In which I wish you a very happy first day of spring and consider the Wheel of The year

 Today is the spring equinox and I wish a happy and beauty-filled spring.

   I have always, for as long as I can remember, thought of the annual calendar as a circle, like the face of a clock, or the metal disk of my father’s perpetual calendar. Along the edges of the circle were the feast days that punctuated the year. Where I grew up on the island of Cyprus these were New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Green Monday (the beginning of Lent), Good Friday, Easter, the fifteenth of August, and Christmas. In between were the feast days of St. Michael and St. Nicholas, because name days, as we call them, are important in many Eastern Orthodox countries like Cyprus.

   After I moved to the United States, Halloween, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day joined my calendar. Christmas became a frenetic season, Valentine’s Day a day of both joy and loneliness, and Easter seemed to be all about chocolate, pastel colored plastic eggs and people dressed up as the Easter Bunny.

   Over the years, particularly after we moved to Ashland in Oregon, I started to feel more and more disconnected from the modern day celebrations. Several years ago I did some research to find out about the origins of today’s Christmas traditions, and I found out that the essence of many of them were ancient and pagan. As the twelve month Roman calendar based on the solar year was adopted for both civil and religious purposes, all of the Celtic/Pagan feast days began to conform more closely with the liturgical year of the Christian church and became identified with major Christian religious festivals.

   In the book Wintering that I read recently the author talks about the old year, the Celtic/Pagan year. This calendar, often called the “Wheel of the Year,” divides the year into eight seasonal festivals: four Quarter Days (the solstices and equinoxes) and four Cross-Quarter Days (Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh). Many modern holidays - including Halloween, Groundhog Day, May Day, and Christmas as I learned  - trace their roots back to these ancient Celtic celebrations.

 

Imbloc/Candlamas - A Cross-quarter festival (February 2):

Imbolc is a festival of fire and light, and in many pagan traditions celebrates the Celtic hearth goddess, Brigit/Bríde. This ancient Celtic celebration is in honor of the “first light of spring,” signaling that the darkness of winter is beginning to come to a close. The word Imbloc translates to “in the belly,” denoting that this time of year is one of incubation and germination, when people start getting ready for the new beginnings of spring. Time-wise, it is the mid-way point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox - and though it’s a “tip toward spring” it’s not really meant to be a time of snow melting and grass growing - because it’s definitely still winter in the Northern Hemisphere. However, it is time when we start to take the time to nurture, prepare and wait with expectation for the coming season. Imbolc is a time to welcome more light back the light. This is also near the time of Lunar New Year.

Ostara/The Spring Equinox  (March 20-23):

Ostara celebrates the spring equinox. The word Ostara comes from an Anglo-Saxon goddess’ name, Eostre, and her name is where the word Easter comes from. Eostre represented spring and new beginnings, a time when people prepared for new life.  The celebration of spring is present in many ancient customs, across all cultures. Like many other spring celebrations in other cultures, Ostara symbolizes fertility, rebirth, and renewal. This time of year marked the beginning of the agricultural cycle, and farmers would start planting seeds. The hours of day and night are equal, and light is overtaking the darkness of winter.

   Many of the symbols of Ostara have roots in other traditions, and the use of rabbits and hares is one such example. In medieval times in Europe, the March hare was seen as a fertility symbol, and a sign of spring. This species of rabbit is nocturnal most of the year, but in March it is mating season for the animal. During mating season, March hares are seen all day long. Additionally, females of this species can get pregnant with a second litter while pregnant with their first litter. This explains why they were used as symbols for fertility. Now you know where the Easter Bunny came from.

Beltane/May Day - A Cross-quarter festival  (May 1):

Bealtane falls about halfway between the spring equinox (Ostara) and the coming summer solstice, Litha. The holiday celebrates spring at its peak, and the coming summer. Today Beltane is often called May Day. 

   This festival is often commemorated with bonfires, dancing around maypoles, and performing fertility rituals. Beltane is a Celtic word, meaning “the fires of Bel.” Bel likely refers to the Celtic sun god, Belenus. The Celts used to light two bonfires because they believed the fires would purify them, as well as increase their fertility. They would pass cattle between the two fires, with the belief that it would purify the cattle, and ensure the fertility of the herd.  

Lithia/Midsummer/The Summer Solstice (June 20-23):

Litha (also known as Midsummer) occurs on the summer solstice, and celebrates the beginning of summer. It’s a celebration of light’s triumph over darkness and the bountiful beauty that light brings into our lives. The traditions of Litha appear to be borrowed from many cultures. Most ancient cultures celebrated the summer solstice in some way.

