Most Pagans celebrate the seasonal events of the year as well as the cycles of the sun. These special and holy days are known as Sabbats, and each holds its own special meaning as well as its own traditions. The entire cycle of these Sabbats is known as the "Wheel of the Year".

There are 8 Sabbats each year; four of them fall on the astronomical events which divide our year into four seasons: Vernal Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumnal Equinox, and Winter Solstice. These sabbats are generally considered as the Lesser Sabbats or the Low Holidays. The four other sabbats fall on the midpoints in between these events, also known as the "quarter days", "cross-quarters" or "cross-corners". These are the four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year, also known as the High Sabbats or High Holidays. Each Sabbat represents a change in the cycle of the sun and a change in the seasons. These sabbats help us to understand that change is inevitable and can be good if thought about, embraced, celebrated, and used to make your life move in a positive forward motion, by learning from the mistakes of the past seasons. In some traditions Sabbats are mainly a celebration of the changes of the God, who is represented by the Sun. In these traditions, The Goddess is represented by the moon, and is celebrated with Esbats.

Esbats occur every month on the full moon. These esbats help us to reflect on the events of the months, where we are, and where we need to go in our lives in the months to come. It is a time of reflection, evaluation, thought, and joy about what may happen (or needs to happen) before the next full moon. By celebrating the natural cycle of the year through ritual, we ca attune ourselves to nature and the Devine that is inherent in all things.

The Celts, according to what little we know, celebrated 4 major festival during the year, known as "fire" festivals. They are associated with both the seasons and tied to the phases of the Moon. The Celtic fire festivals, in a tradition that many pagans hold, are celebrated from dusk of the day before to dusk of the designated Sabbat, and most of the festivities occur at night, the main ritual being held during the Full Moon. They are primarily directed at forces involved with agriculture, nature, pasturing and livestock.

The Celtic year is divided into halves, marked by the two great fire festivals of Samhain and Beltaine. The period from Samhain to Beltaine is called "an Ghrian beag" or the "lesser Sun", and this makes since as during that time period it is cooler and the days are shorter. The period from Bealtaine to Samhain is called "an Ghrian mor" or the "greater Sun". The days are warmer and longer. The Celtic year is further subdivided by the other two yearly fire festivals, Imbolc and Lughnasadh.

Samhain was the start of the Celtic New Year, an intensely spiritual time when different dimensions of reality came closer. It was believed that at this time the Celtic underworld became visible as the sídhe or mounds were open. In Celtic Mythology, an integral part of Samain was the ritual mating between the Goddess and the Gods. A new fire was kindled on the Eve of Samhain, and from this sacred flame all the fires in Ireland were rekindled.

Samhain, popularly known as Halloween, is the Witches' New Year. It is said to be the time when the veil between the worlds is very thin, when souls that are leaving this physical plane can pass out and souls that are reincarnating can pass in. Darkness increases and according to Wiccan tradition, the Goddess reigns as the Crone and The God, the Dark Lord, passes into the underworld to become the seed of his own rebirth (which will occur again at Yule). Many Pagans prepare a Feast for the Dead on Samhain night, where they leave offerings of food and drink for the spirits. Divination is heightened this night. Jack-o-lanterns, gourds, cider, fall foliage can be used as altar decorations.

The shortest day of the year when the sun is furthest south. The death and rebirth of the sun is one of the most important turning point of the cyclic year. The chief deity is often born at this time or the Sun Goddess characteristically withdraws into a cave, mountain or beneath the earth at Winter Solstice and has to be lured out by certain games or rites.

Yule coincides closely with the Christian Christmas celebration. This Sabbat represents the rebirth of light. In Wiccan tradition, on the longest night of the year the Goddess gives birth to the Sun Child and hope for new light is reborn. Yule is a time of awakening to new goals and leaving old regrets behind. The Christian tradition of a Christmas tree has its origins in the Pagan Yule celebration. Pagan families would bring a live tree into the home so the wood spirits would have a place to keep warm during the cold winter months. Bells were hung in the limbs so you could tell when a spirit was present. Food and treats were hung on the branches for the spirits to eat and a five-pointed star, the pentagram, symbol of the five elements, was placed on top of the tree. The colors of the season, red and green, also are of Pagan origin, as is the custom of exchanging gifts. A solar festival, Yule is celebrated by fire and the use of a Yule log. A piece of the log is saved and kept throughout the year to protect the home. That piece is used to light the next year's log.

Imbolg is a pastoral festival celebrating the coming into milk of the ewes. It is sacred to the Goddess Brigit a truíne Goddess of fertility and poetry, healing and smiths. When later christianised it became known as St. Brigid's Day but the ancient rites and superstitions associated with it still carried on. A ribbon or cloth exposed on St. Brigid's Eve became endowed with curative powers and St. Brigid's Crosses hung on the house or byre were believed to protect the home and livestock.

