Holidays: an overview

The usual Pagan holidays are easy to remember, they are literally the “quarters and cross-quarters” of the year. The Spring and Autumnal Equinoxes (Ostara: 20 March and Mabon: 22-23 Sept in the Northern Hemisphere) and the Summer and Winter Solstices (Midsummer: 21June and Yule: 21 December) are the Quarters. St Brigid’s Day/Imbolc (2 February), May Day/Beltaine (1 May), Lammas/Lughnasadh (1 August), and Samhain/Hallowe’en (31October) are the Cross-Quarters.*

Together, these eight holidays make the eight spokes of the “Wheel of the Year”. The wheel is a really popular pagan-witchy decoration, and so you are probably already familiar with it. It is common in Native American and Indigenous religions and other faith traditions all around the world. It makes sense to me, that a wheel or circle, or hoop, would represent the years passing into each other, season by season. It’s also an easy representation for teaching, and a fun thing for kids (and anyone who loves to colour) to design and colour in the Wheel as part of celebrating the holidays.

Funny enough, if you come from a Western and/or Christian family, you may be familiar with many of these under different names. Most holidays that pagans celebrate were stolen and subsumed by Christianity in order to make the new faith more palatable to the people being colonized. This essay isn’t about colonialism and theft though—it’s an overview of these awesome eight days!

I will get a quick-and-dirty breakdown for things you can do for your own holiday celebrations. But this one is just an overview. And a reminder: If you follow a different historical tradition—please don’t think that my own terms are sacred, and your own aren’t. If you call Samhain “Soul’s Eve” or whatever, that’s perfectly fine! I usually call it Hallowe’en, and that doesn’t take anything away from the historical traditions, and it makes room for these celebrations to grow and change, even as we do.

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I’m going to go out on a limb here and pull back the curtain: no one alive today knows what we did to celebrate any-fucking-thing centuries ago. Even things that were highly documented were often written about by enemies of the subject people. What we know of the Celts, for example, is highly-highly-OMFG highly distorted by Caesar’s armies and his pet historians. Same with the Norse people, the Gauls from now Belgium, Western German, France and Northern Italy, the Teutons from modern-day Germany, and even the Rus (primarily where today’s Ukrainian people are fighting for their lives!)

When you want to erase a people, you start by lying about them. You can “other” people easier of the things they do that seem strange to you are really stressed, while the similarities are downplayed. So, we don’t really know a lot about what our ancestors did to celebrate these days, or even if we’re celebrating the right days! So, we’re making a guess, and if we’re wrong, well—it doesn’t really matter, does it? As long as we’re mindful that we know very little we can proceed carefully. Just, remember that everything was made up, invented, and imagined by someone—and that’s ok, that someone might just be you!

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The Wheel of the Year:

Happy Near Year! Samhain/Hallowe’en: 31 October (sometimes 30 Oct through 2 Nov):

The last of the crops are harvested. Animals are chosen for the first cull—those animals that weren’t thought capable of surviving the winter, or who were old enough and fattened enough for slaughter. Food was still being canned, preserved, dried, and stored in every way possible to be ready for the long winter nights.

Animals were blessed and were lead through side-by-side bonfires to protect them from various evils. Feasts were held to celebrate the harvest. Offerings were made (including human and animal sacrifices depending on the time and place) to placate the gods and to ask for protection for the winter to come.

Various augury was done—will we or won’t we make it to spring? Who will die? Who will be born? What portends can we see for the coming year. This included bones, runes, mirror and fire scrying, and other divinatory forms were used to find the paths for the tribe or group or family for the coming year (including various ways to “read” the intestines and internal organs of sacrifices—and no, I don’t know much about that one).

After the night of merry-making, people tucked in for the winter, took care of each other, and their farms and animals, and nursed the sick—winter often killed the weak, old, and young, so the people needed all the luck they could get and the encouragement that “good portends” brought.

