Pagan Holidays

The wheel of the year

Pagans follow the seasons. The formal name for this is called the “wheel of the year”. The wheel considers both the seasonal changes and the astrological
changes such as solstices and equinoxes.

The wheel covers the following stages:

  • life
  • death
  • destruction
  • healing
  • fertility
  • rebirth

In ancient Celtic culture, time was circular, not linear and segmented. Time was a fluid element and as much a part of the natural world as the forests and the mountains, the rivers and the seas.

The equinoxes and solstices make up four celebrations – Mabon, Yule, Ostara and Litha. These are known as ‘quarter days’ and are solar festivals as their timing is based on the transition of the Sun.

The other four dates denote when the seasons in traditional British and Irish culture began – the first days of February, May, August and November or their eves. Lughnasadh, Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane are referred to as ‘cross quarter days’ as they are approximately midway between each of the equinoxes and solstices.

The quarter days are loosely based on or named after the Germanic pagan festivals and the cross-quarter days are similarly inspired by the Gaelic fire festivals. It is understood that no pre-Christian people celebrated all eight festivals. Instead, these yearly festivals, or sabbats, became the modern-day Wheel of the Year through the popularity of contemporary Pagan and Wiccan religious movements in the early 1950s.

Combined, these seasonal subdivisions make up eight spokes of a wheel.

The eight main celebrations (or festivals) that make up the Northern hemisphere Wheel of the Year.

4 Cross-Quarter (fire) festivals:

  • Imbolc (February 1st) for spring
  • Beltane (May 1st) for summer
  • Lughnasadh/Lammas (August 1st) for autumn
  • Samhain (October 31st) for winter

And 4 Quarter-Point (solar) festivals:

  • Ostara  – Spring Equinox (20th – 23rd March)
  • Litha – Summer Solstice (20th – 23rd June)
  • Mabon – Autumn Equinox (20th – 23rd September)
  • Yule – Winter Solstice (20th – 23rd December)

The story of the God the Goddess throughout the year

The Eight Sabbats are a solar cycle that follows the Wheel of the Year – and celebrates the labyrinthine journey of the God from Greenwood innocence through sacrifice to self-knowledge.

  • His journey begins at Yule with his birth as the Sun reborn from the Womb of the Great Mother. At Imbolg – in February – he is nursed at Her breast.
  • At Spring Equinox we find him as Pan in the Greenwood – and with him discover the rising tide of life both within ourselves and the greening world about us – and with his influence we find the stirring of the reproductive powers of nature.
  • The Sexual drive reaches its peak in the Sabbat of Beltane, May day, which is still celebrated with the Phallic May pole and Morris dancing, Stag dances and Hobby horses of many Folk festivals throughout the UK.
    It is beneath the blossoms of Beltane that the God embraces the Goddess – they love and are one – and their union in the Greenwood is still celebrated in like manner by many covens today.
  • With Midsummer the God is at his height as Sun King – and soon the corn will be ripening.
  • At Lammas and Autumn Equinox The God makes the ultimate sacrifice – and is cut down as John BarleyCorn – he begins his descent into the underworld…
  • A journey that ends at Samhein with his Crowning as Hades – lord of the Underworld – and the gates of Death are thrown open for the Faerie folk to ride free…
  • At Yule He is born again – and the great Wheel turns once more.

(Halloween)
October 31

Samhain (pronounced ‘Sou-wen’) is a celebration that has a more somber side than the revelry of modern Halloween. It is a day of remembrance of your ancestors and for those family members who have passed over.

Pagan families may set an extra place at the supper table on this evening, to honor those loved ones who are no longer with them. The veil between the world of the living and the dead is thinnest on this eve, and this night is an excellent time to perform divination, or try to connect with those from the other side.

Correspondences for Samhain

  • Herbs: patchouli, sage, heather
  • Altar Flowers/Herbs: acorns, apples, pumpkins/gourds, dittany, autumn leaves
  • Feast Foods: pumpkin, squash, nut breads, sweet potatoes, milled drinks (cider, wine), roast meat, root vegetables
  • Animals: bats, cats, crows, ravens, owls
  • Incense: cinnamon, cloves, myrrh, patchouli, pine, mugwort, nutmeg
  • Rituals/Spells: making besoms, divination, spirit contact, crone magick, working with dark energy, spells for new beginnings

Yule

Winter Solstice
December 21

Winter Solstice…the longest day of darkness in the year; and with the darkness comes the promise of light, the rebirth of the Sun.

