Wheel of the Year

[3] Different paths of modern Paganism may vary regarding the precise timing of each observance, based on such distinctions as the lunar phase and geographic hemisphere.

Influential works such as The Golden Bough (1890) by James George Frazer explored various European seasonal festivals and their possible pagan roots.

Legend holds that Gardner and Nichols harmonised an eight-fold calendar during a naturist retreat, merging the four solar stations alongside their four midpoints as a unified festival cycle.

In many traditions of modern pagan cosmology, all things are considered to be cyclical, with time as a perpetual cycle of growth and retreat tied to the Sun's annual death and rebirth.

[1][13][14] In addition to the quarter and cross-quarter days, other festivals may also be celebrated throughout the year, especially in the context of polytheistic reconstructionism and other ethnic traditions.

While festivals of the Wheel are steeped in solar mythology and symbolism, many Wiccan esbats are commonly based on lunar cycles.

[13][14] The winter solstice, falling on or about 21 December in the Northern hemisphere, is celebrated by neopagans under various names, including Midwinter and Yule.

Historical sources indicate those observances coinciding with the full moon of the lunisolar month following the winter solstice, ranging between January 5 and February 2 in the Gregorian calendar.

[17] The reversal of the Sun's ebbing presence in the sky symbolises the rebirth of the solar god and presages the return of fertile seasons.

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.

In ancient Rome, it was a shepherd's holiday,[22] while the Gaels associated it with the onset of ewes' lactation, prior to birthing the spring lambs.

The term is derived from a reconstruction produced by linguist Jacob Grimm of an Old High German form of the Old English Ēostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess for whom, according to Bede, feasts were held in her eponymous month, which he equated to April in the Julian calendar.

May Day is celebrated in many neo-pagan traditions; in neo-druidry, it recognises the power of life in its fullness, the greening of the world, youthfulness, and flourishing.

[30] The summer solstice, falling on or about 21 June in the Northern hemisphere, is celebrated by neopagans under various names, including Midsummer and Litha.

While Lughnasadh is one of the most common names for the holiday in Wicca currently, in early versions of Wiccan literature, the festival is referred to as August Eve.

The name Lammas (contraction of loaf mass) implies it is an agrarian-based festival and feast of thanksgiving for grain and bread, which symbolises the first fruits of the harvest.

[36] It is a neopagan festival of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and the Gods during the coming winter months.

For Wiccans, it is a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets, and other loved ones who have died.

[38] Many neopagans believe that the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the year at Samhain, making it easier to communicate with those who have departed.

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.

The purpose of offering is to benefit the venerated, show gratitude, and give something back, strengthening the bonds between humans and divine and between members of a community.

[45][47][48] Heathens may add to the demarcations of the Wheel of the Year with various Days of Remembrance celebrating heroes of the Edda and the Sagas and figures of Germanic history such as Leif Ericson, who explored parts of North America.

[72] It is a misconception in some quarters of the modern pagan community, influenced by the writings of Robert Graves,[73] that historical Celts had an overarching narrative for the entire cycle of the year.

Enmity between the two is initiated by Veles' annual ascent up the world tree in the form of a huge serpent and his ultimate theft of Perun's divine cattle from the heavenly domain.

This duality and conflict represents an opposition of the natural principles of earth, water, substance, and chaos (Veles) and of heaven, fire, spirit, order (Perun), not a clash of good and evil.

On the great night (New Year), two children of Perun are born, Jarilo, god of fertility and vegetation and son of the Moon, and Morana, goddess of nature and death and daughter of the Sun.

The union of Perun's kin and Veles' stepson brings peace between two great gods, staving off storms which could damage the harvest.

The Wheel of the Year in the Northern Hemisphere . Some Pagans in the Southern Hemisphere advance these dates six months to coincide with their own seasons.
The Witches' Cottage, where the Bricket Wood coven celebrated their sabbats (2006)
The eight-armed sun cross is often used to represent the modern pagan Wheel of the Year.
The annual cycle of insolation for the northern hemisphere (Sun energy, shown in blue) with key points for seasons (middle), quarter days (top) and cross-quarter days (bottom) along with months (lower) and Zodiac houses (upper). The cycle of temperature (shown in pink) is delayed by seasonal lag .
Neopagans honoring the dead as part of a Samhain ritual
Romuva ceremony
Holidays of the Ásatrú Alliance , [ 41 ] with black text used for main terms, gray text for alternative terms, and purple for minor observances
Kołomir – the Slavic example of Wheel of the Year indicating seasons of the year. Four-point and eight-point swastika -shaped wheels were more common.
Painted Wheel of the Year from the Museum of Witchcraft , Boscastle