The Wheel of the Year
by Josephine Laing
We begin the cycle at the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, the time of long nights and cold days. From this day on, moving toward spring and into summer, the days will start to get longer. The ancients noticed this pattern of the natural world. Their spirituality was based on the rhythms of the earth. They saw the return of the cycles as familiar and dependable and used them as metaphors for life. The Women's Spirituality Movement embraces these same patterns. At the Winter Solstice, the quiet cold time, is seen as the time of the seed, or of gestation, the babe waiting to be born. Then with the first lengthening day, just one day after Winter Solstice, the year is born and the cycle of life begins anew.
Directly across the wheel of the year is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. This is the time when the nights are short. In the metaphor of a human life, this was seen as full adulthood, the time when the productivity of our lives shines most brightly.
Halfway between the two solstices are the two equinoxes. These are the times of the year when the days and nights are balanced in equal length. One equinox is in spring and one is in fall. The Spring Equinox, also known as the Vernal Equinox, equates to the time of life when we are leaving our childhood and entering adulthood. Whereas, the Autumnal Equinox equates to the time of life where we leave adulthood and enter into old age.
If the wheel of the year is a circle and we place the solstices and equinoxes on the rim of that wheel, equally spaced apart, then one can envision the very ancient symbol of the equidistant cross inside of the circle representing those four phases of the year.
Now, between each of these four holidays are four more meaningful points on the wheel. These are known as the cross-quarter holidays and were celebrated as just that, holy days, along with the solstices and equinoxes. This resulted in a total of eight significant dates worthy of note each year.
The first cross quarter holiday has now been supplanted by Groundhog Day, February 2nd. But it has long been known as Imbolc, the day of new lambs, or Candlemas. The days are still short and the metaphoric new babe is just a child. Which direction will she go? Most often the young already know their heart's desire, the true intended trajectory for their lives. They know what they love. So this is the time of year for dedication, deciding what direction you'd like to see your life take for the coming year.
The next cross quarter holiday is Beltane. Beltane or May Day was the time of year when the ancients would take to the fields with gay abandon. It was the one time of year where free sexual license was granted and children conceived of those unions were considered sacred to the group. And those human seeds spilled on the ground in procreation at Beltane brought promise of a fruitful harvest. This is the time of year and of our lives that is ripe with creativity.
After the Summer Solstice comes Lammas, the third cross-quarter holiday. Lammas, August first, is the time of first bread. The grain in the fields has ripened and the rich rewards from life's efforts are beginning to be shared. In old Europe this holiday was known as Lughnasad and is still celebrated in some areas with bonfires and dancing, with some frisky young folk even leaping over the flames.
With the Autumnal Equinox, the great wheel of the year has taken another quarter turn and this is followed a month and a half later by Samhain or Halloween. This is the time of the year that represents the dying time. The last of the harvest is taken in. The grasses have set seed and that seed falls to the ground. The chill settles back on the land and it seems as if all is gone. Even the trees loose their leaves and stand naked against the cold sky. The old man and woman of the year pass and like the seed, they too go into the ground. All is quiet, awaiting the birth. And then it comes, with the Winter solstice. Her evergreens holding the secret truth. The days start to get long again, the babe is born and the cycle begins once more.
I think it's nice to think of the year as a circle. As a woman, I like the roundness. Unlike the more masculine image of time as a straight line, seeing time as a circle is more reminiscent of an ovum or a womb. It comes round again and again. And the two solstices and the two equinoxes along with their four cross-quarter holidays hold present in my mind the metaphor of the wheel of the year. And this wheel has its eight sturdy spokes which serve as markers of the dance of life, while round and round we go, singing the old folk song.
"Round and round we go,
we hold each other's hands.
Weave our lives in a circle.
Our love is strong,
the dance goes on."
A very Merry Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year to you all.
© 2011 Josephine Laing
We begin the cycle at the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, the time of long nights and cold days. From this day on, moving toward spring and into summer, the days will start to get longer. The ancients noticed this pattern of the natural world. Their spirituality was based on the rhythms of the earth. They saw the return of the cycles as familiar and dependable and used them as metaphors for life. The Women's Spirituality Movement embraces these same patterns. At the Winter Solstice, the quiet cold time, is seen as the time of the seed, or of gestation, the babe waiting to be born. Then with the first lengthening day, just one day after Winter Solstice, the year is born and the cycle of life begins anew.
Directly across the wheel of the year is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. This is the time when the nights are short. In the metaphor of a human life, this was seen as full adulthood, the time when the productivity of our lives shines most brightly.
Halfway between the two solstices are the two equinoxes. These are the times of the year when the days and nights are balanced in equal length. One equinox is in spring and one is in fall. The Spring Equinox, also known as the Vernal Equinox, equates to the time of life when we are leaving our childhood and entering adulthood. Whereas, the Autumnal Equinox equates to the time of life where we leave adulthood and enter into old age.
If the wheel of the year is a circle and we place the solstices and equinoxes on the rim of that wheel, equally spaced apart, then one can envision the very ancient symbol of the equidistant cross inside of the circle representing those four phases of the year.
Now, between each of these four holidays are four more meaningful points on the wheel. These are known as the cross-quarter holidays and were celebrated as just that, holy days, along with the solstices and equinoxes. This resulted in a total of eight significant dates worthy of note each year.
The first cross quarter holiday has now been supplanted by Groundhog Day, February 2nd. But it has long been known as Imbolc, the day of new lambs, or Candlemas. The days are still short and the metaphoric new babe is just a child. Which direction will she go? Most often the young already know their heart's desire, the true intended trajectory for their lives. They know what they love. So this is the time of year for dedication, deciding what direction you'd like to see your life take for the coming year.
The next cross quarter holiday is Beltane. Beltane or May Day was the time of year when the ancients would take to the fields with gay abandon. It was the one time of year where free sexual license was granted and children conceived of those unions were considered sacred to the group. And those human seeds spilled on the ground in procreation at Beltane brought promise of a fruitful harvest. This is the time of year and of our lives that is ripe with creativity.
After the Summer Solstice comes Lammas, the third cross-quarter holiday. Lammas, August first, is the time of first bread. The grain in the fields has ripened and the rich rewards from life's efforts are beginning to be shared. In old Europe this holiday was known as Lughnasad and is still celebrated in some areas with bonfires and dancing, with some frisky young folk even leaping over the flames.
With the Autumnal Equinox, the great wheel of the year has taken another quarter turn and this is followed a month and a half later by Samhain or Halloween. This is the time of the year that represents the dying time. The last of the harvest is taken in. The grasses have set seed and that seed falls to the ground. The chill settles back on the land and it seems as if all is gone. Even the trees loose their leaves and stand naked against the cold sky. The old man and woman of the year pass and like the seed, they too go into the ground. All is quiet, awaiting the birth. And then it comes, with the Winter solstice. Her evergreens holding the secret truth. The days start to get long again, the babe is born and the cycle begins once more.
I think it's nice to think of the year as a circle. As a woman, I like the roundness. Unlike the more masculine image of time as a straight line, seeing time as a circle is more reminiscent of an ovum or a womb. It comes round again and again. And the two solstices and the two equinoxes along with their four cross-quarter holidays hold present in my mind the metaphor of the wheel of the year. And this wheel has its eight sturdy spokes which serve as markers of the dance of life, while round and round we go, singing the old folk song.
"Round and round we go,
we hold each other's hands.
Weave our lives in a circle.
Our love is strong,
the dance goes on."
A very Merry Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year to you all.
© 2011 Josephine Laing