Wheel of the Year
The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of
Observing the cycle of the seasons has been important to many people, both ancient and modern. Modern pagan festivals that rely on the Wheel are based to varying degrees on
Origins
Seasonal festival activities of pagan peoples differed across
Influential works such as
Two
The phrase 'Wheel of the Year' was in use by the mid-1960s to describe an annual cycle of eight observances.
Due to early Wicca's influence on modern paganism and the
Festivals
In many traditions of
In addition to the quarter and cross-quarter days, other festivals may also be celebrated throughout the year, especially in the context of
Winter Solstice (Midwinter / Yule)
Midwinter, which is marked around 21 December, has been recognized as a significant turning point in the yearly cycle since the late Stone Age. The ancient megalithic sites of Newgrange and Stonehenge, carefully aligned with the winter solstice sunrise and sunset, exemplify this.[14] Although this position in the Wheel of the Year is sometimes referred to by the term "Yule", after the Germanic and later Northern European winter festival of the same name, Yule was not likely celebrated by Germanic heathens at the winter solstice before the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. Consistent with historical sources, scholar Andreas Nordberg proposes that it occurred instead at the full moon of the lunisolar month following the winter solstice which could range between the 5th of January to the 2nd of February in the Gregorian calendar.[15]
The reversal of the
Practices vary, but
In Roman traditions additional festivities take place during the six days leading up to Midwinter.[17]
A name for the festival in neo-druidry is Alban Arthan,[20]
Imbolc (Candlemas)
Imbolc is the traditional Gaelic name for 1 February and traditionally marks the first stirrings of spring. It aligns with the contemporary observance of Groundhog Day. It is time for purification and spring cleaning in anticipation of the year's new life. In Rome, it was historically a shepherd's holiday,[21] while the Gaels associated it with the onset of ewes' lactation, prior to birthing the spring lambs.[22][23]
For Celtic neopagans, the festival is dedicated to the goddess Brigid, daughter of The Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann.[23]
In the
Spring Equinox (Ostara)
Ostara is a name for the
Known as Alban Eilir in strands of neo-druidry, this holiday is the second of three spring celebrations (the midpoint between Imbolc and Beltane), during which light and darkness are again in balance, with light on the rise. It is a time of new beginnings and of life emerging further from the grips of winter.[27]
Beltane (May Eve)
Beltane or May Day, 1 May, is traditionally the first day of summer in Ireland. In Rome the earliest celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgisnacht celebrations of the Germanic countries.[28]
Since the
Celebrated by many pagan traditions, in neo-druidry this festival recognizes the power of life in its fullness, the greening of the world, youthfulness and flourishing.[29]
Summer Solstice (Midsummer / Litha)
Midsummer, which is marked around 21 June, is one of the four solar holidays and is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height. Some Wiccan traditions call the festival Litha, a name occurring in
In some neo-druid traditions the festival is called Alban Hefin. The sun in its greatest strength is greeted and celebrated on this holiday. While it is the time of greatest strength of the solar current, it also marks a turning point, for the sun also begins its time of decline as the wheel of the year turns. Arguably the most important neo-druidic festival, due to the focus on the sun and its light as a symbol of divine inspiration. Neo-druid groups frequently celebrate this event at Stonehenge.[31]
Lughnasadh (Lammas)
Lughnasadh (/ˈluːnæsə/) is the Gaelic name for a harvest festival held on or around 1 August, while Lammas is an English name. Wiccans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the god in bread and eating it, to symbolize the sanctity and importance of the harvest. Celebrations vary, as not all Pagans are Wiccans. The Irish name Lughnasadh[4][32] is used in some traditions to designate this holiday. Wiccan celebrations of this holiday are neither generally based on Celtic culture nor centered on the Celtic deity Lugh. This name seems to have been a late adoption among Wiccans. In early versions of Wiccan literature the festival is referred to as August Eve.[33]
The name Lammas (contraction of loaf mass) implies it is an agrarian-based festival and feast of thanksgiving for grain and bread, which symbolises the first fruits of the harvest.[32][34]
Autumn Equinox (Mabon)
The holiday of the autumnal equinox is known variously among neopagans as Harvest Home, Mabon, the Feast of the Ingathering, Meán Fómhair, An Clabhsúr, or Alban Elfed (in neo-druidry). It is a neopagan festival of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and the Gods during the coming winter months. The name Mabon was coined by
Samhain (All Hallows)
Samhain (/ˈsɑːwɪn/) is the name of a traditional Gaelic festival held around 1 November. The name and date were adopted by Wiccans for one of their four Greater Sabbats. For Wiccans, Samhain is a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets, and other loved ones who have died. Aligned with the contemporary observance of Halloween and Day of the Dead, in some traditions the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the Wheel by the festival of Beltane, which is celebrated as a festival of light and fertility.[36] Many neopagans believe that the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the year at Samhain, making it easier to communicate with those who have departed.[13]
Some authorities claim the Christian festival of
Practice
Celebration commonly takes place outdoors in the form of a communal gathering.
