The Wheel of the Year - Basic FAQ
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:43 pm
The Wheel of the Year
The wheel of the year is something you will probably come across in several books, websites, forums, and other resources regarding pagan and witchcraft topics. There are several different images, but they all depict the same idea. That the year is cyclical, it has a predictable route and phases, and in many paths of belief the important times of the year are the same.
Painted Wheel of the Year from the Museum of Witchcraft, Boscastle.
The year can be broken up first into halves, the dark half and the light half of the year. Basically the height of the dark half of the year is midwinter, and the height of the light half of the year is midsummer.
There are four major points in the year that determine the four major holidays in some belief systems: the two solstices and the two equinoxes.
The solstices can be translated to the longest night (midwinter) and the longest day (midsummer) of the year. The equinoxes are when the day and night have equal time within the 24 hours of a day, there is a Spring and a Fall equinox.
If we go around the circle, starting at the Spring equinox when day and night are equals and the world is coming back to life, we can see how this wheel turns. From the Spring equinox we get birth, new ideas, and new beginnings; the world is beginning itself anew. It is the first day of spring, and is usually around March 21st. A few months later we come to Midsummer, the Summer solstice, around June 24th or so. Nature is in full bloom, there is more daylight than night in the 24 hour day and the sun is at its height. People tend to see marked energy increases during this time of the year. We then come to the Fall equinox (around September 21ist), the day and night are again equals, but the sun is losing ground to the night. The crops are ripened, the world is bringing its projects to fruition and things are slowing down. We come to Midwinter a few months later (December 21st or so) and the vegetation has died and returns to the earth, going into sleep and reflection of the year that has passed. It is a time of stillness, of the inner world, when the night sky and moon are at their height. Until we return again to the spring in its rebirth.
After the four major points, which are basically the center points for the four seasons (the heights of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall), there are four other times of the year which are celebrated (or at least acknowledged). These are considered to be the in-between points, the turning points where one season begins to weaken and another begins to take hold. These are placed halfway in between each Equinox and Solstice (see the image below to better visualize the new 8-spoked wheel of the year).
Image taken from here.
These in-between dates will have different names depending on the tradition you’re looking at. The most common ones you’ll find refer to them as Beltane, Lughnasadh, Samhain and Imbolc. But it’s not the same for every tradition (it’s just the ones you’ll see most frequently if you do internet searches for the wheel of the year). The celebration themes and practices will also differ depending on which tradition you’re looking into.
All in all, these 8 dates are sometimes referred to as the 8 Sabbats of the year.
The wheel of the year is something you will probably come across in several books, websites, forums, and other resources regarding pagan and witchcraft topics. There are several different images, but they all depict the same idea. That the year is cyclical, it has a predictable route and phases, and in many paths of belief the important times of the year are the same.
Painted Wheel of the Year from the Museum of Witchcraft, Boscastle.
The year can be broken up first into halves, the dark half and the light half of the year. Basically the height of the dark half of the year is midwinter, and the height of the light half of the year is midsummer.
There are four major points in the year that determine the four major holidays in some belief systems: the two solstices and the two equinoxes.
The solstices can be translated to the longest night (midwinter) and the longest day (midsummer) of the year. The equinoxes are when the day and night have equal time within the 24 hours of a day, there is a Spring and a Fall equinox.
If we go around the circle, starting at the Spring equinox when day and night are equals and the world is coming back to life, we can see how this wheel turns. From the Spring equinox we get birth, new ideas, and new beginnings; the world is beginning itself anew. It is the first day of spring, and is usually around March 21st. A few months later we come to Midsummer, the Summer solstice, around June 24th or so. Nature is in full bloom, there is more daylight than night in the 24 hour day and the sun is at its height. People tend to see marked energy increases during this time of the year. We then come to the Fall equinox (around September 21ist), the day and night are again equals, but the sun is losing ground to the night. The crops are ripened, the world is bringing its projects to fruition and things are slowing down. We come to Midwinter a few months later (December 21st or so) and the vegetation has died and returns to the earth, going into sleep and reflection of the year that has passed. It is a time of stillness, of the inner world, when the night sky and moon are at their height. Until we return again to the spring in its rebirth.
After the four major points, which are basically the center points for the four seasons (the heights of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall), there are four other times of the year which are celebrated (or at least acknowledged). These are considered to be the in-between points, the turning points where one season begins to weaken and another begins to take hold. These are placed halfway in between each Equinox and Solstice (see the image below to better visualize the new 8-spoked wheel of the year).
Image taken from here.
These in-between dates will have different names depending on the tradition you’re looking at. The most common ones you’ll find refer to them as Beltane, Lughnasadh, Samhain and Imbolc. But it’s not the same for every tradition (it’s just the ones you’ll see most frequently if you do internet searches for the wheel of the year). The celebration themes and practices will also differ depending on which tradition you’re looking into.
All in all, these 8 dates are sometimes referred to as the 8 Sabbats of the year.
