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In a culture that turns to time as a measure of productivity and forward momentum, the Wheel of the Year offers a return to cyclical living rather than the more familiar linear approach. 🔄
Lately, I’ve taken to using the Wheel’s teachings with my children. We turn to the different celebrations to inspire crafts and activities that bring us closer to the shifts happening all around us. For example, as we begin planning our garden, we use the Wheel as inspiration for what we plant and how we tend it. As we witness each season’s changes, we turn to the Wheel for ways to connect to the outdoors.
My children also love helping to create an altar and often feel a deep sense of connection to the things they add — rocks they’ve found outside or pictures of loved ones. And of course, we talk about how nature is always shifting and changing, and how we can hold reverence for the changes within our own lives as well.
The Wheel of the Year is a Pagan framework for reconnecting to the seasons through celebration, ritual, and craft. Instead of structuring life around modern Western holidays, this ancient seasonal calendar invites us to move with the solstices, equinoxes, and the quiet turning points in between.
“This ancient seasonal calendar invites us to move with the solstices, equinoxes, and the quiet turning points in between.”
Rooted in agrarian societies across Europe, the Wheel reflects a time when communities lived in close relationship with land, harvests, light, and darkness. It honors four major Celtic fire festivals still recognized today:
Samhain (October 31st or November 1st) – End of harvest, beginning of winter
Imbolc (February 1st) – First stirrings of spring
Beltane (May 1st) – Fertility and summer’s approach
Lúnasa (on or around August 1st) – First harvest
To visualize the Wheel, imagine it as a wagon wheel with eight spokes: two solstices, two equinoxes, and four cross-quarter days that fall between them. The fire festivals mark those in-between thresholds, while the solstices and equinoxes anchor moments of balance.
The Wheel reminds us that nature does not move in a straight line. It circles. It blooms. It rests. It returns. And in connecting to this way of life, we are offered a more embodied way of moving through the year.
*Note that all the dates listed here reflect the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Wheel turns in the opposite direction!
Understanding the Wheel’s eight spokes — and how to use them
I’ve explained each of the wheel’s eight spokes and offered practices for celebrating them below. Much of this wisdom has been inspired by “The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Rhythms” by Fiona Cook and Jessica Roux, alongside modern pagan traditions and nature-based spirituality practices.
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Imbolc: February 1st
The wheel has no end or beginning, but we can look to Imbolc as the first spoke on the Wheel. The word comes from Old Irish, meaning “in the belly.” In ancient Ireland, it signaled the first day of spring.
It is a time of anticipation for more blooming to come. Imbolc honors patience in darkness while offering hope for what is slowly forming. Just as seeds take root underground long before green shoots appear, this season asks us not to rush.
“Imbolc honors patience in darkness while offering hope for what is slowly forming.”
Imbolc is also associated with Brigid, a Celtic goddess of poetry, healing, inspiration, and sacred fire. It is said she warms the earth with her long dress flowing at her feet as she crosses the land, awakening the sleeping earth. As more light returns, Brigid governs the promise of spring, the warmth glowing beneath the frost.
Rituals & practices:
- Journal and write poetry: Bring your pen to paper and write anything that comes to mind.
- Go for nature walks: Witness the subtle changes in the season, look for hints of color, notice the shift in the sun, and notice the smell of the air.
- Start planning your garden: Gather seeds and materials, and sketch it out — whether big or small, begin to connect with what you might want to grow.
- Create an Imbolc altar: Use candles, add the poems you wrote, and set intentions for opening your heart after finding a more protective approach during the winter months.
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Ostara (spring equinox): On or around March 20th
Ostara celebrates the official dawn of spring and the spring equinox.
Named after the goddess Ēostre, Ostara represents fertility, renewal, and awakening. The English word Easter comes from this root word. Hares, rabbits, and eggs are symbols long associated with spring.
Think of it like this: Imbolc is the seed stirring, while Ostara is the sprout breaking soil.
“Think of it like this: Imbolc is the seed stirring, while Ostara is the sprout breaking soil.”
This is a time to witness a moment of hope; a time to feel the spirit and body come alive alongside the earth outside. It’s a time to continue processing the lessons of winter while setting new intentions for growth and balance in the coming season.
Rituals & practices:
- Use the five senses: While outside on walks, see the buds poking out of the earth, smell the dirt and rain, taste the sweetness in the spring air, feel your feet on the cold earth and the sun on your skin, and lastly, hear the birds and the wind.
- Plant your garden: Use your Imbolc plans to begin planting your seeds. Deciding on which seeds you want to plant and grow by summer. Plant herbs like chamomile, mint, oregano, tulsi, rosemary, lavender, and thyme.
- Set intentions: During this time of celebration of birth and renewal, write down your hopes and dreams — spring wishes for yourself, your family, and your community. Light a candle on the equinox to seal your intentions for the coming season.
- Create a spring equinox altar: Add an animal symbol you connect with, such as a feather. Add natural elements like rocks, mushrooms, herbs, flowers, and seeds. Use colors like pastel yellow, green, white, pink, and light blue.
