Yule

Yule is the winter solstice. It is the longest night of the year and the shortest day. During Yule the oak king kills the holly king which is a representation of the sun coming back. It is a day where we celebrate the return of the sun and we thank the evergreen tree for staying green all year round. You go outside and dance around the evergreen tree, decorating it with edible seeds and popcorn for the animals to help reassure all living things that the crops will be back soon, and warmth and food will return. You have a giant drum circle and welcome in the sun, drumming until sunrise and having a feast. You set new goals and think about how you want to welcome in the light with new inspirations, new ideas.

 

Imbolc February 1st

Imbolc is the celebration of spring and fertility. The very first buds are appearing on trees and things are slowly getting warmer. The very first flowers start to grow. You start to think about all of the goals and intentions that you set during Yule, and you start to grow the first buds of those ideas. You thank the goddess Bridget for her protection and her cleansing. Bridget is the symbol of protection, and growth. She helps people to grow and prosper, and she helps guide and protect you while you grow your first buds. Remember, in paganism these gods aren’t real. They are just personifications of whatever the symbolize. This is the time when you cleanse all of your tools. You join a coven, and get initiated. You start to act on all the goals and intentions you set for yourself. It is celebrated by reflecting, feasting, giving thanks, welcoming in change and guidance and protection. Focusing on you, and your growth in every aspect of your life.

 

Ostara

Ostara is the spring equinox. The night and the day are equal. The sun will be up just as long as it is down. The equinox reminds us of balance. The yin and the yang, the balance of light and dark. Today we celebrate fertility. This is the true celebration of fertility. It’s touched on during Imbolc but it is truly celebrated today. You decorate eggs, the bunny is used as a symbol of fertility, you have huge feasts and you give little gifts to the members of your coven. You usually give fruit and vegetables and flowers. Seeds are thrown around all over the place as people dance. It’s also the celebration of sex and people tend to dance naked during rituals and festivals. You also have sex outside in the middle of the forest. It’s a time to celebrate life and love and balance.

 

Beltane

Beltane is the celebration of the sun and especially fire. The passion, energy, light, warmth and destruction that comes from fire. It is the celebration of love and energy and the first signs of summer. You decorate everything with flowers and everyone wears flower crowns and flowers in their hair. A huge bonfire is lit and everyone dances around it when the sun goes down. During the day huge May poles are set up. Which are long poles that have hundreds of ribbons of every color hanging off them. You grab the ribbons and dance naked together around the pole. Then after you decorate the poll in flowers. You feast, and have sex, and drink wine. Celebrating the passion and energy within all things. You celebrate the energy of the sun, and the energy the sun gives to plants and animals. In between Beltane and spring equinox you plant flowers and watch them grow, filling them with the energy of your intentions. Today we welcome in summer, and celebrate the fire, energy and passion within all things.

 

Litha

Litha is the summer solstice. It is the longest day of the year. Today the holly king beats the oak king. Everyday from now on will get shorter and shorter. Today we reflect. We take some time to give thanks and reflect on everything we have done. All the goals that we set and the things we were able to accomplish. This day is about self care, giving thanks, saying goodbye to the sun, and growth. This is the time where you go full force into your dreams and goals. You grow as tall as you can and let your leaves spread out as far as possible. You ground yourself and focus. Nurture your plants that you grew help them get as big and beautiful as possible. Help those around you grow as big and as beautiful as possible. Today we get together with friends and family and feast, but we also take a lot of time to do magic, meditate, self reflect and charge at life with all the strength we have in us.

 

Lammas

Lammas is when we give thanks and we feast! We have worked as hard as we can and we have grown big and beautiful. We give thanks for everything we have and we rejoice in the fruits of our labor. We harvest all of the fruits and vegetables we planted during spring equinox and Beltane. We let ourselves rest and feel proud of all the work we have done. We spend as much time with everyone we love as we can and we give thanks for all of the people in our lives. We tell them how much we appreciate them. We bring them food and wine and bless those around us with luck spells. Today we rejoice in the fruits of our labor and show everything and everyone how thankful we are for having them in our lives. Today we feel proud of ourselves and we cherish who we are.

 

Mabon

Mabon is the fall equinox. It is the time where we reflect on balance once again. We recognize the wheel of the year and how everything in life is circular. We are entering the time again where the darkness will set in. Animals will hibernate and we will start to have less energy. We celebrate autumn and we decorate everything with gourds and pumpkins and leaves. We decorate our homes in fall colors and we light candles all over the house to let the sun know how much we will miss him. We do the last harvest of the year and we have a large feast. But we focus on self reflection. We have huge bonfires and we decorate gourds and pumpkins. We carve vegetables and we scatter vegetables around our garden and at the base of trees to help feed the animals as they prepare to hibernate. We light candles and put them inside pumpkins and line the streets with them, guiding people through the darkness. We give gifts of food so that people close to us never starve. And we start to welcome in the darkness and the cold. We say goodbye to the trees and flowers and we focus more on meditation. This is the time to reflect and meditate, walk through nature and feel at one with the change of the seasons.

 

Samhain

Samhain is the final harvest. The pagan new year, the celebration of death and rebirth. The time of the year where we celebrate those who have passed on to the other side. Not only our loved ones but also the leaves on the trees, the flowers and vegetation of the world. We tell the story of Persephone and Demeter. The veil between our world and the spirit world thins, so we leave out offerings for the spirits on the other side. We dance with the dead on this night, throwing parties and celebrations as well as feasts. We make the dead’s favorite food, and decorate our homes with the dead’s belongings. We carve turnips and different forms of squash to symbolize our hope to stay fed during the winter. Since the energy of the spirits is all around us, it’s the best night to practice divinations such as tarot cards and runes. We welcome in the dark, we welcome in the cold and we rest and reflect. We tell stories of people who have passed, and we host rituals where we communicate with the dead. We have big drum circles, embracing the energy of the dead and we tell stories of hades and the underworld. This marks the new year for pagans and wiccans. All end, all death, is a new beginning.