Winter Solstice - Yule - around 21st December

Yule is the time of the Winter Solstice, when the Sun-Child is reborn, an image of the return of all new life born through the love of the Gods. The Sun is at its lowest point and marks the shortest day of the year. This is the time of death and rebirth of the Sun God and celebrated as a festival of light.

The Goddess gives birth to a son, the God, at Yule.  This is in no way an adaptation of Christianity.  The Winter Solstice has long been viewed as a time of divine births.  Mithras was said to have been born at this time.  The Christians simply adopted it for their use in 273CE (Common Era, equiv. AD).

Yule is a time of the greatest darkness and is the shortest day of the year.  Earlier peoples noticed such phenomena and supplicated the forces of nature to lengthen the days and shorten the nights.  Witches sometimes celebrate Yule just before dawn, then watch the Sun rise as a fitting finale to their efforts.

Since the God is also the Sun, this marks the point of the year when the Sun is reborn as well.  Thus, the Witches light fires or candles to welcome the Sun's returning light.  The Goddess, slumbering through the Winter of Her labour, rests after Her delivery.

Yule is remnant of early rituals celebrated to hurry the end of Winter and the bounty of Spring, when food was once again readily available.  To contemporary Witches it is a reminder that the ultimate product of death is rebirth, a comforting thought in these days of unrest.

Spring Equinox - around 21st March

Now night and day stand equal. The Sun grows in power and the land begins to bloom. By this time, the powers of the gathering year are equal to the darkness of winter and death. For many Pagans, the youthful God with his hunting call leads the way in dance and celebration. Others dedicate this time to Eostre the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Fertility. She is the basis for the Christian festival of Easter, the date of which varies from year to year due to the fact it is still based on the old lunar calendar.

The Spring Equinox, is also known as the Rites of Spring and Eostra's Day, and marks the first day of true Spring.  The energies of Nature subtly shift from the sluggishness of Winter to the exuberant expansion of Spring.  The Goddess blankets the Earth with fertility, bursting forth from Her sleep, as the God stretches and grows to maturity.  He walks the greening fields and delights in the abundance of nature.

Light is overtaking darkness; the Goddess and God impel the wild creatures of the Earth to reproduce.

This is a time of beginnings, of action, of planting spells for future gains, and of tending the ritual gardens.

O Great Goddess, you have freed yourself from the icy prison of Winter. Now is the greening, when the fragrance of flowers drifts on the breeze. This is the beginning.

Life renews itself by your magic, the Earth Goddess. The God stretches and rises, eager in His youth, and bursting with the promise of Summer.

Summer Solstice - Litha - around 21st June

The Summer Solstice is the festival of Midsummer, and marks the longest day. The God in his light aspect is at the height of his power and is crowned Lord of Light. It is a time of plenty and celebration.

This is the time when the powers of Nature reach their highest point and, as such, is a favoured time for all types of magic. The Earth is awash in the fertility of the Goddess and God.

In the past, bonfires were leapt to encourage fertility, purification, health and love.  The fire once again represents the Sun, feted on this time of the longest daylight hours.

I celebrate the noon of Summer with mystic rites. O great Goddess and God, all nature vibrates with Your energies and the Earth is bathed with warmth and life. Now is the time of forgetting past cares and banes; O fiery Sun, burn away the unuseful, the hurtful, the bane, in Your omnipotent power.

Purify me! Purify me! Purify me!

Autumn Equinox - Mabon - around 21st September

Day and night again stand hand in hand as equals at the Autumn Equinox. As the shadows lengthen, Pagans see the darker faces of the God and Goddess. For many Pagans, this rite honours old age and the approach of Winter.

Mabon, the Autumn Equinox, is the completion of the harvest begun as Lughnassadh.  Day and night are poised as the God prepares to leave His physical body and begin the great adventure into the unseen, toward renewal and rebirth of the Goddess.

Nature declines, draws back its bounty, readying for Winter and its time of rest.  The Goddess nods in the weakening Sun, though fire burns within Her womb.  She feels the presence of the God even as He wanes.

Leaves fall, the days grow cold. The Goddess pulls Her mantle of the Earth around Her as You, O Great Sun God, sail toward the West to the lands of Eternal Enchantment, wrapped in the coolness of night.

Fruits ripen, seeds drop, the hours of day and night are balanced. Chill winds blow in from the North wailing laments. In this seeming extinction of nature's power,

O Blessed Goddess, I know that life continues. For spring is impossible without the second harvest, as surely as life is impossible without death.

Blessings upon You, O Fallen God, as You journey into the lands of winter and into the Goddess' loving arms.