Celtic annual cycle

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Celtic annual cycle

The term Celtic annual circle denotes a construction of seasonal festivals and rituals that is common in Celtic neo-paganism .

Although the individual parties have partly of the Celtic year circle historical models in traditional folk customs or Irish folk festivals, the Celtic Ordinary Time in the neo occurs in its present form first druidic movement at the end of the 18th century in the Welsh poet Edward Williams (known under the name Iolo Morganwg ). The Welsh names of the "Albane", which otherwise cannot be historically proven, also come from Williams. Many of these festivals were also familiar to the ethnologists of the 19th century as typical European "fire festivals", such as Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer , who assumed that the solar festivals in particular were very old until the Neolithic Age.

It is one of z. The neo-pagan construction, which has partly survived to this day, has been adopted by modern druids and also in the Wicca annual cycle . In contradiction to the modern Celtic annual cycle, there are some reports on the Celtic calendar in Polybios and Strabo or the Gallic calendar of Coligny .

Sun and moon festivals

The festivals of the Celtic annual cycle are divided into sun and lunar festivals. The Celts of antiquity and late antiquity generally considered the full moon to be a sacred time, which is why they mainly celebrated their festivals at this time. The Celtiberians even celebrated the festival of their nameless moon god every full moon. According to Pliny , other important dates such as cutting mistletoe should also have been celebrated at the beginning of the month 6 days after the new moon. The festival dates, which in pre-Christian or pre-Roman times were very probably not determined according to the position of the sun, i.e. Imbolc , Beltaine , Lughnasadh and Samhain , are interpreted as lunar festivals. The festivals of the equinox, as well as midwinter and midsummer, are solar festivals. They are called differently depending on the context, with the Neoruiden as Albane, in the Wicca annual circle and the Asatru festival calendar of the Germanic faith community (Géza von Neményi), however, with mainly Germanic names (Jul, Ostara, Litha / Miðsumarblót, Mabon / Haustblót).

In the modern Celtic annual cycle, the Irish festivals, ie the "moon festivals", are mostly celebrated as the main festivals, with Beltaine and Samhain being particularly noteworthy. From the historical Celts, no particular weighting of a certain festival has been handed down or different main festivals were celebrated regionally.

The sun festivals, especially the equinoxes, are mostly celebrated as secondary festivals in Celtic neo-paganism. The Imbolc festival is also often referred to as a side festival. Historically, Celtic festivals such as the festival of the goddess Epona (a few days before the winter solstice) were not included in the neo-pagan annual cycle. Their designation as the "middle" of certain seasons is problematic because this designation is derived purely from the course of the sun between the spring and autumn equinox, while the Irish calendar only knew two seasons from May to November. For example, Alban Hefin's summer solstice is sometimes referred to as "Midsummer". In the Irish calendar, however, summer begins with Beltaine, so Lughnasadh should be the original midsummer. Even in the astronomical calendar itself, the summer solstice is not "midsummer", but the beginning of summer itself, so that here, too, the middle of summer is around Lughnasadh (August 1st).

Points in time

In Celtic neo-paganism, the times of the lunar festivals are determined according to the full moons closest to the popular Irish dates, i.e. they vary every year. The times of the solar festivals are calculated every year according to the position of the sun.

The following table refers to the calendar of Coligny , the first surviving fragment of which begins with Samnos, but the interpretation of Samhain (since the Julian calendar November 1) as the beginning of the year is disputed; more likely, as in most cultures, is spring , especially Beltane .

November 1st 21st December February 1st March 21st 1st of May June 21st August 1st September 23rd
Samhain Winter solstice Imbolc Spring equinox Beltaine Summer solstice Lughnasadh Autumn equinox
Moon festival Sun festival Moon festival Sun festival Moon festival Sun festival Moon festival Sun festival

For groups and people who celebrate these festivals today, the times are often calculated starting from the first new moon, which according to this calculation method falls between December 20th and January 18th.

In a simplified calculation method, the first full moon after the winter solstice (around December 21, but not fixed) is assumed. The first full moon after that is the first, so the dates of the lunar festivals can shift significantly.

11. New moon 21st December 2. waxing moon March 21st 5th full moon June 21st 8. waning moon September 23rd
Samhain Winter solstice Imbolc Spring equinox Beltane Summer solstice Lughnasadh Autumn equinox
Moon festival Sun festival Moon festival Sun festival Moon festival Sun festival Moon festival Sun festival
A widely used calculation method is the following:
  1. Samhain - beginning of the winter half year and New Year of the witches, 11th new moon in the calendar year
  2. Yule - winter solstice, December 21 fixed
  3. Imbolc - 2nd full moon after Yule
  4. Ostara - spring equinox, March 21 fixed
  5. Beltane - beginning of the summer half year, 5th full moon after Yule
  6. Litha - summer solstice, June 21 fixed
  7. Lammas - 8th full moon after Yule
  8. Mabon - autumn equinox, 23 September fixed

Transferred to today's solar calendar , Beltane and Samhain as well as Imbolc and Lammas are exactly opposite each other and so the festivals are celebrated by many as follows.

