ESSAY THREE - WHEEL OF THE YEAR

Druids celebrate eight major festivals spread more or less evenly throughout the year. These mark
the visible progress of the cycles of the seasons both in the natural world about us and in the sky
above. They are a means of integrating our consciousness with the created universe which is our
physical home, and through awareness of that universe, and our place within it, to come to a better
awareness of the Eternal Spirit of Light and our own Divine origins and destiny.

The eightfold schema is, in fact, two quite separate cycles of four quarterly festivals which interlock
with each other. These are the Great Tides, which are festivals of the Sun, and the Cross Quarters,
which are festivals of the Earth. Together, they demonstrate the principle of Polarity, the mutual
support of ‘complementary opposites’ such as male/female, light/dark or north/south.

The names by which these festivals are known vary from tradition to tradition. You will find a list of
these and alternative names below. For your own ceremonials, you may use whichever names you
feel most comfortable with, either from the given list or from other sources of your own.

The Great Tides mark the four Stations of the Sun which are the Solstices, when the Sun is at its
highest (Midsummer) and lowest (Yule) point in the sky, and the Equinoxes (Easter and Harvest)
which mark the midpoints of the Solar year. In the Western Tradition these are associated with Fire
(Sun) and Air (Sky) and are essentially male in character.

The Cross Quarters mark the visible changes in the pastoral and agricultural world around us;
essential for our survival and wellbeing - the first flowers in the field and on the bough (Candlemas
and Beltane), and first fruits and cattle-cull (Lammas and Samhain). These are associated primarily
with Earth and Water and are essentially female in character.

The Hemispheres: The origins of these festivals can be seen in the construction of the ancient tombs,
temples and stone circles that lie scattered across the face of the Earth. However, as we now know,
the seasons and the apparent movements of the Sun in the sky are reversed from one hemisphere of
the Earth to the other. Midsummer in the Southern Hemisphere is Midwinter in the North. Autumn
in one is Spring in the other. Once again, these are not opposites but polarities. Druids worldwide
celebrate the Festivals on the same day, but Druids in different Hemispheres celebrate the
complementary Festival appropriate to where they live. In this way, the Eightfold Year becomes a
dynamic worldwide structure, always in balance with itself, rather than a rigid form with one half
always out of kilter.

In addition to the obvious Earth/Sky associations, the Festivals of the Eightfold Year also hold many
esoteric and spiritual teachings for us as the year unfolds. We will discuss these in more detail in
later Monographs when we look at the Festivals one by one.

New Year. Druids traditionally start their New Year on the Festival of Samhain. However, the Druid
Festival of
Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere falls on the Festival of Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere
and vice-versa. This arrangement is clearly nonsensical. In addition, it is obvious that the passing of
the Year is cyclic, and may be visualised either as a circle or a spiral. Neither of these forms has any
point which is a logical or natural beginning or end. Any worldwide concept of New Year must be
arbitrary and only has a function when embedded in a year-counting system and as Druids do not
count years and use Common Era reckoning for all time recording purposes, then the idea of a Druid
New Year is superfluous but is retained by some Druids in recognition of an ancient and venerable
Druid tradition that had its purpose locally and regionally in the past.

Originally written by Chris Turner (Coifi), revised in part by Geoff Boswell.

Coifi's Wheel of the Year attached first appeared in Monograph 1-3 of the Druids of Albion training
course.

The 'Wheel of the Year' graphic attached by Geoff Boswell first appeared in the British Druid Order
publication 'Druidry: Rekindling the Sacred Fire' by Philip Shallcrass and Emma Restall Orr, 2002.

More of Coifi’s views of the Wheel of the Year can be found on our website
www.coryksgrove.weebly.com

Perhaps also read 'Ceremonies of the Seasons' by Jennifer Cole as an added example. I have
mentioned Siusaidh Ceanadach: A Ceremony For Every Occasion elsewhere. There are many others
that deal with this subject.