The Celts measured the Solar
year on a wheel, circle or spiral, all of which symbolize creation and the constant
movement of the universe – growth and development. To the ancients, the heavens
appeared to wheel overhead, turning on an axis which points to the north polar stars. The
Celtic Nations consisted of: Alba (Scotland), Breizh (Brittany), Cymru (Wales), Eiru
(Ireland), Kernow (Cornwall), Mannin (Isle of Man) and Galiza.This Sun-wise, clockwise, or deiseal
(Gaelic), motion of the wheel, with seemingly no beginning or end, signified that as one
cycle ended another began in an eternal cycle. The spiral's never-ending, always
expanding, motion also symbolized the ever-increasing nature of information and knowledge.
Many of these symbols often also appeared in triplicate, a sign of the Divine.
In addition, the seasons of the
year were thought to be part of this cycle. In Gaelic, the names of the four seasons date
back to pre-Christian times: 1) Earrach for "Spring," 2) Samhradh for
"Summer," 3) Foghara for "Harvest" which refers to Autumn, and 4)
Geamhradh for "Winter." (Ross, 1976)
The Celtic Wheel has two main
fire festivals for purification and good fortune: Samhain and Beltane – the beginning
of Winter and the beginning of Summer. To the Celts, mostly a pastoral culture, the year
actually had two seasons instead of four. Subtler divisions of the year concerned
crop-raisers rather than cattle-raisers, which includes two additional fire festivals:
Imbolc, and Lammas. We know that the Celts were aware of, but did not necessarily
celebrate four additional festivals: Winter Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Summer Solstice, and
Autumnal Equinox. This article attempts to briefly explain how ancient Celtic cultural
groups celebrated the festivals of the year and compare those customs to how modern
Christian and Pagan groups celebrate those same festivals. Some contemporary Druid and
many Wiccan groups celebrate all eight festivals, but many Celtic Reconstructionist (CR)
groups celebrate only the four main feasts. The Christian tradition has retained some
influences from these ancient festivals as well, transferring the identities of many
figures from deities to saints. For an overview of the Wheel cycle as part of the deities
of the Celts, see the: Celtic Deity FAQ.)
SAMHAIN
(pronounced "Sow-wen," or in
Scots-Gaelic, "Sha-vin")
After the last apples are
picked, the Celtic year began again with its dark winter half when the Earth rested and
fertility was renewed. Also called Samhiunn or Hallowe'en, this festival is also called
Trinoux Samonia or "Three Nights of the End of Summer." It is celebrated on the
eve of November 1 (October 31). Technically, either date is appropriate as the Celts
measured the day from sunset to sunset. In the Celtic tale The Wasting Sickness of
Cuchulainn, Samhain is celebrated for a total of seven days – three days before, the
day of, and three days after.
Samhain was a time when spirits
could mix freely with humans, when the veil of the Otherworld was thin. This suspension of
time extended to the laws of society, so that all kinds of boisterous behavior could be
indulged. At the end of the festval, several beasts were sacrificed whose life-energy
replenished the dormant soil. In origin, Samhain was a pastoral festival, held to assist
the tribe's fertility, to placate the dead and evil forces, to please the Gods (and later
the Saints who replaced them) and as a clear distinction between the joys of Harvest and
the hardships of the approaching Winter.
The assemblies of the five
Irish provinces at Tara Hill, the seat of the Irish king, took place at Samhain, marked by
horse races, fairs, markets, pastoral assembly rites, political discussions and ritual
mourning for the passage of Summer. In the Christian tradition, these two dates are
celebrated as All Souls' Day and All Saints Day.
Rituals
- In the Scottish Highlands,
many crofts had their own bonfire, or samhnag, but one house was usually a popular
gathering place. In early Celtic tradition, Samhain was closely associated with burial
mounds, or cairns, which were believed to be entrances to the Otherworld.
In Fortingall (in Perthshire), a samhnag was built on a mound known as Carn nam Marbh,
"The Mound of the Dead." (Ross,
1976) Local lore has it that the mound contained
the bodies of plague victims and is actually a Bronze Age tumulus. A stone, known as the
Clach a' Phaigh, "the Plague Stone," crowned the mound. Once the bonfire was
lit, the participants would join hands and dance around it, both Sun-wise and
anti-Sun-wise. As the blaze waned, the younger attendants would take part in leaping games
over the flame. No guisers appeared in this particular tradition, the bonfire was the sole
center of attention.