  1. Imbolc - February 2nd
  2. Ostara - March 21st - Spring Equinox
  3. Beltane - April 30th
  4. Litha - June 21 - summer solstice
  5. Lammas - August 2nd
  6. Mabon - September 23rd - autumn equinox
  7. Samhain - October 31
  8. Yule - December 21st - winter solstice

Samhain

  • Moon festival

In parts of Ireland, Samhain is the night of November 1st, the main festival that gave birth to Halloween . It is considered the festival of late autumn, the middle of the Celtic year, and the festival of the dead, during which the gates to the Otherworld are open and the Sidhe visit the world of the mortals and mortals could get lost in the world of the Sidhe. The widespread thesis that it is the festival of the Celtic beginning of the year goes back to John Rhys ; His assertions are, however, inconclusive, the beginning of the year was probably, like everywhere until the introduction of the Julian calendar, the 1st or 25th of March, as well as the Christian church year in some cases at Easter . The festival largely corresponds to the Gallic "Trinox Samonis" which was celebrated by the historical Celts at the beginning of November and is also mentioned in the Coligny calendar . In the former Germanic or Celtic-Germanic area, November 11th is traditionally the more important date. For the Scots, Samhain largely corresponds to the festival “Féile na Marbh” and in Wales “Nos Galen-gaeof”. Christianized corresponds to the Samhain festival of All Saints and All Souls .

The decoration of the house with symbols of death such as willow twigs and pumpkins (formerly turnips) and other plants are passed down to folk customs , baked goods (in parts of England in the form of deer antlers), as well as mantic customs such as lead pouring and festive nocturnal parades with lanterns or torches. In Ireland, courts were held in front of Samhain and death sentences were carried out in the Middle Ages. The Ulster legend mentions touching a hanged man as a test of courage, which was often interpreted as a leftover from pagan human sacrifices.

Deities that are worshiped today by new pagans in Samhain include the god Esus (as the god of the hanged), Cernunnos (due to the antler symbolism), the Morrigan or Badb as well as the couple Samhain and Sawan as the gods of the dead and embodiments of the Samhain festival.

The commercialized version, the American Halloween, is more common .

Mid-winter or winter solstice

  • Sun festival

This festival always takes place around December 21st (winter solstice), the shortest day of the year. The festival dates back to Irish and Scottish midwinter fire festivals, known in Ireland and parts of Scotland as Dubluachair . It is unclear whether these are ancient Celtic customs or whether these festivals go back to the Viking Age. No midwinter festival has been handed down from the historical Celts, but the Coligny calendar notes the festive days “Deuorius Riuri” and “Mapanos”, which is associated with the name of the god Maponos , near the winter solstice .

Neo-paganism took over popular customs such as the fire parade or the midwinter bonfire, as well as the Scottish tradition of keeping the "corn maiden" (a doll that was tied from the last sheaves of the harvest of a field) until midwinter to feed the cattle this is saturated by the next year, and it is often associated with island New Year customs such as the Mari Lwyd Welsh parade or the Hogmanay Scottish tradition. In addition, the custom of the Christmas tree was often retained, albeit modified to the Bile or sacred tree and image of the world or tree of life. The gods that are often worshiped by neo-pagans in winter include Sulis , Grainne , Mabon , Belenus and Lugh as alleged sun deities, as well as Cernunnos , Taranis and the Cailleach as symbols of the forests, winter storms and the cold season itself. The Neo -Druids and Wiccans also call midwinter "Alban Arthuan" or "Alban Arthan", a designation that is first found in Iolo Morganwg. Germanic-oriented neo-pagans as well as some Wicca traditions and Celtic-Germanic mixed cults use the term Jul .

Imbolc or Latha na Brigid

Saint Brigid's Cross
  • Moon festival

Around February 1st to 2nd, Imbolc is celebrated, the beginning of spring, the festival of the return of light dedicated to the goddess Brigid.

Imbolc (pronounced "IM-bulk" or "EM-bowlk"), also called Oimealg, is an Irish-Scottish spring or spring festival. The name is possibly derived from "oimelc", which means "mother's sheep milk", which highlights the festival as a fertility festival, as a festival of the first milk-secreting sheep at the end of winter.