   The Celts celebrated Litha with hilltop bonfires and dancing. Many people attempted to jump over or through the bonfires for good luck. Other European traditions included setting large wheels on fire, and rolling them down a hill into a body of water.

   The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, and in some traditions, Litha is the time when a battle between light and dark takes place. In this battle, the Oak King and the Holly King battle for control. During each solstice, they battle for power, and the balance shifts. The Oak King, who represents daylight, rules from the winter solstice (Yule) to Litha. During this time, the days steadily get longer. However, during Litha, the Holly King wins this battle, and the days get steadily darker until Yule. 

Lughnasadh/Lammas - A Cross-quarter festival (August 1):

Lughnasadh (LOO-na-saa) is a celebration in honor of the Celtic god, Lugh. For others, this festival is observed as Lammas, and celebrates the early grain harvest.  As summer's warmth enters its prime, the earth bears the fruits of farmers' labors, and nature's bounty is ready for harvest. In the Wheel of the Year cycle of seasonal festivals, Lughnasadh is a time for expressing both gratitude for the season's abundance and anticipation for the approach of autumn.

   Lughnasadh has deep roots in Celtic history and mythology, tracing back to ancient times when it was a significant agricultural festival. It marked the beginning of the harvest season, specifically the reaping of the “First Fruits” and grain crops, such as wheat, barley, and oats, plants which drop their seeds to ensure future crops. The festival celebrated the hard work of the farming community and the first tangible rewards of their labor.

  The god Lugh was a master of many skills, including agriculture, who served as the central figure of this celebration. It was time to honor Lugh for his gifts of abundance, fertility, and craftsmanship. The celebration symbolized the union of the earth and the sun, as well as the importance of community, and gratitude for the sustenance that nature provides.

   One of the most poignant legends associated with Lughnasadh is the story of Lugh's foster mother, Tailtiu, who died from exhaustion after clearing the fields of Ireland to make way for agriculture. The festival of Lughnasadh was established in her memory, transforming her sacrifice into a time of celebration, games, and feasting.

Mabon/The Autumn Equinox (September 20-23):

Mabon is a time of thanksgiving that celebrates the second harvest, and the autumn equinox.  The days and nights are once again equal, with the nights continuing to grow longer. In the northern hemisphere,  September 23rd is the autumnal equinox. 

   Many civilizations have celebrated a harvest festival around the equinox. In the 1700s, the Bavarians (part of present day Germany) began a festival that starts in the last week of September. They called this festival Oktoberfest. The festival had lots of feasting and celebrating and is still celebrated in Bavaria today.

   Many cultures saw the second harvest and the autumn equinox as a time for giving thanks. This time of year was when farmers could finally tell how well their summer crops did, and how well fed their animals were. This determined whether the farming family would have enough food for the winter. One can understand why people used to give thanks around this time; thanks for their crops, the animals, and food. In Great Britain this celebration became what came to be called Harvest Home. Harvest Home has been celebrated from antiquity and has survived into modern times in some isolated regions of the British Isles. Participants celebrated the last day of harvest in late September by singing, shouting, and decorating the village with boughs of green. The cailleac, or last sheaf of corn (grain), which represented the spirit of the field, was made into a harvest doll and drenched with water as a rain charm. This sheaf was saved until the spring planting. The original American Thanksgiving was celebrated on October 3, which coincides with harvest times. 

   The name Mabon comes from the Welsh God, who was the son of the Earth Mother Goddess. 

Samhain/Halloween - A cross-quarter festival  (October 31):

Samhain (SOW-in) represents the final harvest before the long winter. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year into four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they werea pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle. 

   Samhain, also known as Samhainn, Sauin or Samain, can be translated to mean the end of summer or a season. It was the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than at any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year traveled into the otherworld. People gathered to sacrifice animals, and make offerings of fruits, and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honor of the dead, to aid them on their journey, and to keep them away from the living.

   Samhain became the Halloween we are familiar with when Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people. Thus Samhain became the Christian feast of All Saints which was assigned to November 1st. The day honored every Christian saint, especially those that did not otherwise have a special day devoted to them. This feast day was meant to substitute for Samhain, to draw the devotion of the Celtic peoples, and, finally, to replace it forever. That did not happen, but the traditional Celtic deities diminished in status, becoming fairies or leprechauns of more recent traditions. However, the old beliefs associated with Samhain never died out entirely. The powerful symbolism of the traveling dead was too strong, and perhaps too basic to the human psyche, to be satisfied with the new, more abstract Catholic feast honoring saints.

  Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced back to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeletal figures are among the favorite costumes that people wear. Halloween also retains some features that harken back to the original harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing for apples, the carving of vegetables, as well serving guests fruits, nuts, and spiced cider.

