Celtic World > Cross-Quarters

Celtic Wheel of the Year: Cross-Quarters

Notes can be found in the Endnotes section.
Also see the Celtic World Site Bibliography.

WINTER SOLSTICE

Other names: Alban Arthan (Modern Druid), Christmas (Christian), Deuriuos (Gaulish) (9), Yule (10) or Mabon (Wiccan). Also Saturnalia (Roman).

The Winter Solstice takes place on or about December 21 and marks the longest, darkest night of the year. To many ancient European groups prior to the Celts, this was probably a festival of waxing solar light. Little is known about how the Celts themselves celebrated this event, however.

One of the most popular Neolithic sites in areas inhabited by the Celts is Newgrange, whose builders situated it so that on the morning of the Winter Solstice the Sun shines into the passage to light the Burial Chamber. Newgrange is often identified with Brugh na Boyne, but this title also may include the nearby sites of Dowth and Knowth.(11) In Irish myth, Brugh na Boyne first was the home of Boann and An Dagda and later that of Aongus Og, the Irish god of youth and poetry. This site figures in many Irish myths and while mostly associated with Aongus Og, it is sometimes thought to be the tomb of Lug Lamfhota. The Great Trilithon of the most well-known Neolithic monument, Stonehenge, frames the setting Sun at both the Winter and Summer Solstices.

Some contemporary Pagan groups, not necessarily Celtic in nature, honor the forthcoming "Sun Child" at this time of year by burning an oak Yule log. They also honor the Goddess in her many Mother aspects; and the Father God as Santa Claus in his Old Sky God, Father Time, and Holly King forms.

Because there is disagreement as to the exact birthdate of Jesus Christ, some believe the Church assigned it to this time, a date already held sacred to so many peoples. Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25.

VERNAL EQUINOX

Other names: Alban Eilir (Modern Druid), Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian), Lady Day or Ostara (Wiccan)

The Vernal, or Spring, Equinox takes place on or about March 21. An equinox refers to the time of the year when the Sun crosses the plane of the Earth's equator, making night and day equal length all over the planet. Crops were typically sown at this time, a time of transition. While we do not know how the Celts observed this event, it is known that times of transition, or in-between times, were considered sacred in Celtic culture.

The Neolithic predecessors of the Celts aligned numerous megalithic monuments with the solstices and the equinoxes. The passage tomb Sliabh na Caillí ("Hill of the Hag") in Loughcrew County Meath is aligned with the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes, when the sunrise shines on several sunwheel carvings.

The Wiccan term also often used for this festival is Ostara, which some think applies not to this solar feast or sabat, but to the March lunar esbat. As the dates of the Christian Easter were also associated with Ostara, the Vernal Equinox sometimes is thought of as Easter also. Dr. D.L. Ashliman of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures cites the historian Bede the Venerable's (673?-735 A.D.) De Ratione Temporum that Anglo-Saxons called the fourth month Esturmonath, after the Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility Eostre or Ostara. Her name is derived from the Indo-European *ausos, meaning dawn or east and she is synonymous with the Greek Eos and Roman Aurora. English- and German-speaking countries derived their name for the Christian feast from the original Pagan one, while other countries derived the name of this feast from the Hebrew pasah meaning "to pass over," connecting it to the Jewish Passover. Some Modern Druid groups call this feast Alban Eilir, "The Light of the Earth." (15)

SUMMER SOLSTICE

Other names: Alban Heruin (Modern Druid), An Fheill-Eoinm (Scottish Gaelic), Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Christian, also translation of Breton, Manx, Irish and Scottish Gaelic), Golowan or Gouel Sant-Yann (Breton), Gwyl Ifan (Welsh), Laa l'Ean (Manx), La Fheile Eoin (Modern Irish), Litha (30) (Wiccan), Medio-saminos (Gaulish) (29), Midsummer's Day (secular British).

The Summer Solstice takes place on or about June 21 and marks the shortest, brightest night of the year. The Great Trilithon of the Neolithic Stonehenge frames the setting Sun at both the Winter and Summer Solstices. In Scotland, sometimes a procession was made around the fields with a burning torch of wood in order to obtain a blessing on the corn.(31)

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

Other names: Alban Elfed (Modern Druid), Gouel Sant-Mikael (Breton), Goel Myghal (Manx), Goeldheys (Cornish), Gwyl Fihangel (Welsh), La Fheile Michil (Modern Irish), Mabon, Harvesthome or First Fruits (Wiccan), Michaelmas or the Feast of St. Michael (Christian).

The Autumnal Equinox takes place on September 21 and marks the last harvest before Winter claims the Earth. As with the Vernal Equinox, day and night are of equal length across the planet. The passage tomb Sliabh na Caillí is aligned with the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes, when the sunrise shines on several sunwheel carvings.