Correspondences for Winter Solstice

  • Herbs: frankincense, myrrh, sage, bayberry, rosemary
  • Altar Flowers/Herbs: holly, mistletoe, pine cones, evergreen, thistle, cedar
  • Feast Foods: fruitcake, gingerbread, cranberries, dried fruit, eggnog, cider/wine
  • Animals: white buffalo, stag, weasels, owls, squirrels, blue jays, cardinals, doves
  • Incense: bayberry, cedar, frankincense, myrrh, orange, sage, rosemary
  • Rituals/Spells: hearth and home magick, lighting the Yule log, hopes and dreams spells, wishes.

Imbolc

The altar was created by Rev. Lamia for a celebration and rite honoring the Goddess Brighid at Imbolc just prior to the publishing of this issue of the Mirror of Isis. The silk hanging depicting the Goddess Brighid on the wall behind the altar was hand painted by Lamia. It is based on a traditional Celtic knotwork design. Photo used by permission.

*February 1 or 2 – in the northern hemisphere

(Lughnasadh is celebrated in the southern hemisphere at this time.)

In the ancient world, and in the agricultural world of today, this is the time when the ewes begin giving birth. This is the time of, not only birth, but lactation, and a time to celebrate these two wonders of life. This is also a celebration of the transformation of the Old Woman of winter into the Young Maiden of spring.

This is a festival of the Celtic goddess Brigid, so beloved by the people of the old world that the Roman church couldn’t eradicate her. Instead, they made her a saint, Saint Brigid. In Celtic lore, the Old Woman of Winter (the Cailleach) was reborn as Bride, the young maiden of Spring.

Brigid is an important figure for some modern pagans, who emphasize her triple aspect. She is sometimes worshipped in conjunction with Lugh or Cernunnos.

Correspondences for Imbolc

  • Herbs: basil, bay, celandine, benzoic
  • Altar Flowers/Herbs: angelica, myrrh, flowers that are yellow/white/or blue
  • Feast Foods: bread, cakes, dairy products, seeds
  • Animals: burrowing animals, ewes, deer, goats, lambs
  • Incense: jasmine, myrrh, neroli
  • Rituals/Spells: candle magick, initiation, hearth/home blessings, fertility magick, healing magick, cleansing rituals

Saint Brigid’s Day is 1 February. It was originally Imbolc, the first day of spring in Irish tradition. Because Saint Brigid has been theorized as linked to the goddess Brigid, some associate the festival of Imbolc with the goddess.

Saint Brigid’s Day or Imbolc is traditionally a time for weather prognostication:

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid

Ostara

(Spring Equinox)
March 21

This is the day when the period of light and dark are equal, heralding springtime planting and the promise of warmth returning for the summer months.

This is also a celebration of the Saxon goddess of fertility…Eastre. Eggs and rabbits are symbols belonging to the Goddess Eastre and are incorporated into the festivities and celebrations. Sound familiar yet?  It is interesting to note why the date for the Christian holiday of Easter moves every year…Easter is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.

Correspondences for Ostara

  • Herbs: cinquefoil, rose, violets, tansy, celandine
  • Altar Flowers/Herbs: honeysuckle, iris, lily, daffodil, crocus
  • Feast Foods: eggs, fish, honey, sweet food, leafy vegetables
  • Animals: chicks, hares, rabbits, swallows
  • Incense: honeysuckle, jasmine, lavender, lotus, magnolia, rose, violet
  • Rituals/Spells: planting/sowing, rejuvenation spells, consecration of tools, grounding work, Earth blessings, spring cleansing

Beltaine

(May Day)
May 1

This holiday is one of the most Pagan. It is a celebration of fertility and the sexuality that goes right along with it. To the modern world, it’s more commonly known as May Day.

What the Roman church tried so hard to control, to portray as evil, sinful, or dirty– is the very thing celebrated at Beltane…human sexuality.  In modern celebrations of May Day, people still dance around the Maypole– some not realizing that this is a phallic symbol, while they hold brightly colored streamers spilling from the top of this pole, symbolic of the creative force of sex.

