Long before the dawn of any of the modern Judeo-Christian-Islamic faiths, rituals followed a more simplistic path. Guided by the natural cycle of birth-life-death-and-renewal, the ancients marked their seasons by celebrating each phase of the wheel of life. Both male and female principals were honored, God and Goddess, and each was given honor as the sun and moon entwined in their cosmic dance.
The festivals that mark the change of season—winter, spring, summer and fall—have been transposed to our modern world. This site explores their meanings and how the old ways of honoring these times have been assimilated into our rituals of passage today.
What is a Pagan? The celebration of equinox and solstice are commonly referred to as pagan holidays. Although the term pagan is used to describe any number of non-Christian belief systems, the actual term means something far different. The term’s origins are from the Latin word paganus meaning “country dweller.”
Christianity had taken hold in most of the towns and cities of the old Roman Empire but, by no means, was embraced outside of those enclaves. Those whose livelihood depended on the natural cycles of the seasons still followed those ancient beliefs. So the term paganus became synonymous with one who not only lived in rural areas—most of ancient Europe and Great Britain—but also one who did not follow the teachings of the Church. In time, and through language changes, the old Latin word became shortened to pagan and, while its original meaning became lost in the passage of time, the reference to non-Christian belief systems remained.
Festivals of the Lunar Calendar
The Eves As with all lunar calendars, the actual celebration of many of these days begins the previous night. For example, Imbolc begins the night of January 31, Beltane, the night of April 30 and Lammas, the night of July 31.
For those who follow the Elder Path, eight major festivals, or sabots, mark the year. It should also be pointed out that this is a lunar year rather than a solar one. The reason for this is that the lunar cycle closely mirrors the human female cycle and, most certainly, reflects the sacredness of fertility in the natural order.
Candlemas: falls between January 31 and February 2, also known as Imbolc, Brigits’s Day and February Eve. It marks the first indication of spring and may also have been an early basis for Groundhog Day.
Spring Equinox or Ostara: on or around March 21st, the beginning of spring.
Beltane: May 1st, also known as May Eve. Denotes the union of God and Goddess and the time when the seeds that have been planted now begin to sprout and grow.
Summer Solstice: on or around June 22nd, also called Midsummer, the longest day of the year.
Lammas or Lughnasadh: August 1st. The first harvest festival and the time when the seeds that have been tended with care show the fruit soon to be reaped.
Autumnal Equinox: on or around September 21st, the first day of fall.
Samhain: October 31st, also called All Hallows Eve or Halloween. This is often viewed as the New Years’ Eve for those who follow the Olde Way. It marks a time of reflection not only of the past year, but of all that has gone before. The barriers between worlds are flexible this night and those who have gone before can walk among us. The harvest is done and now God and Goddess rest until spring again returns.
Winter Solstice: on or around December 22nd, the first day of winter.
Although celebrations of the solstice and equinox come to us from a far more simplistic time, they are, nevertheless, the foundations for our modern way of life and, in a deeper sense, for the rhythms of our existence. Truly, these celebrations, changed as they may be, are as timeless and eternal as the Great Wheel whose spokes they are.
The Vernal Equinox
As the newly reborn sun races across the sky, the days become longer, the air warmer and, once again, life begins to return to the land. Twice a year, day and night become equal in length.
To the elders of the Olde Way, these times, equinoxes, were markers in which seeds would be planted and then harvested. The first of these, the Spring or Vernal Equinox occurs on or about March 21st.
The ancient goddess, Eostre, a Saxon deity who marked not only the passage of time but also symbolized new life and fertility, was the key symbol of this celebration which was also known as Ostara. Legend has it that the goddess was saved by a bird whose wings had become frozen by the cold of winter.
This process turned the bird into a hare. Yet this was no ordinary cottontail; this long-eared rabbit could also lay eggs!
The main symbols for Easter are the egg, for new life or beginnings, and the rabbit/hare, for fertility.
Spring Cleaning The Vernal Equinox is a time of renewal, both in Nature and in the Home. More than just physical activity, “spring cleaning” removes any negative energy accumulated over the dark winter months and prepares the home for the positive growing energy of spring and summer.
Celebrating the Vernal Equinox While the Vernal Equinox was an important point of passage in the year, the actual method of marking the festival varied from village to village and people to people. Rituals and invocations for abundance in the new crops being planted would often be held during the new moon closest to the Equinox (traditionally a good time to plant). In some places this was also the time when promises were made between lovers for the Handfasting Ceremony that would come at Midsummer. In a very real sense the ceremony was an expression of hope and trust in the new lives that would blossom in the warmth of summer.
Even the latter day celebration (comparatively speaking) of Easter acknowledged the significance of the Vernal Equinox. The Council of Nice decreed in 325 A.D. that “Easter was to fall upon the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Vernal Equinox.”
This time of equality between day and night has been, and continues to be, a timekeeper, marking our passage from darkness and cold to warmth and light.
