The Wheel of the Year
What is it and how can I use it to live a happier life?
Hello,
It’s a beautiful late spring / early summer day here. I’m writing this on the run up to Beltane, the Celtic seasonal festival that signifies the start of summer and takes place on May Day. I’m wrapped up at my desk in a warm jumper as it’s been a really cold spring this year, and I’m reluctant to pack away my winter clothes just yet, but I’m surrounded with cut branches of Hazel, tangles of colourful ribbons, vases of freshly picked garden flowers and there’s a tangible sense of change and newness in the air.
The wheel of the year is about to turn, as it does without fail every six weeks, and tip us all into a brand new season and I for one am eagerly looking forward to it.
I write a lot about the Wheel of the Year in the context of seasonal living, so I thought it might be useful to write a bit about what exactly this is. Or I should say, what it means to me, as the Wheel is a concept that many people and groups interpret, celebrate and own in different ways.
So here are my thoughts on what the Wheel is and what it means to me.
Image: Rowan and Wren
What is the Wheel of the Year?
The Wheel of the Year is a modern concept that brings together two ancient calendars and is used by many people who want to live a more nature-based lifestyle. It’s a way of structuring the year around eight seasonal points and as the name implies, it’s cyclical - it has no beginning or end, each season turns into the next, like a wheel.
Although it’s sometimes referred to as an ancient concept, it was actually ‘invented’ in the 1970s, but it draws on two calendars that have ancient origins. These are the ancient Celtic seasonal calendar and the solar calendar of solstices and equinoxes. Each calendar celebrates four important dates per year and when these are slotted together it makes a neat eight point calendar with each festival roughly six weeks apart.
The Celtic seasonal festivals are: Imbolc (Spring), Beltane (Summer), Lughnasadh (Autumn) and Samhain (Winter).
The solar festivals are: Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice.
They fit together like this:
Imbolc (Start of Spring)
Spring Equinox (Mid Spring)
Beltane (Start of Summer)
Summer Solstice (Mid Summer)
Lughnasadh (Start of Autumn)
Autumn Equinox (Mid Autumn)
Samhain (Start of Winter)
Winter Solstice (Mid Winter)
Here’s a little visual example of how it looks in Wheel form:
You can find various illustrations of the wheel if you search online but I’ve found this version from the BBC website is one of the clearest and easiest to follow
The Celtic festivals mark the start of each new season (celebrated on the 1st of the month) and the Solstices and Equinoxes mark a mid point (the exact date of these can shift by a day or two.)
Note: Some modern groups have renamed the solstices and equinoxes and bring them into a modern reinterpretation of a ‘Celtic Calendar’ (you might hear the names Ostara and Mabon being used) but this is a modern invention, which is why I, and others, choose to use the original names of Equinox and Solstice instead. These solar markers date back to the Stone Age and have been used for centuries to plot and map the year.
Why should I celebrate it?
Since discovering the concept I’ve found it a really lovely way to immerse myself in the changing of the seasons and to mark all the tiny changes and bigger shifts that happen over the course of a year. Stopping to notice a seasonal festival every 6 weeks puts a pin in the year and forces you to really notice the natural world around you and appreciate all that’s happened since you last looked.
Although the festivals were originally celebrated in an age when survival was dependent on the land, and weather and seasons were of crucial importance, I think they still have an important role to play today. Celebrating these ancient rituals can help to root us in the natural world at a time where many of us are feeling disconnected and untethered, and provide a framework to follow that has the natural world at its heart.
They also happen to be very good fun, and I actively look forward to each new festival as a chance to immerse myself in a new energy and spirit at every turn of the year.
How can I bring these festivals into my home?
When I was researching my second book, Rewild Your Home, I discovered that we spend, on average, 90% of our time indoors these days. Just let that sink in… It’s horrifying! So choosing to invite nature into your home and live a life in tune with the turning of the seasons doesn’t just feel like a whimsical fancy, it feels like an essential and vital thing to do, in an age where that connection is slipping away.
Bringing each new season into your home is an easy way to weave a bit of wild into your every day life and acknowledge the changing landscape around you. Decorating, or cleansing your home is also a key part of some of the festivals, so following the Wheel provides a good nudge every now and again to reboot or cleanse areas of your home that are getting a bit stagnant or cluttered.
Many of these festivals were designed to bring communities together and I think they offer the perfect opportunity to connect with friends and family at home. Most of the festivals involve a shared meal, or an opportunity to take part in a ritual with others, so they offer the perfect excuse to gather together and celebrate.
I’m in. When’s the next festival?!
I send out a seasonal newsletter to all my subscribers a few days before each of the eight festivals, so make sure you’ve subscribed (it’s free - just hit the button below) then all you need to do is sit back and wait for the next slice of seasonal magic to appear in your inbox. You can also look though the archive of all the Wheel of the Year posts here.
So that’s my short introduction to the Wheel of the Year and how I use it in my own life. I hope that was helpful and perhaps will act as a starting point for you to explore the Wheel a bit more and all the celebrations contained within it.
Thanks for reading and I’d love to know how you use the Wheel of the Year - leave a comment below and let me know.
If you haven’t already then please do subscribe - it’s completely free and you’ll get regular seasonal slices of inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.