Winter Solstice: December 19-23

Winter brings the longest, darkest nights of the year.

Newgrange is in County Meath, Ireland, along the Boyne river valley. It is an archaic structure, older than the pyramids, with a long curving hallway leading down to a round shaped chamber.

Here, for five days at the Winter Solstice, the dawn sun will shine in a "window" above the doorway, and illuminate the chamber within. This magnificent ancient building is a puzzle, we have no idea who made it, how, or why. One thing is certain, the Winter Solstice was important to the "primitive" people who created this amazing structure.

This is the darkest time of the year, will the light be "reborn"? Winter Solstice reminds us to never forget that dark begets light, that there is no light without the dark, the natural world is always in perfect balance. It is a time of regeneration and remembering. The darkest hour is just before dawn. Share feasts with friends, stay up all night, honor the dawn and the rising sun!

My Winter Solstice altar consists of a dark red or green cloth, images of the masculine and feminine, usually the Goddess and the Green Man, fresh holly with red berries. Some of this holly will be kept in the house year round for good luck, to be burnt in the solstice fire. I also create a Yule log over the fire place.

Goddesses: Sheela Na Gig, Brigit, Freya, Kali, Hecate.

Winter Solstice Altar

St. Brigid's Cross

Imbolc/Bridget's Day: February Full Moon

This is the festival of growing light. The deep of winter is over, the days grow longer, the promise of spring in the air. Bridget was the ancient Celtic Goddess of fire, poetry and smith craft. Hers is the festival of protection, so in ireland we make a Bridget's cross of rushes. This cross hangs in the house all year. When the year turns and the holiday comes round again, throw the old cross in the fire to honor Bridget.

There is a holy well dedicated to her in Kildare, in Ireland. In our stories she protected the poor and the land, she represented a force for justice. Was she our first "eco-warrior"?

Goddesses: Bridget, Venus, Vesta, Aradia, Cerridwen, Hestia.

Spring Equinox: March 19-23

This is the time of perfect balance in the cosmos, the day is the same length as the night. Spring finally returns. The earth warms, sap rises in the trees, life struggles upward towards the sun.

Eostar was the Germanic goddess of spring, her symbols, of rabbits and eggs portray fertility and abundance. Become a gardner! Plant your seeds now, nurture them, you will receive so much joy from those tiny seedlings as they grow to flower, or fruit... begin a creative project, nurture it and you will reap the rewards of self expression and gratification.

Spring Equinox 1997 I travelled with my children and husband to Lough Crew in Co. Meath. We got the key from the lady down the lane, and before dawn walked up the steep hill to the passage tomb. Crouched within the womb-like cairn, we waited for the dawn sun. Slowly, gradually, the most amazing gorgeous light, colored rosy orange, illuminated a recessed wall in the chamber. The carvings, which looked like prehistoric daisies, gradually became colored with the beautiful dawn. To me, this was a whole new take on "flower power".

Loughcrew Cairn

Loughcrew

My Spring Equinox altar has a colorful cloth, yellow or rainbow colored, and there are fresh flowers, images of the God and Goddess, a blue eggshell I found from a robins nest. I like my altar to be ever changing, creative, a reflection of where I am in my life, as well as a sacred space to honor the holiday.

Goddesses: Eostar, Tara, Astarte, Pele, Tiamat, Artemis, Aphrodite.

Loughcrew Water

Bealtaine/May 1: May Full Moon (pronounced be-al-tin-ah, Gaelic for May)

Now is a celebration of love. The ancient Celts held the main Bealtaine fire at Uisneach, the "navel of Ireland". The Celts had lunar as well as solar holidays, it is possible Bealtaine was celebrated as a lunar holiday, on the full moon.

The Hawthorn, commonly known as the "May bush" blooms now. Those delicate white flowers protected by big black thorns, perhaps a metaphor for love? This is the promise of Spring, life is bursting forth everywhere, and thoughts turn to romance and reproduction.

Those who choose to be "hand-fasted", or to "marry for a year and a day" will ceremonially jump the May fire. Traditionally, the couple remain together a year and a day, at which time the woman decides whether or not to renew the vows. Wear a crown of flowers, celebrate love, jump the fire with friends and family to bless and inspire your future happiness. I celebrate the May full moon as Bealtaine.

Bealtaine altar

One Bealtaine I was in England at a gathering on Twyford Down in Winchester. We gathered at Catherine'Hill, in an ancient Beech grove, sacred to the White Goddess. Some believe this was the very place where Boudicca, the last Celtic warrior Queen, had her final battle with the Romans. As the two of us entered the circle that night, I noticed that two women left. Counting the number of women in a circle around the fire, we were nine. The Goddess is always present when nine women meet in circle. Sat around the fire throughout the night, singing, laughing, talking, we were consistently nine women. If one woman left, she was replaced by another. This was not consciously done, imagine trying to orchestrate that? No, it was just so, as if by magic, or some benevolent force. Hands came from the darkness supplying wood for the fire.

My Bealtaine altar is beautiful, reflecting love, pink or red colored cloth, flowers, images of life.

Goddesses: Mabon, Dana, Rhiannon, Belisama

Summer Solstice: June 19-23

The longest day of the year. The sun is now at its height, and will naturally, inevitably begin to decline. Celebrate with a feast, or a "potluck", invite friends and relatives, everyone brings a dish to share. The night will be short, celebrants "play" all night and then enjoy the dawn.

My Summer Solstice altar embodies all that is summer. Sunflowers from the garden, a pale blue cloth, seashells, candles and incense.

Goddesses: Isis, Selena, Diana, Gaia, Fortuna.

Summer Solstice altar

Lughnasa/Lammas (pronounced lou-na-sa, Gaelic for August)

Celebrate this harvest time of abundance with joy and gratitude. The ancient Celts marked the beginning of the harvest season with fairs, gatherings, horse festivals and visiting. Feasting, bonfires and dancing... the heavy work in the garden is finished, the grain is golden in the fields, harvest draws near. Honor and celebrate the grain on Lughnasa.

My altar is adorned with all things golden, representing wealth, abundance, and the harvest. Decorate with cloth, candles, incense, a sheath of wheat from the fields, The Goddess and God.

Goddesses: Fortuna, Demeter, Manasa, Cihuacoatl, Sekhmet, Ceres, Persephone.

Lughnasa Altar

Fall Equinox: September 19-23

Now the harvest festival! Night and day are perfectly balanced, exactly the same length of time. At this time of balance, justice, we are blessed, and grateful for the abundance of the growing season passed. Now begin preserving for the winter to come. From this time onward, the sun is in decline, the nights grow longer, winter draws near.

Beech Trees

My Fall Equinox altar embodies the notion of balance and justice. I use whatever comes to hand while I'm out walking, adorning my altar with natural fall debris, green moss, brightly colored leaves, rocks and symbols of divinity. Altars are sacred and creative spaces, as personal as your own style, and require a sense of play as well as symbolizing the divine.

Goddesses: Demeter, Baba Yaga, Inanna, Snake Priestess of Crete, Kuan Yin, Shekinah

Berries

Beech Trees