   We are all familiar with modern Jack-o-lanterns. However, traditional Jack-o-lanterns were carved using turnips instead of pumpkins. Turnips were a staple food crop that survived better in the sometimes harsh climate and short growing season of the Britain Isles. Terrifying faces were carved on these vegetables and they were placed in front of the door on All Hallow’s Eve to keep away malevolent spirits. Turnips were replaced by pumpkins after Scottish and other Celtic immigrants arrived in America. They noticed pumpkins were larger, easier to acquire, and easier to carve. 

Yule/Midwinter/The Winter Solstice (December 20-23):

Yule marks the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.  Going forward the days become longer and we celebrate the return of the sun back to the earth.  Yule is an ancient festival of Germanic origin which starts on the day before the winter solstice in late December. This twelve-day celebration, known as Jól in Old Norse, was particularly significant for Northern Germanic peoples, including the Norse, who honored the rebirth of the sun with feasting, singing, and the burning of a Yule log. Traditionally, families would light a large log in their hearth, believing it brought good fortune to keep it burning for twelve nights. Evergreen trees and branches were also central to the festivities, symbolizing life and renewal, with people decorating homes and sharing gifts of food to honor tree spirits.

   Yule traditions have influenced modern Christmas celebrations, with elements like caroling and the Christmas tree stemming from these ancient practices. While the holiday was absorbed into Christian customs after the conversion of many Germanic peoples, it still holds meaning for modern pagans, such as Wiccans, who celebrate Yule as a major holiday representing the winter solstice. They incorporate evergreen decorations and smaller Yule logs, which symbolize releasing the past and welcoming new beginnings. Today, Yule remains a vibrant celebration of nature's cycles and human cultural heritage.

For the most part I do not participate in the more spiritual aspects of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year, but I am fascinated by the way in which each of them is tied to some aspect of the farming year and the cycle of growing things. Though my husband and I are not farmers in the traditional sense, because he is a winemaker, and because we have a vineyard on our land, the cycle of the farming year is very much a part of our lives.

   Winter is time to prune and it is also the time when Brian layers vine canes to create new plants. Then there is bud break, when the vines show the first sign of life. This is always an anxious time because the threat of frost is still present and if the buds get burned by frost then we will not get any fruit. Then there is fruit setting time. If it gets too hot, we once again might loose out crop. After that, as the fruit grows and starts to gain color, we have to strip leaves and thin the shoots to make the vines more vigorous and to help the grapes to ripen. When our irrigation water is turned on in late spring we have to make sure the irrigation system in the vineyard is working properly. Spraying and feeding of the vines is added to the vineyard calendar. Then, finally, in late August and September harvest starts and the work does not end until the last batch of fermenting juice is pressed, usually in November.

   I don’t do much of the vineyard work, but I am definitely in tune with its yearly cycle. I am however the one who works on maintaining our landscaping, of which there is a great deal around the house. I prune the shrubs and fruit trees in the winter, feed the plants in the spring, and start the neverending business of weeding. I hack back the invasive Himalayan blackberries again and again, water plants that need more than the irrigation system gives them in summer, and watch for signs of distress. Then in August I net the fig trees. Later that month and into September I harvest the figs, apples, and pears. When summer finally concedes defeat and withdraws, I prepare the plants for the winter.

   I know that spring is on its way when the forsythia in front of the house blooms, followed by the spirea. Then the wild plum trees at the top of the vineyard bursts out in their white spring finery. The daffodils open, and the Bradford pear tree behind the house gifts us with its white blossoms. In mid march, around the equinox, the crabapple trees send out their first set of leaves, which are rusty red in color. Only after these are set, and some green leaves appear as well, do the trees bud out and the front of the house is wreathed in a froth of fuchsia pink. The fruiting apple and pear trees in our little orchard come later. Then there are the rosemary bushes and the lavenders with their indigo and purple blooms, which attract a buzz of bees and bumblebees. The roses appear in early summer and come in waves until we get a hard freeze in late autumn.

   I love the feeling of being tied to the cycle of the year because it roots me in the soil of our land and makes me a part of a story that has been unfolding for millennia. There is a comfort to be had knowing that I am observing and experiencing what my ancestors were a part of hundreds of years ago. I am a tiny speck in the story of our planet, and yet I have my place in that story as a witness and participant. Bring tied to the cycle of the year gives my life a rhythm that feels ‘comfortable’ and familiar. In winter I rest as the land sleeps, in spring I get to work preparing for the ‘big work’ of summer. In fall I collect the ‘harvest’ and prepare for winter. Alongside the blisters, aching back, and mumbles about the “cursed weeds” there is much joy to be hard being a guardian of a piece of land.