Wheel Of The Year

Sabbats or Holy Days-It’s this cyclical relationship that is a large part of the modern Pagan concept of the Wheel of the Year. Consisting of eight holy days known as “Sabbats,” the Wheel of the Year marks key points of change in the energetic cycles of the natural world as well as rites of passage within the human experience.

These Sabbats are then further divided into two groups: Quarter Days and Cross-Quarter Days.

Quarter Days

The Quarter Days are solar holidays, taking their timing from key points in the sun’s path across the sky in relation to the Earth. Astronomically, these points are known as either solstices or equinoxes.

Yule (December 20-23)
Ostara (March 19-21)
Litha (June 20-22)
Mabon (September 21-24)

Cross-Quarter Days

The Cross-Quarter Days are agricultural holidays, tied to the working of the land and the folk customs surrounding that work, although this is not the full extent of their significance. These holidays are frequently called the Greater Sabbats, as they were the original four holidays of Wicca, from which the Wheel of the Year originated (with the solstices and equinoxes being added later). In keeping with the traditional Celtic division of the seasons, each Cross-Quarter Day marks the beginning of one season and the end of another.

Imbolc (February 1-2)
Beltane (April 30-May 1)
Lammas (August 1-2)
Samhain (October 31-November 1)

The Wheel of the Year is framed from a perspective taken by ancient Celtic peoples, where both the day and the year are born of darkness. Whereas we commonly view night to be the end of the day, Celtic peoples saw it as the beginning, and so sundown was viewed as the start of a new day. The year was viewed similarly, with Winter not marking the end of the year but, rather, the beginning. from the Celtic perspective, that Sabbat would begin at sundown of the last day of the month and last until sundown of the first day of the month. And as Samhain is the first Sabbat of Winter, this is why it marks the beginning of the new year. the seasonal and weather associations typically attributed to them will not hold true in all areas. This is why the Sabbats occur on different dates in the Southern Hemisphere, aligning with the seasons and not the calendar. And this is why many Pagans create new traditions for the Sabbats that are based upon customs and the unique way the seasons unfold where they live. It is far more important that the way you celebrate the Wheel of the Year helps you connect more deeply with the land where you live than it is to diligently stick to calendar dates and common traditions. So if that means that Lammas is a celebration of the chile harvest for southwest Pagans and that Imbolc is a celebration of the coming ice storm that always happens in mid-February in the northern Midwest, then may your practice be all the better for it, and your connections to the land and the Gods all the stronger.

Sebastiani, Althaea . Paganism for Beginners: The Complete Guide to Nature-Based Spirituality for Every New Seeker (p. 80). Rockridge Press. Kindle Edition.