Wheel of the Year


Wheel of the Year

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Wheel of the Year is the term used in Wicca for the changing seasons, the spokes of the wheel being the Greater and Lesser Sabbats: Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Spring, Beltane, Summer, Lughnasadh, Autumn. The Wheel marks the passing of the year and the continual cycles of death and rebirth. The Greater Sabbats relate to the old Celtic agricultural calendar, while the Lesser Sabbats relate to the transitions of the sun.

Not all Witchcraft traditions observe the same Sabbats; for example, many Scottish Witches observe only Samhuinn, Yule (or Feill-Fionnain), Bealltainn, and Midsummer (or Feill-Sheathain), following a four-spoked wheel rather than an eightspoked one.