The Pagan celebrates with bonfires, music, and revelry.

Correspondences for Beltane

  • Herbs: cinquefoil, frankincense, marigold, meadowsweet, woodruff
  • Altar Flowers/Herbs: daisy, hawthorn, lilac, primrose, wildflowers, rose
  • Feast Foods: barley cakes, oat cakes, red fruit, elderflower drinks, herbal salads
  • Animals: honey bees, cats, horses, rabbits, white cow
  • Incense: frankincense, lilac, passion flower, rose, vanilla
  • Rituals/Spells: bale fire, fertility magick, sex magick, handfasting, beauty magick, love spells, The Great Rite

Litha

(Summer Solstice)
June 21

This is the longest period of daylight in the year, a time of magick, fairies, and the immortalized Mid-Summer’s Eve. Fairy contact is generally easier to achieve on this day, for those of you who are brave enough to invoke the mischievous little folk, that is. But don’t be surprised if soon after you can’t find your favorite earrings, or the car keys, or any other shiny inviting objects you may have left laying around.

This is a popular month for weddings. The Druid’s celebrated the Summer Solstice as the ‘marriage between heaven & earth’, and thus the popular belief that June is a ‘lucky’ month for marriage ceremonies.  There will be Pagan spirit gatherings all around the world at this time, the most famous and the most notable at Stone Henge, where large groups of people will light bonfires and stay up all night in order to welcome the dawn.

Correspondences for Summer Solstice

  • Herbs: fennel, lavender, chamomile, cinquefoil, mugwort, thyme
  • Alter flowers/Herbs: larkspur, rose, wisteria, St. Johns Wort
  • Feast Foods: apples, citrus, fruits, ale, mead, honey cakes
  • Animals: butterflies, frogs, toads, wrens
  • Incense: ylang ylang, thyme, rose, sandalwood, chamomile
  • Rituals/Spells: all night fairy vigils, candle magick, dream work, familiar blessings, herb gathering, self-dedication, sun magick

Lammas

August 1

This is the first of the harvest festivals, and in the ancient world this was indeed a time of celebration. A successful harvest would mean survival in the harsh winter months. In the northern countries this was, in particular, a celebration of the first harvest of wheat, thus bread is featured in the celebration of Lammas, also known as Lughnasadh.

As the modern day Pagans celebrate this festival they will build roaring bonfires, feed each other a mouthful of bread, and with wine they will toast each other…”May you eat the bread of life”

Correspondences for Lammas

  • Herbs: frankincense, wheat, cornstalks, heather
  • Altar Flowers/Herbs: corn ears, hollyhock, myrtle, oak leaves, wheat
  • Feast Foods: apples/apple pie, cornbread, sweet potatoes/sweet potato pie, grapes, blackberries
  • Animals: calves, roosters, deer
  • Incense: chamomile, rose, rosemary, allspice, sandalwood, carnation
  • Rituals/Spells: maternal magick, prosperity spells, purification spells, thanksgiving rituals, career spells

Mabon

(Autumn Equinox)

September 21

This day brings equal hours of light and dark, a second celebration of perfect equality. Beyond this day, light will gradually fade as the dark season descends upon the world. At this time of year, the ancient Druids would burn a large human-like wicker figure as part of their celebration. This figure represented the vegetation spirit, and indeed, the heralding of the dark season would bring an end to the growth and flowering of summer.

Modern Pagans may celebrate this holiday with many of the foods connected with this time of year in their area. For us this would include pumpkin pie and apple cider. Decorations may include leaves of autumn hues, sunflowers, pumpkins and gourds.

  • Correspondences for Autumn Equinox
  • Herbs: marigold, myrrh, thistles, sage
  • Altar Flowers/Herbs: asters, mums, pine, ferns, milkweed, honeysuckle
  • Feast Foods: autumn berries, nuts, roast game, root vegetables, cider, wine, bread
  • Animals: stags, goats, blackbirds, canines, owls, birds-of-prey
  • Incense: cedar, myrrh, patchouli, pine, sage, sweet grass, oak moss
  • Rituals/Spells: drying herbs, gathering late harvest, past life work, harvest moon rituals, making willow wands, harmony spells, protection spells for winter