The Wheel of the Year, part 2

This may end up being a three-part series if I'm not careful. I'm in full Ramble Mode these days…okay, I’m always in full Ramble Mode. That’s why you love me, right? *laugh*

Having discussed the reasons why the standard Wiccan Wheel of the Year doesn't really work for me, and having had many people comment on how strongly they agree with me, I do have to caution people against throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Though the traditional seasonal associations of the Wheel are pretty much useless where I live, and though the God-and-Goddess myth bothers me rather intensely, there are two ways in which I work with the Wheel that are vital to my practice. I'll start with the most important one.

One of the reasons why Wicca is such an elegant religion is that our guiding metaphors are adaptable. We practice an Earth religion, which means that your first task as a Wiccan is to enter into a relationship with the Earth. That isn’t just an abstract concept. When we call on Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, many of us are thinking of nice poetic ideas: stability, the color green, high mountains and giant redwoods…when in fact, we may live in an environment where the Earth is red-brown, and the tallest mountain in a hundred mile radius is the big pile of dirt in the backyard. Nature is dirty and wet and it gets under our fingernails and it sometimes has thorns. How are we to truly connect with Nature if we are only doing it in our heads?

So my advice, and the way I approach the Wheel, is this: GO OUTSIDE.

If Imbolc isn’t the beginning of Spring where you live, why celebrate it that way? Spend some time watching the seasons change and you’ll notice that none of the Sabbats are actually turning points. The seasons don’t change over on Ostara; they never stop changing. The dates we have picked are more midpoints than beginnings, because there are no beginnings and there are no endings.

The Sabbats are based on events that relate to the Sun; solstices and equinoxes have to do with the length of day and night, our position relative to the Sun and stars, and that’s really about it. There is no Book of the Sabbats somewhere that proclaims that Spring must get underway on Imbolc and continue for such-and-such length of time.

Established holidays serve important purposes, so we shouldn’t give up on them. They give the family and community a chance to get together and celebrate as well as strengthen the community spirit. If everyone has different holidays the community will lack cohesion (and it’s damned difficult to schedule anything).

Sabbats also help us keep our feet under us so that we are aware of where and when we are; they remind us to pause and look around, to honor what is in front of us and under our feet. As Emma Restall Orr says, "Ritual is the fine art of taking a break." Our holidays are another opportunity to deepen our relationship with the sacred, as the sacred manifests itself so strongly through Nature.

That in mind, construct your own version of the Wheel of the Year based on what’s happening around you, not what’s happening in the British Isles where Wicca came from. Trust me, the Wicca Police aren’t going to come and take your pentacle away if you don’t talk about snow during your Yule ritual.

One thing I like to do is take a diagram of the Wheel with the Sabbats already drawn on it, then plot out other important holidays to get a fuller picture of the year as a whole. Are there any mainstream holidays that you celebrate? Add them to your Wheel. Add your birthday, anniversary, Paganniversary (if you keep track of it like I do). As the year progresses add in other important dates; if a family member dies, if you get a major promotion or go on a journey, these days also become a part of your Wheel. By the time Samhain rolls around you have a picture of everything you have sown and reaped, and this can help you get a sense for the progress you have made and how it may tie in to the seasons.

This is important if you adopt my other Wheel practice, the Work of the Wheel, which I will describe in my next post.

Comments

[Sylvia]

thanks for saying "go outside" because that is exactly how I feel. I've mentioned in another comment that my "circle" is outside and consists of evergreens with a small altar in the center. The altar is hollow and contains items of special importance to me, such as roses from my mothers funeral last summer, crystals and unbroken geodes, acorns, leaves, feathers, a shed snake skin, etc. Every full moon, solstice, equinox, and any other time desired, I go outside to light my candles on this altar, no matter how cold, wet, or hot and damp and mosquito ridden it is. (my candles are protected in hurricane lamps against most bad weather) Standing with an umbrella in the pouring rain at night can be cold and uncomfortable but the experience of being one with the night, the rain, even the cold, is worth it.

[Angela]

That is exactly the project that my group Becoming is embarking on. This year we are celebrating not the Equinoxes and Solstices specifically, but what we call "Spring Blessing," "Light of Summer," Autumn Thanksgiving," and "Dark of Winter." These have been scheduled when the solar and lunar phases are moving in the same direction -- for Light of Summer, it's the closest full moon to the solstice.

We also do most of our rites out doors, except when to do so would be foolhardy -- blistering cold or hot or thunderstorms.

[Bill]

Go for a third essay. Perhaps a bit more on the common ground we all share - metaphorically, of course. I like the steps you have taken towards making the common ground personal, your own. I think it's what gives the celebrations their reason.

[Bill]

Oops.. I didn't take the few extra steps one needs to avoid tripping. I now see Part 3 (http://diannesylvan.typepad.com/dancing_down_the_moon/2007/02/the_wheel_of_th_2.html).

[Juno888]

Well it is somehow interesting..Gonna research more about it...