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Beltane: On or around May 1st
Beltane (or in Irish, Bealtaine) means “Bright Fire,” and arrives between the spring equinox and summer solstice.
In ancient Ireland, great bonfires were lit to honor life and protection. Druids (shamans in Celtic culture who communicated with nature and the spirit world) were responsible for lighting the fires atop hills to bring communities together. Farmers would also lead their livestock around the fires to protect them from disease. Today, the festival still burns at the Hill of Uisneach, considered the symbolic center of Ireland.
“This holiday is all about life — a celebration of all living bodies on earth.”
This holiday is all about life — a celebration of all living bodies on earth. Beltane offers the opportunity to enjoy and explore what it means to be alive. Move your body, breathe, and feel your blood circulating.
Think of Ostara as awakening, while Beltane is embodiment.
Rituals & practices:
- Move the body: Involve practices that get the blood moving and, ideally, bring you outside into the warming sun. Stretch outside, run, walk, hike, do jumping jacks, or dance. Notice how movement begins to spark some creative fire within.
- Tend to your plants: Sprouts from your planted seeds will begin to emerge from the soil at Beltane, and now is the time to nurture them. This also symbolizes how we can tend to ourselves and our community.
- Use dandelion medicine: Wash the yellow blooms, place them in a cup of warm water, strain the flowers, add some honey, and enjoy their cleansing and cooling properties. Also, use the dandelion greens after thoroughly washing them, either raw in a salad or cooked with butter. (Read more about consuming dandelions medicinally here, and always be mindful of allergies.)
- Create a Beltane altar: One that mirrors the bright colors that have arrived outside. Add a green candle, natural elements that are green, bright flowers, drawings, or creative projects that you created.
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Midsummer (summer solstice): Usually June 21st
The summer solstice marks the peak of the Wheel and the full bloom of summer. This solstice brings the longest day and the most hours of light. “Solstice” means “sun” and “stand still,” as the sun appears to pause in the sky.
“This solstice brings the longest day and the most hours of light.”
There are many ways to embody and embrace this joyous time of the year. The plants and flowers are in full bloom, the air is warm and comforting, and our natural instinct is to get outside and embrace the life around us.
Rituals & practices:
- Spend the whole day outside: Find a special place in nature you love and pack the essentials for being outside the whole day; food, sunscreen, a hat, a book, a journal, a pen, music, a blanket, and of course water. Allowing the full bloom and warmth of summer hold you for the day. To deepen your connection to nature, try going technology-free!
- Make a bouquet from your garden: Walk through your tended garden and witness the flowers and herbs you’ve been tending to. Thank them for growing and thriving. Ask them if you can pick them and see which flowers and herbs respond—these will be your allies. Then make a bundle or bouquet of all the plants together to be a reminder of growth and abundance.
- Eat fruit of the season: Find your local farmer’s market and stock up on all the local fruit of the season, based on where you live. In Colorado, this time of year is peach season. We spend the days picnicking with the warm juice of peaches dripping off our chins.
- Create a summer solstice altar: Include the bouquet or herbs you picked from your garden. Include other items you’ve collected or feel special in honor of summer. Aim to make your altar rainbow-colored to honor the vibrancy of life this time of year.
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Lúnasa: August 1st
Lúnasa is another cross-quarter day between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. Lúnasa is the Irish word for August. In ancient Celtic times, Lughnasadh — named after the god Lugh — was celebrated as one of the harvest festivals. Today, Lúnasa honors harvest, liberation, and union.
“Today, Lúnasa honors harvest, liberation, and union.”
During this time of year, summer begins to slow. The heat lingers, and a quieter anticipation emerges. A feeling of waiting for cooler, shorter days, and the return of a more inward approach to daily life.
Rituals & practices:
- Go outside in the evening: With the peak heat of August days, embrace the coolness of the evenings. Witness the moon and the phase it’s in, the stars, the bugs, and the sounds in nature only heard at night.
- Give extra water to your garden: This is the harvest time to pick any vegetables you grew in your garden. It’s especially important to water your garden during this time of year. With the dry, hot weather, your plants are extra thirsty. Honor plants, flowers, and food that did not survive summer’s heat and think of how you might tend differently in the next season.
- Swim in a natural body of water: Not only does this help cool the body during the hottest part of summer, but it also serves as a cleansing, letting go of anything the heat brings up in the mind. Thank the water for its life-giving force, and allow it to hold you.
- Make a Lúnasa altar: Bring in colors of yellow and gold to represent the sun and the harvest. Add candles, an ear of corn, and anything else that’s held you during the summer season.
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Mabon (autumn equinox): September 21st–24th
Mabon celebrates the balance of light and dark as seen in the autumn equinox.
It is Mabon that ushers us into the threshold of a darker, quieter time of year. Mabon celebrates the balance of light and dark. It ushers us into a quieter season. As routines return and the school year begins, there’s both comfort and resistance to structure. Nature mirrors this shift.
“It is Mabon that ushers us into the threshold of a darker, quieter time of year.”
Alongside the call to darker days, a quieter time for our minds can be both calming and uncomfortable. There’s a witnessing of this yin/yang energy all around, and Mabon offers the opportunity to get curious about the juxtaposition.
