Wrapped up in modern technology and the rapid pace of our times, we are accustomed to thinking of time as being a linear dimension. Without ever giving any thought to the matter, we simply take it for granted that everyone and everything on this physical plane follows a path which runs along more or less straight lines, from start to finish, from beginning to end, from alpha to omega, from genesis to conclusion. By these lights, everything in existence is born or comes into being, exists for a brief and intense interval, then dies or ceases to exist, and when one's time is over, it's really over.As above so below....
There was a time long ago when humanity followed a different path, one aligned with the the earth and the stars; a time when human beliefs fit more harmoniously into the fabric of existence and were aligned with the natural world. Unlike modern humanity, the ancient Celts thought of time in cyclical terms, as being a spiral, a circle or a vast wheel turning in the heavens. The movement of the Sun and the Moon across the skies, the turning of the seasons, the orderly rhythms of sowing and harvesting, the lengthening nights and shortening days as the year passed; all the cadences of nature were expressive of one another. They were evidence of the cyclical nature of time and existence, and of the harmony and balance which existed within the cosmos. As every beginning was an ending, so was every ending also a beginning. Every living thing came into being, matured, and followed a circular path, returning at the end of its physical journey to the point of origin or beginning place to rest before being reborn and traversing the Wheel again.
Circular forms such as the spiral, the circle, the wheel and the labyrinth have been powerful symbols for many thousands of years, and their forms can be traced in every place where ancient humanity put down roots, formed communities, hunted and gathered, ploughed and harvested fields and began to express itself, on the cave walls, stone circles and barrows of Europe, in the architecture, pottery, tools, weapons, textiles, jewellery and ritual objects found everywhere on this island Earth. Those circular forms are still very much with us, and there are circles and spirals motifs to be found everywhere one looks.
For ancient humanity living in harmony with the world around them, the waning sunlight hours and the lengthening nights, the plummeting temperatures and the dark spectre of Winter looming over them as the year unfolded must have been terrifying, but huddled in their bothies during the cold and barren days of Winter, the ancients had something wonderful to look forward to; they knew with certainty that even during the long nights time, the Wheel continued to turn above and around them, that warmth and sunlight would return to the earth, that the fields around their villages would be green and fertile again, and the air would be filled with songs of new life. They also knew that when the end of their own time came, they too would return to the earth to rest and refresh themselves before being reborn and beginning the circular journey again. As above, so below - all was as it should be.
Eight Spokes on the Wheel....
On the Wheel of Year are eight sabbats or observances, occasions which mark pivotal or important times during the sacred cycle of the year. Although the dates and customs of these holidays may seem familiar to us, we should remember that the eight festivals are ancient celebrations which are rooted in the rhythms of the earth and stars, and that they have nothing whatsoever to do with the works of humanity. Yuletide traditions may seem to echo Christmas customs, but in fact it is the other way around. Humanity has been celebrating the midwinter solstice and the return of the Light (Sun) for many thousands of years. The celebration of Christmas on December 25th, on the other hand, is a comparative newcomer to the human calendar and represents the determined efforts of Christianity to appropriate for itself a moment in time which has always had profound significance in the minds and hearts of humanity and the natural world.
The eight festivals or observances which form the spokes in the Wheel of the Year may be placed in two categories:
Lesser Sabbats or Quarter Days are the four ancient solar holidays celebrated at the four points in the year when daylight hours are longest and shortest (the solstices) and day and night are of equal length (the equinoxes). The lesser sabbats are known as Quarter Days because they quarter the Wheel of the Year precisely at the time of Yule (the Winter Solstice), Oestara (the Spring Equinox), Midsummer (the Summer Solstice) and Mabon (the Autumn Equinox).
Greater Sabbats (or Fire Festivals, High Holidays, Greater Sabbats, and Cross Quarter Days) are the four high holidays on the Wheel of the Year, celebrated midway between the four Quarter Days, occurring around the end of October (Samhain or Halloween), the beginning of February (Imbolc or Candlemas), the beginning of May (Beltane or May Day), and the beginning of August (Lammas). Like the lesser sabbats, these high holidays are associated with seasonal changes; unlike the lesser sabbats, these high holidays are lunar; and are keyed to the phases of the moon as well as the seasons.
These four greater sabbats are the fire festivals of the ancient Celts, so called because fire is associated with each observance, each in a different way. The greater sabbats are traditionally celebrated from dusk on the day before the festival to sunset on the day of the festival - a custom which dates from ancient times.
Samhain (October 31)
Yule (December 21)
Imbolc (February 2)
Oestara (March 21)
Beltane (May 1)
Litha (June 21)
Lugnasdh (August 1)
Harvest Home (September 21)
Readings
