The Wheel of the Year

Hello and Merry Meet everyone!

As the wheel of the represents the idea at the heart of our group, we thought we would post a little summary of its history and main events.

The idea of the wheel of the year as a representation of the changing seasonal and solar aspects of the year constitutes a very ancient common heritage of humanity, with its origins possibly reaching as far back as the neolithic era. Depictions of wheels in stone are quite common, and may as well represent the turning of the times (their intended meaning is not known to this day).

So, as part of an underlying earth-based spirituality, the idea of the wheel of the year has accompanied humanity for thousands of years.

In this context of earth-based spirituality, as in Wicca or paganism, the Wheel of the Year represents the major events in the natural year, such as the seasons, solstices and equinoxes, which are celebrated in eight Sabbats, the four greater and four lesser ones:

In general, the Wheel is divided in two main parts: summer/light and winter/darkness. The two major deities of paganism and Wicca, the Goddess and the God, rule superior at specific times, with the Goddess dominating the summer months (the growing season) as the goddess of fertility and abundance, while the God dominates the winter months as the god of hunting and death (with hunting having been the major source of fresh food during these times).

The eight Sabbats divide into two categories, the seasonal and solar festivals.

The four greater Sabbats celebrate the natural shift of the seasons, with Beltaine and Samhain representing the main divisions between summer/winter, light/darkness. Imbolc and Lammas mark the midpoints in between, recognising specific occasions in the agricultural year, Lammas for example being a celebration of harvest.

The four Lesser Sabbats are solar festivals, marking the events in the solar calendar, the solstices (Litha and Yule) and equinoxes (Ostara and Mabon).

There is no singular way in which to emphasise or celebrate these Sabbats in the wiccan or pagan community. Some groups, for example, may concentrate on the seasonal (Greater) Sabbaths, while others put their emphasis on the solar festivals.

As you progress on your spiritual journey, you may be intuitively drawn to certain Sabbats and decide to only celebrate those important to you, or you might choose to treat all eight with equal reverence - the choice is yours!

As we are progressing through the Wheel of the Year, we will blog on each of the upcoming Sabbaths in more detail, giving you an overview of their meaning and tradition as well as ideas on how they might be celebrated, so do stay tuned for the blog on Ostara, coming shortly.