The Celtic Wheel
EIGHT FESTIVALS
We celebrate eight festivals throughout the cycle of a year. These ritual thresholds include 4 earth festivals (cross quarter days) and 4 solar festivals (solstices and equinoxes).
A guide to our journey through The Celtic Wheel 2022/2023 cycle.
The festivals are celebrated on different dates by different traditions and schools.
The dates below outline fixed and astrological dates in the 2022/23 cycle.
The 4 cross quarter days each have both fixed and astrological days on which they are celebrated. They remain the same each year.
All dates are in Irish time (UTC+1). (Astrological dates source: archaeoastromomy.com)
Samhain
Fixed Samhain: October 31
Astrological Samhain 2022: November 7
- Cross-quarter Festival
- Ritual threshold of Winter
- Celtic new year
- Earth Festival
- Doorway into the Giamos (dark) half of the year
- Feminine principle becomes dominant
Lifeforce descending into the earth
Death and Darkness
- Soul Initiation -
The challenge: Loss, death, disruption
The invitation: Letting go, shedding, surrendering
The gifts: Reclaiming our buried feminine
The wisdom: All beginnings start in the darkness
The movement: Descent into the fecund darkness
Mythology/ archetypes/ symbols: The Cailleach (the Crone) and the Mórrígan
Image: Philip Pilz Unsplash
Winter Solstice
Astrological Date 2022: December 21
- Ritual threshold of midwinter
- Solar festival
- The rebirth of the solar masculine from the dark earth
- Feminine Principle is dominant
Dormant Earth
Longest Night, Shortest Day
- Dark Night of the Soul -
The challenge: The dark night of the soul
The invitation: To rest and trust the emptiness and darkness of the void
The gifts: Resurrecting our deep feminine intelligence, illumination of our Dán (Soul destiny)
The wisdom: the mysterious potency of the luminous darkness
The movement: Dormant stillness
Mythology/ archetypes/ symbols: The Cailleach(the crone), The sun/son child, the womb, the winter solstice wreath, the Christmas tree
Image: filip Zrnzevic Unsplash
"A touchstone... a safe space"
"Mari has led us through the Celtic wheel with grace, care and humor. Who knew we would be living within a pandemic. The Web of women, led by Mari, has been a touchstone, providing me with community, a safe place to feel, share and learn! With the guidance of Celtic Wheel wisdom I let go of several things that were not serving me and developed new skills! Mari creates a warm, no pressure to participate and travel at your own pace environment! I am looking forward to continuing travelling with Mari, through another Celtic Wheel year!"
- Patricia US, 2019/20 and 2021/22 Cycles
Imbolc / Imbolg
Fixed Imbolc: February 1st
Astrological Imbolc 2022: February 4
- Ritual threshold of Spring
- Cross-quarter Festival
- Earth Festival
- Feminine principle is dominant, subtle stirrings of masculine
The Earth Awakening From Dormancy
- New beginnings -
The challenge: Slow intentional emergence
The invitation: Gathering our energy, tending the seeds of our Dán
The gifts: Strengthening the potency of our feminine
The wisdom: The power of focused intention, staying inward, and discernment
The movement: Emergence, awakening
Mythology/ archetype/ symbol: Brigid, Fiery Arrows, Brigid's Cross, Fire and water
Image: Mohammad Zeeshan Upsplash
Spring Equinox
Astrological date 2023: March 20
- Ritual threshold of mid Spring
- Solar Festival
- Feminine principle dominant, a strengthening solar masculine
A Quickening, Life Force Rising
- The dance of opposites -
The challenge: The creative tension of opposites
The invitation: Commitment to our Dán, our Soul's deepest purpose
The gifts: Manifesting from the fertile dance of the opposites
The wisdom: Beyond polarity, the alchemy of manifestation, ‘the third thing’
The movement: Rising upward
Mythology /archetypes/ symbols: Brigid, Fiery Arrow, Infinity sign, Vesica piscis
Image: Josie Weiss, Unsplash
"Mari and her team are full of wisdom that modern women require to thrive...
My journey on the Celtic Wheel has been one of the best investments I have made.
Tuning into this Celtic wisdom resonated with me deeply and has changed what I notice in nature. I now live more aligned with the Celtic Wheel which has given me a greater rhythm both physically and mentally. I would highly recommend this journey to anyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart."
- Sinead 2020/21 Cycle
Bealtaine
Fixed Bealtaine: May 1
Astrological Bealtaine 2023: May 5
- Ritual threshold of Summer
- Cross-quarter Festival
- Earth Festival
- Doorway into the Samos (bright) half of the year
- Masculine principle is dominant
Budding And Flowering
Expanding Into Full Potential
- Sovereignty -
The challenge: Taking risks to expand outside our comfort zone
The invitation: Sovereignty, to lead with the feminine, execute with the masculine
The gifts: Masculine in service to our feminine
The wisdom: Living from our sovereign centre
The movement: Expansion
Mythology/archetypes /symbols: Goddess of Sovereignty, King, Queen,The Fifth Province, The Sacred Marriage
Image: Lauren Mcconachie, Unsplash
Summer Solstice
Astrological date 2023: June 21
- Ritual threshold of mid Summer
- Solar Festival
- Masculine principle is dominant
Full Blossoming. The Sun At Its Zenith
- Shining Powerfully -
The challenge: To blossom open fully claim our power
The invitation: To inhabit our true power and vulnerability in moments of glory
The gifts: Rising rooted
The wisdom: The vulnerability of full blossoming and shining
The movement: Radiating
Mythology/ archetypes/ symbols: Áine Sovereign Goddess of the Summer, the sun at his zenith
Image: James Day, Unsplash
“I have been craving a held space like this"
"I have been craving a held space like this! To me the Celtic Wheel is a journey back into alignment with my own and natures rhythm. Mari masterfully guides us toward remembering how to access our own wisdom and sovereignty."
- Simon 2021/22 cycle
Lughnasa
Fixed Lughnasa: August 1
Astrological Lughnasa 2023: August 7
- Ritual threshold of Autumn
- Cross-quarter Festival
- Earth Festival
- Masculine principle is dominant, tempered by the feminine
Ripeness And Abundance
Reaping what has been sown
- Harvest -
The challenge: Appreciate the abundance of the harvest, to reap what has been sown
The invitation: Take time, pause to celebrate the abundance and bounty of the harvest
The gifts: Increasing our capacity for joy, craic and pleasure, owning our gifts
The wisdom: Joy and sadness co-arising as aliveness
The movement: Pulsing
Mythology/ archetypes/symbols: Lugh, the Samhaildánach (many gifted one) and his foster mother Tailtiú
Image: Markus Spiske, Unsplash
Autumn Equinox
Astrological date 2023: September 23
- Ritual threshold of mid-Autumn
- Solar Festival
- The final harvest
- Masculine principle dominant with the feminine strengthening
Bountiful Harvest From The Earth
The Leaves Turning
- Integrating the Opposites -
The challenge: Intentional completion
The invitation: Make time for endings. Prepare for the transition from fertility into the fallow and the deepening spiral
The gifts: Integration of the polarities as the masculine yields to the feminine
The wisdom: The power of conscious completions in a cycle that never ends
The movement: Pausing to complete
Mythology/archetypes/ symbols: The cutting of the final sheath, circle into spiral, Infinity symbol
Image: Jill Dimond, Unsplash