A Personal Look at the Eight Pagan Festivals

I have been a practicing Pagan for six years, and have had the fortune to be able to celebrate the eight holy days of the Pagan year fully for that time. For each festival I have developed my own personal way of celebrating, and I hope in this article to inspire you to think of some ways you can mark these days of power.

As already mentioned, there are eight festivals a years for the Pagan, four of these being marked by astronomical events: the two solstices and two equinoxes. The other four festivals were celebrated by the Celts and are today known as 'Cross-Quarter' days, since they cross over the quarters made on the Wheel of the Year by the other festivals.

The festivals mark the turning of the seasons, yet they also play out the life story of the Goddess and God of neo-Paganism.

Winter Solstice: (Yule) 20th, 21st, 22nd December
	This is the time of the Shortest Day and Longest Night, and it is the time when the Sun is at its lowest point. After this day though, the Sun begins to get stronger, and because the God in Paganism is represented by the Sun, this festival is celebrated as the rebirth of the God from the darkness of the Underworld. At this time the Goddess gives birth to Him. It coincides roughly with Christmas, which also celebrates the birth of a God, and so for me this festival as become one to give thanks for the returning light and spend time with my friends and family. It is also a time for me to think about what I want to rebirth within myself. I like to decorate my altar with evergreens to symbolize the fact that life is returning despite the darkness and cold of this season.
Imbolc: (Oimelc, Imolg) 1st Feb
	Traditionally a festival associated with the Irish Fire Goddess Brighid, Imbolc is around the time when we begin to see flowers popping through the soil and the weather warming. Ice and snow turns to nourishing rain, and we call get the urge to Spring clean! (Well, I do.) It's a time for planting seeds, and for watching new life grow, since at this featival it is lambing season, and the Earth Goddess is preparing to receive the seed of her Child. Personally I prefer to celebrate this festival whenever the crocuses and early daffodils appear, especially since Wales doesn't seem to show signs ot Spring until much later than the rest of the British Isles! It is a time for me to think about what new things I want to bring to fruit this year, and to begin any projects I have. I always make sure to have fresh flowers of my altar for this festival and the following weeks - preferably daffodils which represent the first signs of Spring to me.
Spring Equinox: (Ostara, Eostre) 20th, 21st, 22nd March
	The Equinoxes are both times of balance, when day and night, light and dark, God and Goddess are equal in length and power. Some Pagan traditions hold Ostara to be the time when the Goddess in Her Maiden aspect and the God, now grown into a Young Man, join together in sexual union, blessing the fields with fertility and conceiving the Son that will be the rebirth of the God. (Indeed, this would make sense since it would be 9 months from here until the Winter Solstice when the birth occurs.) Other traditions however see this as happening at Beltane. Personally I celebrate this festival by adding 'fuel to the fire' of my previously begun projects, 'fertilizing' them, if you will. I also use this festival to honour my equal relationships with other people, and to appreciate the weather getting warmer (finally!) At this point, irises go on my altar as they signify warmer, happier times ahead.
Beltane: (Bealtinne) 1st May
	Otherwise known and traditionally celebrated as Mayday, Beltane was the beginning of the Light Half of the year, the Summer, for the Celts, which would end at Samhain. It is a time for celebration that the Winter is over, an time for neo-Pagans to celebrate sexuality and passion as well. The Maypole is a symbol of Beltane and it has obvious phallic significance. This is a time for virility and fertility, enjoyment and the body. I like to celebrate Beltane in two parts: the first part with my friends leaping the traditional Bel Fire and celebrating our friendship, and the second half making love with my boyfriend and pampering myself: for this isn't just a time for love of others, but of the self also!
Summer Solstice: (Litha) 20th, 21st, 22nd June
	This is the opposite of the Winter Solstice, so it is the Longest Day, when the Sun is at its strongest. So also the God is at His peak as the Lord of Life and Nature, and the Goddess is pregnant with Her Child. Traditionally Litha is a time for marriage and handfasting (the Pagan version of marriage), I am guessing because at this time, people who joined at Ostara and Beltane would know if they were fertile (if they had conceived)- and at the time of people like the Celts you were a more desirable marriage partner if your fertility had been proved: a woman with three children was more desirable than a virgin! So some Pagans say that at this time the Goddess and God are married. Personally I celebrate this festival by honouring the God and Sun as life-giver, and a sunflower or two is never far from my altar. I also like to watch the sun rise on the Longest Day, so I will often do a ritual at dawn on the Summer Solstice.
Lammas: (Lughnassadh) 1st August
	This festival is also known as the First Fruits, a time for harvesting the soft fruits that are ripe now. It signifies the very beginning of the Harvest season, and so I like to look back at the year and focus on the rewards I have reaped so far, I try and begin to tie up any loose ends and bring my projects to conclusion also. My way of celebrating this festival is simple: I harvest the blackberries that grow near my house, and make them into a pie or simply eat them as they are. I also place a few of them on my altar.
Autumn Equinox: (Mabon) 20th, 21st, 22nd September
	The Goddess' belly grows heavier, and the God grows older and weaker as the Sun's power lessens. The rest of the crops and fruits are harvested now and the God is prepared for his sacrifice at Samhain. I like to celebrate Mabon as one would a Harvest festival: giving thanks for the harvest and the good food around me, feasting etc. I like to make a corn dolly and place it on my altar with freshly baked bread.
Samhain: (Hallowe'en) 1st November
	At this point in the year, the Goddess becomes the Crone and the God gives himself to Her as a sacrifice. She destroys him and His life enters into the Child She bears in Her womb, so symbolically He enters the Underworld and is reborn at Yule. In some traditions, the God is ripped to pieces by the ecstatic Goddess during love-making, and so in more ways than one He returns to Her womb ready to be reborn. And so, the Old God makes way for a New God and His lifeblood is given to the Land (the Goddess) in order to help it bring forth another harvest next year. This festival gave rise to the modern Hallowe'en, and it is focused on death because at this time the Celts would have slaughtered their livestock ready for storage and consumption over the hard winter months. (Thus ending the Harvest that began at Lammas.) For me, this is a time to enter my own Underworld and examine who I am. I also try to make sure all my projects are finished by this time. The corn dolly I made at Lammas is burnt, or broken and scattered to the Earth, and I take this time to honour my ancestors and my loved ones who have passed over. I look back on the year, take stock, give thanks, and look forward to a new one.

Not everybody celebrates the festivals in the same way or at the same time. Many people do not go by the dates given here and instead go by the weather or changing seasons. After all, if it is still snowing outside, why celebrate Imbolc? Why not wait until it is a little warmer and you can truly see Spring shining through? Over the years, no doubt you too will develop your own personal way of celebrating each festival.