The Wheel of the Year is a seasonal cycle followed by Wiccans and other pagans. It consists of sabbats, festivals which occur throughout the year. There are Major and Minor sabbats, (8 altogether, 4 major and 4 minor), including solstices (when the sun is at its highest or lowest point) and equinoxes (when days and nights are of equal length). A few of these ancient festivals have modern counterparts- Hallowe'en, Christmas, Easter and May Day (1st May).
You don't have to be a pagan to follow The Wheel of the Year or seasonal cycles, you can celebrate in your own way if you'd like to. :) Here is the list of the festivals and links to my posts about them:
Samhain (31st October/1st November)*- Major Sabbat. Witches' New Year, the modern counterpart is Hallowe'en. Most important sabbat and last of the 3 harvest festivals on The Wheel of the Year.
Yule (Around 21st December)- Minor Sabbat. Also known as Midwinter and the Winter Solstice. Fire festival. Time of the shortest day and longest night. This sabbat pre-dated Christmas.
Imbolg (Around 2nd February)- Major Sabbat. Also known as Imbolc and Candlemas. Feast of Bride/Brighid. First spring festival.
Oestara (Around 21st March)- Minor Sabbat. Also spelt Ostara. The Spring Equinox. Easter evolved from this.
Beltane (30th April/1st May)- Major Sabbat. Alternative spelling is Beltaine. Festival of the Fire God Bel. Also a fertility festival. The second most important sabbat after Samhain and the beginning of the summer season. Some modern May Day traditions originated from this festival.
Litha (Around 21st June)- Minor Sabbat. Midsummer and the Summer Solstice. Fire festival. Time of the longest day and shortest night. First official day of summer.
Lammas (Around 1st August)- Major Sabbat. Also known as Lughansadh. Festival of the Sun God Lugh. Celebrates the first of the harvest and is the first of the 3 harvest festivals on the Wheel.
Madron (Around 21st September)- Minor Sabbat. Alternative name is Mabon. Autumn Equinox. 2nd of the harvest festivals.
For more on the Wheel of the Year visit these links:
https://wiccaliving.com/wheel-of-the-year-wiccan-sabbats/
https://www.learnreligions.com/eight-pagan-sabbats-2562833
Article about celebrating the sabbats seasonally (using argricultral markers instead of calendar dates): https://www.learnreligions.com/celebrating-the-sabbats-seasonally-2562053
Also here is a link to the Druid festivals. I don't know very much about Druidry but it has similarities to the Wiccan beliefs and you may find you'd rather follow the Druid path:
http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/teaching-and-practice/druid-festivals/eightfold-wheel-year-druid-festivals
*These are the dates for the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern
Hemisphere it's reversed. :) For the Southern Hemisphere dates check out
these links:
http://www.wicca-spirituality.com/wiccan-holidays-southern.html
http://www.paganspath.com/magik/southhem.htm
Next festival coming up:
Yule- 21st December.
No comments:
Post a Comment