WHAT IS THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR AND HIGH HOLY DAYS?
What Are the High Holy Days and Why Do We Celebrate Them?
Part of the reason it is so easy to experience imbalance in our modern culture is because we are so encouraged to disconnect from nature. When we forget that We Are Nature, we also forget how innate it is for us to shift and evolve and how very supported and loved we are.
Celebrating the High Holy Days is a way of reclaiming our sense of belonging to the Earth and welcoming ourselves to become more in sync with the nature around us and within us. These dates are celebrated in unique ways by cultures all over the world. Keeping these dates in mind and creating ceremony around them makes us feel so connected to all of life.
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Exploring the Wheel of the Year
SPRING EQUINOX
When is Spring Equinox?
The equinoxes occur on or around March 20th in the Northern Hemisphere and September 20th in the Southern Hemisphere.
How do we celebrate Spring Equinox?
During the equinoxes, the day and night are of equal length, creating a balance of light and shadow. This is a time to embrace your darker energies, integrate them, and draw on them for wisdom. It is also a time to celebrate equality and unity and to allow yourself to follow the rhythms of nature and reach toward your light. Use the magic of this day to create a ritual or ceremony around balance.
Go outside and shake a rattle around your trees and plants to wake them up from winter's long rest.
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BELTANE
What is Beltane?
On May 1 in the Northern Hemisphere and November 1 in the Southern Hemisphere, nature is filled with the energy of growth and love.
How do we celebrate Beltane?
Beltane is a time to embrace the abundance of blessings that surround us. To work with the beautiful energy of Beltane, spray your face with rosewater, take a flower-filled bath, and dance and sing with friends around the sacred Beltane fire. This is a time to celebrate life and all its gifts.
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SUMMER SOLSTICE
What is Summer Solstice?
Typically, the longest day of the year falls on June 20th in the Northern Hemisphere and December 20th in the Southern Hemisphere.
How do we celebrate Summer Solstice?
The Summer Solstice is a time to pollinate the dreams you’ve planted and celebrate the light. It's a day that supports love and growth, a day of sacred wildness, and of allowing yourself to be seen. Take the time to bless bodies of water and the water you drink. Gather with friends for a beautiful feast and dance around a fire to celebrate and honor the gifts you have been given. Infuse life with gatherings around the hearth, deep moments of personal and community reflection, to soak in the beautiful energy of Summer Solstice.
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LUGHANASADH
What is Lughnasadh?
August 1 in the Northern Hemisphere, February 1 in the Southern Hemisphere, Lughnasadh is a day to celebrate and give thanks for the gifts the earth has given us.
How do we celebrate Lughnasadh?
Make wreaths from the summer flowers, prepare a feast for friends, or decant your herbal medicines and use them on your skin ceremoniously to graciously receive the earth’s generosity. Say thank you by truly savoring the simple pleasures of life, and let the true meaning of abundance soak into your very being.
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AUTUMN EQUINOX
What is Autumn Equinox?
Usually on or around September 20th in the Northern Hemisphere and March 20th in the Southern Hemisphere. Another equal balance of day and night. I once received a channeled message “Nothing in Nature is Linear.” I sat with it and integrated it for several years.
How do we celebrate Autumn Equinox?
For me, this message is a reminder that I am nature, and so this life will move in spiraling natural rhythms of arising, abiding, and fading away. Yes, we are constantly guided between two voices: the ego and the voice of the power of love within us. During times of transition, we have the opportunity to hear the calling of our inner voice, the voice of love, very clearly. There is what others think is best for us and what we think we are supposed to do — and then there is what feels right. Choose that. Autumn Equinox is a time to celebrate the fading away. What are you releasing? Create a sweet letting go ritual for yourself. Let go of all that doesn’t serve you and give gratitude for all it taught you as you gently let it go.
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SAMHAIN
What is Samhain?
November 1 in the Northern Hemisphere and May 1 in the Southern Hemisphere, Samhain is a day to honor and respect death and darkness.
How do we honor Samhain?
Celebrate the year that has passed and all it’s medicine and prepare for the coming of winter. This is a good time to bring protection to mind by getting your spiritual and physical immune systems in good health by drinking nourishing herbal teas and eating healthy meals. This is a good time to find your own inner light through quiet reflection or gathering by a fire with friends and having a sharing circle.
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WINTER SOLSTICE
What is Winter Solstice?
Usually on or around December 20th in the Northern Hemisphere and June 20th in the Southern Hemisphere, Winter Solstice is the darkest day of the year and a perfect time to get really quiet. Winter Solstice is a good time to remember how incredibly held you are. All of existence is here to support and hold you. The hard work you have done this year ensures you have universal backup. On the darkest day of the year, we are able to truly see, feel, and hear our inner most desires. Don’t be afraid to be with yourself and allow the surfacing of what you need. You are growing exponentially.
How Do You Celebrate Winter Solstice?
To create a ritual, take some time alone by a source of natural light — a lighted candle, a fireplace, the sleepy sun — and get really quiet. Invite your inner voice to speak to you.
Remember, your inner voice doesn't necessarily speak the language of your mother tongue. Your inner voice can speak to you through images, sensations, and emotions. All you have to do is show up and listen.
If you do see others, may they be those who understand your soul as you create ceremonies of grace.
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IMBOLC
What is Imbolc?
February 1 in the Northern Hemisphere and August 1 in the Southern Hemisphere. Imbolc is a day to feel the water stirring underground. After winter’s long rest, the light begins to return and we can feel hope of the renewal that Spring brings.
How Do You Celebrate Imbolc?
Light candles to honor and celebrate wisdom you’ve gained. Light candles of hope. Go outside and sing songs of encouragement to the little plants popping up from the snowy earth.