Sun Cycle

Description

The cross-quarter holydays of the old Celtic calendar fall between the solstices and equinoxes.

Samhain is an ancient Irish New Year, a time when spirit hosts are abroad, marking the onset of darkness and winter.

Imbolc is named for ewe’s milk, the time of calving when light increases and serpents emerge from the hills.

Beltane begins with bonfires on May Eve, and is celebrated with garlands, music, dancing, maypoles and fairs.

At Lughnasadh women bake loaves of the first-harvested grain and people gather at lakes and hills. This holyday was anglicized as Lammas, “loaf-mass.”

Yuletide is a Norse name for the Winter Solstice, referring to the year’s cycle as a turning wheel.

Ostara is also a Germanic name, deriving from the same root as words for East and Dawn, and cognate with the English Easter, originally a pagan spring holiday.