The Celts measured the Solar year on a wheel, circle or spiral, all of which symbolize creation and the constant movement of the universe – growth and development. The Celtic Nations consisted of: Alba (Scotland), Breizh (Brittany), Cymru (Wales), Eiru (Ireland), Kernow (Cornwall), and Mannin (Isle of Man).
To the ancients, the Heavens appeared to wheel overhead, turning on an axis which points to the north polar stars. At the crown of the axis, a circle of stars revolved about a fixed point, the Celestial Pole, which was believed to be the location of Heaven. At the base of the axis was the Omphalos, the circular altar of the Goddess' temple. The universe of stars turning on this axis formed a spiral path, or stairway, on which souls ascended to Heaven.
This Sun-wise, clockwise, or deiseal (Gaelic), motion of the spirals represented the Summer Sun. The continuous spirals with seemingly no beginning or end signified that as one cycle ended another began – eternal life. The spiral's never-ending, always expanding, motion also symbolized the ever- increasing nature of information and knowledge.F Many of these symbols often also appeared in triplicate, a sign of the divine.
In addition, the seasons of the year were thought to be part of this cycle. In Gaelic, the names of the four seasons date back to pre-Christian times: 1) Earrach for "Spring," 2) Samhradh for "Summer," 3) Foghara for "Harvest" which refers to Autumn, and 4) Geamhradh for "Winter." (Ross)
The Celtic Wheel has two main fire festivals for purification and good fortune: Samhain and Beltane the beginning of Winter and the beginning of Summer. To the Celts, and most pastoral cultures, the year actually had two seasons instead of four. Subtler divisions of the year concerned crop-raisers rather than cattle-raisers. The Druidic tradition also celebrates two other fire festivals: Imbolc, and Lammas. Five additional sabbats have since been adopted from the Wiccan tradition (listed here by their Druidic names where possible): Alban Arthuan (Winter Solstice), Alban Eiler (Vernal Equinox), Ostara, Alban Heruin (Summer Solstice), and Alban Elued (Autumnal Equinox). Many Pagans, Druid and Wiccan alike, celebrate all nine festivals on the wheel.
Samhain
(pronounced Souw-wee, or in Scots-Gaelic, Sha- vin)
After the last apples are picked the year begins again with its dark winter half when the Earth rests and fertility is renewed. Also called Samhiunn or Hallowe'en, this festival is sometimes called Trinoux Samonia or "Three Nights of the End of Summer." Originally a Druidic festival, it is celebrated on the eve of November 1 (October 31). Technically, either date is appropriate as the Celts measured the day from sunset to sunset. In the Celtic tale The Wasting Sickness of Cuchulainn, it is celebrated for a total of seven days – three days before, the day of, and three days after.
Samhain is a time when spirits can mix freely with humans, when the veil of the Otherworld, or the Siacutedh, is thin. The Siacutedh, also called Faerie Hills, are the special dwelling places of the Otherworld spirits, such as the mound at Brugh na in Newgrange, Ireland. This suspension of Time extends to the laws of society, so that all kinds of boisterous behavior can be indulged in. At the end of the festval, several beasts are sacrificed who life-energy goes to replenish the dormant soil. In origin, Samhain was a pastoral festival, held to assist the tribe's fertility, to placate the dead and evil forces, to please the gods (and later the Saints who replaced them) and as a clear distinction between the joys of Harvest and the hardships of the approaching Winter.
The assemblies of the five Irish provinces at Tara Hill, the seat of the Irish king, took place at Samhain, marked by horse races, fairs, markets, pastoral assembly rites, political discussions and ritual mourning for the passage of Summer. In the Christian tradition, these two dates are celebrated as All Souls' Day and All Saints Day.
Rituals
In the Scottish Highlands, many crofts had their own bonfire, or samhnag, but one house was usually a popular gathering place. In early Celtic tradition, Samhain was closely associated with burial mounds, or cairns, which were believed to be entrances to the Otherworld.
