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Posts Tagged ‘Beltane’

This is celebrated on 30 April/1 May and is noted as the Festival of Fire

Beltane is an important festival in the Celtic calendar. The name originates from the Celtic god, Bel – the ‘bright one’, and the Gaelic word ‘teine’ meaning fire, giving the name ‘bealttainn’, meaning ‘bright fire’.

This is the beginning of the ‘lighted half’ of the year when the Sun begins to set later in the evening and the hawthorn blossoms. To our ancestors Beltane was the coming of summer and fertility. Nature is in bloom and the earth is full of fecundity and life.

Wiccans and Wiccan-inspired Neopagans celebrate a variation of Beltane as a sabbat, one of the eight solar holidays. Although the holiday may use features of the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the bonfire, it bears more relation to the Germanic May Day festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as maypole dancing). Some Wiccans celebrate “High Beltaine” by enacting a ritual union of the May Lord and Lady. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes called  “Ostra”, this festival accurs on or around 21 March every year.

This is one of the Wiccan Sabbats which is celebrated in the Northern hemisphere around 21 March and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox. It is preceded by Candlemas and followed by Beltane.

The name Ostara is from “star”, the Old High German for “Easter”. It has been connected to the putative Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre by Jacob Grimm in his Deutsche Mythologie. Read the rest of this entry »

The next step after defining Wicca in my mind, was to find out about the festivals or celebrations that one hears about. I have recently moved to the UK and somehow don’t believe that Wiccans dance naked in the moonlight in this cold or in the rain.

Wiccans celebrate 8 festivals as a means of attunement to the regular seasonal rhythms of nature. The festivals are also called “Sabbats” and is represented in the following wheel:

31 January: Imbolg, Oimelc, Brigit or February Eve

21 March: Spring Equinox or Ostara

30 April: Beltane or May Eve

22 June: Summer Solstice, Midsummer or Litha

31 July: Lughnasadh, Lunasa or Lammas

21 September: Autumn Equinox, Harvest Moon

31 October: Samhain, Sowyn or All Hollows

21 December: Winter Solstice or Yule

I will research each of the festivals listed above, but for now, I have the calendar. I have also noticed that Full Moon and the New Moon is also acknowledged, to a greater or lesser degree.

I have noticed a little discrepancy in my readings. Imbolc is listed as a Festival held on 31^st January. I came across some text that said that Imbolg is actually held on 2^nd February. Can someone explain the discrepancy?