Modern pagans, spiritualists, and anyone who chooses to live close to the natural cycles of the Earth measure the passage of time via the Wheel of the Year. These are the important lunar and solar events that mark the passage of time and the changes of season. Some of these important moments in the annual cycle are associated with ancient pagan festivals.
Below is a list of some of the important days to note in the 2026 Wheel of the Year. Equinoxes and Solstices are according to the northern hemisphere.
Solstices and Equinoxes
Before the Gregorian calendar was implemented, the solstices and equinoxes were celebrated all over the world as the portals that open and close the important cycles of life. They are key moments in the dance of the Earth and the Sun that mark time when we can perform rituals, celebrate, and reinforce our intentions, integrating our personal forces with the natural forces.
The solstices happen when the position of the sun reaches its maximum limit in one of the hemispheres. The highest inclination of the sun in relation to the equator means that one hemisphere receives more light than the other. When the sun is at its apex in one hemisphere, this is the summer solstice and the longest day of the year in that hemisphere. At the same time, in the other hemisphere is the winter solstice, and the shortest day of the year. This is a reminder of the need for balance. The equinoxes are the intermediary points between the two solstices, which fall on the day of the year when the day and night are most balanced.
Among all the planets in our solar system we can observe that only our mother Earth has the conditions to support life as we know it. Our tilt, the time of our rotation, and our distance from the sun creates a perfect and delictae environment to support life. This is why our cycles are something to be honored and respected.
New Moon and Full Moon Rituals
Many people firmly believe that the changing phases of the Moon have a significant impact on the energy that manifests on Earth, as exemplified by the connection between the Moon and the Tides. When it comes to rituals, the energy of the Moon can affect outcomes, therefore, it is important to conduct the right kinds of rituals under the right Moon.
New Moon
The New Moon is one of the most important phases because it is linked with new beginnings and setting new intentions. This is the ideal moment for rituals, making new commitments. It is also a time to self-reflect on major changes that you need to make in your life. It is a time to release negative emotions and self-limiting beliefs that can be holding you back. It is linked with The Fool in the Tarot, which marks the start of a journey. Often, intentions you set under a New Moon in a certain constellation will manifest when the Full Moon rises in that same constellation.
Waxing Crescent Moon
The Waxing Crescent Moon represents a time of initial growth, where we tend to see immediate results from our work. This is a time to start new projects as you will have the energy to do the groundwork.
First Quarter Moon
This is a moment to move from your inner world into the bigger, interconnected world around you. This is a good time to make important decisions, as the Moon’s energy encourages clarity of mind. This is also a moment to tackle things that you have seen as obstacles that may prove movable at this moment.
Waxing Gibbous Moon
The Waxing Gibbous Moon invites a little bit of self-indulgence. Focus on your strongest desires and lean into them. You may find that you have increased energy and vitality and can burn the candle at both ends to find space to commit to your desires. You will feel like your instincts and intuition are keener, making it the right time to go with the flow.
This is also the time to start three-day rituals that will end on the Full Moon, typically starting with a day of cleansing and preparation, followed by a day of intention ceremony, and then a manifestation ritual under the light of the Full Moon.
Full Moon
The Full Moon is the pinnacle of the lunar cycle, during which our creative energies are at their maximum. This is the moment to engage in your most important rituals that you went to see manifest because the gods have their eyes squarely on the Earth. It is also a time to recognize what you have achieved and show gratitude. Pay attention to your dreams as your intuition is working overtime, and this is a good time for divination activities.
Waning Gibbous Moon
The Waning Gibbous Moon marks the beginning of the diminishing of the Moon until the New Moon. This is the time to begin to cut things out of your life that no longer serve you, and start projects to diminish, such as minimizing clutter or losing weight. You can find yourself dwelling on negative thoughts, acknowledge them and what they want to teach you, but don’t dwell on them. You can do rituals to banish negative energies.
Last Quarter Moon
This is a period to focus on self-care and emotional healing, perhaps from wounds exposed during the Waning Gibbous phase. It is associated with endings and is a good time to tie a knot in things that you need to cut off. It is a time for forgiveness, offering it to people not necessarily because they deserve it, but because you deserve not to have the associated negative energy drag you down. Magic with destructive energy can thrive during this Moon phase.
Waning Crescent Moon
While the Moon is moving towards its darkest phase, this is a time of light and liberation. At this time, you might see the bright side of ending things that were difficult to let go of and start to see a challenging ending as a new beginning.
