Wicca Teachings: The Winter Solstice Is The Time

THE FESTIVAL WHEEL
By Don Wildgrube
c ECA 1993

In the old days, as is done now, the festivals were celebrated eight times during the year by the Pagan communities. The customs, the traditions and the times of celebration have come down to us pretty much the same as the original celebrations. But in the course of time, over the centuries, the calendars were changed and up-dated and when the calendars were changed, the dates of the Solstices and Equinoxes were changed. These are astronomical phenomena that can be recorded with relative accuracy and are therefore independent of the calendar.

The Summer Solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its zenith, the highest point in the heavens; the Winter Solstice is the time when it reaches the nadir, the lowest point. The Equinoxes are half-way between, when there are "equal nights", twelve hours of dark, twelve hours of light. Astrologically, at the exact moment of the Spring Equinox, the sidereal time is reset to 0 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds. The sidereal time is an artificial time that relates the Earth time to the rest of the universe as we perceive it. Also the location of the Sun at this time is given as 0 degrees of Aries. Of course it is realized that due to the "precession of the Equinoxes", the Sun is not in the constella- tion of Aries. (This difference between the signs and the constellations is another story.)

Using this re-calibration each year always places the Sun in 0 degrees of Aries at the Spring Equinox, Ostara; in 0 degrees of Cancer at the Summer Solstice, Litha; in 0 degrees of Libra at the Fall Equinox, Mabon, and in 0 degrees of Capricorn at the Winter Solstice, Yule. These four cardinal signs represent the four elements. Aries is a fire sign, the spark of life that stirs the Earth into awakening, Cancer is a water sign, the symbol of the Mother, indicating the flow of milk, the running of the sap. Libra is an air sign, the beginning of reflecting on the past season and on the Winter ahead, the beginning of
"Thanksgiving". Capricorn is an Earth sign, this is the time for life to return to the Earth to await the spark of life again in 0 degrees of Aries - hibernation, the apparent dying of the plants, etc.

Is it no wonder that the ancients gathered together at these times? The powers of the Earth were being generated and they gathered to help build the power.

It seems that the ancients had little difficulty in determining the Solstices and Equinoxes, but had trouble in determining the Cross-Quarter festivals. These festivals, the eves of May (Beltane), August 3rd (Lugnassadh), November (Samhain) and February 2nd (Oimelc) did not change when the calendars changed.
They stayed on the same dates.

The Solstices and Equinoxes were observed and recorded by the Court Astrologers, but it seems that not much attention was paid to the Cross-Quarters. The Solstices and Equinoxes are tied to natural phenomena but the Cross-Quarters are not. Being Pagan Holidays, they began to be tied to harvest times, planting times and matings seasons. These very from place to place and also depend on climatic conditions and therefore are not constant. Later when the Crhistian Church took over the Pagan Holidays, they were set up as regular calendar days.
Oimelc, Imbolc or Candlemas became the feast of St. Briget or the feast of the purification; Beltane became Roodmas, the feast of the cross; Lugnassadh became another feast day for the Virgin Mary, also a feast of leavened bread. And of course Samhain became the feast of All Saints Day.

Now is the time to re-evaluate these holidays: The "normally" used Cross-Quarter days are not half-way between the Solstices and Equinoxes. They are 3 to 8 days off. This does not seem reasonable for people who worshipped the natural, regular cycles of life.

Let us examine the exact midpoints. The midpoint between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice is when the Sun enters 15 degrees of Taurus, approximately May 6th and the midpoint between Summer Solstice and the Fall Equinox is when the Sun enters 15 degrees of Leo, or approximately August 8th. Between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice is when the Sun enters 15 degrees of Scorpio, or around November 8th. Between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, the midpoint is when the Sun enters 15 degrees of Aquarius, approximately February
5th.

T.O. McGrath is quoted in Dane Rudhyar's book, ASTROLOGY OF PERSONALITY (page
239) as follows: "It is known that all bodies such as the Sun and its satellites are charged bodies and are surrounded by a magnetic field; - that in any magnetic body having two poles (the Sun and its satellites are such bodies), the magnetic currents circulate from the North to the South pole, becoming neutral at each 90 degrees and reach a maximum intensity at each 45 degrees."

Within our Zodiac the 45 degree angles on either side of the 90 degrees are at
45 degrees, 135 degrees, 225 degrees and 315 degrees, and correspond to 15 degrees of the fixed signs Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. These midpoints are also called the Bull, the Lion, the Eagle and the Angel, respectively.

Quoting again from ASTROLOGY OF PERSONALITY (pages 239-240): "These points are not unknown to some occultists. They correspond to what has been called: the Four Gates of Avataric Descent. As an "Avatar" in ancient terminology is in fact a release of cosmic energy, the meaning of the phrase is quite evident. These Four Gates are symbolized by the four symbolic creatures: the Bull, the Lion, the Eagle, the Angel. Each of them depicts a particular type of dynamic release, a particular type of Ray of Power - and of power releasing 'initiation'.

