_pn.png){kind=small}
How to Celebrate/The Wheel of the Year
Celebrating the Naturotheological way is pretty simple, just enjoy nature. You can enjoy nature by observing it, being in it, studying it, expressing it, cultivating it, and living in alignment with it. Rise with the sun, go to sleep when it sets, take care of the earth, stare at the sun, go to the beach, go to a spring, take a walk in the woods, paddle down a river, put up some bird feeders, eat natural, healthy foods, move naturally, garden, forage, run, leap, hunt if necessary, and get wild. If you want to go deeper than that, below is the Pagan/Wiccan Wheel of the Year followed by the rituals, rites, customs, traditions, and meanings of each Sabbat (pagan holiday) on the wheel. I encourage you to think creatively, however, and come up with your own ways to celebrate and revel in nature on and around these days. As it is with diet, the best spirituality is your own, personal spirituality that you come up with that works best for you. As long as it doesn't unnecessarily hurt anybody or anything, and, if you would like to call yourself a naturotheologist, obviously, it should involve nature.
The Wheel of the Year is a Pagan annual cycle of festivals held in honor of the big solar events of the year - the equinoxes and solstices and midpoints between them that mark seasonal changes. These celebrations/observances are also known as sabbats. The solstices are the times of year when the sun is at its highest point above the equator, in it's fullest strength (the summer solstice) and when the sun is at its lowest point below the equator, at its weakest strength and lowest in the sky (the winter solstice). The equinoxes are the times of year when the amount of daylight is equal in length to the amount of darkness. This is the time when the sun is right in the middle of the ecliptic and the equator is in the middle of the sun. As the earth revolves around the sun each year, the sun appears to take a vertical S shaped or sine wave-like path as it appears to travel horizontally around the earth. The plane or pathway within which the sun appears to travel in this up and down wave like motion slowly and horizontally around the earth throughout the year is called the ecliptic. The ecliptic lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The midpoints between the solstices and equinoxes are celebrated sabbats also, as they reflect the times when the weather affects of the solstices and equinoxes really hit, being that it takes time for the planet to warm up or cool down. Samhain (Halloween) is one such sabbat. The midpoint sabbats are of spiritual significance also, as they are said to be how long it takes for spirit to incarnate in matter. This goes back to Egypt, if not earlier, being that it took 40 days for the wheat seeds in the fields to germinate after the annual inundation of the Nile, plus it takes 40 weeks for the gestation of a child, both representations of spirit's timing in its journey toward union with matter. The energy at solstices and equinoxes is more intensified, similar to the extra energy occurring at a full moon, especially solstices. Equinoxes are intensified as well, but one's reflection at an equinox should be on balance. The energy at midpoints in the solar cycle differs depending on the sabbat, but generally represent a culmination of sorts as well. Here are some pictures of the ecliptic etc. below.
This sun path throughout the year is also where the symbol of the cross originally came from. All of the major modern religions take their roots at some point in time from paganism/nature worship.
The original pagan sabbats became Christianized, then secularized and turned into the meaningless and empty modern holidays we know of today. Throughout this process their names were changed and some of the dates were changed slightly. They went from being called sabbats to holidays or holy-days. Some of the dates of the modern holidays still match pretty closely with the earlier sabbats, however.
So how are each of these astronomical events celebrated and what are their astrological and pagan/nature-based meanings? Here are the 8 sabbats (holidays) on the Wheel of The Year and their meanings along with ideas, rituals, traditions, and ways to celebrate them.
Ostara (vernal equinox)
Date: March 19th - 21st
Sign: 0 degrees Aries
Planet: Mars
This is the true beginning of the year in the northern hemisphere: the real, astronomical, astrological, and natural time to celebrate New Year's, not January 1st. It coincides with the first day of Spring. It is the natural New Year because it begins a cycle of new growth for all of nature. You can't begin anything as well or follow through as well on your resolutions in the dead of winter as you could in the Spring. Easter comes from the goddess Ishtar - the goddess of sex, fertility, and prostitution. Every spring at Tammuz, she would be resurrected from a grey colored egg, an Ishtar egg. It's a good time to do a spring cleaning, plant seeds, do some gardening, visit a botanical garden, visit a butterfly garden, pick flowers, start a new project or goal, or just enjoy nature. This sabbat also falls on International Astrology Day.
Themes: beginnings, new life, fertility, new growth, energy, dawn, rebirth, renewal, pioneering, will power, ambition, assertive, aggressive, libido, war
Colors: green, white, yellow, purple
Food: hot cross buns, eggs, edible flowers, sprouts, leafy greens
Element: Fire
Herbs and flowers: Dandelion, Daffodil, Jonquils, Woodruff, Violet, Gorse, Olive, Peony, Iris, Narcissus,
Stones: Jasper
Animals: the hare
Trees: ash, birch, alder
Number: 1
Day: Tuesday
Earth Day
Date: April 22nd
Sign: Taurus
Planet: Venus
I might celebrate earth day by sitting on an earthing mat and sorting my recycling with my son, walking around with my son with a toy claw/gnabber/grabber picking up trash, getting outside into nature by going to the park, posting content online about it, looking at Miss Earth pictures, going to a butterfly garden or flower and plant sale at a botanical garden, etc. I might combine Ostara and Earth Day celebrations if coinciding close enough together.
