Yule
Approx. Dec 21
Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, Alban Arthan
The holiday of Yule was celebrated long before
Christians adopted the date. Many of the Christmas
traditions we see today stem from old Pagan customs.
As the solstice, it is the longest night of the
year. From this day forward, light begins to return
and we celebrate the rebirth of the Sun God.
Traditions: lighting the Yule log, wreath
making, gift giving
Correspondences: pine, holly, myrrh,
cinnamon,
Imbolc
Feb 2
Candlemas, Imbolg, Brigid's Day
Imbolc is a day to celebrate the first glimpses of
Spring, and it is also dedicated to the Celtic
Goddess Brigid. Non-Pagans celebrate today as
Groundhog Day. Make new starts in life, as you give
your home a thorough cleaning. This
one of the four principal festivals of the Wiccan
calendar,
celebrated either at the beginning of February or at
the first local signs of Spring. Originally
dedicated to the goddess
Brigid,
in the Christian period it was adopted as St
Brigid's
Day.
Traditions: Burning fires and candles,
cleaning, making a bed for Brigid
For the Celts,
Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer
season when the herds of livestock were driven out
to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands.
In modern Irish, Mí na Bealtaine ('month of
Bealtaine') is the name for the month of May. The
name of the month is often abbreviated to
Bealtaine, with the festival day itself being
known as Lá Bealtaine. The lighting of
bonfires on Oidhche Bhealtaine ('the eve of
Bealtaine') on mountains and hills is
important at this time.
Correspondences: carnation, rosemary,
chamomile, milk
Ostara
Approx. March 21
Spring Equinox, Lady Day
This is another holiday that has been overlaid with
Christian meanings (Easter). Eggs and bunnies are
typical symbols, representing new birth and new
life. Plant the seeds of long-term goals.
Traditions: Colouring eggs, decorating with
flowers
Correspondences: jasmine, daffodil, lotus,
new spring flowers
Beltane
May 1
May Day, Walpurgis Night
The God born at Yule is now a man, and the sacred
marriage between God and Goddess is consummated.
Beltane is a celebration of fertility, growth, love
and passion. However you celebrate Beltane, do it
with joy and happiness.
Traditions: Dancing around the May Pole,
lighting bonfires
Correspondences: Rose, lilac, vanilla
Midsummer
Approx. June 21
Litha, Summer Solstice, Whitsun
Midsummer is the longest day of the year, and the
strength of the Sun God begins to wane. The Goddess
has left her Maiden form of Imbolc and is now in her
Mother aspect. Refill your herb collection for the
coming year.
Traditions: Fairy magick, collecting herbs
Correspondences: Orange, lemon, honeysuckle,
vervain
Lammas
August 1
Lughnasadh,
As the first of the three harvest festivals, much of
the symbolism for Lammas revolves around grains and
bread. Sacrifices were common, though mostly
symbolic, in order to ensure the continued success
of the harvest.
Traditions: Bread baking, making corn dollies
Correspondences: corn, sandalwood, heather
Lughnasadh
marked the beginning of the harvest season, the
ripening of first fruits, and was traditionally a
time of community gatherings, market festivals,
horse races and reunions with distant family and
friends. Among the Irish it was a favoured time for
handfastings
- trial marriages that would generally last a year
and a day, with the option of ending the contract
before the new year, or later formalizing it as a
more permanent marriage.
Mabon
Approx. Sept 21
Autumn Equinox, Cornucopia
Day and night are equal again, and the weather grows
colder as winter approaches. This is the second
harvest festival. Rituals of thanks at this time
have brought about the modern holidays of
Thanksgiving. Take some time to think about what you
are thankful for.
Traditions: Making and drinking of wine,
share with the less fortunate
Correspondences: grapes, blackberries, cedar,
patchouli
Samhain
Oct 31
Hallowe'en, All Hallows
Samhain (SOW-en) is the one Sabbat that is also
widely celebrated amongst non-Pagans. The God has
died, and the Goddess mourns him until his rebirth
at Yule. It's the last harvest festival, and the end
of the Wiccan year.
The Samhain
celebrations have survived in several guises as a
festival dedicated to the harvest and the dead. In
Ireland and Scotland, the Féile na Marbh, the
'festival of the dead' took place on Samhain.
The night of
Samhain, in Irish, Oíche Shamhna and Scots
Gaelic, Oidhche Shamhna, is one of the
principal festivals of the Celtic calendar, and
falls on the 31st of October. It represents the
final harvest. In modern Ireland and Scotland, the
name by which Halloween is known in the Gaelic
language is still Oíche/Oidhche Shamhna. It
is still the custom in some areas to set a place for
the dead at the Samhain feast, and to tell tales of
the ancestors on that night
Traditionally,
Samhain was time to take stock of the herds and
grain supplies, and decide which animals would need
to be slaughtered in order for the people and
livestock to survive the winter. This custom is
still observed by many who farm and raise livestock
Bonfires played a
large part in the festivities celebrated down
through the last several centuries, and up through
the present day in some rural areas of the Celtic
nations and the diaspora. Villagers were said to
have cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon
the flames. In the pre-Christian Gaelic world,
cattle were the primary unit of currency and the
centre of agricultural and pastoral life. Samhain
was the traditional time for slaughter, for
preparing stores of meat and grain to last through
the coming winter. The word 'bonfire', or 'bonfire'
is a direct translation of the Gaelic tine cnámh.
With the bonfire ablaze, the villagers extinguished
all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit its
hearth from the common flame, thus bonding the
families of the village together. Often two bonfires
would be built side by side, and the people would
walk between the fires as a ritual of purification.
Sometimes the cattle and other livestock would be
driven between the fires for good luck and
prosperity.
Divination,
usually involving apples and nuts, is a common
folkloric practice that has also survived in rural
areas. The most common uses were to determine the
identity of one's future spouse, the location of
one's future home, and how many children a person
might have. Children would also chase crows and
divine some of these things from the direction the
birds flew.
Traditions: Divination, honouring the dead,
carving Jack o' Lanterns
Correspondences: pumpkins, apples, sage,
mugwort
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