High Days

Calan Gaeaf or Samhain

31 October / Nov 1

Research indicates that this was considered the greatest of the Celtic Holidays, where Druids would oversee great rituals and celebrations, using this opportunity to predict the severity of the coming winter and the prosperity of the following year.  Fruits, vegetables and animals were sacrificed to the souls that had departed for the Summer-lands, the preceding year, and people lit a great fire to guide the way for the wandering spirits.  

Fires were also lit to prevent dark spirits from causing trouble.  Clans-folk would dance and frolic around the fires, safe as long as they were lit, then run home with much haste once they dwindled. 

Calan Gaeaf is the name for the first day of winter in Wales. Winter Eve is called Nos Calan Gaeaf or Ysbrydnos. It's traditionally believed that the spirits are free to wander on this night.  The veil between the worlds being at their thinnest.  In Wales all manner of Ghosts (Ysbryd) and Goblins (Coblyn) were said to come out, to the paths and entrances at midnight.   Other traditional occurrences were the appearance of the “Tailless Black Sow (yr Hwch Ddu Gwta) accompanied by the headless woman (Ladiwen). 

Groups of youths called Gwrachod would go from home to home after sunset singing strange rhymes.  The owners of the house would then make gifts of ale, nuts and apples (traditionally foods associated with the season), used to divining ones future.  The visits or “Hauntings” of these groups were supposed to bring good luck and banish negative spirits.

Associations: Animal – Raven, Food – Apple, Herbs – nutmeg, sage, pine.

Alban Arthan – Yule

Celebrated on or near December 21st.

Alban Arthan is the feast on the longest night of the year.  It traditionally symbolizes a time when the longest night is now past and the days will become longer as the wheel works its way towards Alban Eilir or Summer Solstice.  In some mythology this is depicted as the Oak King (God of the Waxing Light) battling the Holly King (God of the Waning Light).  It is at Alban Arthan that the Oak King will triumph and rule until the summer solstice when the Holly King will rise again and overthrow him.

This is an important event in the Celtic peoples year.  Since their lives revolved around agrarian events, the shorter days would bring despair.  Social interactions would have become muted.  The celebration of this High day would allow the peoples to come back together.  It would brighten spirits as the world around them began to brighten.  Despite the knowledge that the coldest times were still upon them, the feast gives them the strength and conviction to hang in there a while longer.

For us today this is a time to finally cast off any lingering items that are holding us back from the previous year.  Everything in our lives seems to grasp some of the energy of this time of year, such as projects, work demands and even our relationships seem to be buoyed.  I personally find this time to be very uplifting. 

Associations: Animal – Bull, Tree – Holly, Herbs – Cedar, Holly, Pine, juniper

Calan Gwanwin – Imbolc

Celebrated on or near 2 Feb

This festival occurs when livestock had begun to birth their young and fresh milk became more available.  It marked the time when the plough would be brought out and the soil opened to be ready for plantings.  Often the clans would pray to Brighid and pour milk over the plough and soil as an offering both for a good planting, and hopes for a bountiful harvest.  This time of year was significant as it was the beginning of the agricultural cycle, and hope was renewed that the worst was over.  

Some traditional events to mark this festival were the making of husk dollies in the form of Brighid, placing nightlights or candles in the windows of the home to invite her into your home and hearth, or place 8 candles in a bowl of water to illuminate the light of the Goddess coming forth from the waters.

Associations: Animal – Sheep or Lamb, Tree – Willow, Herbs – Heather or Myrrh

Alban Eiler – Spring Equinox

Celebrated on or about the 21st of March

This feast, celebrated the first day of spring, is when the power of darkness and light were equal.  From this day onward the sun would have rule, and the days would be longer.  At this time nature shifts out of its long slumber and begins the cycle of rebirth.  The soil warms and the seeds begin to crack free. This is also true for the people, who will begin to migrate more and more to outside activities.  While not an ancient invention modern pagans use this time to plant the prayers and workings that they hope to harvest later in the year.  It is a time to cast off the things that are holding us back, and work to renew our efforts and growth.  It is a time when we should seek balance in our own lives, by looking at the influenced in our lives and seeking moderation.

Associations: Animal – Hare, Tree – Birch, Herbs – sage, thyme

Galan Mai - Beltane

Celebrated on or about the 2nd of May

FERTILITY… This feast and fest was all about fertility.  Fertility of the land, the livestock, the mind and the people in general.  It more or less was the beginning of the Celtic summer, when the animals that had survived from the previous year would be guided out of the stables, between two large fires for purification purposes and out once more into the fields.  In ritual it was a time for divinations regarding fate of the harvest, and sacrifices were made to ensure the health of the crop and livestock.  Young people would run and jump over fires made of  9 types of wood, and the height of the jump indicating how high the corn would grow.  It also marked the marriage of the May Queen to the Sun King and the mating of the Gods.  It is a time of sex magick, and ritual dealing with sexuality, the use of the maypole and cauldrons to symbolize the male and female aspects.

Associations: Animal – Cow, Tree – Hawthorn, Herbs – Almond, Cowslip, Lilac

Alban Heruin – Summer Solstice

Celebrated on our about the 21st of June

The rematch.  Here we reach the polar opposite to Yule.  Here the Holly King rises once more and successfully battles the Oak King for rule.  The days are once more in balance as we head back into the time of darkness.  The Goddess bedded at Beltane is now ripe with pregnancy.  The long days and heat of the season allowed the growth of the crops to maturity, and the development of the beasts that would see the clans through the long dark times of the year. As such this is also a time for rest, the last chance to enjoy lazy times before the hard toil of harvesting and preparing for winter begins.  In ritual this day is marked as the day of pure AWEN, as the three bars of light appear at dawn, and Druidic ceremonies are held.  It can be useful to do rituals that centre on work, or projects around the home.

Associations: Animals – Bear, Tree – Oak, Herbs – Elder, Lavender, Verbena

Calan Awst -  Lughnassadh

Celebrated on or about the 1st of August

As the name implies this feast is in honour of the sun God, Llew.  He enters into a ritual marriage with the Sovereign Goddess of the land, transferring his remaining solar strength to her in order that the crops will finish ripening. He also offers himself (in the form of a sheath of corn) as the annual sacrifice in order that the people may eat.  It marks the beginning of the harvest season, and was marked with great celebrations, ritual athletic events, matchmaking, feasting and trading.  At this time offerings of the first corn and perhaps the sacrifice of a bull were not uncommon.  Lughnassadh rituals focus on rights, justice, and partnerships.  Some mention is made that because the roads were dry and firm, druids would often travel and arbitrate disputes, or oversee arrangements for Year and a day ceremonies.  

Associations: Animal – Stag, Tree – Alder, Herbs – Ginger, Cinnamon, Myrtle

Alban Elued – Autumnal Equinox

Celebrated on or about the 23rd of September

This marks another of the harvests.  It is the gathering of the fruits and vegetables, as well as the last of the grains.  In this harvest the people would begin to store away the foods for the winter, and begin to barter for the goods they needed.  Some ritual significance hints to Druids bidding farewell to the Horned God as he travels to the lands of winter, possibly noting the migration of forest animals to the hibernation cycle.  It formally marks our journey into the dark times of the year.  It also marked the beginning of the hard times where cold, and scarcity of foods would take toll on the population, and the clans would make sacrifices to the Gods/esses to help them survive the long night.

Associations: Animal – Salmon, Tree – Poplar or Hazel, Herbs – Pine, Geranium