Beltane: "fire of bel"
Date: May 1st
Sign:Taurus
Planet: Venus
The veil is the thinnest between the spirit world and the corporeal world at Beltane and Samhain. Animals were driven between two large bonfires to purify and protect them at this time of year. Creating a bonfire with the 9 different sacred woods is a good idea. Sensuality and love are themes at this time of year. Couples would traditionally "go-a-maying", or, go into the woods and make love, at Beltane. A picnic in the woods with your lover is another way to celebrate. Bring damiana wine/tequila. Couples might decide to live together for 1 year and a day starting on this day to see if they can make a happy life together. This is called handfasting. This is sort of like a pagan marriage, but rather than "til death do us part", it's more like "lets see if this can work for a year". At the end of the year they may decide to part if it didn't work out. One may choose to dress up in green robes and/or floral crowns or leafy green masks to represent the "green man", or "green people", or the Pan race. Make a maypole from an oak tree, decorate it in flowers, ferns, moss, lichen, etc. and dance around it singing "Maiden May, heal the Earth, Make this day one of mirth. Maiden May, heal the Earth, We return from death to birth."
Themes: art, beauty, charm, taste, poetry, singing, dancing, jewelry, marriage, love, union, harmony, stable, dependable, domestic, loyalty, patience, fire, play, creativity, fertility, joy, pleasure
Color: green, white, red
Foods: oats, honey, dairy, eggs, strawberries, cherries
Element: Fire, Earth
Herbs: allheal, daffodil, dogwood, coriander, blessed thistle, broom, curry, dragon's blood reed, meadowsweet, rosemary, yarrow, almond, mint, fern, fireweed, nettle, flaxseed, hawthorn, marjoram, paprika, radish, rue, snapdragon, mushroom, rose, satyrian root, woodruff, tansy ,elder leaves
Stones: malachite, garnet, rose quartz, emerald, beryl, tourmaline, copper, gold, bloodstones, sapphire, orange carnelian
Animals: Goats, rabbits, honey bees, faeries
Litha (midsummer or summer solstice)
Date: June 19 - 23rd
Sign: Cancer
Planet: Sun, Moon, the Mead Moon or Honey Moon
The summer solstice is when the sun is in all its height, power, and glory. Make a sun catcher, sun bathe, make a bonfire with fur and oak and throw 9 different herbs upon it. Do a sun dance, jump the balefire, gather herbs, watch the sunrise or sun set, go to the beach, make a sun wheel: light a giant wheel covered in straw on fire and roll it down a hill at night (this exemplifies the moving forward of the year). Deck your house with fennel, st. john's wort, orpin, and white lilies.
Themes: fire, passion, heat, electricity, intensity, abundance, growth, masculinity, vitality, energy, identity
Colors: yellow, orange, red, gold
Foods: flax, salmon, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, watermelon, peaches, oranges
Element: fire
Herbs: mugwort, vervain, larkspur, rue, rose, st. john's wort, trefoil, mistletoe, lavender, heartsease
Stones: ruby, garnet, diamond, seashell, clear quartz crystal, amber, citrine, cat's-eye, yellow topaz, yellow tourmaline, gold, silver
Animals: robins, wrens, horses, cattle
Lughnasadh (Lammas, First Harvest, August Eve) (after the Irish god Lugh "Bright or Shining One")
Date: August 1st
Sign: Leo
Planets: Sun, the Barley Moon
This is the first harvest festival of the year aka "the harvesting of first fruits". It marks the beginning of grain harvesting. Make a corn dolly, make an indian corn necklace, weave wheat, spend the night in the cornfields, have an athletic contest. Horseraces were traditionally held, among other athletic games. Create a cornucopia (horn of plenty), bless the fields, and so on.
Themes: power, strength, health, leadership, success, power, dignity, vitality, agriculture, harvest, grain, celebrating the bounty, honoring our strength and skills, celebrating our hard work/labor.