Ross cites an example in Fortingall (in Perthshire), a samhnag was built on a mound known as Carn nam Marbh, "The Mound of the Dead." Local lore has it that the mound contained the bodies of plague victims and is, in fact, a Bronze Age tumulus. A stone, known as the Clach a' Phaigh, the Plague Stone, crowned the mound. Once the bonfire was lit, the participants would join hands and dance around it, both Sun-wise and anti-Sun-wise. As the blaze waned, the younger attendants would take part in leaping games over the flame. No guisers appeared in this particular tradition, the bonfire was the sole center of attention.
In the Highlands, after Sunset many of the youth carried a blazing torch and circuited the boundaries of their farms in order to protect the family from the Faeries and malevolent forces. New fire, kindled from the sacred communal blaze, was then brought into each house. Like the Beltain fire, the Samhain bonfire was most likely made from tein-eigin, fire made from the friction of two pieces of wood.
Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice, or Alban Arthuan (The Light of Arthur), also is referred to as Yule, Mabon, Jul, Saturnalia, or even Christmas. This feast takes place on or about December 21 and marks the longest, darkest night of the year. This is a festival of peace and a celebration of waxing solar light. Many honor the forthcoming Sun child by burning an oaken Yule log, and honor the Goddess in her many Mother aspects. The Father God also can be honored as Santa Claus in his Old Sky God, Father Time, and Holly King forms. Winter symbolizes the time in the womb a deep rejuvinative sleep, rather than nature's death. It also points to how the ancients looked upon human death as a necessary pathway to rebirth.
Because the exact date of the birth for Jesus Christ is unknown, some believe the Church assigned it to this time, a date already sacred to the Ancients. Christians celebrate His birth on December 25.
Imbolc
Celebrated on or around February 1, Imbolc is also known as Oimelc, Brigid, Candlemas, or even in America as Groundhog Day. This mid-Winter feast day symbolizes the first stirring of the Earth from its icy sleep and was the time for caring of the sheep in ancient Britain. In the Mother- Goddess tradition, this day is the festival of the goddess Brigid or Brigantia, patroness of poetry, healing and metalsmithing, rekindles the fire in the Earth, preparing it for new life. During this time Brigid personifies the bride, virgin or Maiden. Brigid also is the protectoress of women in childbirth. In the Christian tradition, this day is celebrated, as St. Brigid's Day.
This stirring of new life is manifested by the first milk of the ewes, a few weeks before the lambing season. As the foundation for the American Groundhog Day, Brigid's snake comes of its mound in which it hibernates and its behavior is said to determine the length of the remaining Winter. The Brythonic Celts came to associate Brigantia with the Virgin Mary, leading to such names for the feast as Gwyl Mair Dechrau'r, "The Feast of Mary of the Beginning of Spring".
An ancient Irish story tells of how on the eve of this day, the Cailleach, or White Lady, drinks from the ancient Well of Youth at dawn. In that instant, she is transformed into her Maiden aspect, the young goddess called Brigid. Wells were considered to be sacred because they arose from oimbelc (literally in the belly) or womb of Mother Earth.
Vernal Equinox.
Also called Alban Eiler, which means "Light of the Earth, the Vernal, or Spring, Equinox takes place on or about March 21. An equinox refers to the time of the year when the sun crosses the plane of the Earth's Equator, making night and day equal length all over the planet. Crops were typically sown at this time, a time of transition. This rare balance in nature represented a powerful time of magick to the ancients.
Ostara
Also known as Lady Day or Eostre, Ostara takes place on the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox and marks the fullness of the Earth and the triumph of the Sun over Winter. In the Celtic tradition, it signified the period when the Sun and the Earth mate to produce crops.
It is thought that the Church's feast of Easter, when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, is named after this feast. Prior to Easter, the Church prepares with the Lenten season, a time of meditation and sacrifice.
