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So What's With The Little
Seasonal Decorations On The Sidebars Of This Website?
As
a Pagan, I follow the Wheel of the Year, the cycle of seasons
and celebrations that ground my experiences in the continual
flow of time within a recurent pattern. As part of that
practice, I change the little decorations found on the sidebars
of my site as each new season approaches. There is no precise
timeline for when I make the change, just the sense that
one festival has clearly passed and another is on its way.
The
Wheel is comprised of eight Sabbats, four major ones and
four minor, which mark the beginnings and peaks of each
season. They were once actually separate calendars, arising
from the Celtic and Nordic cultures of Northern Europe.
The minor Sabbats correspond with the key festivals of the
Nordic solar year, while the major Sabbats correspond to
the key Celtic festivals, and were timed based on a lunar
calendar. In modern times, the two systems have been combined,
and the lunar festivals are now refered to as cross-quarters,
with set dates found in the modern calendar. This results
in a year divided into eight equal parts. Here is a list
of the Sabbats, each with a brief description - keep to
mind that these reflect the reality of the Northern Hemisphere,
they are reversed in the South:
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October
31 -- Winter begins -- Samhain
Pronounced "Sow-in", or "Sah-vin" if you
speak Scots Gaelic. Most Wiccan traditions I know consider
this the eve of the Witches' New Year, in keeping with the
beliefs of the ancient Celts. Our ancestors considered a day
to begin with sundown, so the year begins with the first day
of Winter, as darkness falls on what is now called Halloween.
It is believed to be a time when the barriers between the
worlds of life and death are thinnest, allowing the ancestors
to walk among the living, welcomed and feasted by their kin,
bestowing the Otherworld's blessings. It marks the end of
the harvest for the year - it was believed that any crops
not gathered in and stored by this evening were unfit for
human consumption, and were left for the "little people".
December 21 -- Winter Solstice -- Yule
The sun is at its lowest point in the sky, and it is the
year's longest night. Some covens hold a Festival of Light
to commemorate the Goddess as Mother giving birth to the
Sun God. Others celebrate the victory of the Lord of Light
over the Lord of Darkness as the turning point from which
the days will lengthen. The name "Yule" derives
from the Norse word for "wheel", and many of our
customs (like those of the Christian holiday) derive from
Norse and Celtic Pagan practices (the Yule log, the tree,
the custom of Wassailing, et al).
February 2 -- Spring begins-- Imbolc (Oimelc) or Brigid
As the days' lengthening becomes perceptible, many candles
are lit to hasten the warming of the earth and emphasize
the reviving of life. "Imbolc" is from Old Irish,
and may mean "in the belly", and Oimelc, "ewe's
milk", as this is the lambing time. It is the holiday
of the Celtic Fire Goddess Brigid, whose threefold nature
rules smithcraft, poetry/inspiration, and healing. Brigid's
fire is a symbolic transformation offering healing, visions,
and tempering.
March 21 -- Vernal Equinox (Spring) -- Ostara (Eostar,
Eostre)
Day and night are equal as Spring begins to enliven the
environment with new growth and more newborn animals. Many
people feel "reborn" after the long nights and
coldness of winter. The Germanic Goddess Ostara (Goddess
of the Dawn), after whom Easter is named, is the tutelary
deity of this holiday, or for some the Anglo-Saxon goddess
Eostre. Yes, the egg and the bunny are pagan imagry of fertility.
April 30 -- Summer begins -- Beltaine (May Eve)
Folk dance around the Maypole, emblem of fertility (the
name "May" comes from a Norse word meaning "to
shoot out new growth"). May 1st was the midpoint of
a five-day Roman festival to Flora, Goddess of Flowers.
The name "Beltaine" means "Bel's Fires";
in Celtic lands, cattle were driven between bonfires to
bless them, and people leaped the fires for luck.
June 21 -- Summer Solstice -- Litha (Midsummer's Eve)
On this day, the noon of the year and the longest day, light
and life are abundant. In some traditions the sacred marriage
of the Goddess and God is celebrated (in others, this is
attributed to the springtime holidays). This is the height
of summer, and life is at its abundant full.
July 31 -- Fall begins -- Lughnasadh (Lammas)
The first of three harvest festivals in the Pagan Wheel
of the Year. This festival has two aspects. First, it is
one of the Celtic fire festivals, honoring the Celtic culture-bringer
and Solar God Lugh (Lleu to the Welsh, Lugus to the Gauls).
In Ireland, races and games were held in his name and that
of his mother, Tailtiu (these may have been funeral games).
September 21 -- Autumnal Equinox (Fall) -- Mabon
This day sees light and dark in balance again, before the
descent to the dark times. A harvest festival is held, thanking
the Goddess for giving us enough sustenance to feed us through
the winter. Harvest festivals of many types still occur
today in farming country, and Thanksgiving is an echo of
these.
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