Ostara

The Vernal Equinox occurs on or around March 21^st in the Northern Hemisphere, and September 21^st in the Southern Hemisphere. Classically, this is considered to be the day of equal night and daylight hours. However, if you want to get technical, that equal day/night “thing” is only a moment in time called the equiluxe.

Remember that back in the old days, the majority of Pagan folks could not calculate that exact moment, and yet they still celebrated the festival successfully.

So it’s a safe bet to go about your celebrations on the date marked as the Vernal Equinox. Enjoy the beginning of Spring and the balance of the day and night. Celebrate the Sabbat without worrying that the world will fall on your head. The equinox is a magickal time, and on an interesting note, the days of the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes allow us to view the Sun rising at true East and setting at true West. So if you’ve ever wondered where exactly true East and true West are at your house, the Equinoxes are a great time to mark it.

The Earth is finally waking up, the grass is starting to peep through, and the trees are budding. The earliest bulbs are blooming. Birds are returning from their winter homes. Spring has arrived.

Ostara marks the Vernal (meaning youthful) Equinox – a time of balance between daylight and darkness, the point before day is longer than night. It falls in the Christian season of Lent in the Northern Hemisphere, which itself comes from an Anglo-Saxon word referring to the “lengthening” of the days. It is also a celebration of growth and derives its name from a German goddess whose totem was the hare. The hare is seen as prolifically fertile and many Moon goddesses linked with women’s reproductive cycles share it as a totem of earthy sexuality and fecundity. Today’s Easter Bunny is a bowdlerised descendant of this early Pagan fertility symbol, but is nonetheless regarded with fondness by witches who recognise it as a modern remnant of an ancient tradition.

Ostara is a good time to be out in nature and witness for ourselves the effects of the sap rising in the trees, the buds and the busy behaviour of nesting birds. It is a time to visit the daffodils – the flowers of this festival – in their natural setting, and discover why they are called harbingers of spring. It is also an ideal time to seek balance in our own lives; in our celebrations, we sometimes walk between a black candle and a white one, and pause before we pass through this gateway into summer, to as the God or Goddess what we can do to restore the balance in our lives that will enable us to grow.

Mabon

At the west of the year's compass stands Mabon. Like Ostara, a day when daylight and darkness are of equal length. Unlike Ostara, however which brings the promise of long days, the autumnal equinox foreshadows the darker days to come. Mabon is the harvest of the fruits of the Earth Mother who in her aspect as eternal Goddess enters the third trimester of her pregnancy.

This is the time when the dying Sun God brings his journey across the western ocean to sojourn with the eldest aspect of the Goddess, in the land of the dead at Samhain. Witches can see within the Arthurian legends echoes of the dying God in the fallen King Arthur, who is borne westwards towards either the Summerlands, or Avalon, the Celtic Otherworld accompanied by three, sometimes nine, maidens, thought to symbolise the Triple Goddess. His renewal is seen in the birth of the Star Child at the Winter Solstice and his rapid growth to youth, hero and protector in the next year's cycle.

THE MYSTERY WITHIN:

The connection between Avalon - The "Isle of Apples" - and Mabon continues with some of the celebrations of Mabon today. In our rituals, we slice open apples to reveal the mystery within - a five-pointed star symbolising all elements of life combined. We eat them to remind us that, as witches, we walk between worlds; that of consensual reality and that of the magickal Otherworld. At this festival, we stand between the pillars of light and darkness, ready to descend, with all those goddesses whose myths are associated with the Underworld, into the long night of the year. We eat the fruits of liminality, and, like Inanna, Persephone, Freya and Ishtar, prepare ourselves for the descent into the deep, creative darkness of the six months to follow. Just as seeds germinate in the darkness of the rich earth we continue to grow by preparing ourselves for stillness in the dark, reaching into the deep places of regeneration within, and bringing back the treasures of creativity and spiritual knowledge.

IF Yule is the year's midnight, Mabon is its sunset, and in this dusk we carry what we can of the Sun's noon-day strength at Litha with us into the dark. After Mabon we continue towards Samhain, and having travelled the sacred Wheel of the Year, continue the cycle around.

Mabon, the autumnal equinox, is the completion of the harvest begun at Lughnasadh. Once again day and night are equal, poised as the God prepares to leave his physical body and begin the great adventure into the unseen, toward renewal and rebirth of the Goddess.

Nature declines, draws back its bounty, readying for winter and its time of rest. The Goddess nods in the weakening sun, though fire burns within her womb. She feels the presence of the God, even as he wanes.

Imbolc

Imbolc, halfway between Yule and Ostara, Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox, is celebrated on February 2nd in the Northern Hemisphere, and August 2nd in the Southern Hemisphere. Imbolc translates to mean "in the belly," symbolic of the seed planted in the womb of the Goddess at Solstice, now growing and quickening that she may bring forth a new son, a new year.

Imbolc is also known as Imbolg or Oimelc in Gaelic; Brighid, Brigid's Day, and the Feast of Brigid; Bride and the Feast of Waxing Light. Catholics call it Candlemas, or St Brigid'd Day, and Groundhog Day is celebrated on Imbolc.