2026 Calendar
| 3 January | Full Moon in Cancer (Wolf Moon) |
| 4 January | Quadrantids Meteor Shower |
| 10 January | Jupiter at Opposition |
| 18 January | New Moon in Capricorn |
| 20 January | Aquarius Season Begins |
| 1 February | Full Moon in Leo (Snow Moon) |
| 1 February | Sabbat of Imbolc |
| 17 February | New Moon in Aquarius (Solar Eclipse) |
| 17 February | Chinese New Year – Year of the Fire Horse |
| 19 February | Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation |
| 19 February | Pisces Season Begins |
| 3 March | Full Moon in Virgo (Worm Moon, Lunar Eclipse) |
| 18 March | New Moon in Pisces |
| 18 March | Celtic Month of Alder Begins |
| 20 March | Sabbat of Ostara (March Equinox) |
| 21 March | Aries Season Begins |
| 1 April | Full Moon in Libra (Pink Moon) |
| 3 April | Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation |
| 17 April | New Moon in Aries |
| 20 April | Taurus Season Begins |
| 22 April | Lyrids Meteor Shower |
| 1 May | Full Moon in Scorpio (Flower Moon) |
| 1 May | Sabbat of Beltane |
| 6 May | Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower |
| 16 May | New Moon in Taurus |
| 21 May | Gemini Season Begins |
| 31 May | Full Moon in Sagittarius (Blue Moon) |
| 14 June | New Moon in Gemini |
| 15 June | Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation |
| 21 June | Summer Solstice |
| 21 June | Cancer Season Begins |
| 29 June | Full Moon in Capricorn (Strawberry Moon) |
| 14 July | New Moon in Cancer |
| 23 July | Leo Season Begins |
| 28 July | Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower |
| 29 July | Full Moon in Aquarius (Buck Moon) |
| 1 August | Sabbat of Lughnasadh |
| 2 August | Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation |
| 12 August | New Moon in Leo (Total Solar Eclipse) |
| 13 August | Perseids Meteor Shower |
| 15 August | Venus at Greatest Eastern Elongation |
| 23 August | Virgo Season Begins |
| 27 August | Full Moon in Pisces (Sturgeon Moon) |
| 28 August | Partial Lunar Eclipse |
| 10 September | New Moon in Virgo |
| 22 September | Sabbat of Mabon (Equinox) |
| 23 September | Libra Season Begins |
| 25 September | Neptune at Opposition |
| 26 September | Full Moon in Aries (Harvest Moon) |
| 4 October | Saturn at Opposition |
| 7 October | Draconids Meteor Shower |
| 10 October | New Moon in Libra |
| 12 October | Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation |
| 21 October | Orionids Meteor Shower |
| 23 October | Scorpio Season Begins |
| 26 October | Full Moon in Taurus (Hunter’s Moon) |
| 31 October | Sabbat of Samhain |
| 9 November | New Moon in Scorpio |
| 17 November | Leonids Meteor Shower |
| 20 November | Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation |
| 22 November | Sagittarius Season Begins |
| 24 November | Full Moon in Scorpio (Supermoon) |
| 25 November | Uranus at Opposition |
| 8 December | New Moon in Sagittarius |
| 21 December | Sabbat of Yule (Solstice) |
| 22 December | Capricorn Season Begins |
| 23 December | New Moon in Cancer (Cold Moon) |
Pagan Festivals
It is no coincidence that the popular Christian festivals align with the solstices and equinoxes celebrated by our pagan ancestors. As the Church spread their influence, they often aligned their new celebrations with existing pagan traditions to make it easier for pagans to accept the new religion and convert. Since most ancient societies structured their societies around the changing of the seasons, the sam dates were universall important.
Ostara – Spring Equinox (20 March)
The Spring Equinox, also known as the Vernal Equinox, is named for an ancient German goddess of the spring, Ostare of Eostre, who symbolizes dawn and renewal. The 7th century Anglo-Saxon chronicler Bede suggested that she was the equivalent of the Norse goddess Idun. Ostara happens on the day when the day and night hours, with the period of winter darkness over and the period of summer light on the horizon.
Folklorists point out that Easter in Northern Europe is linked with hares and rabbits, which then became the animals of Easter. But it seems that the holiday was originally associated with birds, because they lay eggs ready to hatch, with life emerging as it does in the spring. Somehow this morphed into a hare, which is why it is associated with eggs, despite not laying any.
