The Celtic Wheel of the Year is a calendar based on ancient feasts days celebrating their connections with the natural cycle. The four major days were Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh celebrated at the midpoint between each solstice and equinox. These related mainly to those peoples involved with cultivation and animal husbandry. As this calendars connection is with nature and the natural world it is not necessarily related to any religion or religious figures. However, many neo-pagan groups including Wicca have made modern use of this calendar. Mid-winter and mid-summer dates have been added which were also noted by our ancient ancestors as often seen in the placement of stones and light access points in tombs and stone circles from the Neolithic Stone Age and Bronze Age. Two other dates half way between mid-summer and mid-winter are also included within the wheel.
Far more is understood about the Celtic yearly feast days since the discovery of the Coligny Calendar, a bronze plaque with an inscribed calendar in 1897. This was made in Roman Gaul in the 2nd century CE and is the most important evidence enabling the reconstruction of an ancient Celtic calendar.
Cross-Quarter fire festivals:
- Imbolc (February 1st) spring
- Beltane (May 1st) summer
- Lughnasadh/Lammas (August 1st) autumn
- Samhain (October 31st) winter
Quarterly solar festivals:
- Ostara – Spring Equinox (between 20th – 23rd March)
- Litha – Summer Solstice (between 20th – 23rd June)
- Mabon – Autumn Equinox (between 20th – 23rd September)
- Yule – Winter Solstice (between 20th – 23rd December)
These actual dates now relate to the current Gregorian Calendar which superseded the Julian Calander from 1582 (Britain 1752) and based on the solar cycle and seasons of the natural world.
Fuller information and links will be added relating to this topic in due course
