Celtic Wheel of the Year
Attuning to Earth’s Rhythm through the Celtic Seasons
The Celtic Wheel of the Year is a way of mapping Earth’s seasonal rhythms into a framework. The Celts observed the four traditional Quarter points of the year-Equinoxes (Spring and Autumn) and Solstices (Summer and Winter). And they added additional festivals-Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas- at the Cross Quarter points between these four Quarter Days.
The result is a rhythm of eight seasons that shift about every six weeks through the year. The seasons are placed in a circular pattern to remind us of the cyclical nature of marking these seasons. The Celts began their year with Samhain and work around the Wheel until the Autumn Equinox.
The Wheel of the Year also shows us how the Elements-Water, Earth, Air and Fire- and the Cardinal Directions-West, North, East, South- are overlaid with our seasons to provide further understanding and wisdom.
This practice of paying close attention and attuning myself to the Earth’s rhythms has been transformative for me. I hope you might find it supportive for you as well.
field guide to the Celtic Seasons
This began as my final project for my spiritual direction program at The Haden Institute. I wrote it over the course of the 2023-2024 Celtic Year. I did a limited run of copies to offer to friends and family in October 2024. This guide has not yet been officially published, but please contact me if you want more information.
Celtic Seasons
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Samhain is one of the great Celtic fire festivals and marks the Celtic New Year. We begin this new year and new season with a descent into the dark. Samhain invites us into the work of composting, unmaking, grief, disintegration, stillness and imagination.
The questions I am holding this season: what might arise if I sit still in the dark and what does disintegration feel like?
My practice will be to find a few moments each night to go outside in the dark before I go to bed.
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Winter Solstice is marked by the shortest day and the longest night. The sun seems to stand still while we wonder if the light will return. And then it does. This longest night, the bottom of a deep exhale, holds both an ending and a beginning. The dark has descended on us yet at this deepest moment the light begins its return. This season invites us into the work of stillness, quiet, incubation, fermenting, patience and trust.
Questions for this season: How can I rest? What is fermenting in me? -
The Celtic season of Imbolc is the cross quarter point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It is the time when Winter and Spring tussle creating a mucky, muddy season where the energy of the Earth is slowly emerging. This season invites us into paying attention to the mundane, ordinary earthy moments in our lives that give us wisdom and vision for what is arriving.
The question I am holding for this season: what is stirring within me that I need to listen to? -
Spring Equinox holds one of two days of balance in the year. This moment of equilibrium between light and dark gives us the space to feel tension between two opposites. From here the energy of spring is being poured into matter around us. Every day I notice something new blooming or leafing out. Excitement and tenderness are helping birth this new season. We are invited to into awakening, resurrection, tenacity and joy.
The question I am holding this season : where do I need to emerge this spring?
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Beltane is the cross quarter point between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. It is the last big push of outward expansion. There is a richness to this season as love flows out into creation in abundant ways. Reverence for all that is around me is my posture.
The question I am holding this season: how will reverence show up today?
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Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year marking the full expansion of the sun and also the return of the dark. This moment is the pause at the top of the inhale before we let go. It is full and rich and bursting forth with its gifts. This season invites into play, magic, radiance and wildness. Almost as if you could jump into the sun.
The questions I am carrying for this season: how can I say yes to delight?
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Lammas is the Celtic Season of late Summer. It is a time of gathering in everything you will need for the coming seasons. It is a season of abundance where gratitude flows easily. We take time to notice our accomplishments and what seeds we planted that have born fruit. Celebrations and community make this season special. We are invited to blessing, reciprocity, harvest and celebration of life.
Barbara Brown Taylor is one of my favorite spiritual thinkers and teachers. She was once given a profound question by a priest to use as the starting point of her guest sermon. While this question is useful almost anytime, for me it is a beautiful one to hold this Lammas season. “What is saving your life right now?”
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Autumn Equinox is the final season of our Celtic Wheel. It holds the second balance point in the year. A place to hold together the tension of opposites and help reconcile them back into the whole.
It is also a season for shedding. In this season we find the opportunity to let go of what no longer serves us and to clear space for the new year that is on the horizon.
My question for this season has two parts… how can I hold the tension and how can I let go?