Witchy Celebrations

Part of being Pagan or Wiccan is living one's faith. This is true for many faiths, but even the celebrations of a witch or pagan follow and reflect the neverending cycle of life. (Of course, there are exceptions to this, but that's something a lot of us accept in paganism and wicca - individuality!)

For many, there are eight main festivals during the Wheel of the Year. They have many names, but I choose to call them by these names: Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Midsummer, Lammas, and Mabon. Four of these - Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lammas - are cultural (Northwestern European) in origin. The other four are the Solstices and Equinoxes and are a part of the world's astronomical cycles. (*) There are many variations on these - many people celebrate only some, many celebrate these and more, and many other folk do something in between! But, in any case, they all follow the neverending cycle of life through the seasons and years.

And just as there are circles within circles in life, many magick folk also celebrate the Esbats - celebrations generally set on certain days during the cycles of the moon, but also whenever necessary. Many people celebrate the New Moon and the Full Moon, if nothing else.

There have been many interesting books and articles written about these festivals and celebrations, and I don't want to be too redundant here. So, I think I'll cut to the chase and move on to looking at these specific celebrations. (See the links above.)

I'd like to recommend these books to start with, if you'd like further information:

Ancient Ways : Reclaiming Pagan Traditions by Pauline Campanelli
Dancing With the Sun : Celebrating the Seasons of Life by Yasmine Galenorn
Lady of the Night : A Handbook of Moon Magick & Rituals by Edain McCoy
Moon Magick : Myth & Magick, Crafts & Recipes, Rituals & Spells by D.J. Conway
The Sabbats : A New Approach to Living the Old Way by Edain McCoy
Seasonal Dance: How to Celebrate the Pagan Year by Janice Broch and Veronica Macler
Wheel of the Year : Living the Magical Life by Pauline Campanelli

* While I was aware of the separations between astronomical and cultural within these eight holidays, it took reading Yasmine Galenorn's excellent introduction to the festivals on her website to realize I should probably point out the important difference between them. (Just wanted to give credit where it was due! :D )