What is The Celtic Wheel?
In our fast-paced modern world, we've largely lost touch with the natural rhythms that once guided human life. We push through seasons without pause, fight against the natural cycles of rest and activity, and often feel disconnected from the deeper currents that flow through our lives and the world around us.
The Celtic Wheel offers us a different way—an ancient path back to living in harmony with the natural world and our own inner seasons. Far from being merely historical curiosity, this sacred calendar provides a framework for understanding the energies that flow through our year and our lives, offering us guidance for when to plant, when to harvest, when to rest, and when to rise.
Understanding the Celtic Wheel: A Dance of Opposites
The Celtic Wheel encompasses the seasons and energies of the Celtic Year, marking eight significant turning points that include four agricultural festivals and four solstices and equinoxes. But this isn't just a calendar—it's a living system that recognizes the sacred nature of cyclical time and the wisdom inherent in natural rhythms.
The Celtic Year begins at Samhain (what we now know as Halloween and the Christian observances of All Saints and All Souls), embracing the profound truth that all new life emerges from darkness. Just as the seed needs the darkness and protection of the soil to mature, just as the egg needs the void and nourishment of the womb to grow, we humans need introspection, retreat, and deep rest to gather our resources and emerge renewed.
The Celts and pre-Celts recognized the necessity of opposites: night and day, darkness and light, winter and summer. These seeming polarities and liminal spaces are intimately interconnected and dependent on each other. None are superior; all have essential roles to play in the eternal dance of existence. Each turning of the wheel brings its own energies while mingling with what has passed and what is to come.
Perpetual Celtic Calendar created by visual artist, Cynthia Mayti and spiritual teacher and author, Dolores Whelan
The Eight Sacred Turnings
The Celtic Wheel is marked by eight significant dates that vary slightly each year, each carrying its own unique energy and invitation:
The Four Agricultural Festivals
Samhain (October 31st-November 2nd) - Dark Moon Energy - THE CELTIC NEW YEAR This is the time of death and rebirth, when the veil between worlds is thinnest. It's an invitation to release what no longer serves and honor the wisdom of our ancestors. In the darkness, new possibilities are conceived.
Imbolc (January 31st-February 1st) - New Moon Energy The first stirrings of spring, when light begins to return and new life quickens beneath the surface. This is a time of purification, inspiration, and tending the flame of creativity.
Beltane (April 30th-May 1st) - Full Moon Energy The celebration of fertility, passion, and the full flowering of life force. This is when we step fully into our power and celebrate the abundance of life.
Lughnasadh (July 31st-August 1st) - Waning Moon Energy The first harvest, a time of gratitude and gathering the fruits of our efforts. We celebrate abundance while preparing for the turning toward autumn.
The Solstices and Equinoxes
These four turning points mark Earth's journey around the Sun and the shifting balance of light and darkness:
Winter Solstice (December 21st) - The return of light after the longest night Spring Equinox (March 21st) - The balance of light and dark as life awakens Summer Solstice (June 21st) - The peak of light and solar energy Autumn Equinox (September 21st) - The balance shifting toward rest and reflection
Working with the Wheel's Energies
The energies of each turning of the wheel invite us to explore different aspects of our human experience: death and letting go, waiting and emptiness, birth and new beginnings, growth and strengthening, flowering, harvesting, completion, and rest. Rather than forcing ourselves to be the same person year-round, the Celtic Wheel teaches us to flow with these natural rhythms.
When we align ourselves with these cycles, we discover that there truly is a time for everything—a time to plant seeds (both literal and metaphorical), a time to tend our growth, a time to harvest our achievements, and a time to rest deeply and allow the composting of our experiences to nourish what's to come.
“we can come to inhabit these different energies and to cooperate with-rather than fight against-whatever is present in our lives at the moment”
Creating Sacred Connection
When we consciously connect with these turnings—whether in circle with others or by ourselves—we create sacred space and time to celebrate, reflect, move, set intentions, sing, and perhaps work with plant allies. This conscious participation helps us become more aligned with the rhythm of the land and cosmos.
From this powerful and sacred space, we can rise up and act from a place of resource, knowing we are in touch with our intuition and powers far greater than ourselves. These might be ancestors, spirit guides, plant teachers, or the wisdom of community. However we choose to show up in the world, these offerings and turnings of the wheel become gateways of infinite possibility.
Bringing Ancient Wisdom into Modern Life
The beauty of the Celtic Wheel is that it doesn't ask us to abandon our modern lives but rather to infuse them with deeper meaning and natural rhythm. You might mark Samhain by reflecting on what you're ready to release and what you want to birth in the coming year. You might celebrate Beltane by fully embracing a creative project or new relationship. You might use the Winter Solstice as a time for deep rest and inner reflection.
The visual artist Cynthia Mayti and spiritual teacher Dolores Whelan have created a Perpetual Celtic Calendar that beautifully illustrates these cycles, helping us visualize and work with these ancient rhythms in contemporary life.
Join the Journey: Seasonal Circles and Continued Exploration
The Celtic Wheel isn't something to understand intellectually—it's something to experience, to live, to embody. Each turning offers its own gifts and challenges, its own invitations and opportunities for growth.
I'll be holding circles to mark each of these seasons, creating space for us to come together and consciously engage with the energies of each turning. As we move through the wheel together, I'll also be expanding on each season in future blog posts, diving deeper into the specific energies and practices that can support us at each turning.
These gatherings and explorations are part of what I call "rooted we rise"—the understanding that our deepest growth and most authentic power comes from being rooted in the natural world and ancient wisdom while rising to meet the challenges and opportunities of our modern lives.
Ready to align with the ancient rhythms that can guide and support your modern life? Sign up for my mailing list to be updated on upcoming seasonal circles and receive deeper insights into all things "rooted we rise." Let's journey through the Celtic Wheel together, discovering how these ancient turnings can illuminate and enrich our contemporary lives.
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