Dates of celebration
The precise dates on which festivals are celebrated often vary to some degree, as would the related agricultural milestones of the local region. Celebrations may occur on the astrologically precise quarter and cross-quarter days, the nearest full moon, the nearest new moon, or the nearest weekend for contemporary convenience. The festivals were originally celebrated by peoples in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Consequently, the traditional timing for seasonal celebrations do not align with the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere or near the equator. Pagans in the Southern Hemisphere often advance these dates by six months to coincide with their own seasons.[13][39][40][41]
Offerings
Offerings of food, drink, various objects, etc. have been central in ritual propitiation and veneration for millennia. Modern pagan practice strongly avoids sacrificing animals in favour of grains, herbs, milk, wines, incense, baked goods, minerals, etc. The exception being with ritual feasts including meat, where the inedible parts of the animal are often burned as offerings while the community eats the rest.[42][43]
Sacrifices are typically offered to gods and
Heathen observances
Narratives
Celtic
It is a misconception in some quarters of the modern pagan community, influenced by the writings of
Slavic
Slavic mythology tells of a persisting conflict involving
The idea that storms and thunder are actually divine battle is pivotal to the changing of the seasons. Dry periods are identified as chaotic results of Veles' thievery. This duality and conflict represents an opposition of the natural principles of earth, water, substance, and chaos (Veles) and of heaven, fire, spirit, order (Perun), not a clash of good and evil. The cosmic battle between the two also echoes the ancient
.On the great night (
Wicca and Druidry
Part of a series on |
Wicca |
---|
In
Many Wiccan,
The Holly King is often portrayed as a woodsy figure, similar to the modern
See also
- Western Christianchurches.
- List of neo-pagan festivals and events
- Native Americanspiritual concepts
- Solar terms, year's divisions in China and East Asia
Calendars
- Celtic calendar
- Gaelic calendar
- Welsh seasonal festivals
- Germanic calendar
- Hellenic calendars
- Roman calendar
References
- ^ Williams, Liz (29 July 2013). "Paganism, part 3: the Wheel of the Year". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
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- ^ a b Gardner, Gerald (1954). Witchcraft Today. p. 147.
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- ^ Kinloch, George Ritchie. Reliquiae Antiquae Scoticae. Edinburgh, 1848.
- ^ Robert Graves, The White Goddess, New York: Creative Age Press, 1948. Published in London by Faber & Faber.
- ISBN 0-9547230-1-5
- ^ Glass, Justine (1965). Witchcraft, the Sixth Sense—and Us. London: Neville Spearman. p. 98.
- ^ Kelly, Aidan. About Naming Ostara, Litha, and Mabon. Including Paganism. Patheos. Accessed 8 May 2019.
- ^ Beckett, John. Enough With the Mabon Hate! Under the Ancient Oaks. Patheos. 11 Sep 2018.
- ^ Valiente, Doreen. 1978. Witchcraft For Tomorrow. London: Robert Hale Limited.
- ^ ISBN 1-56414-864-5.
- ^ ISBN 9789004163737.
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- ^ Nordberg, Andreas (2006). "Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning". Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi. 91: 155–156.
- ^ ISBN 1-56414-864-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19517-072-6.
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- ^ "Deeper into Alban Hefin". Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ^ ISBN 0-06-250814-8pp.191-2 (revised edition)
- ^ "Gardnerian Book of Shadows: The Sabbat Rituals: August Eve". www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
- ^ "Lammas (n.)". etymonline.com. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
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The pre-Christian observance obviously influenced the Christian celebration of All Hallows' Eve, just as the Taoist festival affected the newer Buddhist Ullambana festival. Although the Christian version of All Saints' and All Souls' Days came to emphasize prayers for the dead, visits to graves, and the role of the living assuring the safe passage to heaven of their departed loved ones, older notions never disappeared.
- ISBN 978-0-582-30143-6. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
Time out of time', when the barriers between this world and the next were down, the dead returned from the grave, and gods and strangers from the underworld walked abroad was a twice- yearly reality, on dates Christianised as All Hallows' Eve and All Hallows' Day.
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- ^ a b Thomas, Kirk. "The Nature of Sacrifice". Cosmology. Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- JSTOR 1088885.
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- ^ Meuli 1946
- ^ a b "Runic Era Calender". asatru.org. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
- ^ "Årets högtider, Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige". www.samfundetfornsed.se. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
- ^ "Asatru Holidays - The Troth - Inclusive Asatru and Heathenry". thetroth.org. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
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- ^ Wigington, Patti. "The Legend of the Holly King and the Oak King". paganwiccan.about.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2012.