Imbolc involves celebrations of banishing the winter and welcoming the spring. Some Wiccan groups favor this time of year for initiations into the Craft. For Wiccans at the time of Imbolc, the newborn Sun God is seen as a small child nursing from his Mother. At this phase of the cycle, winter is swept away and new beginnings are nurtured. Milk, the food of the very young, is an important symbol of this holiday. It is a Candlemas tradition to light every lamp in the house for a few minutes in honor of the Sun's rebirth.

Marks the moment when the sun cross the equator and days and nights are of equal length but sunlight is increasing. The midpoint of the traditional season of spring Light triumphs over darkness.

The Spring Equinox is the point of equilibrium - the balance is suspended just before spring bursts forth from winter. For Wiccans The God and Goddess are young children at play and holiday festivals use brightly colored eggs to represent the child within. The Easter Bunny also is of Pagan origin, as are baskets of flowers. Traditionally, Ostara is a time for collecting wildflowers, walking in nature's beauty and cultivating herb gardens. This is the time to free yourself from anything in the past that is holding you back.

Beltaine marks the beginning of Summer and in former times, all fires of locality were extinguished on May Eve, the relit from the village's Beltaine fire to symbolically give everyone a fresh start. Cattle were driven in the ancient stone circles between two fires as a symbol of purification and as a safeguard against diseases. Beltaine rituals are often included a sun-rise vigil on a high place where the Sun was encouraged to come out of its darkness with the help of a bonfire.

Beltane is the time of the sacred marriage which honors the fertility of the Earth. For Wiccans it represents the divine union of the Lord and Lady. For most Pagans is it a celebration of the union of male and female, of fertility. Celebrations include weaving a web of life around the Maypole and leaping the Beltane fire for luck. Wiccan handfastings are common at this festival. This is a time of self-discovery, love, union and developing your potential for personal growth.

The sun is furthest north resulting in the longest amount of daylight in a year but night-time hours are increasing. On Midsummer's Day a burning wheel was rolled down a hill in imitation of the sun's course in the sky as its annual declination begins. Midsummer fires were lit at country crossroads and hilltops.

The Summer Solstice, the longest day, is a time of triumph for the light. This holiday represents the Sun King in all his glory. In many Wiccan celebrations, this is when the Oak King, who represents the waxing year, is triumphed over by the Holly King, who represents the waning year. The two are one: the Oak King is the growing youth while the Holly King is the mature man. Healings and love magick are especially suitable at this time. Midsummer Night's Eve is supposed to be a good time to commune with field and forest sprites and faeries.

An older name for Lughnasa is Brón Trogain meaning the beginning of the harvest or the earth sorrows under its fruits - a metaphor based on the trevail of Birth. Celebrating the beginning of harvest of the main subsistence crops Lughnasa was the most joyful of all the festivals because the threshold of plenty had been crossed. There was often a popular assembly of the whole surrounding countryside at a traditional site such as the top of a saced mountain or by a lake.

Day and night are of equal length but daylight hours are continuing to diminish. Time of the main harvest and the midpoint of Autumn. Darkness triumphs.

At the Autumn Equinox, the days and nights are equal. It is a time of balance, but light gives way to increased darkness. It is the second harvest, and for Wiccans the Goddess mourns her fallen consort, but the emphasis is on the message of rebirth that can be found in the harvest seeds. It is a good time to walk the forests, gathering dried plants for use as altar decorations or herbal magick. The making of ritual besoms or brooms for household protection is often done at this time of year. Cornbread and cider are good additions to festivities and fall leaves make good altar decorations.

In this way the Wheel turns, bringing us back to Samhain where we began our cycle. Many of the festival days coincide with holidays of the Jewish and Christian calendars. This is no accident; these points in the year were important community celebrations, and were kept largely intact although they were rededicated to the Christian God or a saint. The names may have changed, but the old Pagan practices still show through.

The worship of the Sun goes back to pre-Celtic times and represents that older pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, who as travellers of the heavens moved across the sky. The great monuments of the Boyne Valley were built in honor of ancient celestial deities and are oriented upon the Solar Positions of the Solstices, Equinoxes and Cross Quarter Days. Megalithic Art that is found on these monuments is a sacred symbolic expression of the cyclic motion of the heavens.

This Spirit of Celtic Women Webring site is owned by: Maeve Silvermoon. Want to join the Spirit of Celtic Women?
[Previous 5] [Previous] [Next] [Skip Next] [Random Site] [Next 5 Sites] [List Sites]