Souther Hemisphere
Wheel of the Year

Picture
​Samhain
Yule
Imbolc
Ostara
Beltane
Litha
Lammas
Mabon
​The Pagan Wheel of the Year turns through many significant dates & festivals. 

There are eight seasonal Sabbat & thirteen Esbats (full moons).

The Sabbats are divided into two groups - Greter & Lesser. 
The Greater Sabbats (cross quarter days); Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lammas, fall on dates that represent high energy in the season. 

The Lesser Sabbats; Yule, Ostara, Litha and Mabon, fall on the equinoxes and solstices, the dates of which vary slightly from year to year, and they mark the changes of the four seasons. 

This seasonal cycle is one of the key ways in which we see the processes of birth, growth, death & rebirth play themselves out.  The philosophy of the Wheel of the Year was created to illustrate this cycle.  Although it may vary between different traditions the underlying theme is the same.

Rituals of the Sabbats

  • In midwinter, the Goddess gives birth to a son, the God, who grows to adolescence by spring. 
  • In spring, the Goddess appears to the God in a youthful form. She falls pregnant to him & grows in beauty through summer & autumn. 
  • Over the same time the God ages & slowly dies, symbolizing winter. 
  • In the darkest time, when the days are at their shortest, the Goddess gives birth to her son, the God.
  • She will again take as a lover in spring, continuing the life cycle or spiral.​
Triple Goddess 

  • The changing aspects of Maiden, Mother & Crone. 
  • The God brings forth the force of projective energy, the Spark of Life & also the withdrawing & destructive energy of Death. 
  • The Goddess absorbs, reflects & transforms these energies. 
  • The Goddess & God are viewed as immortal & imperishable; they are the Duality of the Divine. 
  • Their different aspects are a symbolic shifting of cycles, ones we discover within ourselves, our World & throughout our own lives. 
  • This is the process that produces balance & harmony; within & without, above & below.

We are still dependent upon the forces of nature, we observe the Sabbats to establish & maintain a balance with nature. Sabbats are also a time for us to look within, to reassess out path taken so far & reaffirm the directions we wish to take in the future.

There are many other versions of these that can be found across different mediums including books, web sites & folk lore.