Anjou Kiernan - The Book of Altars and Sacred Spaces: How to Create Magical Spaces in Your Home for Ritual and Intention

As you travel along your journey, you will notice that your magick naturally follows the turn of the seasons. Each of these turns corresponds to a solar event that is honored by a holiday (also known as a sabbat in Wicca) on the pagan calendar, the Wheel of the Year. The Wheel of the Year consists of eight holidays or festivals that mark transitional times of the year. Beginning with Midwinter on the longest night of the year, the Wheel slowly spins as the barren winter land blossoms into spring and bursts forth into the harvests of summer and fall. Although each holiday is celebrated in its own right, there are three general truths to keep in mind when planning seasonal sacred spaces to correspond with them: The solstices (the longest and shortest days of the year) bid farewell to one half of the year and welcome the next; the equinoxes (when night and day are of equal length) honor the balance of light and dark; and the cross-quarter days (the midway points of each of the four seasons) prepare for transition.

The holidays on the Wheel of the Year celebrate traditions that have been adapted from the pagan cultures of ancient Europe. These festivals often called for great feasts, village bonfires, or other large gatherings to honor the cultivation of community for survival and success throughout the year. The pagans of yesteryear were deeply tied to the land, and many of the festivals enduring traditions hark back to ancient farming practices. They were opportunities to give gratitude to the Sun, as well as to cultural deities and folk figures thought to influence seasonal patterns. Though these traditions may not necessarily be relevant to your life or region, they have symbolic purpose that can bring meaning and intention to your seasonal altars and sacred space.

In preparing your holiday celebrations, remember that your traditions might vary based on your own regional observations. The Wheels seasonal timing drew mostly from the climate of northern Europe, which may not reflect your own regions occurrences. Even within ancient pagan societies, timing differed based on location. Ireland has historically only had two seasons: winter, which began at Samhain, and summer, which began at Beltane. This is why, even across many countries and practices, we consider Samhain and Beltane to be the transitional, liminal times of the year.