- In the Highlands, after
Sunset many of the youth carried a blazing torch and circuited the boundaries of their
farms in order to protect the family from the Faeries and malevolent forces. New fire,
kindled from the sacred communal blaze, was then brought into each house. Like the Beltain
fire, the Samhain bonfire was most likely made from tein-eigin, or need-fire, fire made
from the friction of two pieces of wood. (Ross,
1976)
WINTER SOLSTICE
The Winter Solstice also is
referred to as Yule, Mabon, Jul, Saturnalia, and even Christmas. This feast takes place on
or about December 21 and marks the longest, darkest night of the year. To many ancient
European groups, this was a festival of peace and a celebration of waxing solar light.
While little is known about how the Celts celebrated this event, some contemporary groups
honor the forthcoming Sun child by burning an oaken Yule log; the Goddess in her many
Mother aspects; and the Father God as Santa Claus in his Old Sky God, Father Time, and
Holly King forms. To the Celts, Winter symbolized the time in the womb – a deep
rejuvinative sleep or a necessary pathway to rebirth, rather than nature's death. It is
not known if the Celts celebrated this time in these ways, but it is assumed they were
aware of celestial time.
Because there is disagreement
as to the exact birthdate of Jesus Christ, some believe the Church assigned it to this
time, a date already sacred to the Ancients. Christians celebrate Jesus' birth on December
25.
As the foundation for the
American Groundhog Day, Brigid's snake came of its mound in which it hibernated and its
behavior was said to determine the length of the remaining Winter. The Welsh came to
associate this feast with the Virgin Mary, calling it Gwyl Mair Dechrau'r, "The Feast
of Mary of the Beginning of Spring."
An ancient Irish story tells of
how on the eve of this day, the Cailleach, or White Lady, drinks from the ancient Well of
Youth at dawn. Many Wiccans believe that she is then transformed into her Maiden aspect.
Wells were considered to be sacred because they arose from oimbelc (literally "in the
belly") or womb of Mother Earth.
VERNAL EQUINOX
The Vernal, or Spring, Equinox
takes place on or about March 21. An equinox refers to the time of the year when the sun
crosses the plane of the Earth's Equator, making night and day equal length all over the
planet. Crops were typically sown at this time, a time of transition. While we do not know
how the Celts observed this event, it is known that times of transition, or in-between
times, were considered sacred in Celtic culture.
BELTANE
(pronounced Bee-YAWL-tinnuh)
Beltane, one of two Celtic fire festivals, is
a celebration of the return of life and fertility to the world which takes place on April
30. It is sometimes referred to as Cetsamhain which means "opposite Samhain." In
the Celtic countries the festival was known by other names, such as Cétshamain in
Ireland, Bealtuinn in Scotland, Boaldyn on the Isle of Man, Cyntefin, Dydd, Calan Mai in
Wales, Cala Me in Cornwall and Kala-Hanv in Brittany.
The word "Beltaine"
literally means "bright" or "brilliant fire," and refers to the
bonfire lit by a presiding Druid in honor of the proto-Celtic god variously known as Bel,
Beli, Balar, Balor or Belenus. Bel, the god of light, fire and healing, had Sun-like
qualities, but was not purely a Sun god as the Celts were not specifically Sun
worshippers.
In Irish mythology, the great
undertakings of theTuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians – the original supernatural
inhabitants of Eiru and their human conquerors, respectively – began at Beltane. The
Milesians were led by Amairgen, son of Mil, in folklore reputed to be the first Druid.
Other beliefs tell of the
Summer God being released from captivity (an echo of the freeing of the child Mabon from
the Mabinogion tale Culhwch and Olwen), or the Summer Maiden wooed away from her
Earth-giant father. The Hawthorne tree represents the giant and sometimes this wood is
used for the Maypole, a custom with Germanic origins
Rituals
- Two bonfires were kindled by a
presiding Druid most likely from tein-eigin, fire made from the friction of two pieces of
sacred wood, most likely an Oak-plank. The Druids, the powerful Pagan Celtic priests,
would drive the cattle between these two fires to protect them from disease, ensuring a
high milk yield. In some traditions, this fire may have originally symbolized the
sacrifice of the Oak-god.
- In ancient Ireland, no one could
light a Bel-fire until the Ard Ri, or High King, had lit the first on Tara Hill. In 433
A.D., St. Patrick showed his deep understanding of this festival's symbolism when he lit a
fire on Slane Hill, ten miles from Tara, before the High King Laoghaire lit his. He could
not have made a stronger usurpation of the people's faith. St. David made a similar
gesture in Wales in the following century.