Colors: white, yellow, orange, red, gold
Foods: berry pies, bilberry, homemade breads, acorns, summer squash, grains, wheat, corn, rye, barley, oat, cornbread, rose petal wine, wild herb salad, beef, lamb
Element: Fire
Herbs: golderod, nasturtium, clover blossom, yarrow, heliotrope, boneset, Queen Anne's lace, myrtle, peony, sunflower, poppy, milkweed, Irish moss, basil, mint, aloe, garlic, onion, apple leaf, hops, comfrey, marigold, grape vine, ivy, hazelnut, bee pollen, elder
Stones: aventurine, golden topaz, obsidian, moss agate, citrine, cat's-eye, rhodochrosite, marble, clear quartz, slate, granite, lodestone
Animals: roosters, calves
Mabon (autumnal equinox): equal night
Date: Sept. 21st - 24th
Sign: 0 degrees Libra
Planet: Venus
Mabon is a good time to meditate on balance or do other balancing activities. Go to a playground and have the kids practice their balance walking on a balance beam. Or make your own balance beam out of two-by-fours, or find a log to balance on in nature. Try tai chi or yoga, as they require good balance. Get outdoors, go apple picking, do something arty or crafty. Make leaf rubbings.
Themes: balance, harvest, giving thanks, social urge
Astrological themes: social urge, we, partnership, art, culture, beauty, aesthetics, possessions, charm, good taste, sentimentality, sweets, color, harmony, poetry, painting, jewelry, singing, drama, music, friendship, marriage, union, emotional contacts, tenderness, moral character, gentleness, luxury, pleasure, what you truly enjoy, cooperation, relationships, contracts, lawsuits, bargains, agreements, dealings with the public, balance, kidneys, lower back, adrenal glands, appendix, persuasion, companionship, peace, refinement, judgement, diplomacy, indecision.
Colors: brown, gold, white, yellow, cream, pale blue, pink, red
Foods: apples, corn, beans, wine, grapes, acorns, grains
Element: air
Herbs: yarrow, marigold, saffron, chamomile, poppies, mint, cayenne
Incense: pine, sweetgrass, frankincense
Stones: sapphire, peridot, jade, waterrmelon tourmaline, amber, yellow topaz, citrine
Number: 6
Day: Friday
Metals: aluminum, copper, bronze, galbanum
Tone: F sharp
Animal: elephant, salmon
Around the world: The Iroquois celebrated the harvest with a Corn Dance giving thanks to the crops, Moon Festival China celebrates the abundance of the harvest and the moon, Higan in Japan visit graves of ancestors, Druids meet at stonehenge to perform rituals and watch the sunrise, Thracian society Bulgaria recognize the decent of God into the underworld, Sukkot jewish festival of ingathering harvest time,
Samhain (Halloween):
pronounced ˈsɑːwɪn or ˈsaʊɪn
“Summer's End”, All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Day of the Dead
Date: Oct. 31st-Nov. 1st
Sign: 15 degrees Scorpio
Planets: Pluto and Mars
Samhain marks the summer's real end. It is the 3rd and final harvest festival of the year. Samhain is a good time to remember and honor our dead ancestors. In Mexico they celebrate the Day of the Dead during Samhain. It's a good time to try to communicate with the dead as the veil is thinnest between the spirit or Otherworld and this world. One should be conscious how death creates new life, however as well. One representation of Scorpio, the ruler of Samhain, is as a phoenix rising from the ashes. This is a good metaphor for Samhain. Go through old photo albums of dead loved ones, visit a cemetary, make a collage of deceased loved ones. The origins of Samhain may go all the way back to the commemoration of an ancient cataclysm or flood that was said to have occurred at the end of October/beginning of November, when the Pleiades constellation rose and crossed the local meridian/plane of the ecliptic. It is an especially interesting connection to make, being that many people would have died during such a cataclysm and being that the festival held was called "The Festival of the Dead" by many peoples around the world. Of further interest is that November allegedly marked the beginning of the year for some ancients. Spring was the ancient beginning of the year for many peoples and the beginning of November is springtime in the southern hemisphere. Springtime may not have been the sole reason for hallowing the new year in November, however. Perhaps people were more concerned with commemorating the cataclysm mentioned. A cataclysm would represent the end of the world to ancient man. After a cataclysm, the world starts anew again. Therefore, this event could have provided an easy symbolic connection and reason to start the year in November. Plus, the Taurids meteor shower peaks from November 1st through November 3rd and is radiant near the Pleiades constellation and the shoulder of the constellation of Taurus (the bull). Furthermore, the ancient Mexicans celebrated The Festival of the Dead on November 17th, which has significance as well. The Leonids meteor shower (radiant in the constellation Leo the lion) peaks on November 17th. The bull and the lion are 2 of the 3 animals that represents the apocalypse in Christian tetramorph symbolism (as usual stolen from pre-Christian, nature-based sources and astronomical knowledge). These meteor showers which have existed for thousands of years could have provided another reason to recognize the importance of the November dates for Samhain/Halloween/The Festival of the Dead.
