The Wheel of the Year

Early spring flowers like crocuses may begin to poke their heads through the hard earth. Animals may begin to emerge from the earth to see what is happening above, leading to the modern holiday of Groundhog Day to be held at this time of year. Traditionally, this was the time of year when smiths would first heat up their forge in order to begin to build and repair tools used for the planting season. Bride was the Goddess of fire, smith-craft, and fertility, and so she is celebrated in the early spring. Our ancestors would have begun to think about the coming spring at this time of year and so the holiday is associated with early fertility.

It is also traditional at Imbolc for the women of the tribe to begin to prepare for spring. Often, this would mean handicrafts in the home such as weaving cloth, sewing clothes, and spinning yarn.

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It was also traditional at this time of year to begin cleansing the home and airing it out. In some traditional pagan stories, this is the childhood of the infant God, who grows in size and precociousness. It is traditionally celebrated with candlelight. Imbolc is associated with the element of Earth I also associate it with Air.

Its traditional colors are red and white for the blood of birth and white of milk.

It is traditional to eat foods made of milk and lamb at Imbolc. The festival of Ostara takes place at the spring equinox and was the precursor to our modern Easter. Both holidays are named for the Goddess Eostre , the Saxon goddess of spring. At Ostara, spring has blossomed! All around us life is springing forth!

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Birds return and are active; squirrels, rabbits, and other small mammals run to and fro, delighted at the bounty of spring. Calves and foals are born and trees begin to bear leaflets. The first day of Spring and the seeds have left the womb of the Goddess to begin the spiral circle of life.

The light is equal to the dark and it is a time of beginnings once again. As a Witch it is a time to create, for creation is magick unto its self. Create sacred space that allows growth, create balance that allows fulfillment and create magick that empowers you. It is the time of the Maiden Goddess and she is curious and hungry for life. Seek like minds and expand your personal Circle. Beltane is the spring cross quarter and falls on or around May 1. As the days continue to grow longer, temperatures rise and so does the heat of passion on the earth.

Beltane is traditionally a celebration of fertility and a celebration of life at its fullest and most rich. It was customary for our ancestors to return their livestock to the fields at Beltane. To cleanse and bless them, the stock would pass between bales of hay set on fire on their way from the pens into the fields. Beltane is a time for new beginnings, falling as it does at the height of spring and the middle of the most fertile time of year. It was traditional, then, to jump the bale fire. Witches still traditionally jump the fire at this time of year, making wishes for the coming summer months.

It was also traditional to couple at Beltane, and sexuality, sensuality, and lust sometimes abound! Our ancient ancestors would couple in the fields, hoping that their act and even their sexual fluids would bring fertility to the soil and result in strong and verdant crops. One traditional Beltane festivity is the dancing of the maypole. The pole represents the male phallus. Set atop the pole is a wreath, representing the female vagina. As the participants dance around the pole, winding their ribbons, the wreath descends to the bottom.

The dance itself is sensual, as it weaves men and women together in relatively close quarters, increasing the arousal of all involved. It is said that children conceived on Beltane were blessed of the Goddess and that no method of contraception could prevent a pregnancy on Beltane. Traditionally, Beltane represents the mating of the God and the Goddess, now grown and lusting for each other. Their union represents the transformation of the Goddess from maiden to mother through the mystery of sexuality and results in the pregnancy of the Goddess who will deliver a new God at Litha.

Beltane is associated with the element of Air I also associate it with Fire. Its traditional colors are anything bold and bright and spring-like. It is traditional for women to weave their hair with flowers on Beltane.

We reach the crest of the spring at Litha, midsummer and the summer solstice. The days are much warmer, even hot, and everything is in full bloom. The sun is at its peak as the day is at its longest. And yet, there is a shadow over this day. Beginning tomorrow, the sun begins to diminish until it is at its lowest moment at Yule. Litha, however, is a time of celebration for the bounty of the earth and the virility of all living things.

It is a time for feasting, and is often marked by handfastings or other observances of celebration and union. Wishes made at Beltane or in the spring often come to fruition at Litha. Traditionally, the Goddess is in the early stages of her pregnancy with the God. He celebrates his Virility at Litha as He is at the peak of His powers. However, this too is bittersweet, as the young Holly King wrestles power away from the graying Oak King in the same drama played out at Yule. Like many Sabbats, Litha is believed to be a time when the veil between the worlds is thinner and that particular mischief may be played by faeries.

It is traditional in England for young women to be kept indoors at Midsummer so they are not whisked away by faeries! The Litha celebration may be marked by love, flowers, purification, and fire. In fact, it was traditional to hold a bonfire in honor of the waning sun and to use it to purify things. Litha is associated with the element of Fire. Its colors are bright reds, oranges, and golds. Roses and sunflowers are its traditional flowers.

Lughnasadh pronounced loo-nah-sah is the first of the harvest festivals that marks the decent of the sun through autumn and into winter. Early crops, such as corn and wheat, as well as fruits like berries and apples, along with nuts and seeds, begin to be harvested. Traditional ceremonies on this day include the making of a corn dolly, the Goddess of the Harvest, and the baking of the first loaves of bread. Canning and the making of preserves is also traditional at this time of year, in spite of the heat.

However, this was also a time for celebration before the larger and more intense harvest season and was generally marked by a gathering of the tribes, games, and feasting. The season was named for the Celtic god Lugh , god of light and of the harvest. It was believed that on August 1, Lugh would put all of his heat and power into the grain to cause it to wither and ripen in time for harvesting. It is traditional at this time of year for the God to sacrifice himself so that the harvest may be rich.

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