People often ask me why do I do it? What do I hope to accomplish through it? As if there is some selfish profit to be gained. I have always been at a loss for words at how to answer them. I do rituals to feel a sense of wholesome connection, a unity with the cosmos, a serenity that comes from knowing you are part of a grand harmony of life. It is a ceremony of setting aside of space, time, and mind to commune with the sacred, a way for us to shift our consciousness from the mundane and to reaffirm our existence in a wider reality. To honor something through ritual is to give it your full attention, your full sincerity, and your full trust.

I do rituals to attune myself with the turning of the seasons, to align myself with the changing moon phases, to flow with the natural current of energy abundant at that time instead of against it. I do rituals to express my love to the less physical beings all around me, to show that there are many who still value their presence, to thank them for the wonderful job they're doing in sustaining our mutual planet's ecosystems and ask how I could help. I do rituals to remind myself that life is full of enchantment, and that deep wisdom can be gleaned from things we often take for granted. I do rituals to express physically what I feel in my heart, and I hope it brightens the hearts of others.

Some people believe rituals are done to appease wrathful deities. Indeed, in the past it was believed that if certain seasonal rituals weren't performed, the seasons would not change and the sun would not rise (although this had more to do with "sympathetic magick" than wrathful gods). My attitude about it is somewhat different. The universe will go on with or without you, but by attuning yourself with it through ritual you have a better chance of understanding your place in it. Perhaps you will learn to surf its waves rather than swimming upstream, and will enjoy the ride a lot more.

Ritual Index

Though solar holidays are a global phenomenon, the ones I list here were adapted by Wicca and Neopaganism from the Celtic heritage and have an agricultural theme. Though most people in industrialized nations live far from such an intimate link with the land, it is important to remember that sowing and reaping are abstract concepts not limited to the fruits of the earthly harvest. They equally apply to matters of business, learning, and creativity as well. There are some variations on the dates. Some are due to astronomical reasons (the dates of solstices and equinoxes drift from year to year) while others are due to a temporal gap between old Celtic and modern western calendars. The Celtic year starts from death, not birth, and the Celtic day starts from evening, not morning. So the Celtic new year is actually on Samhain (Halloween), and the holiday begins the evening before the day itself.

Of course, each culture has its own plethora of holidays to celebrate the seasons, and it would perhaps be better to look into the festivals of your local culture, because they would perhaps make more sense in your immediate environment. It would also be wise to study the seasonal holidays of your own ancestors. But in either case, the seasons speak in such universal symbolism, that I doubt what you find will vary greatly between each other in the essential ideas.

Generally speaking, the waxing half of the cycle represents the Maiden, and bears the energy of increase and invoking; the full moon represents the Mother, and bears the energy of climax and abundance; the waning half of the cycle represents the Crone, and bears the energy of decrease and banishing; and the new moon represents the transition between the Crone and the Maiden, and bears the energy of rebirth and new beginnings. Although the exact astronomical date of a moon phase is most relevant, the days adjacent to it could also be considered part of that phase, giving you a three day window.