The customs of Maria Candlemas or the Scandinavian Disablót , which also fall during the carnival parades , are similar to them continentally . The Coligny calendar does not mention a festival at this time, but Gregory of Tours mentions a Gallic festival of the goddess Berecynthia , which has many similarities with modern Irish customs. Christianized, the festival was connected with the representation of the Lord and Saint Brigid .

Irish folk tradition has it that Brighid crosses were woven from straw and that cleaning customs such as decorating the house with fresh birch twigs or sprinkling salt were carried out. A straw doll called Brigid is symbolically entertained by the people and, as at the historical festival of the Berecynthia, is carried through the villages to bless the fields. In parts of the French Pyrenees, a similar straw doll called a Rosetta was symbolically married to a bear (a young man in disguise). In Germany at this time, too, a "bear tradition" with relocations was widespread.

The neo-Pagans adopted these customs, but often expanded them to include candle consecrations, which are supposed to represent the rebirth of the sun. Brigid is worshiped by them at Imbolc as the goddess of spring, some associate the Rosetta tradition with the goddesses Artio or Rosmerta and with the "bear gods" Matunus and Artaios .

Spring equinox, or spring equinox

  • Sun festival

Around March 21st is the vernal equinox , the increasing equinox. Astronomically, it denotes the beginning of spring. Historically, there is no Celtic festival that has been proven to have been celebrated at this point in time, but the Scottish Easter “Latha na Cailliche” was used as a model for modern pagan spring customs.

Popularly, both Lent and Christian Easter fall during this time . Corresponding customs were borrowed from the neo-pagan movement and "re-paganized".

It is customary to decorate the house with fresh flowers and to offer plaited wreaths. The egg and the hare were also partially adopted as symbols of fertility and associated with a female lunar deity. In general, the rebirth of nature is celebrated, the winter goddess (identified by some neo-pagans with the Cailleach ) turns into stone or takes the form of the spring goddess (partially identified with Brigid ). In some cults, a marriage of the goddess with a spring god is celebrated as an act of the Hieros Gamos to symbolize her transformation. The “gods” associated with the spring equinox include the Scottish Cailleach and the Matrona (due to their nickname “Austriahae”, which is related to the term Easter), Ceridwen (due to their rabbit and moon symbolism) and Brigid, who becomes the god of spring sometimes called Angus or Mabon .

The neo-Druids and some traditions of the Wicca religion also use the term "Alban Eiler" ("Light of the Earth"), which, like the name of the other Albanians, can first be found in Edward Williams . In Germanic neo-paganism and in many Wicca traditions, however , the festival is called Ostara (or more rarely "Ostarûn"), after a hypothetical Germanic goddess of the same name, who is mentioned by the Catholic saint Beda Venerabilis. The name Ostara, derived by Jacob Grimm from the name "Eostra", is, however, incorrect in terms of linguistic history.

Beltaine or Cetsamuin

  • Moon festival

The night of May 1st is Beltane (also Beltene), the beginning of summer. It is an Irish-Scottish festival of the beginning of summer and the beginning of the new year (see Samhain above ). In Wales it is also known as cetsamuin or "first summer". It roughly corresponds to the continental customs on May 1st and the customs of Walpurgis Night . No Celtic custom for May Day is known from history, but Beltaine is a traditional Irish folk festival and is sometimes compared to the old Celtic festival "Decamnoxtion", which was celebrated in honor of the god Grannus , the exact date of which is unknown. But there is also the calculation according to the lunar calendar, in which case Beltane falls on the fifth full moon. Then - as in 2008 - the festival can also fall on May 20th.

Beltaine is popularly passed down as a fire festival, in which the herds were traditionally driven between two fires for blessing and purification. Tests of courage such as jumping or dancing through fire were still very popular in early modern times. In addition, markets, meetings and court days were held at Beltaine, which ended with dance and music. Even today there are May hikes in many places, dancing in May and the custom of the maypole .

The Neo-Pagans adopted Beltaine as the fertility festival of the god Belenus , who was interpreted as the god of fire. Often other gods like Lugh , Gwynn or Aed are also associated with him. The maypole is viewed as a bile or holy tree and world tree or tree of life, as well as a phallic representative of the masculine power of the sun, which penetrates the vaginal-symbolic flower ring at the top, which stands for the female earth with its nourishing powers. But some also see the hole in the ground through which the maypole penetrates the earth as a feminine aspect.

Midsummer or summer solstice

  • Sun festival

The night of June 21st (summer solstice, midsummer) denotes the festival of mid-summer and summer solstice. There is no historical evidence of a Celtic midsummer festival, but the Eastern Celts in today's Croatia celebrated the holy wedding of their tribal god Toutanos with the goddess Rigani ten days before the summer solstice . In Ireland, where the midsummer night is called Oiche Fheile Eoghain , midsummer fires are traditionally lit on the hill of the fairy Aine and on the Isle of Man tax is traditionally paid to Manannan , the island's patron saint, on this day .