Yule (21 December): Winter Solstice

This celebration of the longest night of the year reminds us that the sun rises again, bringing warmth and spring. It was celebrated with fire—which was warmth, light, and literally life-giving in the cold winters without modern electricity and heating.

Feasting, especially on animals that were part of the second cull and sometimes with gifts. Celebrated in ancient Roman and Greek times as Saturnalia, a festival of sex, drinking and feasting, and general fun times! Turned into Christmas by Catholics where they kept the pageantry, but got rid of the fun, sexy parts!

Look at Yule as a bright shining moment in an otherwise absolutely crazy-making time of year and remember that the sun is coming back, even if the coldest part of the year is upon you. Remember that your ancestors weren’t even sure Spring would return, but you know that above all, Axial Tilt of the Earth is the “Reason for the Season”!

Imbolc (2 February): First Milk

Usually around the “lambing” time, or the time that pregnant ewes gave birth. Sheep and goats’ milk would also come in, hence the “first milk”. Pregnant humans could also be relieved as the extra milk meant extra calories. Soon the cows would also have calves, bringing more cheese and milk products to fatten up the new born humans and their parents after the long privation of winter.

Celebrated with caution, as I’ve read. It’s a celebration and joyful, sure—but it was still winter, the first week of February brought a warm snap, but not the end of the cold for the year. Celebrate Imbolc with joy for the turning of the year, and the lengthening days, but remember that our ancestors were still cautious about the cold and the winter. People and animals died from the cold and privation, people still suffered. If you live in the northern parts of the US where maple syrup is made, you’ll start to see “sugar shacks”, so you can celebrate with delicious maple candy. Roasted root veggies, dried fruit, even milk and cookies, make good foods to celebrate this holiday with.

Ostara (20 March): Spring Equinox

Ostara is the day of Spring balance—the solar equinox when day and night are just about even. Flowers are popping out of their tiny buds, birds are laying eggs, bees are buzzing, butterflies are crawling out of their chrysalises and the world is “waking back up” after the long winter sleep.

On this day, take the time to pause and reflect on your own Path. Are you balanced? It’s easy to go too far one way other another because humans are (as a rule) a little extreme in what we do. We get interested in something and often just dive in! Seeking to be balanced, to know when to grow and when to rest, is hard. Ostara can be a holiday to remind you that it’s necessary to find that central space, to find that centre of yourself.

I celebrate Ostara with star gazing, and just generally enjoy the day. You could have spring greens in a salad, or strawberry wine with a light and zesty pasta dish. Whatever you eat, let it be bright and flavourful! Spring is here, and we’re growing!

Beltaine (1 May): Spring Love/Fertility

Beltaine, May Day, it has several names, and celebrates both the new animals and people who are born (or who will be born this year), fertility, and in the case of May Day, organized labour unions! All awesome things to be reminded of, and to celebrate.

Beltaine was thought to be when the God and Goddess were joined in marriage and the Goddess became pregnant. In the vague story of the Wheel of the Year, the God is constantly reborn, and the Goddess is constantly renewed from old to young and back again. That’s how the world itself feels, with spring being young and bright, going into autumn and winter, which are dark and death.

Celebrate with berries and early spring veggies! Celebrate with love and sex, wine and beer, laughter and happiness! Dance if you dance, tie a May Pole if you want, but remember that the spring means new life—so let that exuberance fill you with that life! Handfastings/Weddings/Celebrations of union—whatever you want to call them, are often celebrated around this time.

If you are an Ace, or non-sexual person, or if you are unpartnered, or just don’t want to have sex, don’t despair. This celebration isn’t just about fucking. It’s about embracing that fertility of the world and using it to fuel your own projects, creative processes, thoughts and personal growth. We don’t get pregnant every May, but our brains can enjoy that boost of energy for planning our Path throughout the year. Use that mindset of fertility and growth to decide what you want to accomplish, choose a project or topic of research to set as a goal, and then go for it!