Beltane
(pronounced Bee-YAWL-tinnuh)
Beltane, one of two Celtic fire festivals, is a celebration of
the return of life and fertility to the world which takes place
on April 30. It is sometimes referred to as Cetsamhain which means opposite Samhain. In the Celtic countries the festival
was known by other names, such as Beltaine in Ireland (which means in Irish Gaelic May), Bealtunn (which means in Scots-Gaelic May Day) in Scotland, Shenn do Boaldyn on the Isle of Man and Galan Mae in Wales. The Saxons called this day Walpurgisnacht, the night of Walpurga, goddess of May. Like Brigid, the Church
changed this goddess into St. Walpurga and attached a similar legend to her origin. Also known as May
Eve (likewise May 1 is referred to as May Day), this festival
marks the beginning of Summer the growing season.
The word Beltaine literally means bright or brilliant fire,
and refers to the bonfire lit by a presiding Druid in honor of
the proto-Celtic god variously known as Bel, Beli, Balar, Balor or Belenus. Bel, the god of light, fire and
healing, had Sun-like qualities, but was not purely a Sun god
as the Celts were not specifically Sun worshippers.
It has been suggested that Bel is the Brythonic Celt equivalent
to the Goidelic Celt god Cernunnos. Both Bel and Cernunnos represent
the belief that the Great Father impregnates the Great Mother.
Some also believe that the mythological king in the story of Lludd and Llefelys in The Mabinogion, Beli Mawr is a folk memory of this god.
At Beltane, the Horned One, the God, dies or is taken by the Goddess,
only to be reborn as her son. He then reclaims his role as consort
and impregnates the Goddess, sparking his own rebirth. It is important
to remember the mindset of the ancients: nothing can live without
death; the ancients understood and accepted the taking powers
in life in order to obtain the benefit of the giving powers. Through
this rite, the Goddess also is transformed from the taking Crone
to the virginal Maiden or Sister, and again to Mother, a giving
goddess.
Other beliefs tell of the Summer God being released from captivity,
or the Summer Maiden wooed away from her Earth-giant father. The
Hawthorne tree represents the giant and sometimes this wood is
used for the Maypole (see below).
In Irish mythology, the great undertakings of the Tuatha Danann and the Milesians the original supernatural inhabitants of Eiru and their human
conquerors, respectively began at Beltane. The Milesians were
led by Amairgen, son of Mil, in folklore reputed to be the first Druid.
- Rituals
Two bonfires were kindled by a presiding Druid most likely from
tein-eigin, fire made from the friction of two pieces of sacred wood, most
likely an Oak-plank. This fire originally symbolized the sacrifice
of the Oak-god. Oak is the tree of the God of the Waxing Year
and Hawthorne is the tree of the White Goddess.
In ancient Ireland, no one could light a Bel-fire until the Ard Ri, High King, had lit the first on Tara Hill. In 433 A.D., St. Patrick showed his deep understanding of this festival's symbolism when
he lit a fire on Slane Hill, ten miles from Tara, before the High
King Laoghaire lit his. He could not have made a stronger usurpation
of the people's faith. St. David made a similar gesture in Wales in the following century.
- The Druids, the powerful Pagan Celtic priests, would drive the
cattle between these two fires to protect them from disease ensuring
a high milk yield, and the powers of darkness.
Sometimes, a procession was made around the fields with a burning
torch of wood in order to obtain a blessing on the corn.
On this day, all hearth-fires were extinguished to be rekindled
from this sacred fire.
A May Pole fertility dance also took place. A pole, a phallic
symbol for the God, was made usually from a Yule tree, its branches
stripped and then planted into the Earth. Red and white ribbons
were attached to its top. In the Goddess tradition, the white ribbons stood for the Goddess,
red for the God. Men and women danced around the pole, holding
onto the ribbons and interweaving them as they went round.