- Sometimes, a procession was made
around the fields with a burning torch of wood in order to obtain a blessing on the corn.
- On this day, all hearth-fires
were extinguished to be rekindled from this sacred fire.
- A Celtic as well as Germanic
tradition is that of the King & Queen of May. The May couple, going by various names
and clad in green leaves or flowers, represented the "anthropomorphic spirit of
vegetation." (Frazier, 1993) One telling explains that the Queen would ride in on a
white horse and the King on a black one. The Goddess on a white horse has a powerful
association in Celtic mythology. When Niamh of the Golden Hair came to take Oissin away to
the Land of Promise, it is upon a white steed that she rode. Rhian Gabhra, or Rhiannon of
the Gaels, rides a white mare in the Otherworldly realms. In both Welsh and Irish
traditions the white mare is representative of the Goddess in the
Otherworld.
- The ancients would also then go
and make love on the ground, prompting the crops to be fertile. Frazier in The Golden
Bough, quotes puritanical writer Phillip Stubbes in his Anatomie of Abuses (1583) who
comments: "Against May, Whitsonday, or other time, all the yung men and maides, olde
men and wives, run gadding over night to the woods, groves, hils, and mountains where they
spend all the night in plesant pastimes. .
- Another, similar rite that took
place at Beltane is called the "bringing the May." (Frazier, 1993) The youth
would go out into the fields and collect flowers. They would often spend the night in the
wood, which resulted in many "greenwood marriages," or "handfastings."
In the village, they would stop at each home and exchange the flowers for food and drink.
Thus, they became the harbingers of the renewal of the Earth. This rite also represented
the need of the communal tribe or clan to share their belongings, sustaining the entire
population as a result.
- In Cornwall on May Eve people
would tear branches from hawthorn and sycamore trees and decorate the outside of their
homes. The hawthorn, or whitethorn, is the tree of hope, pleasure and protection.
(Frazier, 1993)
- Another custom would be to jump
over the fire. Young people jumped the fire for luck in finding a spouse, sojourners
jumped the fire to ensure a safe journey, and pregnant women jumped the fire to assure an
easy delivery.
- On May 1, the entire tribe,
village or clan would lead the cattle to the Summer buailte (pronounced
"booa-ltuh") or pastures until Samhain.
SUMMER
SOLSTICE
This festival also is referred
to as Litha or Midsummer's Day and takes place on June 21 and marks the shortest,
brightest night of the year. Midsummer's Day was traditionally celebrated out in the
forest and involved masquerades, picnics, games, and, at night, a bonfire to cut the
chill.
LUGHNASAD
In Celtic culture, Lughnasad
("Loo-nahs-ah") is the feast of the god Lugh and the subsequent names for this
festival include Lúnasdal (Scots Gaidhlig), and Laa Luanistyn (Manx). (MacKillop, 1998)
This feast also is known as Lammas, from the Saxon word Hlaf-mass, the Feast of Bread.
Celebrated on August 1,
Lughnasad was sometimes referred to as the nasad, or games, of Lugh, son of Ethle in the
Scottish Highlands. An early Irish tradition has it that Lugh established the festival in
honor of his foster-mother Tailtiu, a close relationship in the Celtic custom. In Ireland,
Lugh also is referred to as Lugh of the Long Hand. An Irish myth tells of the greedy
Fomorian Earth-spirits that must be persuaded to relinquish the fruits of the soil to
humans. In some Wiccan and folk traditions, the "Corn King" dies, to be later
reborn, so that the tribe may go into the winter months with sustenance plenty.
Rituals
- English folk tradition, a mix of
Celtic and Germanic influences, tells of farmers cutting down the first stalks of corn
with sickles and calling these stalks John Barleycorn. This first grain is used to produce
the first beer of the season, for consumption at the Autumnal Equinox six weeks later.
- In Wicca, the Horned One is
thought to be the consort of the Earth Goddess. (See Beltane explanation.)
- Some harvest festivals usually
included a Stag Dance in which men wore antlers on their heads.
AUTUMNAL EQUINOX
Also is called Harvesthome,
this feast takes place on September 21 and marks the last harvest before Winter claims the
Earth. As with the Vernal Equinox, day and night are of equal length across the planet.
Some Wiccan and folk traditions
see this time of year as the Waning of the Goddess. From the Summer to the Winter Solstice
they may hold festivals for the God. |