Themes: Harvest, communing with the dead, new year
Astrological themes: genitals, anus, desire, probing, penetrating, intensity, investigation, motivation, that which is hidden, destruction and reformation, transformation, fusion, the underworld, subconscious, conception, printing, the masses, waste, subversion, atomic power, crime, phobias, obsessions, slow growth, groups, transmutation, beginnings and endings, birth and death, isolation, coercion, disappearance, kidnapping, anonymity, bacteria, viruses, generation, regeneration, and degeneration, exposing what is secret or undercover, vacancy, plumbing, dictatorship, unpopular causes, the exclusive, executive, complexity, support you receive from other people, legacies, trusts, wills, taxes, insurance matters, sex, spiritual and physical regeneration, psychological rebirth, degeneration, and death, occult matters, sleep, deep research, hidden assets, assets of partners, alimony, surgery, warts, birthmarks, moles, violence, overbearing, passionate, aware
Colors: orange, gold, burgundy, brown, black, scarlet, dark red, maroon
Foods: pumpkins, pommegranates, apples, hazelnuts, wheat, corn, root vegetables
Element: Water
Herbs: patchouli, sage, mullein, rosemary, sunflower, acorn, oak, calendula
Stones: obsidian, opal, malachite
Celebrations/Festival rituals: Bonfires, feasting, harvesting, taking stock of the food supplies and herds for winter, animal slaughter in prep for winter
Symbols: cauldron, blood
Incense: benzoin
Tone: G
Day: Tuesday
Number: 0
Gender: feminine
Animals: eagle, scorpion, phoenix, insects
Metal: plutonium, iron, steel
Around the world: Obon (Japanese day of the dead in August, bonfires, floating lanterns sent down river to honor the dead) Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead in Mexico, decorating and cleaning the graves of deceased relatives, offerings of food and drink are made to the dead, dancing, parades, the deceased are believed to join in the celebrations etc), Chuseok (North and South Korea, giving thanks to the dead for their role in providing crops, visit the graves of ancestors, share food from the harvest, dancing, folk games), Gai Jatra (Nepal, families who lost a relative in the past year lead a cow in a procession to assist the deceased into the afterlife),
Yule/Saturnalia (Christmas, winter solstice):
Date: Dec. 20 - 23
Sign: Capricorn
Planet: Saturn
This is the time of year when the sun is at its lowest and weakest in the sky. The day of the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. This is the death of the Sun of God on the cross (which is the cross of the ecliptic and the Southern Crux constellation). The Sun appears to stand still in the sky for 3 days and is reborn on the 25th of December as it begins to move northward again, bringing longer days. This is the birth of the Sun of God. The name Santa Claus comes from the planet Saturn aka Satan, the ruler of Capricorn, the constellation the sun is passing through at the time of the Winter Solstice. The origins of Santa Claus and his reindeer stem from Shamans and Amanita muscaria mushroom cults in the arctic circle of Finland, Norway, and Russia. Santa Claus traces roots to the Norse god Odin also and his 8 legged horse Sleipnir. In Ancient Rome a festival was held at this time in honor of Saturn. There was gift-giving, caroling, human sacrifice, intoxication, partying, gambling, and master-slave role reversal. This is the time of year to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun and remember and honor the gift of light. Christmas lights on the house and on the tree are modern ways that people unknowingly celebrate the return of light and warmth on Earth. Wear skulls in remembrence of the Welsh myth Bran the Blessed. In Paganism/Wicca the Oak King triumphs over the Holly King. Holly remains green in winter and so rules from the summer solstice to the winter solstice. Oak trees are the most common tree in western Europe and were a useful tree to the ancients for wood for building, acorns for food, and leaves, galls, and bark as medicine. Oaks reach maturity at the Summer Solstice then begin to lose their acorns and "die" thereafter, so the Oak King rules from the winter solstice to the summer solstice. Make a yule log with branches of oak and burn it. Make a yule log candelabra out of oak. Eating psychedelic mushrooms at this time is a thing. Make productive use of your time at this time of year.
Astrological Themes: caution, responsibility, business, authority, tradition, seriousness, hard work, status, career, death, discipline, limitation, sorrow, delay, patience, time, orthodoxy, the father, security, safety.
Themes: Sun, light, rebirth, all the themes listed above
Colors: red, orange, yellow, gold, white, silver, green, black
Foods: fruitcake, turkey, fowl, winter squash, ham, lamb's wool (drink), wassail (hot mulled apple cider), potatoes, ginger
Element: Earth
Herbs: holly, mistletoe, pinecones, pine needles, oak leaves, yule log ashes, fir, birch, hazel, sandalwood, ivy, comfrey, elder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, chamomile, frankincense, myrrh, wintergreen, apple leaf, dried apple, poinsettias, evergreens, laurel
Stones: clear quartz, ruby, garnet, green tourmaline, citrine, jet, diamond, alexandrite, kunzite
Animals: Cardinals, Reindeer, Stags, Squirrels, Wrens/Robins, the goat-fish
Imbolc - work in progress...