They always say time changes things,
but you actually have to change them yourself.
—Andy Warhol
The neopagan wheel of the year is comfortable. It's beloved to many, and observed quite literally eight times a year. It has festivals from various cultures, themes that have the potential to feel like home. And yet, it didn't always seem that way to me. This is something I have personally struggled with and come back to time and time again as a pagan. What does it mean to be connected to the wheel of the year if the wheel of the year isn't connected to me?
It makes sense when you think about it—the wheel of the year as we know it was made in England. I currently live in the tropics. Prior to this, I lived in an area of Montana that has a climate classification of “continental subarctic,” which means that on average it only has fifty to ninety days in the whole year with an average temperature of 63 degrees. Having lived in two polar extremes in terms of climate and temperature has left me feeling really misplaced amid the wheel of the year. People were watching leaves fall while I was either snowed in or on a beach. Something had to give!
All over the world, there are pagans and witches living in places that do not align with the wheel of the year. These are places that do not follow four set seasons, and sometimes don't even follow the seasons they are supposed to. For example, Death Valley in the Southwest averages just two inches of rainfall per year! There are countless examples of unique climates across the country and the planet, and learning how to work with them, versus against them, will allow us to enjoy practicing the wheel of the year again!
There are lots of terms for the wheel of the year, and sometimes it can get confusing. Knowing the ins and outs of the wheel is what will lay the foundations for us to change it to suit our needs, so it is important to go over some of the basics. The wheel of the year is comprised of eight sabbats, or holidays. The eight sabbats of the wheel of the year are comprised of four quarter dates, and four cross-quarter dates. One notable difference between quarter days and cross-quarter days is that quarter days move, whereas cross-quarter days are (nearly) fixed. Quarter days include the spring and fall equinox and the winter and summer solstice. Cross-quarter days are the Celtic fire festivals that fall halfway between the quarter days: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh.
The eight sabbats of the wheel of the year are, once again:
These sabbats seem pretty universal, right? We all get a solstice and an equinox, after all! While this is true and every pagan experiences these celestial events, not every pagan experiences the wheel of the year as it is written. For example Yule, the winter solstice, is hallmarked with winter lore—it is a winter festival! To witches who live anywhere in the world where it does not snow, connecting to the specific lore of a Germanic holiday becomes difficult, if not somewhat painful.
Each sabbat on the wheel of the year has similar issues. Outside of fairly specific climates (western Europe, New England, etc.), the wheel of the year really doesn't make much sense. I can connect with an equinox; however, I am unable to connect with the fall themes surrounding the equinox. In a world where everyone enjoys showcasing their spiritual practice to an online audience, this can create a lot of guilt in witches who think maybe they're not doing enough when in reality they are just not being called to connect to the wheel of the year the way it was written for Wiccans.
This may be something that you haven't heard before, so let me say it loudly—it is okay to change the wheel of the year in your personal practice. It should be expected and encouraged for you to take initiative to connect to the earth in your earth-based religion. My personal wheel of the year observes twelve degrees split between two halves, instead of the traditional eight. I chose to split my wheel of the year up into months because I feel it gives me a better grasp on what is happening and allows me to really see the earth where I am right now.
Additionally, choosing to split up my wheel of the year has allowed me to let it travel wherever I go. The first flower of spring is never announced with loud fanfare, but it breaks through the ground all the same. Celebrating the energy of the earth, in my opinion, shouldn't be delegated to just a few specific days. These sabbats do find a home on my wheel of the year, but they are not the focus of my year.
Instead, my wheel of the year has become a year of the witch—something that supports me and my journey through earth-based paganism. I went through many years (nearly my whole time as a witch, actually) without any gods and chose to instead focus on the local spirits that surrounded my area and interacted with me daily. This looked like making star fruit wine after a particularly good harvest season and sharing it around a bonfire with friends. It also looks like making every harvest and super moon something to be celebrated and revered. Harvest moons indicate a change of the season, a time to celebrate as we turn into the next spoke on the wheel of the year. In the next chapter, we will go over in better detail ways to look at the wheel of the year and customize it for your specific path!
Because of the seasons being so different in the southern hemisphere, it begs the question of how to observe the wheel of the year there. In general, there are two types of solutions for this problem. Some people believe that the pagan holidays in the wheel of the year should be celebrated as the original cultures intended them to be. For example, Yule would be celebrated in December regardless of what hemisphere you're in. You would still bring into your tree, and you would still decorate it regardless of whether it is winter or summer outside.
The second camp of thought is that paganism is a nature-based spiritual practice. This means that to practice the religion and spirituality, you only have to follow nature. Since nature is in summer where you are, you would celebrate the summer holidays instead of the winter holidays.
There's not really a good solution here. In my opinion, it would be up to the individual witch to decide how they are going to celebrate the wheel of the year. If it is important to them to observe cultural traditions with the wheel of the year, then those witches would probably observe the festivals in the same way as someone in the northern hemisphere would. Because to them, the festival is as much about the culture that created it as the festival is itself. Others though, would prefer to celebrate the cycles and seasons and harvests as they are where they live.
There really is no right or wrong answer here—it is just personal preference. No matter which hemisphere you live in, you're going to experience winter and summer solstice and spring and autumn equinox. You're also going to experience your own unique harvest cycles.
So how do you celebrate a winter holiday during the summer months? Perhaps you don't! Listen to the earth around you, feel its energy. As you acknowledge and celebrate the changes on the other side of the world, remember to carve out a little space to appreciate and revere where you are right now.