wheel of the year
Seasonal sabbat cycle
The wheel of the year is a cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed in Wicca and other modern pagan traditions, spaced roughly six weeks apart.
It includes solstices, equinoxes, and four cross-quarter days like Samhain and Beltane.
The metaphor of a wheel emphasizes nature's cyclical rhythm: We celebrate each turn of the wheel of the year.
- solsticeDay of maximum tilt
- winter solsticeShortest day, longest night
- equinoxSun crosses celestial midline
- seasonal celebrationsRecurring annual observances
- paganNon-mainstream religion follower
Samhain · Beltane · harvest · fertility · ritual · sun and moon · new moon · full moon · cycle · seasons · coven · altar · bonfire · sacred fire · nature worship · earth · rebirth · ancestors
- paganismWicca, pagan, heathen, polytheist, polytheism
- Druidrydruid, sacred grove, oak groves, druid circle, bard
- Midsummermidsummer, summer solstice, midsommar, solstice, longest day
wheel of the yearGregorian calendar
Current global date system
Julian calendar · academic calendar · Roman calendar · standard time
wheel of the yearchurch year
Calendar of religious seasons
Islamic calendar · Jewish calendar · bank holidays · federal holidays · Advent calendar
wheel, wheels, wheeled, wheeling, wheeler, year, years, yearly, yearling