Lesson One - The Wheel of the Year 

Monday, November 17, 2003

Reading Materials:

Lesson Overview: This Lesson deals with the most basic of the concepts of the Second Circle: the so-called “Wheel of the Year” or “Eight Holy Days of Wicca.”  I admit that in All One Wicca I committed the sin of oversimplification, because in truth, not all Wiccans practice the eight holidays I mentioned.  HOWEVER, those who celebrate these festivals are so in the majority that I feel that at least a recognition of these festivals is needed for a firm basis in Wicca.  Whether you grow to celebrate them, or move to a point in your practice of Wicca where you discard these festivals in support of lesser-known cultural festivals, the concepts that these eight days signify are important: The year is cyclical, we are connected to the divine by these cycles and the divine is connected to us by them:

~Kat MacMorgan

Part One: Read the Reading Assignment.  In the Section entitled “The Wheel of the Year” three primary forms of ritual are given.  Using internet search engines, find 3 examples of each of the primary forms of Ritual (9 rituals).  Explain how each of the rituals relates to Wiccan Practice.  What do you think is the most important of the three forms, or are they all equally important?  Why?  Explain each of the forms in your own words.

Solemnity:

  A Solemnity (which I agree, is rarely solemn) is an important ritual.  Most solemnities that I’ve ever heard of are more of  the Rite of Passage rituals.  They are important, because in today’s society there is a great lack of such rites of passage.  Births, marriages and deaths are still marked, but what about when a girl becomes a woman? Or a boy becomes a man?  Some religions still have something to mark such occasions, but I’ve never experienced them in my own life.  They are important to Wicca because it allows us to share some of our most wonderful moments with the Gods themselves.

  Celebratory:

  These were a little more difficult because I’m sure that nearly everyone uses Sabbat and Esbat rituals for this part.  Granted, I did use two Esbat rituals for examples, but I also found a lovely symbolic Great Rite Ritual as well.  I chose this as a Celebratory ritual because it is just that, celebrating the joining of the God and Goddess.  I believe that Celebratory rituals are important in Wicca because it allows us to be more in tune with the Gods, with nature and with the cycles of the Moon and Year.

  Working Rituals:

  This was the most difficult to work on because there are a lot of fluff crap sites out there.  It was hard to find one that wasn’t completely inane.  Anyway! Working rituals are also important to Wicca because ritual is advanced prayer.  An advanced prayer is just going into sacred space, calling in the Gods and saying, “Hey, I need a little help here!” If done with proper respect, most of the time the Gods will listen.

Now I think that all these forms of Ritual are equally important.  Why do I think this you ask? Because all three allow for the Wiccan practitioner to become in tune with themselves, their Gods, the Cycles of Nature and the Moon, and they allow us to take more action in our lives with advanced prayer.

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Part Two: The Reading Assignment mentions that there are 8 holidays, divided into two categories.  What are the 8 holidays?  The 2 categories?  What is the next holiday?  What was the last holiday?  What is the myth of the Dying King?  Use resource materials or search engines to find similar myths.  Why do you think this image of birth-death-resurrection is a common one?

The Eight Holidays are as follows:

1.   Winter Solstice (Yule) – December 21 – 23 (June 21 – 23 Southern Hemisphere)

2. Imbolc – February 1 – 2 (August 1 – 2 Southern Hemisphere)
3. Spring Equinox (Ostara) March 21 – 23 (September 21 – 23 Southern Hemisphere)
4. Beltane – April 30 – May 1 (October 31 – November 2 Southern Hemisphere)
5. Summer Solstice (Litha) – June 21 – 23 (December 21 – 23 Southern Hemisphere)
6. Lughnasadh – August 1 – 2 (February 1 – 2 Southern Hemisphere)
7. Autumn Equinox (Mabon) September 21 – 23 (March 21 – 23 Southern Hemisphere)
8. Samhain October 31 – November 1 (April 30 – May 1 Southern Hemisphere)

  The Two Categories that divide the Holidays are

1. The Solstia and Equinoces

2. Cross Quarter Days

 The Next Holiday is the Winter Solstice and it is December 22, 2003.  The last Holiday was Samhain, which was celebrated on Friday, October 31, 2003.

The Myth of the Dying King is a story about the life cycle of the God (general terms).  It starts with His Birth at the Winter Solstice.  He is a Child at Imbolc and the Goddess is renewed and becomes the Maiden again.  At the Spring Equinox, the God calls forth the baby animals and small wild things out of hiding, and the Goddess begins to bring fertility to the land.  At Beltane the God and Goddess become lovers and conceive Their Child.  By the Summer Solstice, the God is at the height of His power, the Goddess and all the world rejoice in His glory.  By Lughnasadh, we begin to feel the weakening of the Sun, and so too does the God.  The Goddess is heavy with Child at this time as well.  By the Autumn Equinox, the Goddess prepares the land for the death of the God, and the God is an old sage.  At Samhain the God dies, and the Goddess mourns His passing, but at the same time rejoices for soon She with give Birth to the Sun anew.

