Dancing with the Earth, Sun and Moon
The Wheel of the Year describes the dance between the earth, sun and moon in what is the natural cycle of our world.
Celebrated all around the world by Pagans and Wiccans the Wheel of the Year is fundamental to the whole human race. The Wheel of the Year shows us when to sow seeds and reap the harvest, when we need to conserve our food stocks and rear our animals, when to romance and when to think about those who are no longer with us, when to not get discouraged with the darkness of winter and when spring is on its way.
Wiccans also see this cycle as echoing the life, death and rebirth of the Horned God and the fertility of the Goddess.
With our 24/7 lifestyles some of those things are no longer considered but the turning of the Wheel is still part of our psyche. It is a cycle that is part of many other cycles in our lives: the ebb and flow of tides, waxing and waning of the moon, our waking and sleeping patterns, our hormonal cycle, life and death and our heartbeat. For our cycles are the microcosm where Nature’s cycles are the macrocosm. As above, so below – we are all part of the whole.
The Wheel of the Year is marked and celebrated eight times in a one year period. These festivals are known to Wiccans as ‘Sabbats’.Four of the festivals are based on the solar cycle and four on the lunar cycle.
Samhain
(pronounced Sowayne) is also known as
Hallowe’en
and usually celebrated on 31st October in the northern hemisphere and 1st May in the southern hemisphere, or the nearest dark moon. It is a time for remembering, respecting and celebrating what has passed away in the preceding year. This could be loved