"The Bull and the Lion represent individuating power, power rooted in the planet, i.e. in concrete selfhood. On the other hand, the Eagle and the Angel symbolized collectivating power, power that expands the individual into the collective and universal. We might add that the Bull is power toward the formation of the individual being while the Lion is power emanating from the individual being. The Eagle is power toward the formation of the Universal being, while the Angel is power emanating from the Universal being.

"At these times (the Avataric' points), the energies or realizations which were gathered in at the Equinoxes and Solstices are released and made effective."

Now let us re-examine all the festivals to see how the traditions fit the astrological interpretations.

The life-affirming, Pagan religions begin the New Year, the new season, on the Vernal Equinox, Ostara, the day of equal dark and equal light. From now to the Fall Equinox there will be more light then dark. The seed in the Earth breaks its outer shell, it springs to life. The Sun is at 0 degrees of Aries. Aries is a cardinal sign indicating beginnings and the first great beginning is life itself and it is manifested through the primordial fire of Aries. Life begins anew.

When the Sun has progressed 45 degrees it reaches 15 degrees of Taurus, the festival of Beltane. Taurus is an Earth sign and is the ruler of the second astrological house (possessions). By the time the Sun is in 15 degrees of Taurus, the seed has its roots firmly planted in the soil and the leaves are budding out. The plant is realizing itself as an individual.

The Sun reaches its Zenith, its highest point in the heavens at 0 degrees of Cancer. This is the time of the full realization of life. The plants are now blooming, the sap is flowing fully, the nectar is shared, the breasts of the Earth Mother are full. Cancer is the sign of the Mother and of the breasts. This is the celebration of Litha or Mid-Summer.

After Mid-Summer the days grow shorter, although the days are still longer then the nights. The first fruits are gathered. The grain is ground and made into bread which is then baked in the fire of Leo. Leo is a fire sign and rules the Sun. The celebration of Lugnassadh has two roots, one is derived from the festival of Lugh, a Celtic Sun God, and the other is the feast of baked bread, made form the newly harvested grain, or Lammas.

When the Sun reaches 0 degrees of Libra, there is another great beginning - the beginning of death, the final harvest. Libra is an air sign, a sign of the mind.
The past season is weighed in the scales of Libra and thoughts turn toward the winter season. In the reflection on the past season, thanks is given to the Goddess for the life-sustaining harvest that will last through the barren Winter. This then is the feast of Mabon, Harvest Home or Thanksgiving. A side note: The reason we celebrate "Thanksgiving" in November is that the Pilgrims got their crops in too late and had to push the Old World customary day back to November. Despite what anyone else says, the Thanksgiving holiday is not an original American holiday - it too, is steeped in ancient Pagan tradition.

From now until Ostara, the nights will be longer then the days. Death becomes a part of this season. The plants begin to die and the animals begin to make ready for the Winter.

Samhain, the Druidic God of Death, rules when the Sun is in 15 degrees of Scorpio. Scorpio rules the 8th astrological house, the house of Death. This is the festival of the dead - the evening when the spirits of our departed friends and kin are welcomed back to spend the evening with us, and from there is where the common ideas of spirits, ghosts, trick or treat, etc. came from. Scorpio is also a water sign and reminds us of the Fall - the Winter rains that bring a chill to the land. Scorpio is the sign for sex and perhaps this is why the Great Rite is so important at this time. To quote Stuart Farrar from the Alex Saunders' Book of Shadows: "Of all the eight festivals, this is the one where the Book of Shadows insists most emphatically on the Great Rite. If it is not possible at the time, the Book says the High Priest and High Priestess should celebrate it themselves as sson as convenient, 'in token, or if possible in reality.' The point presumable is that since the Halloween ritual is untimately concerned with death and the dead, it should conclude with a solemn and intense reaffirmation of life."

The Sun reaches it's nadir, the lowest point in the heavens, at 0 degrees of Capricorn. Yule is the time of the full realization of death, Capricorn is represented as the old Crone or Old Father Time. The evening of this day is the longest of the year. The early Pagans would wait out the fearful night to make sure the Sun would return again. There was much rejoicing when the sun was reborn. This celebration has been carried through to the present in the mythos of Christianity and other religions that worship a Sun (son of) God.

The final holiday is Oimelc. This is the time of hope for the rebirth of life on the Earth. Hope comes from knowledge. Aquarius is the water bearer, but the element poured out is not the element water but the waters of knowledge - the same water as in the Cauldron of Cerridwen and in the Holy Grail, or the same as the Skaldic Mead - inspiration. The Christianized holiday is Candlemas. Again the fire from the candles is not the element of fire but illumination, inspiration. The ruler of Aquarius is Uranus, and Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury. Mercury is the ruler of the mind but Uranus rules the higher intellect.

Thus we see that if the eight holidays of the Pagan year are to be used as originally intended, raising energy and absorbing energy, they are best celebrated at the times the Sun enters the power angles. Of course it is realized that the established traditions will be hard to change but the point is that they are in error.

The mission of Neo-Paganism is to re-establish the ancient ideas if they are relevant by applying scientific fact. This will either prove them or disprove them. In this I think the change in the dates of the Cross-Quarters will bring them out of the realm of fantasy and into the light of knowledge.