Relationship to Easter As Christianity spread across Europe and Britain, these older symbols became incorporated into the new faith’s holiday of Easter; even the name seems to have been a variant of the Goddess whose festival was originally celebrated with the arrival of spring. The old rites honoring the planting of new seeds, the fertility of the land and its people, and the hope of the new life arising in the world were replaced by solemn displays commemorating Christ and Christian beliefs.
The Summer Solstice
Dreams It is said that whatever is dreamed this night will come to pass—certainly Shakespeare acknowledged the magic of this time in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
With the warmth of the season caressing the land, the celebration of the Summer Solstice brings forth a truly joyous recognition that we can now enjoy the fruits of our labors in the past season. It is not surprising that this same spirit of pleasure and fun had carried over into our modern-day recognition of this, the longest day of the year.
Falling on or about June 22nd, the Summer Solstice is a time of light and of fire. It is a time to reflect upon the growth of the season: the seeds that were planted in the earth and the seeds planted in our souls. It is a time of cleansing and renewal. It is a time of love and growth as well.
The First Harvest This is the time of the first harvest, which usually consisted of the herbs planted during the Vernal Equinox. Used for food, medicines and ritual, these gifts of the land clearly denote the importance of the harvest and the cycle of growth to the body, mind and soul.
June Weddings With all the reference to the cycle of life, it is small wonder that June has been the month for both Handfastings (trothing to one another in the Olde Way) and weddings. The pull to bring forth the harvest of feelings is as bountiful as the harvest of the land.
Even today, as we enjoy our summer vacations, we, too, reap the bounty of the past season of labor and renew ourselves to face the coming of fall.
The Summer Solstice and Honeymoons The moon of Midsummer is, in pagan tradition, called the “Honey Moon” from the mead made of fermented honey drunk after the many marriage ceremonies held on the Summer Solstice.
The Autumnal Equinox
As with the Vernal Equinox, the Autumnal or Fall Equinox, also known as Mabon to those who follow the Olde Way, is the time when day and night are equal. Here the land is full of the gifts of nature and the effort of humankind
The night air has a tang about it, the darkness of winter is coming and it’s time for the earth to sleep until the sun is again brought forth from the dark.
The Second Harvest In the ancient cycle of the year, this was actually the second harvest; the first harvest festival occurs on August 1st and is known as Lammas. As methods of agriculture became more uniform and sophisticated, the autumn harvest was moved back until the last possible growing time was completed to maximize its size. As such, the Autumnal Equinox became synonymous with not only the completion of the harvest, but also the end of summer.
Relationship to Thanksgiving This final gathering of the crops and the beginning of preparations for the long winter that lay ahead marked a time of thanksgiving for all that Nature had given her children and for the completion of another turn of the Great Wheel.
Gateway to Winter The Autumnal Equinox marks the beginning of shorter days and longer nights. We gather with friends to strengthen our spirits in preparation for the passage into Winter. But it is a time of thanksgiving, for on the other side of that dark Winter is Spring.
Although an essential part of human life, celebrating the bounty of the harvest would not appear in the post-Christian era until the late 1500s and early 1600s by those individuals whom history would later call “Pilgrims.”
Mabon, much like the modern day Thanksgiving, was a time for feasting, celebrating the good fortune of the previous year and preparing for the long months of winter that were ahead.
The Winter Solstice
Definition of Solstice Solstice derives from an ancient Latin word meaning “stop,” or “to stand still.” According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, it refers to one of two points when the sun is furthest from the celestial equator.
Winter Solstice, or Yule, is held on or around December 22nd. It marks the shortest day of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere) and is an important holiday to those who follow the old ways.
To the ancients, it appeared as if the Sun and Moon stopped in their flight across the sky—this is the longest night of the year and was a time of both anticipation and rejoicing at the Sun’s rebirth out of the Goddess.
The Sun’s representation as the male divinity, or celestial ruler, predates Christianity. As with other rituals and celebrations, the Church felt that by assimilating this holiday into the Christian beliefs, it would help convert those who still followed the Olde Way.
Relationship to Christmas The selection of December 25th as a Christian holiday was first recorded in scholarly texts dating to 325 A.D., although the actual practice was first decreed in 274 A.D. by the Emperor Aurelian. Since the non-Christians viewed this time as the rebirth of the sun, it made sense for the Church to also mark this period as the celebration of the nativity of Christ. Curiously, the selection of the day appears arbitrary although mankind had long known how to calculate the solstices. One can only guess that, rather than shift the celebration each year, a regularly scheduled event was preferable—the old Roman desire for order never quite left the new faith.
Symbols of the Solstice The Yule Log, candles and mistletoe . . . what are the origins of these Symbols of the Solstice?
The Winter Solstice marks a crucial part of the natural cycle. In a real sense, the sun begins anew its journey toward longer days, times of new growth and renewal of the world once again. In a spiritual sense, it is a reminder that in order for a new path to begin, the old one must end and that spring will come again.
Burning the Yule Log
The term Yule stems from the Anglo-Saxon “yula” or “wheel” of the year. In ancient pagan ritual, the Yule Log was lit on the eve of Winter Solstice and burned for twelve hours. Later, the Log was replaced by the Yule Tree, but instead of being burned, it was adorned with burning candles.
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