The King Queen of May were also elected stand-ins for the God and Goddess and led the festival. One
telling explains that the Queen would ride in on a white horse
and the King on a black one. The Goddess on a white horse has
a powerful association in Celtic mythology. When Niamh of the Golden Hair came to take Oissin away to the Land of Promise, it is upon a white steed that she
rode. Rhian Gabhra, or Rhiannon of the Gaels, rides a white mare in the Otherworldly realms. In both Welsh
and Irish traditions the white mare is representative of the Goddess
in the Otherworld.
The ancients would also then go and make love on the ground
considered a form of magic, prompting the crops to be fertile.
Another, similar rite that took place at Beltane is called the
bringing in the May. The youth would go out into the fields and collect flowers. They
would often spend the night in the wood, which resulted in many
greenwood marriages, handfastings. In the village, they would stop at each home and exchange the
flowers for food and drink. Thus, they became the harbingers of
the renewal of the Earth. This rite also represented the need
of the tribe to share their belongings, sustaining the entire
population as a result.
On May Eve people would tear branches from a Hawthorn tree and
decorate the outside of their homes. The Hawthorn, or Whitethorn,
is the tree of hope, pleasure and protection. The strong taboo
on breaking Hawthorne branches or bringing them into the home
was traditionally lifted on May Eve.
Another custom would be to jump over the fire. Young people jumped
the fire for luck in finding a spouse, sojourners jumped the fire
to ensure a safe journey, and pregnant women jumped the fire to
assure an easy delivery.
On May 1, the entire tribe, village or clan would lead the cattle
to the Summer buailte (pronounced booa-ltuh) or pastures until Samhain.
Alban Heruin, or The Light of the Shore, also is referred to
as Litha or Midsummer's Day. This feast takes place on June 21
and marks the shortest, brightest night of the year. The Summer
Solstice marks the Earth's full-flowering. Midsummer's Day was
traditionally celebrated out in the forest and involved masquerades,
picnics, games, and, at night, a bonfire to cut the chill.
Lammas
Traditionally called Lammas from the Saxon word Hlaf-mass, the Feast of Bread, this festival is also known as Lughnasadh,
Lughnasa (pronounced Loo-nahs-ah), or First Fruits, and is the feast of the god Lugh. Celebrated on August 1, it
coincides with the beginning of the harvest and signifies the
death of Bel, or the Corn King. The Corn King dies, to be later reborn, so that the tribe may
go into the winter months with sustenance plenty. Another myth tells of the greedy Fomorian Earth-spirits that
must be persuaded to relinquish the fruits of the soil to humans.
In the Scottish Highlands, this feast was sometimes referred to
as the nasad, or games, of Lugh, son of Ethle. An early Irish tradition has
it that Lugh established the festival in honor of his foster-mother
Tailtiu, a close relationship in the Celtic custom. In Ireland, Lugh also
is referred to as Lugh of the Long Hand, son of the Sun.
Rituals
Farmers cut down the first stalks of corn with sickles and called these stalks John Barleycorn. This first grain is used to produce the first beer of the season,
for consumption at the Autumnal Equinox six weeks later.
In the British Isles, the Horned One was thought to be the consort of the Earth Goddess. (see Beltane
explanation) Harvest festivals usually included a Stag Dance in which men wore antlers on their heads.
Autumnal Equinox
Alban Elued, The Light of the Water," also is called Harvesthome.
This feast takes place on September 21 and marks the last harvest
before Winter claims the Earth. As with the Vernal Equinox, day
and night are of equal length across the planet. This balance
in nature presents a powerful time for magick.
To the ancients, this was a sacred time. The Irish saw this time
of year as the Waning of the Goddess. From the Summer to the Winter
Solstice they would hold festivals for the God who was seen
as a dark, threatening being. To the Goidelic Celts, the spring
was the time of joy in the rebirth of the Goddess. To Brythonic
Celts, however, this was the time of the death of the God (the
Sun or the Grain God).