Beltane (1 May)
Beltane is traditionally a fire festival that celebrates the growth of spring and that vibrant energy. It marks the moment when the world fully awakens from winter. It is a transitional moment of energy when the walls between the seen and unseen are thin.
Beltane also honors the sacred union of earth and sky, goddess and god, the harmony of masculine and feminine forces, and the creative spark that brings all things into being. Bonfires, blossoms, and dance are all essential parts of Beltane rituals.
Litha – Summer Solstice (21 June)
The longest day of the year honors the power of the sun and is a celebration of abundance, light, and vitality. We know that it was important to our ancestors from monuments like Stonehenge, designed to align with the sun’s rays on this day. It is both a celebration of abundance and a reminder that the year is about to turn.
In the Celtic and Germanic worlds it was traditionally observed with bonfires, herb gathering, feasting, and rites of protection. Litha is a celebration of abundance and the triumph of light over darkness, while acknowledging that balance is necessary and that darker days are ahead.
Lughnasadh (1 August)
Lughnasagh or Lammas celebrates the first harvest of the year and honors when the first crops are ready to cut in the name of Lugh, associated with the sun, craftsmanship, and the arts. It marks the beginning of the transition into the slower autumn.
Historically, the festival was a time for harvest rites, bread baking, communal feasts, handfastings, athletic games, and fairs. Offerings of the first grain were given back to the land or the gods in gratitude, and hills or high places were often chosen for gatherings, echoing the ancient belief that harvest blessings flowed from both earth and sky.
Mabon – Autumn Equinox (22 September)
This is the moment when day and night come back into balance. It celebrates the convergence of opposites: the god and goddess, Yin and Yang, masculine and feminine, light and dark. It is a moment to slow down and discover how to live in harmony.
Marking the second harvest, Mabon is a sacred pause between abundance and decline, when the year visibly begins its inward turn. Unlike the exuberance of earlier harvest festivals, Mabon is reflective with offerings made to the ancestors and intentions set for the darker months ahead.
Samhain (31 October)
The ancient Celts considered 1 November the start of the New Year. This is a moment when the veil between the worlds is believed to be thin, and the physical and spiritual worlds can meet. This is a time to communicate with the ancestors and spirits. It is the start of the period of isolation and introspection over the winter.
While all the written evidence for Samhain comes from the Christian period, there is good evidence that Samhain was an ancient festival among the Celts. Several Irish Neolithic passage tombs are aligned with the rising sun on Samhain, suggesting that the date was already marked out as important in prehistoric times. The Gaulish Coligny Calendar from the first century BCE calls this time of year Samoni.
The first literary evidence for Samhain comes from the 9th century, when Ireland had already been Christianized. There is some evidence to suggest that the old Pagan festival of Samhain was associated with the god Chrom Cruach, who seems to have been both a solar and a fertility deity. He is a wizened god hidden by mists who accepts “firstborn” sacrifices in exchange for good harvests.
Most sacrifices to Chrom Cruach were probably the first takings of the harvest, but there is some evidence to suggest that he also received human sacrifices, usually of the first and most important in the community, rather than the firstborn. It is suspected that several Irish bog burials represent the ritual sacrifice of kings or other important persons, possibly interred around the time of Samhain.
By the 9th century, Samhain was a time of festival and celebration. Communities would gather in large groups to eat, drink, and be merry. This meant that Samhain also had political importance as it was a time to reaffirm bonds with neighbors and allies, and leaders could confirm and pass rules and laws.
With the community gathered, mumming or guising, the root of trick-or-treating, was practiced. People would dress up in masked costumes and go from place to place dancing and reciting verses in exchange for food. Traditions around hospitality and welcoming guests meant that denying these passersby food could bring bad luck and perhaps also a trick from the disappointed players.
Samhain was considered a day for honoring the ancestors and other spirits of the underworld. At Samhain, and also Beltane on May 1, the veil between the worlds was considered to be at its thinnest. Ghosts, fairies, and spirits can pass between worlds and would have greater dominion during the darker months. In Irish literature, there are many stories of deceased ancestors returning to see their homes at Samhain. More dangerous entities can also pass between the worlds, killing livestock and burning down homes if they so choose. Rituals were conducted at burial mounds, which were considered portals to the other world. Protective bonfires were built, and sacrifices were made to appease the spirits. In the Gaelic tradition, when people returned home, they would take a spark from the ritual bonfire to light their own hearth and lay out an extra plate for the honored ancestors.
Yule (21 December)
The darkest day of the year, this is nevertheless a celebration of the rebirth and return of the sun, which is just beginning. It is a moment to embrace stillness and reflection and prepare internally for the external moments that are ahead.
