Major and Minor High Days
There are four Major High Days (Samhain,
Oimelc, Beltane and Lughnasadh in one set of Irish-based
modern spellings) and four Minor High Days (Winter Solstice or
“Midwinter,” Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice or “Midsummer,”
and Fall Equinox) in the Neopagan Druid year, most of which are
also celebrated by Wiccans and other Neopagans who look back
to traditions of the Celtic, Germanic, or other Indo-European
cultures. While the Minor High Days are easy to obtain from any
good astrological ephemermis or almanac, the methods for the
calculation of the Major High Days will vary from group to group
and individual to individual. These same eight holidays are celebrated
in most branches of Wicca, or “Neopagan
Witchcraft,” where they make up the spokes of the “Wheel
of the Year.”
The Major High Days have been referred to
as “fire festivals” for at least the last hundred years
or so, because (1) to the ancient Celts, as with all the Indo-European
Paleopagans, fire was a physical symbol of divinity, holiness,
truth, and beauty; and (2) fires play important roles in the
traditional customs associated with these festivals; and (3)
several early Celtic scholars called them that. Whether in Ireland
or India, among the Germans or the Hittites, sacred fires were
apparently kindled on every important religious occasion.
The most common practice for the calculation
of Samhain, Oimelc, Beltane & Lughnasadh is to use
the civil calendar days or their preceding eves of November 1st,
February 1st, May 1st and August 1st, respectively. Another way
is to use one or more of the days of the weekend closest to each
of these dates (which may arguably be closer to how the Paleopagans
did it — i.e., by maximum convenience). Still others choose
to use the sixth day after the new or full moon closest to each
of these dates. Astrologically oriented Neopagans use the days
upon which the Sun enters 15 degrees of each of the “Fixed
Signs” of the Zodiac, to wit: “Eagle Point” =
15 degrees of Scorpio, “Man” or “Angel Point”
= 15 degrees of Aquarius, “Ox Point” =15 degrees of
Taurus and “Lion Point” = 15 degrees of Leo. Still
others use those days upon which the Sun hits 16 degrees and
18 minutes declination North or South of the Celestial Equator.
This also makes them come halfway between the Solstices and Equinoxes,
and usually gives results within a few hours of those given by
the Fixed Signs method.
Samhain
is pronounced “Sô-un” or “sow-” [as
in female pig] “-en” — not “Sam Hain,”
and is known in Modern Irish as Lá Samhna, in Welsh
as Nos Galen-Gaeaf (“Night of the Winter Calends”),
in Manx as Laa Houney (“Hollantide Day”), Sauin
or Souney. Samhain is the original festival that
became “All Saints’ Day,” or “All Hallow’s
Evening,” which was contracted into “Hallow-e’en,”
now usually called Halloween.
Samhain is often said to have been the most important
of the fire festivals, because (according to most Celtic scholars)
it may have marked the Celtic New Year. At the least, Samhain
was equal in importance to Beltane and shared many symbolic
characteristics. Whether it was the Celtic New Year or not, Samhain
was the beginning of the Winter or Dark Half of the Year (the
seasons of Geimredh and Earrach) as Beltane
was the beginning of the Summer or Light Half of the Year (the
seasons of Samradh and Foghamhar). The day before
Samhain is the last day of summer (or the old year) and
the day after Samhain is the first day of winter (or of
the new year). Being “between” seasons or years, Samhain
was (and is) considered a very magical time, when the dead walk
among the living and the veils between past, present and future
may be lifted in prophecy and divination.
Samhain basically
means “summer’s end” (trust the Celts to begin
something with an ending) and many important mythological events
are said to have occurred on that day. It was on a Samhain
that the Nemedians captured the terrible Tower of Glass built
by the evil Formorians; that the Tuatha De Danann later defeated
the Formors once and for all; that Pwyll won his wife Rhiannon
from Gwawl; and that many other events of a dramatic or prophetic
nature in Celtic myth happened. Many of these events had to do
with the temporary victory of the forces of darkness over those
of light, signaling the beginning of the cold and dark half of
the year.
The Winter Solstice is a Minor High
Day, usually occuring around December 21st or so of the civil
calendar. Also known as Yule and Midwinter, this is a day sacred
to Sun, Thunder, and Fire Deities. Large fires were built outdoors
and Yule Logs lit indoors, in order to rekindle the dying Sun
and help it to return brightly to the Northern skies. Burnt logs
and ashes from the Midwinter fires were kept as a talisman against
lightning and house fires. It was also a custom in many parts
of Paleopagan Europe to decorate live evergreen trees in honor
of the Gods (cutting down a tree to bring indoors is a blasphemous
desecration of the original concept). This is considered, along
with Midsummer, the best day of the year to cut mistletoe. Among
some Mediterranean Paleopagans, a date on or near this was celebrated
as the Birthday of Mithras and/or the Feast of Saturnalia (which
the Christians co-opted to use for the birth of Christ).
Oimelc
(“ee-melc”), is known in Modern Irish as Imbolc
(pronounced the same) and as Lá na Féile Bríde
(“Festival of Saint Bridget”), in Manx as Laán
Arragh (Day of Spring), and as Candlemas or Bridget’s
Day in English. Brighid, Bride or Bridget is yet another
Pagan deity turned by the Christians into a “saint,”
in order to co-opt Her worship. This goddess was a triple-aspected
deity (originally a Sun and Fire Goddess) of Poetry/Divination,
Healing and Smithcraft, whose followers kept an eternal flame
burning in Her honor. Note that Her three aspects are all the
same age as each other, not the “Mother-Maiden-Crone”
trinity promoted by Robert Graves.
