The Wheel of the Year is the foundational calendar of modern paganism. Its eight festivals mark the solstices, equinoxes, and the four cross-quarter days between them. But the Wheel is older than any single tradition.
The Eight Festivals
The year divides naturally into eight:
Solar festivals (astronomically fixed): - Yule (Winter Solstice, ~Dec 21) — The longest night. Rebirth of the sun. - Ostara (Spring Equinox, ~Mar 20) — Balance. Day and night equal. - Litha (Summer Solstice, ~Jun 21) — The longest day. Peak of light. - Mabon (Autumn Equinox, ~Sep 22) — Balance restored. The descent.
Fire festivals (traditionally observed): - Imbolc (Feb 1) — First stirrings. The promise of spring. - Beltane (May 1) — The land fully alive. Sacred fire. - Lughnasadh (Aug 1) — First harvest. Gratitude. - Samhain (Oct 31) — The thinning veil. Ancestors honoured.
Not a Calendar, but a Practice
The Wheel is not something you observe from outside. It is something you inhabit. Each festival is an invitation to notice — to step outside and read the actual state of the world around you.
What is the light doing? What is blooming? What is dying? What does the air smell like?
These are not poetic questions. They are the basis of a lived nature philosophy.
Beginning the Wheel
You do not need to wait for a specific festival to begin. Start where you are. Notice the season you are in right now. What is the land doing? What is the sky doing? Your body already knows the Wheel — you have simply been taught to ignore it.
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The Greene Man
Learning from nature in order to self-initiate. A digital mystery school rooted in nature philosophy.