The Wheel of the Year
by Blayze

There are many pagan paths and not all of them celebrate the same festivals. There may be similarities in what is being honoured but the amount of festivals that a path celebrates, the timing of those festivals and their focus changes from path to path. This can make it very confusing to someone who is trying to find out about the festivals that they wish to celebrate.

Most Wiccans celebrate 8 sabbats, some witchcraft paths celebrate 10 and others 4. The focus of the festivals also changes depending on which pantheon a group or individual may be worshipping at the time.

I view the standard, generic Wiccan wheel of the year as a created mythology, which is overlayed upon the agricultural and seasonal changes throughout one yearly cycle. It works in that it allows access to the deeper mysteries of what is happening in and around ourselves.

Whatever the mythology or structure that is used, one should try to stick to the same mythology  for a whole cycle and observe how the mysteries, the physical and the spiritual, come together. 

This workshop examines the mythologies and mysteries associated with the Sabbats of modern Wiccan practice. It is divided into several sections including a brief outline of names, dates and order of the Sabbats, an overview of the main aspects of each festival and its correspondences, and an interpretation of the mythological cycle of the Wheel of the Year and the associated Mysteries contained within each Sabbat

Around the circle are placed 8 altars. These altars correspond to one Sabbat each and are aligned for Southern Hemisphere workings. The directions and representations for each of these Sabbat altars will be outlined later in the workshop.

The Sabbats in the Southern Hemisphere

As we are in Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere, we will work with the dates that correspond to our seasons here.

The Witches Year begins and ends with Samhain and so the first Sabbat we will look at is Yule. Note that the dates for the Solstices and Equinoxes are not exact as these dates change each year but tend to fall within the three day period given below.

The Eight Sabbats in order are

Yule: The Midwinter Solstice
Southern Hemisphere 21st - 23rd June
Northern Hemisphere 21st - 23rd December

Imbolc: Imbolg, Candlemas
Southern Hemisphere 2nd August
Northern Hemisphere 2nd February

Ostara: Eostre, Spring Equinox
Southern Hemisphere 21st - 23rd September
Northern Hemisphere 21st - 23rd March

Beltane: Beltaine, May Day, Love Festival
Southern Hemisphere 1st November
Northern Hemisphere 1st May

Litha: Midsummer Solstice
Southern Hemisphere 21st - 23rd December
Northern Hemisphere 21st - 23rd June

Lughnasadh: Lammas, Harvestfest
Southern Hemisphere 2nd February
Northern Hemisphere 2nd August

Mabon: Maybon, Autumnal Equinox
Southern Hemisphere 21st - 23rd March
Northern Hemisphere 21st - 23rd September

Samhain: Hallowe’en
Southern Hemisphere 29th April
Northern Hemisphere 31st October

As above it can been seen that the Southern Hemisphere festivals are celebrated 6 months from the Northern Hemisphere festivals. This is so that in Australia, Midsummer is celebrated in Summer and Midwinter in Winter.

Wiccans celebrate 4 Lesser Sabbats which are the equinoxes and solstices and 4 Greater Sabbats which are more agricultural than astronomical. Each of the festivals have their opposite festival in the Wheel.

YULE: Midwinter 			>>>	LITHA: Midsummer	
IMBOLC: Returning of first light	>>>	LUGHNASADH: Fading of light and the first harvest	
OSTARA: Spring Equinox		>>>	MABON: Autumn Equinox
BELTANE: Spring turning to		>>>	SAMHAIN: Autumn turning to 	 
Summer and Union of God 			Winter and the Union of God  
and Goddess in the Greenwood		and Goddess in the Otherworld

The Sabbats are cyclical, each one leads to the next and they do not stand alone.