By analogy with the Gaelic names of the other
High Days, we may assume that the holiday was originally called
La’áOimelc and was the festival of the lactation
of the ewes. In Paleopagan days (and, indeed, until the recent
past) the sheep was a very important animal, providing both food
and clothing. The occasion of the birth of lambs (not to mention
kids and calves) was a cause for rejoicing and a sign of life
in the “dead” world of a Northern winter.
The name “Candlemas” (candle-mass)
is a Roman Catholic term for a holiday occuring February 2nd,
called the “Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.” This is yet another theft/co-option of a Paleopagan
holy day. At this festival, the priests bless candles, which
are then used on February 3rd in a fire magic ritual to bless
people’s throats, supposedly in honor of a “Saint Blaise.”
This has no official connection with “Saint” Bridget
and Her cult of fire, nor with the fact that this day was one
of the four major fire festivals of Paleopagan cultures throughout
Western and Northern Europe. Of course, they also neglect to
mention a certain Slavic god named Vlaise, Who was the Patron
of cattle, wealth and war, and Who was worshipped with fire…
Oimelc begins the spring season of Earrach.
Feb. 2nd is also known as Groundhog’s
Day, a holiday so-called because American groundhogs were the
local counterpart to the Irish hare that was sacred to Bride.
Celtic belief is that good weather on Oimelc means that
winter will continue, and that bad weather means winter is on
the way out — hence the importance of the presence or absence
of a sacred animal’s shadow.
The Spring Equinox is best known as
the feast of (the German Fertility Goddess) Eostara, called
“Easter” by the Christians. It is a celebration of
the returning of life to the Earth. Rabbits, eggs and children
are sacred at this feast and Pagans in need of fertility talismans
now color hollow eggs and pass them through the ceremonial fires
(quickly) to take home and hang over their beds and in their
barns. A fascinating source of almost forgotten Paleopagan symbols
can be found by examining carefully the fantastically decorated
eggs produced by folk artists from Europe (especially Eastern
Europe and Russia), Mexico and South America.
A Minor High Day, it usually takes place around
March 21st or so. Among some Paleopagan cultures in Southern
Europe, the Spring Equinox was the date of the New Year (instead
of Samhain).
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Beltane, known in Modern Irish as Lá Bealtaine,
in Welsh as Galan-Mai (Calends of May), in Scottish Gaelic
as Bealtiunn, and in Manx as Shenn da Boaddyn, Laa
Boaldyn, or Laán Tourey (Day of Summer); is,
of course, the day we know in English as May Day. It is
also called by a variety of other names, such as Roodmas, Summer
Day, Walpurgistag, St. Pierre’s Day, Red Square Day,
etc. It is the beginning of the “Summer Half” of the
Celtic year (the seasons of Samradh & Foghamhar) and
is a festival of unalloyed joy. |
A very large number of important Celtic mythological
events are connected with this day, which balances out Samhain
on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year. It was on a Beltane
that Partholan and his followers, the first inhabitants and partial
creators of Ireland, landed on that isle. Three hundred years
later, on the same day, they returned to the Other World. It
was on a Beltane that the Tuatha De Danann and their people
invaded Ireland. It was on a May Eve that Pryderi, the missing
son of Rhiannon and Pwyll (Rulers of thc Welsh Otherworld), was
lost by them and later (on another May Eve) found by Teirnyon
Twryf Vliant (and eventually restored to Them). On every first
day of May “till the day of doom,” Gwyn ap Nudd fights
with Gwyrthur ap Greidawl, for the hand of Lludd’s fair
daughter, Creudylad. Most of these events, again, as all over
Northern and Western Europe, have to do with stories of the forces
of light/safety defeating the forces of darkness/danger. Why
did you think the Marxists chose May Day as their international
Holy Day?
The Summer Solstice is a Minor High
Day, usually occurring around June 21st or so. Also known as
St. John’s Day and Midsummer, it shares mythical elements
with both Beltane and Lughnasadh. It is a feast
celebrating the glory of summer and the peak of the Sun Deity’s
power. But in many systems of belief, it is the day of the biggest
battle of the year between the Dark Sun God and the Light Sun
God (the dangerous vs. the safe one), Who are usually brothers
or otherwise intimately related. Midsummer is a peak from which
the Sun can only fall, for it is the day on which the hours of
light slowly begin to shorten.
Lughnasadh
is known in Modern Irish as Lá Lúnasa, in
Welsh as Gwyl Awst (August Feast), as Lla Lluanys
or Laa’n Ouyr (Day of the Harvest Season) in Manx,
and as Lammas, Apple Day and Harvest Home in English.
Essentially a harvest festival, this signals the beginning of
the harvest season and the ripening of the apples (as well as
other fruits and vegetables). Applejack, hard cider, mead and
other alcoholic beverages are consumed at this time (it’s
almost a duty!) by many enthusiastic Neopagans.
This holiday is a day of mixed joy and woe
(Irish wakes are an old tradition), for it is by now obvious
that the days are getting shorter. Stories of the battles between
Lugh and Balor (the light Sun/Fire God and the dark one) are
retold, as the autumn quarter of Foghamhar begins.
The last big holiday of the year, the Fall
Equinox (sometimes called Mabon or Michaelmas) is
a Minor High Day occuring somewhere around September 21st or
so. This is a Thanksgiving feast and signals the beginning of
the Hunting Season (for deer and other large game) in many parts
of Europe and North America. Thus, it is dedicated to the Hunting
and Fishing Deities and the Deities of Plenty, in thankfulness
for benefits received and hoped for. Outdoor picnics in the woods
are a popular tradition in those areas where the weather is still
good at this time of year. Hunting magic may be minimized by
those living in areas where game is a little deer.
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