallowed evening". The traditional Celtic name for this night is Samhian (pronounced something like; 'sow-en'), which may mean "summer's end" or may be named after Samana, an Aryan death god who is the Grim Reaper and leader of the ghosts of our ancestors. The veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is thinnest on this night. Celtic tradition says that all those who die each year must wait till Samhain before crossing into the spirit world where they will begin their new lifes. At this moment of crossing, the spirit of ancestors who still have unfinished business in this world may appear. In ancient times, people who feared the presence of hostile spirits would attempt to drive them away with grotesque faces carved on pumpkins lit from within by a candle. Samhian is the time to celebrate the Crone, the wise one, the healer. In modern times, she is represented as the witch flying on a broom with her familiars, the owl and the black cat, across the full moon. In the Demeter/Persephone myth, it is the time when Demeter finds Persephone in the underworld and begins the long journey to bring her back. Samhain is a celebration of the link between the living and the dead. Ponder the fact that directly opposite Samhain on the Wheel of the Year is Beltane, that joyous, exuberant celebration of light and life.
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