Wheel of the Year
Here you can learn more about the Wheel of the Year, like when each holiday falls and what it celebrates. We hope you enjoy!
By Celest Waters
Yule (Yool)
Yule begins on the Winter Solstice. It falls on the 21st of December and lasts until the 1st of January. It symbolises the start of a new journey, a new adventure, and is a time to reflect and appreciate ourselves and our loved ones. Imbolc (Im-bulk) Imbolc falls on the 1st of February, welcomes the growth of the returning light, and witnesses life’s insatiable appetite for rebirth. Imbolc was traditionally the great festival of the pagan Gaelic goddess Bridgit (goddess of healing, poetry and inspiration). Ostara (Oh-star-ah) Ostara falls on the Spring Equinox and is the day of equilibrium, a calm balance between the harsh winters and the merciless summer. Ostara falls on the 20th of March and symbolises the beginning of life and fertility. Beltane (Bell-tinnuh) Beltane celebrates light, fertility and the coming summer. Falling on the 1st of May, Beltane is a time of fertility and harvests, the time for reaping the wealth from the seeds that were sown. Litha (Lee-tha) Litha is a celebration of the longest day of the year at the Summer Solstice. Typically celebrated on the 21st of June, it symbolises abundance, growth and love and is heavily focused on fire and light due to its connection with the sun being at its highest point and at its most powerful. Lammas (Lah-mahs) Lammas is the festival of the harvest season and falls on the 1st of August. Lammas also brings the shortening of daylight which becomes more apparent with each sunset. Mabon (May-bun) Mabon celebrates the Autumn Equinox which occurs when the sun crosses the equator on its journey southward, and we begin to experience a day and a night that are of equal duration. Mabon is a time of rest and celebration after the hard work of the harvest season. Samhain (Sow-een) Samhain, also known as All Hallows Eve, falls on the 31st of October. It celebrates the end of the harvest seasons and completes the cycle of birth, growth and death. It is believed that this is the time when the veils between the worlds are at their thinnest; boundaries dissolve and all is laid bare. |