The Wheel of the Year is a modern pagan calendar of eight seasonal festivals, spaced roughly six weeks apart: Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh (also called Lammas) and Mabon. Four of them are the solstices and equinoxes; the other four are old Gaelic festivals that fall roughly halfway between. The combined calendar took shape in British neopaganism in the mid-twentieth century and is now kept by many Wiccans, Druids and other pagans, as well as by people who simply like marking the seasons.
The eight festivals at a glance
| Festival | Northern Hemisphere | Southern Hemisphere | What it marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samhain | 31 Oct to 1 Nov | 30 Apr to 1 May | Summer's end, the dead, the dark half of the year |
| Yule | Winter solstice, around 21 Dec | Around 21 Jun | The longest night and the Sun's return |
| Imbolc | 1 Feb | 1 Aug | The first stirrings of spring, lambing |
| Ostara | Spring equinox, around 20 Mar | Around 22 Sep | Balance of day and night, growth |
| Beltane | 30 Apr to 1 May | 31 Oct to 1 Nov | The start of summer, fire and flowers |
| Litha | Summer solstice, around 21 Jun | Around 21 Dec | The longest day |
| Lughnasadh or Lammas | 1 Aug | 1 Feb | The first harvest, grain and bread |
| Mabon | Autumn equinox, around 22 Sep | Around 20 Mar | The second harvest, balance tipping toward dark |
Solstice and equinox dates move by a day or so from year to year, so check an almanac for the exact moment. Some pagans also time the four Gaelic festivals astronomically, by the midpoint between a solstice and an equinox, which can land a few days after the traditional date.
Where the Wheel of the Year came from
The eight-festival wheel is a modern creation built from older pieces, and it's more interesting for being honest about that.
The Gaelic fire festivals. In medieval and later Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, the year turned on four great festivals: Samhain at the start of November, Imbolc at the start of February, Bealtaine at the start of May and Lughnasadh at the start of August. These are well recorded in early Irish literature and in later folk custom.
The solstices and equinoxes. Many peoples marked the turning points of the Sun, and Anglo-Saxon England had its own names for the midwinter and midsummer seasons. The historian Ronald Hutton has argued that there's little evidence any single ancient culture celebrated all eight occasions as one system.
The modern synthesis. In mid-twentieth-century Britain, two founders of modern pagan movements, Gerald Gardner of Wicca and Ross Nichols of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, helped bring the Gaelic festivals and the solar ones together into a single eightfold year. A popular story says they worked it out together; the details are uncertain. By the mid-1960s the phrase "Wheel of the Year" was in use for the cycle.
The newer names. Some of the festival names are recent too. Early Wiccan sources often used plain descriptions such as "August Eve." In the 1970s the American pagan writer Aidan Kelly proposed Litha, Ostara and Mabon, and they spread quickly through pagan publications:
- Litha comes from the eighth-century monk Bede, who listed Litha as an Anglo-Saxon name for the season around June and July.
- Ostara echoes Bede's account of a goddess called Eostre, and Jacob Grimm's later German reconstruction.
- Mabon is borrowed from Mabon ap Modron, a figure in medieval Welsh tales who has no known historical link to the equinox.
Many pagans happily use these names; others prefer "Midsummer" or "Autumn Equinox." Neither choice is more correct.
Quarter days and cross-quarter days
You'll often hear the festivals split into two groups.
- The quarter days are the solstices and equinoxes: Yule, Ostara, Litha and Mabon. They're fixed by the Sun's position, which is also why they mark the start of four zodiac signs in Western astrology: Capricorn, Aries, Cancer and Libra.
- The cross-quarter days fall between them: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh. These are the Gaelic festivals, and traditionally they were tied to the farming year (lambing, moving cattle to summer pasture, the first grain harvest) rather than to an exact astronomical moment.
In some modern traditions, the cross-quarter festivals are called the greater sabbats and the solar ones the lesser sabbats, though not every group uses those terms.
The wheel in the Southern Hemisphere
Because the festivals follow the seasons, many pagans in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America turn the wheel by six months, so that Samhain falls at the start of May and Beltane at the start of November. Others keep the Northern dates to stay in step with traditions that began in Britain and Ireland. Both approaches are common, and many groups discuss it openly.
Marking the wheel without joining a tradition
For Wiccans, Druids and many other pagans, these are religious holidays with their own rites, and it's respectful to treat them that way. You don't need to belong to a tradition to notice the seasons, though, and the wheel makes a lovely structure for a year of small rituals. One idea for each:
- Samhain: remember the people you've lost. Our guide to Samhain traditions covers the history and quiet ways to mark it.
- Yule: light a candle on the longest night, as in our winter solstice rituals.
- Imbolc: spring-clean one corner and make a rush cross. See Imbolc traditions.
- Ostara: plant seeds on the windowsill. Our spring equinox rituals has more.
- Beltane: put flowers on the door. Beltane traditions explains the old May customs.
- Litha: get up for the sunrise. See summer solstice rituals.
- Lughnasadh: bake a loaf of bread and share it.
- Mabon: take stock of the year's harvest, literal or otherwise, with our autumn equinox rituals.
The wheel's central idea, that everything turns and returns, is also the image on the Wheel of Fortune card in tarot, a fitting card to keep on a seasonal altar.
Questions readers ask
Is the Wheel of the Year an ancient calendar?
Its parts are old: the Gaelic festivals are well documented, and the solstices and equinoxes have been marked for thousands of years. The eight-festival wheel as a single calendar is a twentieth-century creation, and some of its names date only from the 1970s.
Do you have to be Wiccan to celebrate the Wheel of the Year?
No. The wheel is central to Wicca and many other pagan paths, but plenty of people use it simply to notice the seasons. If you borrow from it, learn the history and treat it as sacred to the people who keep it religiously.
What is the difference between Lammas and Lughnasadh?
Lughnasadh is the Gaelic harvest festival named after the god Lugh. Lammas, from the Old English for "loaf mass," was an English church festival of blessing bread made from the first grain. Both fall around 1 August, and modern pagans often use the names interchangeably.
Which festival starts the Wheel of the Year?
There's no fixed starting point, since a wheel has no beginning. Many pagans treat Samhain as the start of the year, while others begin at Yule, when the days start to lengthen.
