The Wheel of the Year?

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/allergicpagan/2015/07/31/why-im-boycotting-lughnasadh/

I read this blog post this morning and almost yelled "EXACTLY!!!!" Ever since I started studying Paganism, the Wheel of the Year has been an interesting concept, but one I just couldn't get with the program with. It made absolutely NO sense to me to celebrate themes at a certain time when they didn't even come close to reflecting what was happening in the real world of my local area. Take for example, my hometown in the Midwest, Chicago. Imbolc in Chicago is likely still having snow and sometimes even sub-zero temperatures. NOTHING around that time makes me think of the coming of spring. Or how about when we lived in Kodiak, Alaska? Yeah, around Beltane we were lucky if the thaws were in process and it was just starting to feel like spring.

For several years now I have been pretty adamant about celebrating a LOCAL Wheel of the Year based on the local climate and local seasonal observations. I also, for the most part, focus on the solstices and equinoxes as those are actual astronomical occurrences. On those days I go out into nature and see what's happening where I'm at. With a husband in the military, where we live changes fairly frequently. So it's important for me to check in with nature to find out what's going on where I'm actually living.

I read a very interesting article in the 2014 Witches Companion book related to this subject. In essence it talked about ritual and celebrations and how we shouldn't try to lie to ourselves in ritual. Our brains know when we're lying and automatically reject it and it throws things out of whack for participating in the ritual. So if you're doing a Solstice ritual the Saturday before the actual Solstice, don't say "Tonight we celebrate this eve of the Solstice." Your brain knows it's not the Solstice. Same for all these Wheel of the Year themes. If it doesn't match what's locally happening, you're not going to get the full effect of your ritual or celebration because your brain knows it. Makes me wonder about the whole thing with affirmations...

Anyway, use the Wheel of the Year as you see fit. I use the Solstices and Equinoxes to check in with what Nature is doing where I'm actually living. I try to be aware of local planting and harvests and any local and regional observances or significant events and celebrate accordingly.


Lipp, Deborah. Everybody's Working for the Weekend. 109-120. Llewellyn's 2014 Witches' Companion.