The Wheel of the Year: A Wildish Woman’s Guide to Seasonal Living

We were never meant to live in a Straight Line.

Nature moves in cycles. The moon waxes and wanes. Our bodies bleed and renew. The Earth tilts and turns, shifting from dark to light and back again. And yet, most modern women have been asked to live in constant summer: producing, performing, pushing forward with no end in sight.

The Wheel of the Year is a sacred remembering. It is an ancient, Earth-based calendar that honors the seasons as a spiral—each turn offering its own energy, invitation, and wisdom. Rooted in Celtic and pagan traditions, the Wheel is made up of eight holy days, or Sabbats, that mark the sun’s journey and the changing rhythms of the land.

When a woman aligns with these cycles, she begins to move in harmony with the world around her—and the world within her.

🌸 The Eight Sabbats: A Brief Overview

• Samhain (October 31–November 1): The witch’s new year. A time of death, ancestors, thinning veils, and deep release.
• Yule (Winter Solstice): The longest night of the year. A time for stillness, rebirth, and tending the inner flame.
• Imbolc (February 1–2): A gentle spark of new life. A time for clearing, dreaming, and preparing the soil.
• Ostara (Spring Equinox): The light returns. A time of balance, fertility, and fresh beginnings.
• Beltane (May 1): The Earth is alive. A time of passion, union, and wild creation.
• Litha (Summer Solstice): The sun at its peak. A time to celebrate abundance, fullness, and radiance.
• Lughnasadh (August 1): First harvest. A time of gratitude, effort, and honoring what’s grown.
• Mabon (Autumn Equinox): A second harvest. A time for release, balance, and preparation for descent.

Each Sabbat is a threshold—a sacred doorway into a new energetic season. And each invites us to slow down, reflect, and ask: Where am I in my own cycle?

🌕 Living the Wheel

You don’t need to identify as a witch or follow any particular religion to live in alignment with the Wheel. All you need is a desire to return—to feel more connected, rooted, and cyclical.

Some women mark each Sabbat with ritual: lighting candles, pulling cards, writing in their journals. Others celebrate by cooking a seasonal meal, planting seeds, making a bonfire, or simply stepping barefoot into the Earth.

There is no right way—only your way.

🌀 Why It Matters

When we honor the seasons, we begin to soften. We no longer shame ourselves for needing rest in winter or feel guilty for craving solitude during a waning moon. We begin to trust our timing. We learn that everything has a season, including us.

The Wheel is not just about the Earth—it’s about your body, your soul, your becoming.

So the next time you feel lost or disconnected, look to the land. Let her show you where you are on the spiral.

She has never forgotten you. And you are not meant to forget her.