Midsummer (21 June): Summer Solstice

Midsummer is the brightest day of the year! Our ancestors probably celebrated the bountiful fruit and vegetable harvests, their just-born animals growing strong enough to live through the winter that’s coming, and the growth of children born in the spring.

As the solstice, it’s the day when the daylight hours are longest, and the night hours are shortest. You can celebrate with star gazing, moon watching, and any astronomical thing. Celebrate the sun, but remember that now the year is winding down—the days creep shorter a few moments at a time, as we turn toward autumn. Even a day as bright as Midsummer reminds us that time turns whether we want it to, or not. But it shouldn’t be with sadness, but with joy and expectation!

Look back to your goal from Beltaine, and see how you feel about it. Is it working for you? Should you tweak it, change it a little, or just scrap it and get a new one? Do that! Any growth in your path needs to be welcome to you, even if it’s hard as hell and makes you hate everything for a minute. Remember that you can hate what you’re going through, but know it’s best for you, and knowing you’re going to get through it.

Lughnasadh (1 August): First Harvest/Feast of Breads

Lughnassadh, the feast of bread, is one of my favourite feast days! I admit it, I love bread, pasta, and all sorts of delicious carbs! I also live the idea of this holiday, the “first fruits” of the year are coming in, and our ancestors could put food away for the winter that had more substance. While they had dried fruit and some early veggies, this August holiday meant grains and “heavier” veggies like potatoes. I’m no farmer, I don’t have a garden, and I live in the desert, so my yard is xeriscaped with cactus, desert trees, and stones. But, I do celebrate this holiday as a way to remember my ancestors (farmers, smiths, teachers, and I dunno what else!) who could pause in the late summer, enjoy a feast, find joy in one another, and look toward the turn of the year with expectation rather than trepidation.

Celebrate with hearty food, laughter with friends and family, and by checking in on your own mental and physical states. Are you nourishing your body? Are you challenging your brain? Are you being compassionate with your mind and your mental health? If not, make that a priority as the days shorten. Make time, don’t just find it, for crafting or creating, make art in whatever way you like. Yes, colouring in colouring books counts! Even a small project can bring you joy, and can help you stay grounded. It can also help you stay focused on the Path you chose, and the growth you’re moving toward by forcing you to pause and rest a little bit. Uncontrolled growth is cancerous, but growth is pause for assimilation is needed. You Got This!

Mabon (22-23 September): Autumnal Equinox

Our last holiday of the Wheel, the Autumnal Equinox is again a day of balance. Opposite Ostara, Mabon reminds us that while the dark is coming but we are ready to face it. Our growth might be paused, but has not stopped. We are getting ready to welcome Samhain and the new year, but are taking a day to pause and plan.

I celebrate Mabon with delicious food (pies are great!) and I meditate on what I have done in the last 11 months (since the previous Samhain). I celebrate the balance I’ve achieved, and figure out what I need to do to continue it. I’m not Buddhist, and I’m not detached, nor do I see detachment. I do seek to be balanced and “on an even keel”, meaning I think before I act, and that even while feeling my emotions I am not ruled by them. Autumnal Equinox is the time for me to do that. I’m an “Autumn Baby”, and so the Autumn for me is the best season. I do miss the leaves changing, as that doesn’t happen here in the Southwest. I do miss the cider and doughnuts at the orchard, the pumpkin patches that are turning bright orange. So, I take time to have cider and doughnuts, to eat sweet potatoes, and squash. I don’t live in the Midwest any more, but I can still have bright yellow sunflowers in my house.

Find the same sort of “Autumnal Goodness” for your own celebration. However you do it, take time to check your balance, and to look toward the new year at Samhain. The year is almost turned completely, and you have learned much—celebrate that with joy!

*Just listing them this way, Your HeadWitch acknowledges her Celtic bias, as that is the framework of her own Witchery—The Celts and Norse-Celts are her ancestors, and so that is the tradition she’s drawn to. Your own names for these holidays may differ.