The wheel of the year
The Wheel of the Year is a symbol of the eight Sabbats (religious festivals) of Neo-Paganism. These Sabbaths are divided into two groups. There are four solar festivals, these celebrate each solstice/equinox. In addition, there are four seasonal festivals, which celebrate a change of season, the midpoint between two seasons. The Celts already celebrated the festivals indicated on the wheel of the year thousands of years ago. There is a good chance that these celebrations had a different name, unfortunately little is known about this.
Origin
In ancient Celtic culture, time was seen as a cycle. The seasons change from spring to summer, to fall and winter and so it goes on like a cycle. The life cycle of a person or plant also continues because in the end nothing is lost because everything - one way or another - returns. When an animal dies, it serves as food for other animals and for the earth, making (new) life possible. This way of thinking is not only related to a natural cycle, but also to karma.
The modern wheel
The modern Wheel of the Year was first proposed by the scholar and mythologist Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), and codified in its present form in the 1950s and early 1960s by the Wicca movement. The wheel includes the following holy days (most dates are flexible from year to year):
Samhain
Yule
Imbolc
Ostara
Beltane
litha
Lughnasadh
mabon
The above annual festivals are meant to bring attention to what is lost but also what is gained during that cycle of the year. As in the ancient Egyptian civilization and others, the Celts believed that ingratitude was a sin. Ingratitude would then lead that person into the darkness of bitterness, pride and self-pity. By taking a moment to reflect on all that one had gained, lost, and still cherished in a year, one maintained the balance.
What do you think of the idea that everything is a cycle and comes back again?
Have a lovely day, Magickal mind
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