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This is the Celtic Festivals Page for the Zen Druid's Inner Circle
Placing The Festivals Within The Wheel of the Year
There are eight Celtic Festivals that mark the turning of the Year. Four that celebrate the changing of the seasons and four that celebrate the points of the Sun.
The four seasons: Samhain (Winter), Imbolc (Spring), Beltaine (Summer), Lughnasa (Autumn).
The four points of the sun: Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox.
The Table below shows these festivals divided by hemisphere.
Celebrating the Festivals
| Festival | Samhain (Winter) | Winter Solstice | Imbolc (Spring) | Spring Equinox | Beltaine (Summer) | Summer Solstice | Lughnasa (Autumn) | Autumn Equinox |
|
Theme |
Veneration of the Ancestors | Death and Rebirth of the Sun | Celebration of Youth | Triumph of Light over Dark. | Fertility of the Earth, Crops and People | Triumph of the Sun and the beginnings of contraction. | Harvest: physical and spiritual. | Veneration of the Gifts of the Goddess. |
| Southern Hemisphere |
1 Hawthorn 13 May |
12 Oak 21 June |
1 Hazel 5 Aug |
20 Bramble 21 Sept |
1 Reed 28 Oct |
27 Elder
21 Dec |
1 Ash 18 Feb |
4 Alder
21 March |
| Northern Hemisphere | 1 Reed 28 Oct |
27 Elder
21 Dec |
1 Ash 18 Feb |
4 Alder
21 March |
1 Hawthorn 13 May |
12 Oak 21 June |
1 Hazel 5 Aug |
20 Bramble 21 Sept |
|
Ritual Focus |
The night before the start date of this
season is THE time to reconnect and contact your ancestors. Your ritual should honour and celebrate those who have come before you. Has come to be known as Halloween from the Hallowed Eve of Samhain. |
The end of days shortening and the beginning of the rise of the light. Your ritual should commemorate endings and beginnings. This is a good time to review your past year and plan the coming. | This is the time of youthful exuberance.
The adolescence of the year. Your ritual should reflect this. The fields are full of life and the birds are seeking mates. Traditionally this was the time of the tear to mark the lambs. |
The Sun now begins its reign of six months. From now until the Autumn equinox the days are longer than the nights. Your focus now moves from planning to execution. Your ritual should include this and requests for assistance to implement your plans. | The festival of fertility. The growing energy of the Sun in the full majesty of Summer blending with the fecundity of the Earth is the focus of this festival. Your ritual should blend these traits within an overt sexual context. This the celebration of the two blending into one to create. | The height of the Sun's path through the sky and the beginning of its death. The focus for this ritual the maturity of the year. The full expression of the power of the masculine in company with the feminine in full bloom. | The harvests of the year are the focus
of this festival. Both the incoming crops from the fields and vegie gardens and the spiritual growth of the past year should be integral to your rituals. |
We move from the time of the sun to the time of the night on this evening. The continued contraction of the days mirrors our period of introspection and connection with all things of the Goddess. |