Brighid, the Celtic Goddess of fire, crafts, healing, hearth, and home was known as a goddess of fertility and love, midwifery, and mothering. Protector of children and childbirth, she was the patron of blacksmiths, metalcrafts, fire and tools. Brighid's shrine in Kildare, Ireland, is the ancient site where nineteen priestesses kept a fire burning perpetually in her honour.

Brighid was so loved by the Celts that Christian conquerors chose to deify her as Saint Brigit, because it was easier to assimilate her than try to stamp out the love displayed for her.

Alternately spelled Brighid, Brigid, Brigit, Bridget, and even Bride, it is said that Britain is a name derived from Brighid. Saint Brigit was called the "foster mother" of Jesus, and the "Purification of the Virgin Mary" was held on this day, forty days after giving birth to Jesus.

Saint Brigit was represented by a statue, and Brigit's Cross, a three or four-armed cross made of rushes or reeds. It traditionally hung over children's beds or over th main door of the home, for protection. Both Goddess and Saint are depicted wearing a cloak (symbolically represented by mantle of altar cloth) and carrying a white wand made of birch or willow. Brigit is also associated with Oak because of the traditional Druid's grove at Kildare.

Imbolc comes at the time of year when agrarian communities were running low on food after a long winter. It was both a celebration of making it through the worst of the season and anticipating the Spring soon to come. It's a festival of light and fertility, and a time of purification. Traditionally it was a time for initiation ceremonies and self-dedication rituals.

Colours associated with Imbolc are red, white and green, representing: life force, the hearth fire and the rising sun; the pristine snow, purity and milk; and faeries, sprouts, and new beginnings, respectively. 

Traditional Imbolc foods are those that might remain in a dwindling pantry such as nuts, grains, dried meats, and root vegetables, but also the food of new beginnings.

Animals associated with Imbolc include the ewe, cattle, the raven, the serpent, and the white swan. The number 19 is sacred, representing the 19 priestesses who tended the perpetual flame in Kildare, and because Brighid is a triple goddess, the number 3 is also associated.

FEMININITY AND FERTILITY:

In the desperate cold of winter, Imbolc comes like the sun, casting a bright light on the barren landscape, warming and enlivening people. The traditional fires warm our hearts, our hands, and our minds. We come alive with passion, creativity, and ideas. After several long months spent indoors, huddled close to the hearth in order to survive the cold darkness, we revel in Imbolc celebrations, a time to gather friends together to warm ourselves, affirming life.

While not popular with all pagans, Imbolc occurs in early February (Northern Hemisphere) and August (Southern Hemisphere), a time of year when we all need something to celebrate. In many areas, we have come through months of days so short that it is dark when we go to work and dark when we come home. Whether it is a fire traditional to Imbolc in which family and friends burn old Yule trees or a community gathering around the hearth or altar, celebrating Imbolc warming us.

Traditionally a women's ceremony associated with the maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess, represented by Brighid, Imbolc sits on the Wheel of the Year opposite Lughnasadh, or Lammas, which is a men's rite celebrating Lugh, the God of Light, while many covens celebrate with women only, mean are always welcome. An idea is to encourage men to contemplate the roles played by women in their lives in order to understand how women nurture and guide them, sustain and heal them. 

Brighid's sacred day was celebrated with sacred fires, symbolising inspiration, creativity, conception, birthing, and healing. Throughout Celtic countries, huge fires were lit to symbolically warm the spirit, inspire creativity, fan passion and fertility, and sustain us.

THE GODDESS:

In the cycle of life, the Goddess has now recovered from giving birth to the God at Solstice. She nurtures him as he grows in strength, but he is still young. The God is not yet at full power, so Imbolc is a time to celebrate her femininty and fertility. The Goddess' return is a remarkable event - something to be celebrated and prepared for. While fertility portends new life, abundance and continued survival, it also demands good health, great strength, and personal resources to sustain that life. And while the Goddess returns to a state of fertility, creativity, and great potential, she must also care for her young son, nurturing and loving him.  At Imbolc, the Goddess pauses, remembering that while she feeds and cares for her young son, she must also feed herself emotionally and physically so that she has the energy needed to nurture and love all her children.

Symbolically, Imbolc is a time for purification of self, home, hearth, and magickal tools, and a time to clean out the old to make space for the new to come. Imagine the young God graduating from the cradle to the bed, making room for the new baby that will be born. Balancing the care of her young son with the care of herself and the new life within, the Goddess must inventory where she "spends" her love and good energy. It is a practice of purifying her life through the process.

Like the Goddess Brighid, we must remember to periodically sort through our lives - to take stock of our energy levels, our health, and resources. Like our ancestors who inventoried the limited food remaining in their pantries, we must sort through our resources, getting rid of what is "soft" or "rotten," so that only nurturing and sustaining entities and activities remain.

While many women are taught to care for others before caring for themselves - and mothers are especially encouraged to do and be everything for their children - we must recognise that self-care provides for all that we do. Self-care is not selfish; it provides the basis for care of others. 

