The Wheel of the Year is a cycle of eight seasonal festivals, or sabbats, marking the turning points of the solar year — solstices, equinoxes, and the four points roughly between them. It’s observed across modern pagan and Wiccan practice, though the exact traditions attached to each date vary.
The eight points
- Samhain (31 October) — the end of the harvest, and the point where the veil between worlds is said to be thinnest
- Yule (winter solstice, ~21 December) — the return of the light as the days start lengthening again
- Imbolc (1–2 February) — the first stirrings of spring
- Ostara (spring equinox, ~20 March) — balance, and new growth
- Beltane (30 April–1 May) — fertility and the height of spring
- Litha (summer solstice, ~21 June) — the longest day
- Lughnasadh (1 August) — the first harvest
- Mabon (autumn equinox, ~22 September) — the second harvest, and balance again on the way into darker months
Samhain, coming up
Samhain is the nearest point on the wheel from here, and for many the most significant — a time for reflecting on the year, honouring what’s passed, and marking the shift into the darker half of the year. It’s also the origin of what became Halloween.
See the full Halloween & Samhain range.