Neo-paganism took over the customs of the midsummer fire and the sacrifice to the " Aquarius " as well as partly the Hieros Gamos of Goddess and God (associated with different gods), but these are seen more as representatives of fertility than as tribal gods. Hazelnuts, walnuts, berries, mountain ash and cherry trees are symbols of the midsummer festival. In neo-paganism, the terms "Alban Hefeyn" (more commonly used by the Neo-Druids) and "Litha" (by the Wiccans) are used as terms for the midsummer festival, but both terms come from modern times and are not borrowed from Celtic history. The name Alban Hefeyn goes back to Iolo Morganwg, while the name Litha is a new creation by Aidan Kelly from the 1970s, which refers to old Anglo-Saxon month names.

Lughnasadh or Lammas Festival

  • Moon festival

Lughnasadh is an Irish late summer festival celebrated around August 1-15 each year. Related Irish festivals include the Festival of Crom Dubh and the Puck Fair . In the Anglo-Saxon region, similar festivals are known as “Lammas” (from “Loaf-Mass” or “Festival of Loafs”) and represent a kind of harvest festival. Large festivals and markets are also widespread on the mainland during this period (including the Feast of reapers as the beginning of the harvest and the consecration of herbs ), which is probably related to the time of harvest and is not limited to the Celtic culture. Christianized these festive dates were connected with the Assumption of Mary . Historically, the festival of the city of Lugdunum is known from late antiquity, which was celebrated annually on the first of August and at which the god "Mercurius Augustus" and the goddess "Maia Augusta" were worshiped. The Coligny calendar also shows a day called “Lugo”.

According to the Irish legend, Lughnasadh was donated by Lugh as the funeral festival of his foster mother Tailtiu in Teltown and contained, among other things, games that are said to have resembled the Olympics . A similar festival was Óenach Carman which was only celebrated every nine years in honor of the victory of the Tuatha de Danaan over the destructive entity Carman .

From Irish folk customs, Lughnasadh is mainly passed down as a fair and cattle market, and weddings were often decided at this time. In the past, bard competitions and horse races were part of Lughnasadh, but to this day festivities with music, dancing and usually lots of alcohol. At the related Puck's Fair, a billy goat is symbolically crowned King of Ireland by a girl.

Neo-paganism largely took over Lughnasadh as the festival of Lugh and as the time of the holy wedding between the earth goddess and fertility god and the rebirth of the fertility goddess.

Autumn equinox or autumn equinox

  • Sun festival

September 23 is the autumn equinox . Historically no Celtic autumn festival has survived, even there is no still known detectable Celtic folk customs at that time, in parts of Ireland a feast to celebrate the harvest end to September 23, which is to this period Blas to Fhomair common in Scotland suits him St. Michaels Day on September 29th, during which festivities and dances were performed in honor of the Cailleach , during which the dancer called Cailleach died symbolically and was brought back to life with a "druid staff". In England there is an autumn deer dance , the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance , which perhaps goes back to Celtic or Anglo-Saxon customs, but is celebrated between September 6th and 12th.

As evidence and examples to the modern celebrations of Herbstäquinox rather the numerous Germanic autumn customs such as the Feast of the applicable tamfana or Old Norse Disarblót and the Wotan hard as a precursor to Michaelis , of which, however, falls detectable none exactly on the date of the equinox.

Neo-pagan rituals for the autumn equinox are based on the Gaelic and Germanic customs mentioned and sometimes on the Christian harvest festival, because the original meaning of "autumn" is "harvest". In modern natural religion, the festival is understood as symbolic thanks for this very thing. Gifts (grapes, fruit, fruit brandies, fruit wines, mead etc.) are given away and people thanked the earth or mother goddess for the fruits of the year. The modern names of the Herbstäquinox such as "Alban Elved" (Elued) or "Mabon" come from the works of Iolo Morganwg or the Wicca faith (the name Mabon is a new creation by Aidan Kelly from the 1970s). "Earth goddesses" such as Tailtiu , Rosmerta , Karnuntina or Bui and "fertility gods" such as Cernunnos , Lugh , Mabon or Amaethon are interpreted as the gods of the harvest .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beginning of the Celtic year not in Samhain
  2. ^ Lecture series by John Rhys, 1886 ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / caeraustralis.com.au
  3. ↑ Beginning of the Celtic year
  4. ↑ Alexei Kondratiev, Celtic Rituals, New celtic Publishing 1996
  5. ^ Ph. D. Peter N. Williams: The Traditions of the Northern Celts. Britannia Internet Magazine, accessed October 5, 2009 .

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