Imbolc is the ideal time to clarify what we need and want in our lives emotionally, spiritually, and socially.

Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh falls between the Summer Solstice, when the Sun's strength is the greatest, and the Autumn Equinox, when daylight and darkness are of equal length. 

It celebrates the cereal harvest and its alternative name, Lammas, is thought to come from the Anglo-Saxon "Hlaet-mass," meaning "loaf mass." The title "Lughnasadh," however, derives from the name of the Irish god Lugh, whom contemporary pagans honour as a Sun deity, and this harvest festival marks the gathering in of the grains ripened by his or her rays.

For our ancient ancestors, the cycle of cereal crops represented something altogether more mysterious; the growth, fall and rebirth of the grain reflected the human cycle of birth, death and continuation. Carvings representing corn can be found in ancient burial sites, indicating the spiritual as well as its material significance. The spirit of the corn had to be propitiated and tempted back to the fields, and it is known from documented customs of more recent centuries that a couple would make love in a field shorn of corn in order to enact the regeneration of the crops. The mysterious but potent corn spirit was lured into and captured by the woven corn dollies that feature at this festival, also known as "spirit cages."

This is the time of "John Barleycorn," the caring father aspect of the God who was wedded to the pregnant Goddess in Beltane, and is now cut down as the harvest, to feed the people. Some witches see the harvest as a gift from the Mother Goddess, who shares her body to nourish her children. Again we see one of the contradictions innate within the festivals; the time of plenty and celebration is also the time of cutting down and sacrifice. Lammas fairs still exist in parts of England, remnants of a time when the cereal harvest was greeted with great jubilation.

It is hard for city-dwellers, who have the privilege of the year-round availability of nutritious food, to understand the importance of the harvest to people for whom the staple stock from last year may have run out many weeks before. At Lammas, the time of gathering in the blessings we reap from the planting, we are reminded also of the importance of its distribution. Consequently, some witches combine their enjoyment of feasting and celebrating this time of plenty with a commitment to "giving back," either through money or charitable or political work, to ensure a fair harvest for all.

Lughnasadh is the time of the first harvest, when the plants of Spring wither and drop their fruits or seeds for our use as well as to ensure future crops. Mystically, so too does the God lose his strength as the Sun rises farther in the South each day (North in the Southern Hemisphere) and the nights grow longer. The Goddess watches in sorrow and joy as she realises that the God is dying, and yet lives on inside her as her child.

Lughnasadh, also known as August Eve, Feast of Bread, Harvest Home, and Lammas, wasn't always observed on this day. It originally coincided with the first reapings.

As Summer passes, Wiccans remember its warmth and bounty in the food we eat. Every meal is an act of atunement with nature, and we are reminded that nothing in the universe is constant.

Yule - The Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice, als known as Yule, falls on or around December 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, and June 21st in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the shortest day of the year, with the least amount of light and the most darkness, which is probably why our ancestors celebrated with gaiety, greenery, and plenty of candles blazing against the dark Winter's night.

From this day forward the days will grow a little longer and the nights a little shorter, showing us the path out of the cold and darkness and into the Spring.

But for now, for many of us, it is still dark and chilly, with our energy at low ebb and our spirits struggling to find the light.

In the Wiccan symbolism of the Wheel of the Year, Yule marks the end of the Holly King's reign, representing the dark half of the year, as he is overthrown by the Oak King, who represents the light half of the year. This change in power ensures the slow return of light and warmth. The Goddess, in her role as mother, gives birth to the infant sun; completing the cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth. The Wheel has completed another turn.

THE OLD WAYS: THE EVERGREEN WINTER:

Second only to the Winter Solstice symbol of light comes the tradition of Winter greenery. It has long been traditional to bring evergreens into the home at Winter Solstice. Because evergreens remain green year-round, the ancients regarded them as symbols of immortality, rebirth and resurrection, cast against the barren winter. The wreaths and garlands we hand during Winter harken back to these ancient beliefs.

Yule marks the beginning of a new cycle of the Wheel, and as such is a time to think about what you want to manifest in the year ahead.

A BRIEF EXTRA HISTORY:

The Goddess gives birth to a son, the God, at Yule. (This is in no way an adaptation of Christianity. The Winter Solstive has long been viewed as a time of divine births. Mithras is said to have been born at this time [Northern Hemisphere specific]. The Christians simply adapted it for their use in 273 C.E.) Yule is the shortest day of the year. Earlier peoples noticed such phenomena and supplicated the forces of nature to lengthen the days and shorten the nights. Wiccans sometimes celebrate Yule just before dawn, then watch the sunrise as a fitting finale to their efforts. Since the God is also the sun, this marks the point of the year when the sun is reborn as well. Thus, the Wicca light fires or candles to welcome the sun's returning light. The Goddess, slumbering through the winter of her labour, rests after her delivery. 

Yule is the remnant of early rituals celebrated to hurry the end of Winter and the beginning of the bounty of Spring, when food was once again readily available. To contemporary Wiccans, it is a reminder that the ultimate produc of death is rebirth, a comforting thought in these days of unrest.