Think of spring as expansion, while autumn is discernment.
Rituals & practices:
- Honor the balance of dark & light in your life: This is a time for witnessing how emotional darkness and upset can be the groundwork for learning and expansion. Pay attention to how both themes show up in everyday life.
- Harvest your garden: Now is the time to collect all the food and herbs, and give the garden a rest for the months to come. If you have fruit or veggies, canning is a great way to preserve what you grew. Alongside, drying herbs you planted will allow for you to use their magic through the winter.
- Practice automatic writing: This is a ritual for entering the subconscious mind and allowing any thoughts or feelings to surface on paper without conscious effort. Begin in a grounded state, light a candle, and set a time for 5 minutes. Let the thoughts flow from your pen.
- Make a Mabon altar: Collect autumn leaves and the fruits of the season, like apples and gourds. Anything that feels calming and anchoring, helping find the balance of light and dark.
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Samhain: October 31st–November 1st
Samhain (pronounced SAH-wen) means “summer’s end.” Between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice is the arrival of this special celebration. It is another fire festival, yet this one is to pay respect to the dead. Celtic tradition believes there’s an otherworld that is parallel to ours. It’s a world filled with magical creatures like fairies, spirits, and ghosts. It is believed that at this time of year, the veil between the two worlds is thinner.
“Samhain offers the opportunity for inward reflection and a chance to honor those who have passed. “
Many of Western Halloween traditions were inspired by Samhain. Yet while Halloween is fun, spooky, and extroverted, Samhain offers the opportunity for inward reflection and a chance to honor those who have passed.
This is a time for a deep exhale. The garden rests. The earth grows still. We honor endings and transitions.
Rituals & practices:
- Feel your feelings: Whether you are honoring someone who has passed or not, this time of year often has an air of sensitivity. Allow your feelings of grief in any form to come without trying to control them.
- Put your garden to sleep: At this point, it has stopped producing and is ready to rest for winter. Trim any dead leaves, collect any seeds produced by your plants, and if the soil feels very dry, keep watering your garden, but overall, you’ll return to it in the spring.
- Notice messages & symbols: With the veil being thinner this time of year, allow yourself to be open to synchronicities. Noticing patterns of symbols in your life can offer the opportunity to experience a different connection to the otherworld.
- Make a Samhain altar: For this altar, add photos of your ancestors and those who have passed along with objects that belonged to them or remind you of them. Light candles, add pumpkins, dried herbs, and incense. Light the candles for those you’ve lost, and while you gaze upon the light and their photos, talk to them, write to them, and imagine all that you loved about them.
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Yule (winter solstice): Usually December 21st
Yule lands on the winter solstice. The shortest day and longest night. While the summer solstice corresponds with the sun at its peak, the winter solstice — directly across from the summer solstice in the wheel — corresponds with the full moon. This season reminds us that light returns, even in the deepest dark.
“This season reminds us that light returns, even in the deepest dark.”
Though the darkness of this day will be a theme throughout winter, there is also merriment this time of year and even brightness through lights and candles. There’s a reason this time of year is also about giving. Through presents, letters, and time, we come together to celebrate and find hope during the darker, colder months.
Rituals & practices:
- Honor the Moon: Connecting to the moon can be intuitive and enlightening. Whether you spend time with the full moon, new moon, or any of the phases inbetween. Write your own affirmations on a full moon, write what is no longer serving you on a new moon. Little rituals to connect to the energy.
- Make fire cider: This powerful tonic supports deep immune health. It’s made from powerful plants and herbs like ginger, horseradish, turmeric, oregano, thyme, and cayenne— to name a few. Use this recipe or any other as a jumping-off point, but ultimately use your intuition for how you want to make it and what your body wants you to add.
- Make gifts and write letters: Without waiting for a specific holiday, use this slower time of year to write and create for others. Opening the heart to generosity and love for the community and friendships that surround and support you.
- Make a winter solstice altar: This altar can be one that brings in the warm, loving, and cozy time of the year. Collect a sprig of pine needles, a yule log, cinnamon sticks, pinecones, and, of course, candles. Bring in colors of gold, red, white, and green.
And then, once again, beneath the surface, Imbolc begins to stir. ✨
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Wherever you live in this beautiful world, let the Wheel become a quiet companion.
A framework for returning to rhythm. Use the Wheel of the Year as a touchpoint for deeper awareness and connection to the seasons. Find pockets of time to honor each shift. Choose rituals that feel aligned with where you live. Use the wheel as a reminder that every ending also ushers in a beginning.
Courtney Jay Higgins is a Contributing Editor at The Good Trade. She has a BA in Visual Communications from The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and is the founder of Coincide, a subscription-based yoga platform focusing on inclusive, sustainable yoga rooted in ancient Eastern practices and spirituality. Her 10+ years of experience in yoga include a 200-hr YTT certification in a Hatha-based yoga practice and a certification in prenatal yoga. She has been featured in Shoutout Colorado, Voyage Denver, and Cora’s Blood & Milk. Since 2017, she has been reviewing sustainable fashion, natural makeup, organic wellness, and safe pregnancy products for The Good Trade’s readers.
