Wiccans honor and celebrate eight seasonal changes or shifts,
Known as Sabbaths,
As laid out by what is known as the Wheel of the Year.
Those new to the formal layout of the wheel often remark that they'd observed these changes for most of their lives,
But never thought much about them.
Most notably are the two equinoxes,
When light and darkness are of equal length for a day,
And the two solstices.
Whatever the current Sabbath might be,
The message is always that change is coming.
Please note that for this talk,
We examine the Sabbaths from the perspective of the Northern Hemisphere.
The wheel begins at Samhain,
Which,
In the secular realm,
Is Halloween.
This is the Wiccan New Year,
The festival of the final harvest,
And a time when the veil between this world and the spirit world is thinnest.
Next comes Yule,
The winter solstice,
And the longest night of the year.
It is typically observed on December 21st.
Some view this as the rebirth of the sun,
As it begins to slowly return to us and the days begin to lengthen.
On or around February 2nd is Imbolc.
On this Sabbath,
We see the ground start to thaw in most places.
Our ancestors saw this as the beginning of the end of winter,
When their livestock began to give birth again.
Ostara,
Occurring on or around March 20th,
Is the spring equinox,
One of the two days of equal light and darkness.
During this Sabbath,
We notice plants beginning to grow again,
And wildlife coming alive under the warmer temperatures.
Beltane is May 1st.
Often referred to as May Day,
Wiccans celebrate the beginning of summer at this time.
It is the midway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.
Letha is usually celebrated on June 21st.
It's the summer solstice,
Meaning the longest day and the shortest night of the year.
It is directly opposite Yule.
Lammas occurs on August 1st,
And it is the first harvest of the year.
It is a celebration of grains,
As well as everything the earth has produced thus far.
Mabon is typically celebrated around September 23rd.
It is the fall equinox,
Again equal daylight and darkness,
The second harvest,
And basically the Wiccan Thanksgiving,
Taking us right back to Samhain.
That's a lot going on each year,
Isn't it?
So how do we find peace in all this?
The fact that there is almost always something worth observing means quite a bit to me,
As there are more than just one or two celebrations each year.
Hardly a month goes by without nature inviting us to pay attention to something.
We are able to observe plants and animals at different stages of change.
It's also popular among many people to eat with the seasons,
And by that I mean incorporating foods corresponding to each Sabbath with our meals.
This can bring one more in tandem with the earth's cycles.
Perhaps one of the most peaceful aspects of the wheel is the realization that everything eventually comes back.
Our gardens are largely bare by October or November,
But we anticipate the return of budding plants in the spring.
Our ancestors would work in their fields during the warmer months,
And after all the harvests were complete,
Use winter as a period of rest.
Following the wheel,
Even those of us with busy lifestyles,
Takes very little time and effort.
Briefly acknowledging how the cycles shift,
Or looking forward to your favorite season,
Can be a road to peace,
Especially if those moments are cherished.
Meditation and nature walks are great ways of doing this.
The more we commune with the seasons,
The more we learn about nature,
And quite possibly ourselves.
Perhaps that is the greatest peace of all.
The crow flies from me to thee.
To send the message,
Blessed be.
