Celtic Festivals

The Celtic wheel of the year

In this modern age of city living and science-ruled society, many of us have lost touch with the ebb and flow of the seasons and our place in the natural world. The Celtic festivals remind you of your closeness to nature and help you celebrate your connection with all living things, inspired by the turning of the seasons reflected on the changing face of the land. Some of these Celtic festivals are still honoured today – although often without recognising their true origins.

The most current Celtic festival is described below. This is for the Northern hemisphere as I live in Wales, UK but they’re reversed for the Southern hemisphere. For information on all the Celtic Festivals that make up the Wheel of the Year, scroll down the page.

Imbolc, Winter cross quarter festival, Sunday 1st February

Imbolc celebrates the reawakening of the earth, new life, and the noticeable return of the light. Lambs are born at this time of year, which may have given rise to the name Imbolc. Its possible origin lies in three Irish words, meaning “in the belly”, “ewe’s milk”, or “washing, purification”. The 1st or 2nd February are popular dates to celebrate. The astrological point of Imbolc is on Monday 3rd February this year.

In the Irish tradition, Imbolc is closely linked with St Brigid of Kildare who was associated with a sacred perpetual fire, said to have been kept alight for ten centuries until Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic church. The tradition was revived again in 1993 and the fire is still tended and kept burning today by the Brigidine sisters at Solas Bhride.

Although there’s no clear documented evidence for it, only very intriguing hints, it’s likely that the Christian St Brigid was developed from the much older Celtic triple goddess Brigid or Ffraid in Wales. She had three aspects as poet, smith – there’s the fire connection – and healer/renewer. At Imbolc Brigid has become her maiden self again, blessed with intuition and inspiration, a keeper of the spark of life and so renewal. The association with the goddess Brigid in her fiery aspect also makes sense, as lighting and tending fires was an integral element of the major Celtic festivals.

The church adopted the Imbolc celebration as Candlemas (on February 2nd) honouring the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple after Mary had completed her ritual period of purification following birth. The symbolic lighting of candles at this time carries that same sense of light and life returning; the spark that animates the darkness.

Personally, you can acknowledge the potential to manifest all you have nurtured and learned through the dormant Winter months. A magical alchemy takes place now when you join the spark of intuition from deep within your unconscious to the intellect of consciousness, resulting in fertility and growth on all levels. This is the secret of Imbolc.

The astrological point of Imbolc this year is on Tuesday 3rd February at 8.02pm.

Imbolc energy

As the earth begins to stir and the life-force begins to strengthen within the soil, you can now express the visions and inner understanding of the dark months in an active, outward way; perhaps through poetry, song, and art. Let your unconscious and consciousness join together to bring about growth, fertility, and manifestation. Call on the rising life-force around and within you. Use its dynamic energy to activate your intuitive visions and dreams for a new and better way of life.

How to celebrate

Invite friends round for a “planting party” to symbolise the growth and manifestation of their new ideas and dreams. Ask everyone to bring a packet of seeds and then share them out for planting in small window boxes, letting each guest take one home to keep on their window sill. As you plant, take it in turns to express your creativity by sharing a poem, telling a story or singing a song, or simply celebrating your accomplishments as you move forward into the active phase of the year.

With thanks to Glennie Kindred for her excellent source book Sacred Celebrations.

Celtic wheel of the year

There are eight Celtic festivals marking our cycle through the wheel of the year (the most current one is described at the top of this page):

Samhain – Autumn cross quarter festival, end of October/beginning of November

Winter solstice – Winter quarter point, 20 to 23 December

Imbolc – Winter cross quarter festival, 1st/2nd February

Spring equinox – Spring quarter point, 21 – 22 March

Beltane – Spring cross quarter festival, end of April/beginning of May

Summer solstice – Summer quarter point, 20 to 23 June

Lammas (Lughnasadh) – Summer cross quarter festival, end July/beginning August

Autumn equinox – Autumn quarter point, 20 – 23 September

Samhain – Autumn cross quarter festival, end of October/beginning of November

The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night, when the Celts acknowledged the great turning wheel of the year and of time itself (yule actually means wheel in Norwegian). The winter solstice was a time to pause and look back at the dark period since Samhain when the earth and its people had turned inward to gather energy and nurture dreams, and to look forward to the approaching return of the sun and a new season of activity.

The Celts did not view time in a linear way. The solstice was another station on the wheel of life – a part of the endless cycle of birth, death and then re-birth of something new. They decorated their homes with evergreens which represented this cycle of everlasting life – Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe which still have their place in Christmas celebrations today. Yule logs, candles, decorated trees and presents all have their roots in this ancient honouring of the sun’s return, bringing with it a new season of light, warmth and activity. The church deliberately chose this time of year to celebrate the arrival of its own Son!

In many cultures there are myths of sun gods and, further back, goddesses, who are born at this time, sacrificed or taken into the underworld with the end of the summer, and reborn to begin the cycle again at the winter solstice. This is the sun’s birthday!