The Wheel of the Year is a symbol represents the 8 festivals important to many pagans, Wiccans, and witches. These holidays — knows as Sabbats — follow a nature-based calendar and include four solar festivals and four seasonal festivals set in between them.

This sabbat marks the end of the harvest season as the year’s third and last harvest festival. We are in the midst of the last of the year’s entirely harvested produce, and the Earth is preparing itself for the dark part of the year. During Samhain, Pagans give Earth a final thanks for her gifts. In addition, it is a time to reflect, practice divination, celebrate with friends and family, and honor ancestors who have passed on. Samhain Celebration Ritual

Because solstices and equinoxes are tied to exact astronomical moments, the holidays shift slightly from year-to-year. There is a celebration about every six weeks, so there’s always something to look forward to! At the end of this post, I’ve included the Wheel of the Year dates for 2023 and 2024. Starting in December, eight annual festivals spaced roughly six to seven weeks apart are celebrated by pagans. This cycle is known as the Wheel of the Year. February 2: Imbolc (High Winter) – Celebration of the Goddess Brigid, a celebration of the return of the god and goddess and a time of cleansing and purification.

The equinox is one of two days when the sun crosses Earth’s equator during the solar year, resulting in roughly equal lengths of day and night, or light and dark. There are two astronomical events each year, the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox. Each year, the vernal equinox occurs around March 21st. Printable Ostara Celebration Ritual On the first of three annual harvest festivals, pagans celebrate by thanking Earth for its bounty. The Irish God Lugh is celebrated in a gathering called “nasad”, hence the name Lughnasadh. This sabbat is sometimes called by its Old English name hlāfmæsse (loaf mass) or simply Lammas. It’s a time of giving thanks to the Earth for providing us with so much abundance. Since the Christianisation of Europe, a more secular version of the festival has continued in Europe and America, commonly referred to as May Day. In this form, it is well known for maypole dancing and the crowning of the Queen of the May. Practices vary, but sacrifice offerings, feasting, and gift giving are common elements of Midwinter festivities. Bringing sprigs and wreaths of evergreenery (such as holly, ivy, mistletoe, yew, and pine) into the home and tree decorating are also common during this time. [16] [18] [19]

Suggested Celebration Planning: Observe on the exact day, also a Saturday, which is convenient for group gatherings. Ostara is a name for the spring equinox in some modern pagan traditions. The term is derived from a reconstruction produced by linguist Jacob Grimm of an Old High German form of the Old English Ēostre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess for whom, according to Bede, feasts were held in her eponymous month, which he equated to April in the Julian calendar. [26] a b Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon; Zell-Ravenheart, Morning Glory (2006). "Book III: Wheel of the Year". In Kirsten Dalley and Artemisia (ed.). Creating Circles & Ceremonies: Rituals for All Seasons And Reasons. Book-Mart Press. p.192. ISBN 1-56414-864-5. December 1: New Moon in Sagittarius – embrace the concepts of courage, understanding, and awareness. Spend time meditating in nature or exploring the world to see it from another’s point of view. Exact time: 1:22 a.m. EST Offerings of food, drink, various objects, etc. have been central in ritual propitiation and veneration for millennia. Modern pagan practice strongly avoids sacrificing animals in favour of grains, herbs, milk, wines, incense, baked goods, minerals, etc. The exception being with ritual feasts including meat, where the inedible parts of the animal are often burned as offerings while the community eats the rest. [42] [43]