Christmas is celebrated in December to coincide with the Pagan Roman holidays of Saturnalia and the festival day of Sol Invictus. Saturnalia was a feasting period that started on the 17th of December. Individuals would exchange gifts, usually statuettes of the gods, to put on the household altar. This may be the root of the tradition of the nativity scene. The festivities ended on the 25th of December, a few days after the Winter Solstice, when the days of the year finally start to get longer again.
December 25th became associated with Jesus Christ because it was the festival day of Sol Invictus, who became the most important god in the Roman pantheon in the 3rd century, not long before the empire converted to Christianity. The emperor Aurelianus dedicated Sol Invictus’ temple in Rome on the 25th of December in 274 CE. With the conversion to Christianity, this became the principal feast day of Jesus Christ.
Around 700 years after the dedication of the temple of Sol Invictus, Christianity came to the Vikings in Norway. According to the Saga of Hákon the Good, it was King Haakon I of Norway who changed the date of the traditional Norse festival of Yule to coincide with the 12-day Christian festival of Christmas. The Norwegian people were encouraged to celebrate the new Christmas festival in place of Yule.
Odin was believed to lead a divine Wild Hunt across the sky. Odin always collected the souls of the bravest fallen dead to take to Valhalla. The Wild Hunt would collect other things that had died throughout the year, clearing the way for new growth as the days started to get longer. The Vikings would spend the period of the Wild Hunt in their temples, making sacrifices and in their long halls feasting, so that they would not be caught outside and taken away by the hunt by accident.
Many of the Pagan rituals and folk traditions practiced by the Vikings during Yule have found their way into Christmas traditions, starting in Norway and spreading to the rest of the Christian world.
Religious rituals included sacrifices. Animals were taken to the temples, sacrificed, and drained of their blood. The meat was cooked for the days of feasting that happened over Yule, while the blood was smeared over the idols and walls of the temple. While it may be a bit disgusting to imagine, this blood-smearing may be the origin of the idea of decking the halls.
The most traditional Viking Yule food was a roast boar. This is probably related to the worship of Freyr during the festival since he and the other Vanir gods were closely associated with the animal. Ham is still one of the most popular Christmas foods.
Drinking was an important part of the feast, and many toasts were made. The first toast was made to Odin and then to Njord and Freyr, Vanir gods associated with fertility. Toasts were also made to the dead ancestors.
Thor, the god of thunder, was both a protector and a fertility god. He was also honored at Yule. Goats were often among the animals sacrificed, and goat figurines made from dried wheat were made and displayed as decorations. Viking Yule decorations may have been placed on a Yule tree, an evergreen tree brought into the home, probably to represent Yggdrasil, the world tree that sits at the center of the Norse universe. It is a symbol of life and may have represented the fact that life continued during the dark days of Yule.
The Vikings also chose a large oak log to burn in the fire throughout Yule. It was inscribed with special Norse runes that invoked the gods’ protection against the darker supernatural forces for the period of Yule. The fire had to be kept lit throughout the entire festival. Letting the fire go out was an extremely bad omen.
Mistletoe was hung, and mistletoe was an important plant in Norse mythology. This is the only thing in existence that can kill the god of light, Balder. Loki learns this secret and, in fact, uses the plant to kill the god and send him to the underworld. The connection between the story and hanging mistletoe at Yule is unclear, but it may have represented honoring promises made to the gods.
Children would leave their shoes by the fire at night and put out sugar and hay for Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse of Odin. These may have been placed to receive gifts if Odin decided to pass while on the wild hunt. There are some stories of family members dressing up as Old Man Winter and bringing gifts. Reminiscent of Father Christmas, in the oldest traditions, they were surely meant to be Odin.
Imbolc (1 February)
This is celebrated as the quickening of the year, the end of winter, and the start of spring. It is when it is time to tentatively come out of hibernation and begin to act. The frost begins to disappear, and it is lambing season, with new life emerging. It is connected with the Celtic goddess Brigid and considered St Brigid’s day in the Christian calendar. It is customary to hang Brigid’s crosses over your doors as protection. People would also sometimes leave clothes outside for Brigid to bless and then wear them.
Traditionally, candles were lit to welcome the growing sun, homes were cleansed to invite fresh energy, and offerings of milk, honey, or bread were made in gratitude for life’s quiet persistence. Spiritually, Imbolc reminds us that even in the coldest times, light is returning.
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