The Christian religion has a similar story with Jesus.  He was the Light of the World, the Sun of God, Born at the Winter Solstice (I know,  that was a fairly recent addition)  He Sacrificed Himself for His people by dying on the Cross, and rose from the dead after 3 days.  Another set of Dying God myths involve Dionysus, Osiris, Adonis and there are many, many others as well.

I think that the Birth-Death-Rebirth theme is so common in so many cultures because the people needed something to help remind them that life is cyclical, and that all things are born, die and eventually are reborn.  They saw it in Nature around them, and noticed it as well in their own lives.  I think it also helped people cope with the loss of friends and family, to give them hope that death isn’t the end.

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Part Three: (Equinoces and Solstia are the proper plurals for the words Equinox and Solstice.)  The Equinox and Solstice are days recognized by many cultures.  Why?  In some source material the solstia are referred to as “midsummer” and “midwinter.”  Why is this incorrect?  What do you think could lead a person to think that it was correct?

The Equinoces and Solstia are celebrated by so many cultures because it’s a bit hard NOT to notice them.  There are but 2 points in the year when day and night are equal all over the world and they are the Equinoces.  The Solstia are far more noticeable because during the Summer Solstice, the sun is visible for the longest amount of time.  Winter Solstice is the longest night and the point in the year when the days slowing begin to lengthen.

I think that the terms “Midsummer” and “Midwinter” come from when ancient cultures had only 2 seasons in the year, Summer and Winter.  The solstia occur in the middle of these seasons, so it is likely that is where the origin of these terms came from.  I also believe that in our modern society’s rush to try and recreate an “ancient” religion of our ancestors we were a little too hasty in our holiday name choices and chose names that have no real meaning in today’s world.  We have 4 seasons now, not 2.

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Part Four: Using the knowledge you earned in the First Circle, construct a solitary ritual for a Solstice or Equinox.  Dedicate the ritual to your patron and matron gods OR dedicate it to a set of gods that you feel appropriate to the festival.  Tell how the Circle should be cast, what colors and tools you would use?  Use your own words and knowledge.  Try to keep it simple.

Solitary Winter Solstice Ritual

The circle is ended.

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Part Five: Read the sections on the other holidays.  Using a Search engine find a published ritual for each of them.  Examine the rituals you’ve chosen.  What is good or bad about them?

Winter Solstice – http://wuzzle.org/cave/yulerit.html

This is a nice ritual because of its simplicity; it was designed to be used with non-pagans as well as pagans.  What I didn't like was the lack of meaningful symbolism and the fact that it seems rather long.

Imbolc – http://www.wicca.com/celtic/akasha/imbolcrit.htm

Another lovely ritual, but a bit short for my own personal tastes.  The symbolism is nice, but I feel it could've been a little more in depth.

Spring Equinox – http://www.the-night.net/rituals/spring.htm

I do like this ritual, except for all the archaic language and flowery stuff in it.  Granted, this is the time to celebrate Springtime and flowers, but all the “thee” and “thous” is really bothersome.

Beltane – http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/7585/Beltane.html

I don’t like how this ritual placed so much emphasis on the Goddess, there wasn't a single mention of the God and I feel that it was much too short.

Summer Solstice – http://www.draknet.com/spiraltree/RSS99.htm

I really like this ritual.  Its beauty is apparent in the words used during the ritual and the symbolism is very powerful.  Not much I didn’t like about it, as it expressed its purpose very eloquently.

Lughnasadh – http://www.geocities.com/eponasdreams/Lughrite1.html

This was an interesting one that I found, but I personally didn’t like it.  It was much too short and there could've been more symbolism.

Autumn Equinox – http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9802/mabon.html

This is one is good, it encompasses the spirit of thanksgiving.  Its very pretty and elegant.

Samhain – http://www.paganlibrary.com/rituals_spells/samhain_ritual.php

Long and drawn out, I like the symbolism in this one, but for some reason I didn’t like it, it was really long, and I think as the mother of a toddler, long rituals don’t really seem to fly for me.

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Part Six: Write a Ritual for one of the four Cross-Quarters or “harvest festivals.”   As in part four, use the knowledge from the first circle to explain every detail, try to keep the ritual simple.  It may be a coven ritual or a solitary one.

Samhain Ritual for a Solitary

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